Mindy Lin’s Damsel in Defense is more than just a brand—it’s a movement aimed at giving women the tools they need to stay safe, while looking good doing it.
Lin founded Damsel in Defense after realizing that many women weren’t carrying self-defense tools simply because they weren’t easily accessible or didn’t feel like something they’d want to carry.
“I’ve always had an understanding of the importance of personal safety and body boundaries,” Lin explains. “My dad had sent me off to college with a bear-sized black and yellow pepper spray that never left my dorm. Being in a mom’s group later in life with over 50 women, I realized that the reason so few were carrying protection is because #1 it wasn’t easily accessible and #2 it wasn’t aesthetic at all.”
With a background in direct sales, Lin began by hosting small events at her friends’ and family’s homes, showing women how they could protect themselves with products that were easy to use and looked good. “We started selling the products out of living rooms and then progressed to larger events like Christmas shows and runner’s events. Every event I attended, there was always at least one woman that would approach and share her story and thank us for offering what we were to spur me forward in this new mission.”
Today, Damsel in Defense has grown into a community of over 30,000 women who are committed to empowering themselves and others. What makes Damsel in Defense stand out is its focus on both function and fashion. “We start first with what are effective and necessary safety features for our various devices, and then we mold it into what is both functional and fashionable,” Lin shares.
Lin tests all the products herself, and her husband even helps test the pepper sprays, ensuring that every item is both safe and high quality. “I personally stun myself with every new stun device we carry, and my wonderful husband has subjected himself to the pepper spray twice. Once at adoption and the second time when we made a formulation change. Quality assurance is very important to us.”
In addition to selling products, Damsel in Defense is all about educating women on how to protect themselves. “Our mission is to Equip, Empower and EDUCATE. While our products are absolutely user-friendly, they are useless in the bottom of someone’s purse if they don’t understand the foundational components of personal protection, like being aware of your surroundings and how to make yourself a hard target.”
One of the most innovative features of their products is Shield Technology, which allows users to send emergency alerts to pre-set contacts, adding an extra layer of protection. “We developed Shield Technology, which allows you to preset 5 contacts to your device so that if the customer deploys their linked protection, it alerts those contacts to their emergency and continues to send their location until help can arrive.”
But Lin’s mission doesn’t stop with personal safety. Damsel in Defense also helps fund two international rescue homes for young girls escaping sex trafficking. “To this day, over 1,500 girls have been rescued and given hope and a future free of selling their bodies. That is a very, very rewarding number of singular starfishes across the ocean,” Lin says.
Through Damsel in Defense, Lin wants to create a lasting legacy of safety and empowerment. Her goal is to make the company a household name, especially for parents who want to ensure their daughters are safe as they head to college or start their careers. “My lifelong goal is to leave this world safer than I found it. My immediate goal is to make Damsel in Defense a household name.”
A particularly impactful moment came from a customer testimonial: “I just had a returning customer come to thank me. Last month he purchased a stun device for his daughter. He said a week after he gave it to her, she had to use it when a man tried to attack her. She stunned him and law enforcement was contacted. The officer was very impressed and said she’s going to look into our products for her family. I love what we do!”
This blend of empowerment, innovation, and community is what keeps Damsel in Defense at the forefront of the conversation about women’s safety. As Lin puts it, “Damsel in Defense operates to be a force for good in the world and is constantly fighting to change the overwhelming statistics, but our metrics of success are singular. The story of the starfish and making a difference to just the one is foundational to who we are and what we do.”