A Full Conversation & Transcript:

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Emily Richett
00:01

You are listening to Mama Bear Survival, the show where we prepare to boldly face the world ahead. Hello there. I’ve been waiting for you to hear this episode and to meet today’s guest without her mama bear survival may not even be. That’s right. A little story on that. When I first started going down this path to learn the important skills that I don’t have in preparation and protection, firearms was a biggie. I’ve been pregnant or with little kids for what feels like forever. Okay, it’s been about a decade. But during that time it just didn’t feel attainable. I didn’t have the time and I could make all the excuses, but it was just something I trusted my husband understood and maybe I didn’t have to until now. Of course I realize I do. If you have firearms in the house, you really should and I want to.

Emily Richett
00:46

But it really still felt distant. I couldn’t quite find the right resources for me. It’s obviously a pretty masculine field. And then I would find some stuff geared more toward women, but it just didn’t resonate. But then a friend sent me an Instagram post and I was introduced to Lena Micheli and the Rose program she helped to develop with Sig Sour. They created this just last year. Instantly I felt like this program was made for me. It was really made for women like us. And let me tell you, it’s a game changer. Lena is not only the real deal, she’s a nine time world shooting champion. She’s been doing this most of her life, so she knows her stuff, but she’s also a great teacher for the very experienced all the way to the complete newbies like me. And I think that’s a rare skill.

Emily Richett
01:29

To be great at something is one thing to teach it well to wide variety of people as a whole other thing. And if you follow her on Instagram or you just watch a couple of the free training videos that I’ve linked here in the show notes, you will quickly discover that she’s just so likable. She’s one of those people. I wish I had more of that. Something about her, you know, she’s funny and she’s somehow way above average in her skills and yet also makes it all relatable. And I’m grateful for Lena and the team over at Sig Sour because like I said, I looked around and nobody is doing what they’re doing to really reach more women, to educate them in firearms, to train them, to form community for them. It’s a really special thing. So I reached out to them early with my book idea, like before I told anyone else about it, except maybe my husband, I think I told him about this crazy idea.

Emily Richett
02:15

I basically asked if they wanted to help in creating this resource for us Mama Bears. And they were quick to not only validate us here, but to support this whole project. So I’m really grateful, the podcast, the upcoming book, all made possible in part to Sig the Rose program. And of course Lena. So this is an extra special episode. Whether you are comfortable with firearms already or you’re not at all, maybe you’re indifferent, you’re in that season I was in, in the thick of young motherhood or young babies or you don’t know if this is for you, maybe you’re curious or anything in between. I think you’re going to really like this episode. If you have a woman in your life, like a sister, a friend or mom who’s on the fence or maybe interested, send her this episode because we talk about those feelings and hesitation with getting started.

Emily Richett
03:01

We talk about the best way to prepare before you even go to the range or a class. We talk about firearms for self-protection, the second amendment, and overall just education because as Lena puts it here in the us, guns are everywhere. And by choosing to ignore that, we could get ourselves in a situation where one day we aren’t equipped with the skills and the knowledge. So we’ll be tackling this topic quite a bit here on the show. We have more episodes coming up where we talk about specific safety, how to talk to your kids about firearms and if you have ’em in the house, that’s a biggie. We talk about carry, you name it. And I think this is a perfect first interview to start the conversation. Let’s dive in. Hello everyone. A little bit about who you are, a bit about your background and and what you do. Yeah,

Lena Miculek
03:48

My name is Lena Miculek. I have been, or I am best known for my career as a professional competitive shooter. I am a third generation at that. So I was born and raised on a shooting range next to a custom gun shop that my grandfather started and grew up at the gun shop that my mom ran and traveled the whole us and world alongside them as a kid as they went around winning championships. And then when it came my turn, I found my own passion for it and pursued it at about 15, started competing when I was eight and born and raised in Louisiana. So a southern girl, but recently relocated to the mountains and the beautiful state of Utah. So bought my first snow shovel. So that’s probably the most exciting thing out of all of this. And learned how to use it. Definitely putting it to good use. But welcome

Emily Richett
04:53

To the club.

Lena Miculek
04:54

Yeah, yeah. Where are you from?

Emily Richett
04:56

Yeah, Michigan. So Oh

Lena Miculek
04:57

Yeah, you got all,

Emily Richett
04:58

We’ve got those Slingers. Yeah,

Lena Miculek
05:01

Snow is new to me.

