WEEKLY HEALTHY CHICKS IN THE COMMUNITY FEATURE: Meet SHAY OF IMPACT Boston
It’s been a while, but I’m excited to bring back the Healthy Chicks in the Community series, highlighting rockstar Girl Bosses doing their thang in the wellness community! This week’s feature, Shay, is a role model for many young women, working as a self-defense instructor for IMPACT Boston.
Through her impactful work, she’s able to empower students to find their voice and defend themselves in the real world. I’ll let Shay take it from here!
DESCRIBE YOUR BUSINESS/LINE OF WORK: I’m a self-defense instructor with IMPACT Boston (although my actual title is Program Coordinator). We’re an abuse prevention nonprofit dedicated to teaching self-defense by giving students the opportunity to practice physical and verbal skills in realistic scenarios. I coach the students through the scenarios while my coworker, the “suited instructor,” plays a character who might be anyone from a stranger to a coercive dating partner. We teach empowerment self-defense, which means that our approach is evidence-based, trauma-informed, and anti-victim blaming.
I’ve been working here for almost a year and I’m in love with it. I get to help people get to a place where they can walk or wheel through the world without (or at least with less) fear; I get to help teenagers find their voices and think about consent and boundaries in a new way; I get to go to schools and teach self-defense to students with disabilities — all of it is immensely rewarding, plus it’s also awesome to get to be active at work. Some days I’m doing office work and other days I’m practicing kicking an assailant in the head. It’s a very unique work environment.
WHERE YOU LIVE: Jamaica Plain, Boston
HOW YOU SERVE THE COMMUNITY THROUGH YOUR WORK: People don’t often connect self-defense to abuse prevention — they think of it as an individual solution rather than a legitimate community-wide prevention strategy. This makes sense if when you hear “violence” you think of the sensationalized version we see in the media — stranger attacks woman in the park. But most violence, and all abuse, is perpetrated by people we know — people in our community enacting harmful behaviors in their relationships that range from ignoring boundaries to controlling behavior to sexual harassment to rape or physical abuse.
And one proven way to combat this kind of violence is to have an open discussion about the warning signs of abusive behavior and get people to practice setting boundaries, and also get people thinking about what they can do to stand up to rape culture when they hear or see a coworker or a peer saying/doing something that perpetuates the toxic power dynamics in our culture. Our classes are so much more than learning to defend yourself from a physical threat, although that is incredibly valuable as well.
NUMBER ONE PASSION OUTSIDE THE JOB: Tough question! I feel like the things I’m most passionate about involve trying to do my part to make society more just and mitigate the harm caused by harmful legislation/bad systems, but that’s hard to write about because there are a lot of different things happening. I actually moved back to the US after the 2016 election because I felt like the best thing I could do in response to that was to be here and get involved.
I’m still working out exactly what that means for me and how to effectively use my spare time/energy, but that will always be a struggle when there is so much change to push for. One thing I can share that I am excited about and was somewhat involved in is the fight for a $15 minimum wage and paid family leave in MA, which passed in the state legislature after a lot of organizing/signature gathering. The growing consciousness about the massive economic inequality in this country and the many people organizing for change gives me hope.
INTENTIONS/GOALS YOU HAVE FOR YOURSELF IN THE NEXT 3 YEARS: I’m actually not a very goal-oriented person, but I do want to re-learn Spanish in the next few years. Nineteen year old me was pretty good at it, but she and I don’t have a ton in common, including that.
ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’D TELL YOUR CHILDHOOD SELF: If you get the same LL Bean backpack as everyone else with your initials on the back, you’ll just be boring like everyone else and they will all know that your initials are SLO.
FOODS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL ALIVE & BRING THE MOST JOY: I make a smoothie almost every morning with a banana, frozen mango, some kind of leafy green, almond or soy milk, and flax seeds.
SONG THAT MOVES YOU: Praying by Kesha
THREE FAB THINGS ABOUT YOU:
- I bike to work.
- I’ve been pen pals with someone who’s incarcerated in TX for 5 years through an awesome organization called Black & Pink.
- I’m vegan!
FAVORITE BODY PART & WHY: Legs. I was awkwardly tall as a teenager and it made me feel like a wobbly giraffe, but as an adult I love my legs, partially because I like how they look but I also love what they do for me and the beautiful places they’ve taken me.
EXERCISE THAT MAKES YOU SHINE: I’m a volleyball player so I try to play as much competitive volleyball as I can.
SOMETHING IN YOUR “WELLNESS TOOLBOX” YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: A really good pair of sneakers.
GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: When I was 25 I moved to New Zealand by myself. It didn’t feel like a huge accomplishment at the time, but I’ve had a lot of moments since then when I’ve struggled to see myself as a capable, independent person, and it helps to remind myself that not too long ago I bought a one way ticket to another country and made a lot of awesome things happen once I got there.
FEMALE LEADERS YOU LOOK UP TO: Elizabeth Warren, Barbara Lee, Bree Newsome, Laverne Cox, Tig Notaro, Hannah Gadsby (if you haven’t seen Nanette on Netflix, you should do that ASAP), Lydia Edwards, and Antonia Melo.
IF YOU COULD PICK ONE PERSON TO HAVE DINNER WITH, WHO WOULD IT BE & WHAT WOULD YOU MAKE THEM: Kade Crockford. They work for the ACLU and do some great activism, and their podcast Humorless Queers is one of the most simultaneously informative and entertaining shows I’ve listened to. I have no idea what I would make them — it would just be super cool to have a conversation with them!
GO-TO MANTRA OR INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE: “There’s nothing stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself.” –Hannah Gadsby (watch Nanette!)
MESSAGE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH OTHER HEALTHY CHICKS: Fill your life with good people, go on walks, get a cat, see a therapist, and frown at strangers who tell you to smile.
Note: The views expressed in this interview are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of IMPACT Boston.
