Gavin de Becker, Bestselling Author, The Gift of Fear:
Your work reminds me of this important truth: Everyone might be a target at times, but not everyone must be a victim. I’m honored to be part of what you do.
John Walsh, Founder of America’s Most Wanted:
Erin has honored her friend by starting this program and empowering women. I really think women need to know they can fight back.“I really loved this event, it taught me how to set boundaries and say NO.” – Montgomery College Student, Students Fight Back 2021
“Finding an acceptable Title IX compliant program for our New Student Orientation has been one of the most difficult tasks of my career. Some are seen as too flippant about the topics at hand, while others too dry and unengaging. Students Fight Back not only treats the topics with respect and perspective, but makes it near impossible to not be fully engaged. They bring relatable story telling and practical intervention and self-defense techniques in a way that is memorable and useful. We have finally found the right program for Carthage.” – Carthage College, Students Fight Back 2021
“The event went wonderfully. Nicole’s presentation had tons of important information and was very engaging. It was received with very positive feedback from staff and students. When I advertised this event, I put emphasis on the boundary-setting and self-defense aspects of the event. I greatly appreciated how thoroughly Nicole went over those topics. We had plenty of time for a Q&A, and I’ll be sure to leave this event in our programming notes so next year’s team can work with you next year as well!” – Elisa Vigil, Outreach Programmer, Spokane Falls Associated Student Government
“I was just able to participate in your Students Fight Back session and was so overwhelmed with joy and inspiration with your work. I was so inspired by your presentation today I had tears in my eyes. Your language, inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community and disabled community, and respect for pronouns made me feel SO much joy. Thank you for all of your amazing work.” -Hannah Large, Carthage College Student, Students Fight Back 2021
“Nicole is incredibly knowledgeable about self-defense and is generous in her approach. She focuses on risk recognition in a way that opens up possibility rather than shutting it down. She encourages discussion with a curiosity of spirit and a sincere interest in what participants have to say. Her enthusiasm and her warmth are contagious; students invariably come out of her classes feeling stronger, happier, and more confident than when they came in. Nicole makes self-defense training fun as well as informative.” –UCLA Student, Students Fight Back 2021
“I loved this session! Very helpful and informative! I really liked the way the speaker, Nicole, was engaging.” – Montgomery College Student, Students Fight Back 2021
“Thanks for the workshop Nicole. I’ve done a bunch of training including defensive tactics instructor courses and this was the best, most affirming, and positive I’ve seen. Your approach is very empowering! You’re an awesome teacher and facilitator.” -Brie Chartier, Workshop Attendee, June 2020.
“It is not always that I send out a note of thanks following contracted training, but sometimes payment cannot cover the gratitude of great inspiration when flawlessly provided. Your unique style and passion for giving the world a fighting voice is amazing. I have received countless messages from all over the Coast Guard regarding your training and the positive message it contained. I wanted to personally thank you for sharing your talents with our members, and changing the conversation to one of empowerment, not fear. You are truly a leader in violence prevention, and we welcome you to share again with the United States Coast Guard. Thank you for a job well done!”- Andrea Mckie, CIV, COMDT
“If you’re looking to spur positive change, inspire hope, and motivate courage in people’s lives then look no further. Nicole delivered an impact filled presentation on the importance of boundaries, using one’s voice, standing up for ourselves and others. She also presented thought provoking information on personal safety, awareness and other facets of human psychology. Her compelling training sparked stirring discussions and helped all of us understand the significance of our emotions, our interactions with others and intuition. She is a true advocate in every sense of the word. Our experience in working with her was professional and flawless from the start, even with the COVID-19 implications. Her adaptability in providing us with such an engaging and compelling virtual training was truly exceptional. We are grateful to have had this opportunity of working with her and highly encourage others to invite Nicole into their community for a truly captivating and passionate experience.” -Teresa Loya, Vandenberg Air Force Base, SAPR Victim Advocate, May 2020
“Hi, Gina! Wanted to tell you what an amazing job Morgan did Monday night. She was amusing and very engaging with the audience. You could tell that she had a wonderful connection with ALL the ladies that attended. She made Shannon proud!” -Cindy McNamara, mother of Shannon McNamara, February 2016
“Bree was fantastic, and we had a wonderful time. Our turnout was much smaller than anticipated due to finals and students focused on graduation, and Bree was totally flexible and accommodating. Rather than doing a formal presentation, Bree had us form a half-circle and we had a more relaxed discussion along with her presentation and self-defense demonstration. I spoke with some participants afterward who are interested in bringing SFB to campus again if we can find a time in the Fall semester that would draw a larger crowd. I think that this is a great program that I would definitely recommend to others!” -Shannon Schipper, Director of the Women’s Resource Center, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, April 2017
Nicole was amazing. She was high energy for both presentations, with a
willingness to connect with the students and share more tips during lunch. I appreciated her from the first planning meeting over the phone to the day of her presentation. Her willingness to incorporate University of Redlands bystander information added an extra level of excitement. – Erica Moorer, Title IX Coordinator, University of Redlands, March 2019ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! Nicole was awesome and we look forward to doing more work with you all soon. I know our students were very interested in the Self Defense training class so we may be in touch regarding the course. But overall, everything was awesome. Thank you! – Darius Darling, Student Life Coordinator, Indiana Tech University, 2018
Nicole was wonderful, the students loved her! She is very warm and welcoming and has a great energy about her. Shandy Stomieroski, Assistant Director of Student Life, Cascadia College.