Emily Richett
05:03

Yeah, well it’s fun. It’s fun. It can be really pretty and you can take up some new sports with it. But whenever I hear your background, I hear you talk about your upbringing. I’m like, isn’t the world fascinating? People live such different lives. I mean, you just grew up around firearms. Your name is famous in an entire industry and yet you can meet people off the street who have no clue who you are because they aren’t in that world at all. And some people will look at you and say, she is the best in the world at competitive shooting for women. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna live my entire life without ever being called best in the world, anything. And so it’s just so amazing to me how different people are. And your background is so, so cool. I love

Lena Miculek
05:47

That. And now someone’s normal and everyone’s normal isn’t normal. We all get to write our own stories, firearms. I thought everyone traveled the world and was like a traveling circus with their family. Pretty much. I thought firearms were as regular as a family of chefs would think knives were. So wow. It was, it was pretty cool. I didn’t realize I was much older that it wasn’t normal or average.

Emily Richett
06:21

Yeah. Well then we’re gonna get to that in a bit, just talking about how you’ve helped create an entire program that is making it more like relatable and entry for women like me who just really weren’t exposed to it. Yeah, it was kinda like a men’s thing. Either they were hunting or this was never really on my radar. And then went through a decade of motherhood and just being busy and I, I did have at my radar like, you know, I would like to learn how to do this. And I just never really got a time to do it ’cause I was either pregnant or then home with little ones. I wasn’t really able to take classes or train or learn. And then just recently I thought, okay, the world’s getting a little crazy and I really do want to dedicate the time and prioritize this. And a friend sent over a link that then I like spiraled down this whole rabbit hole into the world of Lena and Rose. And you just celebrated the one year anniversary, this incredible program. So congratulations. We’re 1-year-old. Yeah. How did that all come about?

Lena Miculek
07:22

Oh, how did Rose begin? So a little bit backstory to lead into it. I was about 11 years into my career, I went full-time at about 15 or 16 years old. I won my first world title around 17, which allowed me the ability to truly commit myself to it and get sponsors and make it the thing that kept my lights on and food on my table. So did that for about 11 years, which took me on the road, 200 plus days competing. Wow. And the rest of that time was training. ’cause that was the real work, the competing part was the easy part. The only thing I had to do when I was on the road. But guess what? C hit dun. And for the first time in my life I was stuck in one place for the longest that I had ever been. And in addition to that, I was living alone in a new city and was really on this path of making sure that I was completely comfortable being on my own and independent and solo.

Lena Miculek
08:36

So I had chosen to move away. I had chosen to be on my own and I also had chosen to start traveling the US solo. I built up my Tacoma so that I could overland, which was totally outside of anything that I had done before. I think I had like slept in a tent in my yard as a kid once. That was the extent of it. But I was just on this big mission to make sure that I was in charge of myself. And it was very uncomfortable. And in that pursuit, the universe said, oh, you think you wanna be alone? Okay, quarantine. And I had a lot of time to think and I realized that although I really love competing and winning shiny things, they’re like super cool. Like I got a lot of ’em and I really love them all. It wasn’t fulfilling me in the way that it had to to be my one and only focus, which I mean 200 days on the year competing all the rest of the time training.

Lena Miculek
09:44

I have a saying that if you wanna be a 1% in something, you have to give your 99% to get there. And it’s really true. You’re not allowed to have much else. And I had been so supported from family and friends in the industry to like build myself up, you know, and do all this cool stuff and hone this amazing skillset and range of knowledge within firearms that it wasn’t rewarding to like keep it to myself anymore. And like you said, the world got crazy and I mainly was so sick and tired of seeing people scared and afraid. There’s very few traditions in my family, but one that my mom and I have is that every year you have to identify a fear and face it head on. And my moving away and my being solo and my building my truck, that was part of my facing that one fear.

Lena Miculek
10:41

Other ones were like heights, you know? And we just jumped off a building which was like so much easier than like actually going out solo to live. But I had faced these fears. I had learned how to take on the responsibility of my own personal protection so that I could go out and be independent and be confident and comfortable in myself and be secure. And now all of a sudden I was surrounded by a world terrified. Everyone was petrified and fear is just such a liar and if you listen to it, it’ll convince you to give your life away and to hide. And I wanted to use the skillset that I had to support other people and feeling safe again in whatever means that was, whether that was personal safety or just learning how to shoot a gun. Because in a lot of the teaching that I had done before, I really got to enjoy the, like the strength that women would gain from just learning a new skill.

