Mogul Mom Spotlight - Laura Aranda
WHAT’S YOUR NAME?Laura ArandaCOMPANY NAMEPushing Back the Darkness Author & Damsel Independent Pro WebsiteTELL US ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS AND WHY YOU STARTED IT
I have written and published a faith based novel concerning human trafficking and how it affects our American teenagers. My book is titled Pushing Back the Darkness. I would love to have it turned into a movie. I am currently writing book two of the series.
WHAT DO YOU SELL?I am a public speaker who travels and does weekend workshops nationwide. I am creating a curriculum with other writers for sexual abuse survivors' emotional healing and restoration. I also sell self defense products with Damsel in Defense. Stun guns, pepper sprays, kubatons.WHO IS YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE?My target audience is young adults, college age students and mothers. Families with potential runaways. Foster families.WHAT 3 PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
Three professional accomplishments that I am proud of include publishing my novel in 2017, winning third place and $20,000 in investments during a shark-tank style competition by the ImpactJunkie.co team at the Lucas Oil Stadium and becoming a public speaker nation wide traveling to speak about social media online safety. I speak to youth and those thinking of running away. Within the first 48-72 hours on the streets 1/3 of runaways fall into the hands of pornography and prostitution 'jobs' to survive. I give a message of hope to families.
WHAT MAKES YOUR BUSINESS STORY UNIQUE?
I am not afraid to speak out to church groups and in intimate settings about sex trafficking & the ways to protect yourself. This can be an uncomfortable topic but my book helps people to understand human trafficking is real and can happen anywhere. It is estimated that 17,000 to 19,000 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States each year. Trafficking is the recruitment and possible transport of persons within or across boundaries by force, fraud, or deception for the purpose of exploiting them economically. Victims are lured with false promises of good jobs and better lives, and then forced to work under brutal and inhuman conditions. Victims of trafficking are exploited for purposes of commercial sex, including prostitution, stripping, pornography live-sex shows and other acts. However, trafficking also takes place as labor exploitation, including domestic servitude, sweatshop factories, agricultural work and more. After drug dealing, human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest criminal industry in the world today, and it is the fastest growing.