Thank you so much for coming to OWU. I have already heard a ton of positive feedback! Absolutely wonderful to have you come on campus to empower and educate our community. Thank you so much for making the trip out here and creating such a lively and interactive presentation. – Elise Baer, President of Panhellenic Association, Ohio Wesleyan University, November 2016
Thank you so much for following up regarding Students Fight Back at Lynchburg College. The event was absolutely AMAZING! …the people who were present loved Students Fight Back! My sorority and I are even looking into have an all-day self-defense class in the future. Again, it was an awesome performance, and Bree was wonderful! I hope to work with you all again in the future. -Megan Lively – Panhellenic Council President, Lynchburg College
Students Fight Back was the perfect combination of informative presentation coupled with audience interaction. Nicole did a great job of keeping our students engaged the entire evening! The progression of the presentation from hands-off skills (intuition, awareness, boundary-setting) to basic self-defense moves was terrific. The level of student engagement at the end of the night made it obvious that Nicole’s presentation was very empowering and left the students wanting to learn more. Because of this, we look forward to having Students Fight Back programming on our campus again in the future! – Indiana Tech, March 2018
The students enjoyed it (Students Fight Back) very much. We had around 160 students, faculty and staff in attendance. I heard a lot of compliments from the three groups. Our new incoming students have been doing an online training regarding Title IX. 71% of our student population is female and this information was very beneficial for them. I think that the real life scenarios helped our students gain awareness. The self-defense section of the training was also very helpful for them, as many did not have an idea of how easy it can be to defend yourself. The best part was that it was interactive. It was not your typical lecture, but a combination of a variety of things; from the videos, to facts, to the self-defense demonstrations, it was plenty of helpful information in a one hour time frame. -Maria D. Garcia, Coordinator of Student Activities, Lamar State College – Orange
The students absolutely loved the (Students Fight Back) program and Bree! We had a great turnout, around 130 people, which is wonderful. We had several students and faculty members comment that this was the best program we’ve had. The information that was provided is so essential and was presented very professionally, yet in a down to earth way that everyone felt comfortable with, no matter the gender or age. We had a very diverse group that attended. One of our adjunct instructors is a sergeant with our local police department. He reached out to Bree to express how impressed he was with the program and how it was presented. He also contacted me to thank us for having this program on campus. The students themselves said they felt empowered and more confident in themselves after attending the program. I believe the best part of the event is audience participation. They felt a part of what Bree was doing and were able to re-enact scenarios of situations that they might find themselves involved in. The bystander information was invaluable. I would enthusiastically recommend this program to all campuses-large and small! -Claire Thomason, Director of Student Activities, Lamar State College-Port Arthur
We had a great time with “Girls Fight Back!” We advertised the program as “Students Fight Back” and it worked really well. It’s great to have a program like this at a male dominated school. It truly helped open their eyes to the realities of the world! – MIKE KEEGAN, Director of Student Activities and Leadership Center, South Dakota School of Mines
Students were talking about and practicing what they had learned as they walked out of the seminar and all the way back to their homes. I was very impressed by that! – JORDAN COPLIN, North Dakota State University
Bree spoke well to our small crowd. She arrived on time and was extremely well prepared. Easy to work with and interacted well with the students. Bree gave personal examples of situations she has experienced; I think these are extremely helpful to females in the audience to relate to if they have been in a similar situation. Seeing Bree’s petite size shows the audience that it doesn’t matter what your size is, everyone can fight back. I plan on having Students Fight Back return next year to our campus. – JENNIFER SABOURIN, Indian Hills Community College
The message is perfect, but the delivery is what sells the show. Bree is young and relate-able. She did an awesome job of being funny, but yet getting the message across. Bree Swartz is fantastic presenter for students fight back. She’s highly engaging and excellent at incorporating the students into the presentation. I will have Students Fight Back return again and hope to bring other programming that Girls Fight Back offers. – CLAIRE WIEGAND, William Woods University
Students Fight Back is a great program! Though Miami U is location in a small, rural town, its not exempt from assault crimes. Students Fight Back gives students safety knowledge for their time on campus, as well as their lives after college. – KAYLEY KOSEK, Miami University
Thank you again for a wonderful presentation. I completed all of my undergrad at Saint Francis and have sat through many many mandatory and non mandatory presentations that were good, okay, or just plain awful. So I am now working with the Center for Student Engagement for my graduate assistantship (5th year with the university) as I complete my masters and I can honestly and without hesitation say that: You gave one of (if not) the best and most well received presentation this campus has had in a long long time! So thank you again! – ELIZABETH ANASTASIO, St Francis University