Lena Miculek
11:50

Because farms can be super intimidating and to walk someone through that is super rewarding. So all that to say, I was sitting at home wondering how I could use my skills to build up other women. And I decided that I was just gonna teach everyone I could get in a room, like whoever it was, I was just gonna teach ’em all that I could and give them everything that I could. And I knew that that meant I could no longer do my job, which my job was to go and compete. So I pondered for quite a while and realized that I needed to go to Sig and tell them. And a conversation that I thought was gonna lead to me getting fired led to them going, okay, we love it, we see the vision and we are gonna do it. And I was like, what? What do you mean we are gonna do it? Because I had, just due to my own small thinking, you know, like this was my mission. Did

Emily Richett
12:56

You feel like women would just pay

Lena Miculek
12:57

For the I didn’t know. I didn’t know. Yeah, it didn’t matter. I was gonna figure it out. Yeah, I knew that and I knew that I would figure it out. I knew that this was not an easy decision either. I mean, I had provided for myself since I was 15 through competing. My family has kept on their lights through competing. So for me to turn my back on it was a big thing for me. But you know, you just, you just hit those crossroads a lot of thanking, a lot of praying, a lot of boo-hooing about it. And I knew that it was what I had to do. And luckily Sig is an amazing company and instead of just being like, okay, go do your thing, they were able to take my dream and make it into something that truly the firearms industry has never had before. And to be able to be part of that has been truly phenomenal.

Emily Richett
14:00

What an incredible thing because from the an outsider looking in even very quickly, like I can tell there’s nothing like that out there for women. And as a someone completely new to it, there’s nothing that seems so inviting and welcoming and at my level and like cater to me and to millions of other women. And I know it’ll eventually reach that far. Shocks me in a way that it’s taken this long. And how cool for you to be the one to be that vehicle that made it happen?

Lena Miculek
14:32

Absolutely. Like I said, I’ve had such immense support of myself to build me up, to be able to have the knowledge and experience and to have so many amazing role models through the shooting community of women supporting women and doing so. So it was really just like my time to figure out how to support others and for Sig to see that and to work with me to make it something the industry hasn’t seen. And when I say that, that I say it in a way that industry changes are really slow and they’re really hard. But Sig is a bar setter in the firearms world. They’re one of the, if not the largest manufacturer. So with Rose, our mission is no longer to just sell guns because guess what? Every other company sells guns and a lot of ’em sell guns for women. So that’s not what makes us different. There’s a lot of women out there supporting other women with education and classes. So that’s not what makes us different. But what makes us different is that we are this bar setter saying no longer pushing just products. We are here to make competent and confident firearms owners and users because that’s what we have to have. There’s a terrible stat where about 85 to 90% of all guns purchased are never fired.

Lena Miculek
16:11

So during Covid we also had another fun stat that went all around the gun industry that, you know, like women are the largest growing and quickest growing demographic in the industry. And everyone was so excited because all these women during Covid were coming to firearms. But what was happening is that for the first time, people finally found something that was scarier to them than firearms. So they defaulted to going to this and then they got it and they put it in the top of their closet or they hid it under their bed or they locked it away and that was it. And that’s not doing really any good for anyone. Like yeah, sure some companies were happy that they sold product, but the industry as a whole, people as a whole weren’t becoming more safe or better educated. They just now had a gun ’cause they were scared of something more.

Lena Miculek
17:05

And I hate that. Oh gross. You know, like unacceptable. So Rose’s Mission and SIGs mission in mine is to provide everything that a firearm’s owner needs. Which right off the bat when you buy a Rose kit, you get safe storage for your gun. Like before you even get to your car, you can have your gun locked up and secure. You get a super reliable firearm. Of course you also get what doesn’t seem like much, but five little plastic dummy rounds. And with these you can go to the free online educational program that is laid out, just a video series that I walk you through all of the foundations to handling and using a firearm. And the best part is we, we get to do all that in the comfort of your own home. Because as a professional shooter, about 60% of my training is done in my home run around my house with completely unloaded firearms going through the mechanics of it.

Lena Miculek
18:12

So bringing those techniques that have brought me immense success in my career to the average user and making it accessible and welcoming and easy because there’s no need for it to be any other way. Yeah. And women, women, we like to have the whole answer before we dive in. You know, men are like, just, just jump in And it’s like, mm, but what if I just wanna like dip my toe in and think about it And you know what? I want to know everything before I get started. So it’s just about providing all of that for the user. There’s also the online community and in-person events and in-person classes all around the US that

Emily Richett
19:00

Is really what you guys did well at the whole package. And if someone wants to dip their toe in, they can very quickly go further than they’d expect because I came from a place a little bit of hesitancy. I’m thinking like, I wanna understand everything. Like where am I going to safely store again when I have a house full of kids and I see a lot of people online or people I’d follow, they like where on their body they do the concealed carry. And I know that’s something I want to have a permit for here in my state eventually, but I, it’s not something I plan to do for a while. ’cause I got kids like grabbing at me and how would you even do that? And I had like a million questions in my head and I had never even held a gun. And then I found your program, first of all I thought, is this a mistake?

