Business focus: Merchant sells self-defense products through demos

You never know when you might need to defend yourself while walking through a store parking lot or during a stroll through the park.

That’s why Mark Hughes, owner of Self-Protection and Safety, a new Spokane Valley business that demonstrates and sells self-defense products, always carries pepper spray and a stun gun.

You can never be too careful, said Hughes, who was a master patrolman for five years in Houston, where he saw too many victims of violence, especially women.

By selling self-defense products and providing the training to use them with confidence, Hughes hopes to help more people avoid becoming victims.

“People can avoid crime,” he said. “If you don’t have anything at all, you’ve decided to be a victim.”

Selling products such as pepper spray, stun guns, door stoppers and door alarms through demonstrations, much like Mary Kay or Tupperware parties, Hughes said the practice and education he provides during a demonstration is as important as the products themselves.

“If you’ve never been trained and don’t have a plan of action …” he said, “Even if you have the means, when fear strikes, without a plan of action, panic takes over.”

Connie Bailey, controller at RnR RV Center in Liberty Lake, said about 15 women came to a self-defense product demonstration Hughes gave at their business. Bailey bought a door stop and pepper spray.

“You read every day about some thug doing something,” said Bailey, who carries the pepper spray when she takes cash to the bank. “I always have (pepper spray) in my pocket now.”

During demonstrations, Hughes teaches four steps of self-defense: observation, alarm, warn and defend.

The first step, observation, is the most important, he said. If you pay attention to your environment, you will often see danger before it gets close, giving you a chance to get away.

“Take a second to look around,” he said, giving a parking lot as an example. “Don’t charge right out. Be aware of everything.”

If you see someone who makes you uneasy, you’ve entered the second step, alarm. That’s when you should keep your distance, putting space between you and any potential danger.

If you feel alarm and someone is aggressive, then it is time to warn, the third step. Yelling a warning, said Hughes, “gives you a chance to see their intentions.”

If it comes to the last step of defending yourself, using pepper spray or a stun gun enables you to incapacitate an attacker and escape without causing permanent harm.

“The idea is to get them away and keep them away,” said Hughes.

To build confidence and experience, he recommends customers practice with an inert spray, getting a feel for how high and far the stream or fog sprays while creating a mental plan of self-protection.

“If you don’t protect yourself, nobody else is going to,” said Bailey. “You don’t have a policeman walking around with you.”