If you’ve been following my posts recently, you know I’ve taken to finding people I admire in CenPho and doing profiles of them. Nicole Gaskell came to a Get Your PHX event a few months ago and I learned about her inspiring story.

Nicole Gaskell lives in Central Phoenix and is the President & Executive Director of Alert Aware!, a non-profit organization she founded in 2011 which trains students from pre-school to high-school in self defense techniques, believing that every student should have an opportunity to learn self-defense tactics and awareness training.

Nicole has trained under many legends in the industry: people like Guro Dan Inosanto (student of the late Bruce Lee), Ajarn Surachai Sirisute (founder and President of the Thai Boxing Association of the USA), Erik Paulson (first American to win the Japan World Light-Heavy Weight Shooto Title), Sifu Francis Fong (one of the top Wing Chun instructors and martial artists in the world) and many others. How many self-defense techniques does she know? Jun Fan Gung Fu, Muay Thai Boxing, Western Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wing Chun, Shooto Wrestling. 

Alert Aware! works directly with schools and community organizations, providing self-defense and awareness training at all levels. Nicole’s passion for teaching, combined with her extensive background in martial arts is what led her and her colleagues to start Alert Aware! Their mission is to bring world-class training to kids where it’s more convenient—in their schools.

Nicole was raised in upstate New York, where she attended the Martial Arts Academy at the initiation of her mother as a child. She loved it so much she took classes almost every day until it became part of her lifestyle. After college at Niagara University, she took her Bachelor’s Degree in marketing and military science and joined the military and they took her to Germany for a few years.

In Germany, she was in the 72^nd Signal Command, where she used her marketing and project management expertise to organize concerts with bands like Aerosmith when they’d perform for the troops. 

I was really impressed with the way Nicole is integrating life lessons like these directly into our Phoenix schools and community.

If you want to buy or sell near a school or community organization where Nicole teachers, or just to buy or sell in Central Phoenix, please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com.