Emily Richett
19:40

Did they forget to put like a paywall for all these training videos? I went to YouTube, I’m like, they’re just here. I haven’t even bought anything yet. And the videos were just there. So I’ve trained with you Lena, you’re such a great trainer. Don’t even know. Hung out. We have hung out and I didn’t even have, I mean my, we have firearms in the house but I, I don’t even wanna get ’em out. So I practice with just my hands on how to grip. You explained the things to do before you go to the range. And I have a buddy from I met years ago at a coffee shop and he is a Purple Heart veteran and he’s a defense guy and personal protection. So I called him up and said I need to do a class, I need to be comfortable like you and my mom and a couple girlfriends were gonna meet at the range, watch your videos and just kinda like practiced at home with nothing.

Emily Richett
20:27

And then I went, it was like a firearms 1 0 1, like very basic. We did some class time and we went on the range and even in the class like we’re handling the guns and we’re learning things and everyone else they have some background or they have their CPL and they were having a hard time with trigger finger and just, they were out of practice for a long time. And so it was funny ’cause they were having an issue with that and I wasn’t. And they were always like, Emily you seem really prepared for, you said you’ve never done this before. And I’m like, I just watched these little videos on YouTube. Done. No big deal.

Lena Miculek
20:56

There

Emily Richett
20:57

We go. I know, I mean I’ve only trained with like a world champion shooter, you know? Yeah. But hey and I was like, you can too. That’s so cool. So it was, it was awesome. And that’s like all I’ve done and that’s all. And people can get to that place in the comfort of their own home like you said. And it really does just change mindset and it gets women I think excited for it and it just opens up the possibilities because also as I think interesting is there’s the sport, there’s the competition, there’s the career of it, but then there’s also firearms for protection. Part of our, our toolkit, the Second Amendment. And these are kind of two different worlds and you seem to live wonderfully in both, but I assume some people could just do it as sport and competition. How is that carried over into just your personal life? Like did you make that transition over and then realize oh this is more needed over here?

Lena Miculek
21:51

Yeah, the two little worlds right. So the best thing about the sport of shooting is that there is no place where you will master the actual shooting of a firearm. Better, nothing. There’s literally not a single place that will make you better than getting into competition. This is where the biggest innovations in technique and gear are evolved from because we are here to play a game to be the fastest and the most accurate. Do you know what the most essential part of self-defense is? It’s if you actually have to use your gun that you can quickly and accurately hit what you’re aiming at.

Emily Richett
22:36

Yeah,

Lena Miculek
22:37

Tactics are super awesome and you know, it’s super cool to know how to clear a room and how to, you know, be aware and how to do all these things. But if you ever have to use your gun, you first and foremost need to be confident and comfortable using it and there’s no better place to do that than the competitive world. So my competitive background just laid the biggest understanding of the foundations of firearms. And then when you get into the world of self-protection, it’s using those skills for a different purpose. The gear is slightly different, it’s all smaller, all carry guns and self defense. Guns are smaller ’cause they’re made to be carried, which means that they’re also harder to use. So the smaller the handgun, the harder it is to shoot, the bigger the handgun almost always the easier it is to shoot just the mechanics of how recoil operates.

Lena Miculek
23:39

The bigger the gun, the heavier the weight of it so it absorbs more of it. Whereas if you have that same caliber gun but smaller, like you’re absorbing it, the grip is smaller, all the buttons are smaller, the slide is smaller, everything is a bit harder. So if you’re just super uncomfortable with guns, know that although the competition world might sound super intimidating, it’s actually gonna be the most inviting place to go and get super comfortable and confident with the skills you’ll need to go into the self-defense world. So yeah, and they both go very much so hand in hand. Competitive shooters on in high levels they go and teach you know like the special forces and other things. So they very much so carries over from one world to the other.

