BSSA Lead Safety Defense Coach/Instructor
Amy Washington is the Lead Safety Defense Coach as well as a personal devices and basic firearms instructor. She is also a wife and a mother.
Coach Amy comes to Brick Street Safety Academy with the following credentials:
- She has over 30-years of safety experience.
- 15-years of basic self-defense experience.
- 23-years of life-coaching experience.
- 25-years of teaching experience.
- Certified Basic Firearms Instructor.
- American Red Cross Certification in Adult/Pediatric CPR, First Aid and AED.
- C.O.B.R.A. Graduate.
- Active Shooter Graduate.
- Conflict Mediator
- Safety Strategist
- Curriculum Builder
- Reality Safety Scenarios Creator.
- Founder of S.T O .P. (See, Think, Observe and Protect) For Women.
- An Author.
- Motivational Speaker
- Podcaster
- Website Developer
- Graphic Designer
Coach Amy has also developed and helped co-organized several training programs and safety themed team-building activities for BSSA such as:
- BSSA Safety Defense For Realtors
- BSSA Blocked Target
- S.T.O.P. Basic Self-Defense Tactics Class For Women
- Basic Self-Defense Tactics Practice Class For Women
- Firearms 2.0 Skills and Drills Class
- Introduction to Firearms Safety Class
- Red Zone Firearms Safety Class
- Scenario Classes
- Airsoft Pistol Training
- Safety Assessment BSSA EDU Membership
Her primary focus is empowering and educating young girls and women. She is a great instructor as well as an intuitive coach. Her classes are fun, interactive and very informative.
A few words from Coach Amy
Hi There!
Thank you for taking the time to browse through our website and to read this message. Being a Safety Coach/Instructor for the past eleven-years for BSSA has been an honor. I have met so many great people. I have seen so many of our students evolve into safer individuals. I’ve also seen some of the most courageous women transform into fighting warriors. I’ve even witnessed several AWESOME students push past their fears and tears to demonstrate impeccable courage. What a feeling it is to witness such change and perseverance.
As a basic firearms instructor as well as a lead safety-defense coach, I am no stranger to danger. I truly understand the need to be safe. I’ve had my own bouts with uncomfortable situations throughout different periods of my life that could have been problematic or deadly. For instance, in my early twenties I was followed by a strange male. The odd man followed me on foot inside of a grocery store and then he later followed me in his vehicle. Without a doubt, this situation was unsettling. It was probably the most eye-opening real-life experience that I had endured at that age. I share full details of this ordeal in my self-defense classes. So, what I will say here is if it had not been for God, and for my husband, I could have easily become a victim of rape or faced death if I had driven home.
Days before I was followed, my husband and I just had a conversation on what to do or not to do if I were followed. He was very adamant that I did not drive home if ever followed. Thank God I didn’t brush that conversation off or act like it wouldn’t ever happen to me. This incident as well as others propelled my interest in learning all that I could within the safety industry. Being a wife of a police officer for over thirty-five years and a mother, definitely prompted me to learn more about personal safety.
Needless to say, I felt compelled to study the behaviors of perpetrators. I’d learned self-defense techniques, sharpened situation awareness skill-sets, obtained training with personal safety devices and firearms. It was important to me to learn how to protect myself as a woman and how to be aware of my surroundings at all times. I felt the need to educate others of what I’ve learned to help them to avoid becoming an easy target. I especially did not want women to feel powerless, ashamed, vulnerable or nervous to protect themselves. Therefore, I chose this profession to help coach, guide, instruct, enlighten and educate others on how to become safer individuals.
My purpose here at Brick Street Safety Academy is to share with you the reality of potential threats and why it is important to invest in your personal safety. There are so many dangerous elements that surround us from day to day that most people aren’t simply paying attention to. Especially, living in a world where technology has practically taken over our lives and weakened our need to be alert.
As an instructor, I am here to help educate you on how to better be aware of your surroundings, how to use safety techniques to help protect your life and most importantly coach you to NEVER give up!
Lastly, I always remind my students/clients that there will always be a level of fear, but they do not have to allow their fears to control them. We can control our fears and fight back! Keep in mind, that it is no one’s responsibility to fight for your life! That responsibility is strictly yours!
I hope you’ll enjoy the class or classes that you choose to take with us, trust the process and of course always be safe!