Local Spotlight: Autumn Clifford

Autumn Clifford is on a mission to empower women.

Clifford, of Lyman, teaches women and girls self-protection skills through her company, She’s An Asset.

Working to help women transform their lives, Clifford draws on her own life experiences.

She began a career in law enforcement when she was 20 years old. A martial artist since the age of 5, she earned a second degree blackbelt and became a defensive tactics instructor at the Maine Police Academy. Her career was moving forward, and while working at the Saco Police Department, was appointed to Maine's Federal Human Trafficking Task Force in conjunction with Homeland Security Investigations. And then, in 2016 she suffered a career-ending back injury.

“I was devastated. So essentially for six months, I was couch ridden. I was in therapy five days a week, and I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t stand for long periods, or sit for long periods,” she said. “I became very depressed, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I had been super-focused on moving up in my career in criminal justice.”

Despite her situation, she was able to power through and use her skills to launch a business.

“I opened a life-coaching company from my couch, and I started coaching women professionally, and I’ve been doing it for the last nine years,” she said.

A large focus of her clientele in the beginning was women in law enforcement, and she traveled around the country giving presentations to police departments.

Then two years ago, the owner of a hair salon in Bangor reached out to her and asked if she could teach a self-defense class for her employees.

“I believe that self-defense is something that you should do consistently. So taking one 2-hour class with me isn’t going to do anything. It has to be second nature,” he said,

She decided a one-time workshop on situational awareness would be more beneficial.

“The idea is, how can I teach you to be a hard target for predators,” she said.

Clifford created a curriculum that draws on her experience in law enforcement, teaches situational awareness, and encourages women to use intuition and be resilient.

“I really believe in resiliency because that’s the only thing that saved me,” she said.

Clifford still isn’t fully recovered from her injury, but through a strict regimen of physical therapy, core-strengthening exercises, chiropractic services and stretching, she’s been able to get to a place where she can manage day-to-day activities.

She now travels New England teaching situational awareness with a wholistic approach – using mind, body and soul.

She said that while supporting women in law enforcement online, she was bullied by people who told her that women in law enforcement were liabilities. She wants women to know that they are instead assets, hence the name of her business.

“I was on my yoga mat one day and it just came to me – she’s not a liability, she’s an asset. I just want every woman and girl to know that they have everything that they need inside of them now,” she said.

Clifford is hosting a live resiliency event on Saturday, March 7 from 9 a.m. to noon or 5-8 p.m. at The Clarion Hotel, 1230 Congress St. Portland. Tickets can be purchased online.

Pro Tips

Clifford encourages women to listen to their intuition. We’ve all had times when we’ve met someone and we know something about them isn’t right. But after talking to friends who don’t see any problems, we may be afraid we’re overreacting, so we dismiss our gut feeling.

“I think the number one underestimated weapon a woman has is their intuition, and a lot of times, our head will override that,” she said.

She also said that how a woman carries herself, and developing when law enforcement calls a command presence is very important.

“We can’t look meek and mild. We can’t look lost. We can’t look like an easy target. We have to look like a hard target,” she said. “Your frontline of defense is really how you look and how you sound.”

Clifford also advices women to have what she calls a plan for chaos. For example, if you’re in a restaurant, know where the exits are. If you’re going out for a run, create a plan on where to go to if you suspect a predator.

Saco Bay News Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.