Emily Richett
24:41

Well let’s get actionable for the woman listening who’s new to this or maybe she was hesitant. I mean that is my biggest goal now I start telling, I kind of start feeling out some friends kinda like, hey would you, are you into this? Like would you be into this? And I’m trying to like feel ’em out. I’ve already quickly found the ones that are already into it and that’s awesome. But I’m trying to find the new woman, like the wo like me from just a few months ago and to be like, it’s not that scary. It’s okay. It’s not that scary. So what I think is really helpful is to know like what are the things Lena, that we should know or where do you want us to be and to know about a gun, to know about our skills. What confident level should we be at to be able to use a gun for self-protection? Was it enough to just have gone to the range a few times and like we understand how it functions and how to shoot it, how to hold it. Like what do we actually need to know? Oh,

Lena Miculek
25:38

What do you need to know? Well first off, this is your journey. If you’re looking into firearms for personal protection or for fun or anything, you get to decide what it looks like, how many steps there are, how quickly it goes. ’cause it’s about you being comfortable. And at no point should you proceed past what you are comfortable with. Women, we are always more cautious. That’s just kind of how we proceed through life. So when you say like you see all these women that are hesitant and on the edge, well that’s, that’s good. I always like people to show up with a healthy respect of firearms because they are firearms. You know, if you show up and you’re like, no big deal, I got this done it before, I’m gonna be like, oh wow, I gotta really keep eyes and hands on you. Like let’s, let’s watch out.

Lena Miculek
26:31

So know that we do want to proceed with caution. It’s unknown. It is a very powerful tool but just like everything else in our life, a bit of training, a bit of education and most importantly time doing so will gain us more than anything else. I think what you need to know is that we can read about it, we can watch videos, we can do all that, but there’s nothing better than action. We don’t want to get frozen in the pondering with Rose. If you do buy your kit and even if you don’t all the educational videos, all that is free. The community’s open to anyone. You don’t have to own any of our products. But if you do have the kit, the whole goal of it is that you can buy it, you can go home and you can begin this journey at your own speed without anyone else.

Lena Miculek
27:24

Because going to a range and going to the person behind the counter and asking them questions and having strangers lead you through this can be really uncomfortable and intimidating. Don’t worry, you don’t, you don’t have to talk to anybody. You can just come and find me and we can sit at your kitchen table together and we can work through all of it. So know that your answers are gonna be the best answers and that’s just what it has to be. Don’t feel like if you do go to a store and someone behind the counter says this product is good for you or this is how you should train or this is the answer that it’s necessarily true, you’re gonna find your best answer. So what do you need to know about firearms that you should maintain your healthy respect for them? That training is absolutely going to be your best friend.

Lena Miculek
28:21

And 50 rounds, a hundred rounds, 200 rounds is not very much of training. So to put in perspective, because I have so many new women, you know like they’ll take their class and they’ll go and shoot one or two megs, 10 30 rounds, something like that and they’ll be like ugh, I’m not any good at it. This is uncomfortable. Everything is just overwhelming, it’s just loud noises, all that. And I’m like, wow, if you were like trying to run a marathon, the equivalency of what you just did would be going on a one mile walk. Like you of course you’re uncomfortable. Everything is still totally new to you. So we have a tendency to be way too harsh on ourselves when it comes to training with firearms and not have realistic expectations set. So know that it’s gonna take hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of rounds to become or start to become comfortable.

Lena Miculek
29:34

For me an average training session is four to 800 rounds and that is for like a competitive shooter, just a normal day. And it’s that four to six times a week to get to a super high level. Now self-defense, you don’t have to be, you know, no one has to be at this super high level, but just to give some parameters because women we also like, we’re a little bit harsh on ourselves. We’re the perfectionist. We’re like, why haven’t I picked up on this? There’s this bullseye and it has this little center and I want all the shots to go here and they’re not. And it’s the process. And

Emily Richett
30:17

I thought you were gonna tell me that I needed to go to like blindfold, like disassemble and reassemble. Yeah the firearm in under 30 seconds. ’cause I’ve only seen this stuff in movies Lena, until I saw your videos. Yeah.

Lena Miculek
30:28

And also upside down you forgot that I don’t care about it has to be blindfolded and upside down for me to know that you’re truly ready. Got it. But like that’s the thing. Yeah. The shooting that we are most inundated with through Hollywood and TV and everything sets crazy unrealistic expectations. Just like it does with imagine this everything else in life. Yeah. So know that this really is an investment of your time to make it to a point when you are comfortable and confident enough to go into self-defense and like you said, you are kind of looking in the window at concealed carry. Well that’s a whole nother thing, right? You know, like before you are comfortable carrying a firearm on you, you have to be totally comfortable with that gun not on you shooting right at the range being active. And then once you’re comfortable there, then you have the capacity to address a new uncomfortable carrying the gun on you.

