Natalie Foster of GirlsGuidetoGuns.com recently sat down with LBM’s very own Laura Burgess. Here is an excerpt of the recent interview:
Natalie Foster: Where do you see the industry headed for women?
Laura Burgess: When I started in the 90s you would probably be pretty hard pressed to find any female CEOs in the industry. If there were, it was either because their husbands had started the business and had either retired or passed on. There just didn’t seem to be any incentive for women to come in and start a business within the industry. It was considered a “good ol’ boy” industry even in the time that I started. I think what’s changed is that women are coming in and don’t want to just be the pretty little girl in the booth, they wanted to actually be responsible for making the deals, selling the product, showing the product, talking about the product, demonstrating the product. I think women have significantly changed how the industry goes to market today. You see this tremendous influx of pink guns. We’ve worked with a number of companies that have introduced them. They do so not only to identify with women but also to support women’s causes such as breast cancer awareness. One of the fastest growing segments of social media is over 55 year-old women. And the reason they’re using social media is because it’s a great way to reconnect with your high school friends or you can have the grand-kid on the knee and be able to chat with other women and talk about those things. They might say, “I’d like to go shooting. What do I do? Who do I talk to? What would you recommend?” It’s a safer atmosphere for them to do that in the confines of their home. And then they’re breaking out and they’re forming these new groups and they’re going on adventures of their own based upon common interests, including shooting. I think that you’re gonna see an increase in women shooters. And I think that’s important on a couple levels: (1) More women are increasingly the decision makers within a family; and (2) Since the family dynamic has changed so much, often times if there wasn’t a dad or an uncle around, a kid might never have the shooting experience. With women taking the lead in this I think it can help the industry as a whole with the next generation. Moms are taking their kids out. There are more mother and daughter types of shooting events and it’s all just wonderful to see. I think women could be the future of this industry in many ways.
Please visit GirlsGuidetoGuns.com to read the full interview.
