Vanessa Davis has a different take on keeping people healthy. She began her company, VeeDavis Enterprises, in 2009 in Bowie, intending to sell personal safety and self-defense products online. After months of local networking, she developed a “road show” to educate people, mainly women, about personal safety issues and solutions and to empower them to defend themselves.
Davis started DivaDefender (http://divadefender.com), retailing and wholesaling personal safety and self-defense products such as stun guns, tasers, pepper spray, personal alarms and diversion safes to a very diverse set of audiences that includes trade shows, gun shows and online, as well as at home parties, homeowners associations and other organizational meetings. She also holds classes including “Refuse to be a Victim,” a personal safety course, and her “DivaDefender Women’s Self-Defense Boot Camp.”
“I provide solutions to make lives safer,” said Davis. “No one else in the local area is doing this. … I don’t just sell products, I give safety and self-defense [information] to my clients at all DivaDefender events.” She also ensures that each event has a safety presentation before the guests can purchase products.
DivaDefender is only 2 years old, and Davis is “still focused on building the business and brand, creating efficient processes, developing clearer messages and, of course, increasing sales. … In a year, I hope to have significant local brand name recognition and a steady stream of requests for speaking engagements, home parties, boot camps and products.”