Lena Miculek
31:37

But of course when you’re brand new, carrying a gun on you sounds absurd because just like holding it is still uncomfortable. Like your left hand still doesn’t know how to support the gun. The mags seem like which ways forward if we still have those questions, like worrying about carrying the gun on you is still like in your future, like slow it down. You know, like we don’t have to worry about how we’re going to lift the 50 pound dumbbells when we are still working on the fives. Like one step at a time. We kind of, you’re right too much.

Emily Richett
32:11

But like you said, as women sometimes it’s our nature that we want to know like okay, if I’m gonna get into this, what’s it gonna look like in two years? Like where am I ultimately going to be? And it’s a humbling experience too. It’s fun for anyone who is competitive by nature, a fun challenge because I mean the one time I’ve been at the range, then I had to like fill back up the the mag, right? And it was harder than I thought. It felt very uncoordinated. And then I realized I was putting them in upside down and my buddy came by, he’s like, what? He’s like, you know, it would be helpful if you put him in the right way. And I’m just like, I dunno what I’m doing. And in the movies, like if a guy comes up right now and I need to protect myself, I’m supposed to just know what I’m doing. And so, but see

Lena Miculek
32:50

Right there you took like your your one or two mags of experience and you automatically went, oh my gosh, what would happen if I was just in the most intense situation of my entire life right now? Like exactly, I, yeah, that sounds overwhelming to me too. So that’s once again like slowing it all down. Yeah like step by step we have this end goal, but to get there we have to do it step by step. And too often we look to these enormous goals and then we’re just overwhelmed and then we’re frozen and then we’re not going back to the range because next week we wanna be carrying this gun and all of a sudden now there’s more steps between that, Ugh no, we’re just, we’re done with it. And it’s just unrealistic. Your journey is your journey. Know that it’s probably gonna take a lot longer than you might anticipate, but you’re also gonna be way more comfortable and confident than you ever could have imagined if you just stick with it and go with the process.

Lena Miculek
33:54

Yeah. And most importantly when you are training, give yourself some grace because you shot a little bit. It is hard, there’s a ton going on. Not only do you need to know your own physical techniques, literally from your toes to your nose, like what your body needs to be doing to get the best results. But you also have to learn your equipment, you know? Yeah. And there is so much equipment out there and so many different options. So give yourself time and know that once again action is gonna be your best friend, otherwise you’re gonna always be on the edge like looking in. So little steps, little steps, awesome. First steps to take just going to the range with a friend and you do not even need to shoot for many women, especially if loud noises are a bother to you, which you don’t have to like know that you know like right.

Lena Miculek
34:59

If you haven’t been around gunfire, you quite don’t understand how loud it is for me. I barely even hear it anymore. It’s just kind of part of my life. But adjusting to that is a big first step. So for many women I’ve suggested they just go and stand inside the indoor range and let their bodies start to become used to what gunfire is. Because if just the sound of someone shooting a gun makes you jump, you know how remarkably difficult it’s gonna be for you to be calm and controlled and be able to really apply good technique when you’re on the line, it’s gonna be real hard. So once again, little baby steps, one after another. We gotta introduce ourselves to this, to this world of firearms.

Emily Richett
35:50

Yeah. Okay. So go slowly is one of your tips for before we go to the range, I mean I really recommend people watch your video. I think you have a video titled like What to Do before You Go to the Range.

Lena Miculek
36:02

Absolutely, I do. I do. Yeah. How to prepare for it

Emily Richett
36:06

And that was great. There are a couple things I remember in particular. I mean you get as detailed and it sounds like a lot, but when you’re watching the video it all makes sense. There’s one even an example of how to put your elbows or your arms so they’re kind of twisted and that helps. And even like right there is in my kitchen, I remember I was in my kitchen and I just like, I’m like, oh yeah then my, my arm can’t come back as easy if I twist my elbow out this way. And it was such a great tip. And then I went to the range and it was time to take my first shot and I saw, I could hear you in my head saying, all you have to do is like take that deep breath and I just want you to slowly as you exhale, pull the trigger and then you’re gonna put it down. And knowing that that’s all I had to do, like I’m gonna do it once I’m gonna put it down, was so helpful. It sounds so simple. Like when I’m saying it now, it sounds kind of silly, but when you’re in the moment and you’re thinking, you hear all the noises and maybe your, your friend next to you hear his like boom, boom, boom like going at it and you’re like, I only have to do this one and set it down and I’m, and that’s it. And I can take a breath and start again, figure

Lena Miculek
37:07

Out what’s happening after that. But let me just on this one step because the one step in front of you is the most important step. Everything else can wait because it has to wait. So bring yourself to the right now, do your one step, let your adrenaline flow, let the newness just kind of wash over you for a second, regather yourself and go at it again. Shooting is if you, if any of the anybody that’s listening to this has ever gone to the range and had a bad experience, I’m truly sorry. And know that there’s so much that can be done to prevent that. And it’s a bunch of little things just like what you talked about, like your elbows and these little bitty techniques, they all stack up astronomically. And the smaller you are over overall, you know, height, weight, size, the more efficient we have to be with technique to get the same outcome as some big old person, you know, especially gentlemen or men, they have so much more upper body strength than us pound per pound.

Lena Miculek
38:20

So we can’t look at someone, even someone our same size shooting and be like, oh I can do what they do. Nope. Technique is gonna rule. Technique is everything and it’s a bunch of little things that’ll build, build up to an awesome experience. But if someone just handed you a gun and was just like shoot it and you had a bad experience, it’s almost guaranteed I could have told you that like right. I hate that. I hate that for them and I hate that for anybody that’s had it and know that that is not the reality. It’s just that you were thrown into just the boiling pot with no heads up. But you can go through that video series and I will tell you all the techniques to have a good experience and I will prepare you for what you’re going to encounter when you do go to the range.

Lena Miculek
39:14

And then if you do go to the range, I’ll have you a structured practice because just going there and trying to poke holes in paper can not lead you necessarily where you wanna go. So imagine the range as the gun gym. You know, you could walk into a gym and you can go, I’m here to get fit. And it’s like, okay, in what way? What does that look like for you? Does that look like Pilates? Does that look like lifting weights? If it lifting weights? What muscle groups are you working today with? What specific exercises? And if you don’t show up with that, how are you gonna walk away with having gained something? It makes it super hard. And that’s where I come in where I have structured trainings so that you can go and you can know the exercises to do to build up your shooting muscles, to build up your confidence.

Lena Miculek
40:20

And that’s one of the huge benefits of my past. You know, my job was go to the range and walk away with results so I know how to do that super efficiently and also there’s no way in which you have failed that I probably haven’t done a hundred times and then found the solutions for it. And then I’ve luckily gotten the opportunity to teach so many people that even if it’s not what I personally encountered, I’ve seen it before and come up with a bunch of different answers for it. I do not believe that there is a cookie cutter answer for people when it comes to firearms from necessarily gear all the way down to technique because look how diverse our bodies are. Look at how different our mental and physical strengths and weaknesses are and top that off with what our specific goal might be.

Lena Miculek
41:23

How can I give a group of people one answer and it truly be the best one for them? It doesn’t happen. So there is no one answer but there is one direction and one goal, you know get super good and that’s my favorite thing to help people find out what that looks like for them. And that’s the way the whole training is laid out. I tell people if they ever have an instructor that says this is the way, it’s the one way, it’s the right way, you walk away. Which is super true because it’s just not, not how it works. Yeah, not at all. Have you,

Emily Richett
42:09

Have you come across many women, especially with Rose over the last year that still felt hesitant or they weren’t sure if firearms were even for them because I think a lot of women are stepping into it, like you said, especially over the last few years and it’s kinda a natural thing. We’ve got this women, even if they’re not biological mothers, you’ve got this natural mama bear instinct in us and that is a whole other part of the toolkit. Like why? Why do you think that’s something women should explore if they’re thinking about it? And any tips for that if they’re like, I don’t even know if I want to go there. Like if I want to go to the range, like how do you even figure out if this is for you?

Lena Miculek
42:49

I think that whether or not personal protection side of firearms is for you, firearms education and familiarization is for you. Because if you live in the US the reality is there are guns everywhere. And by you choosing not to educate yourself and become familiar, it just means possibly at some point in your life you’re gonna have a situation where you’re not prepared and in probably maybe a serious way. ’cause once again firearms are a very powerful tool, but as long as we know how to operate that power tool, we’re gonna be good to go. And if it makes you uncomfortable, know that you always have something to gain personally by facing that. Like for me, when I’m in doubt, it’s like if I want personal growth on the range or mainly in my everyday life, I know that I can always face what is the most uncomfortable to me and there’s something there I do not already have.

Lena Miculek
43:56

You know, like what you don’t have now lives on the other side of fear. So yeah, like go for it and you let it take you wherever it may be. Whether it is just for fun, whether it’s just a one time and done thing, but a tool that you can put in your toolbox all the way up to this every day I’m carrying a gun, whatever it may be. But there’s no reason that it should stop you if you’re hesitant about it, know that it is completely safe as far as the sports worlds go. I remember I ran into a gentleman on an airplane flying and he asked me what I did and I was like, well actually I’m a competitive shooter and he got concerned like for my wellbeing, like legitimately he was like, oh my gosh, like he thought this was the most dangerous thing that had ever been ever like I am. I’m not gonna make it. And I was sitting here and I was like, I don’t know, like anybody that’s ever had an injury w from my sport. But I do know a lot of people that have concussions and broken legs and broken fingers and twisted ankles from

Emily Richett
45:16

There. Every other sport,

Lena Miculek
45:17

Every normal school sport. Yeah. So like I’m good like you, you don’t have to worry about me. So know that the range is a super safe space as long as you follow the really easy safety steps that are laid out for everyone and upheld at every range. So take it slow and make it once again for you and you don’t have to see this two year path, you know, it doesn’t have to lead to something more, it can just be, hey you know what, this is something I’m uncomfortable with and it’s not gonna be that way anymore. So I’m gonna watch some videos on YouTube and then I might take a class in person. That’s it. That’s all it’s gotta be. You don’t have to commit to going to the range every single day and shooting rounds, but I would love it if you did because it would lead you somewhere that you never imagined.

Emily Richett
46:20

Yes, I love that. Well really recommend people start training with you because they can, it’s right there on YouTube. I will link to it here. But with that, you know Lena, thank you so much for just choosing to put a bit, I wouldn’t say you even put your career on hold, but you definitely decided to make this pivot and you did it in a way where you wanted to share your skills and to help educate and train women who didn’t have those skills. A lot of us. So I really appreciate that and and thank you for that. And what’s next? Let us know we want to get involved, we wanna learn more about the Rose program, you know, what’s in the pipeline and, and what can we expect?

Lena Miculek
46:58

Well I can’t say too much about 2024, but 2023 was just over the moon successful from the response that we had in the industry to women showing up to in-person events to our online community. So you can join us and be part of that on any of our social medias, rose by Sig Sour on Instagram and Facebook. And most importantly we have a private Facebook group of almost 14,000 women in a year that we built that are just there to share their journey, what they’ve learned, ask questions. And that’s also the place where most of our education goes and the heads up of what’s new in rows and what’s coming down the pipelines. But a ton more in-person events. Making sure that we are available to, to all is my main focus for 2024. And luckily there’ll be products to launch here, say summer to fall.

Lena Miculek
48:06

So be on the lookout for that. But most importantly for me is the education. It’s truly an honor to be able to support women through this for whatever reason that they’ve come to firearms. And there’s no like greater gift I think for anyone than to be able to use like their gifts to support and build up others. So this whole program and the community and education, like it truly is a dream come true. And I just, I just love it. I love people showing up hesitant or unsure and me just being like, Ooh, let me just, I got you. Like I got the techniques, I got the training, I got the gear, I got everything. Just like take my hand and give me a little bit of time and I guarantee you’ll walk away confident I have yet to have someone that is not. And the stories that women share with me are just truly moving and I just love it. I just truly love it. So please come be part of it wherever you can find us. And you can also follow me just Lena ick on Instagram and Facebook and my normal shooting shenanigans. Yeah,

Emily Richett
49:31

I hope you get some sleep because I feel like you’re just everywhere. You just had the rose like one year anniversary event. I saw you were over at Sig Sour for that, which, I mean Sikh is always doing amazing stuff there. You’re, you know, winning world championships and you’re off competing here and there and and just doing so many events. So thank you for taking that time for us and I like to end every episode. So envision for whatever reason you have to enact your bug out bag. You’re loading it up in the Tacoma, who knows where you’re headed. You’ve got all the essentials, all the survival essentials are there. You get to bring one more thing. What survival thing do you need?

Lena Miculek
50:10

It is my dog Letty.

Emily Richett
50:15

I have a feeling we

Lena Miculek
50:16

Gotta have, we gotta have the emotional like support. Yes. You know, because we’re surviving. Yeah. Things are rough. I need a warm little yellow dog to just like curl up in bed with at night, right? Like it’s an essential, she’s also like always in my back pocket. So it’s going to be my dog Letty.

Emily Richett
50:35

She’s your everyday Carrie. I love it. She is,

Lena Miculek
50:38

She is. She’s always watching my back.

Emily Richett
50:40

Thank you so much for listening. If you like what you heard, will you do me a favor? Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. And could you rate the show? You just click on those little dots in the corner to go to the main show page and then scroll down and fill in those stars. Last, don’t forget to take action. Remember a self-reliant lifestyle is earned with little daily steps to add up to big action. Thank you for being here. Until next time, stay safe out there Mama Bear.

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