show at stonewall gun shop, from stock room to show room, never planned to have a career dealing in firearms. it was her husband who got her into it. he had more experience with firearms. i really didn t know anything about firearms. tell me about the first time you shot a gun. oh, my god. well, let s see. the flame went out that way, the casing went out that way, hit me in the head. i set the gun down and said, this is not for me. i just i was just it was just totally freaked me out. diane didn t stay freaked out for long. in fact, she discovered she has a knack for the business. and a taste for the sport. [ gunfire ] it s like with anything that any woman gets into, if you re going to run any type of business, you ve got to know what you re doing. you ve got to know your product. you ve got to be able to sell it. lean out, you re going to push out. okay? and put the magazine in.
running it. diane, who runs the whole show at stonewall gun shop, from stock room to showroom, never planned to have a career dealing in firearms. it was her husband that got her into it. he had more experience with firearms, i really didn t know anything about firearms. tell me about first time you shot a gun. oh, my god. well, let s see, the flame went out that way, the casing went out that way, hit me in the head. i set the gun down and said, this is not for me. i just i was just it was just totally freaked me out. diane didn t stay freaked out for long. in fact, she discovered she has a knack for the business. and a taste for the sport. it s like with anything that any woman gets into, if you re going to run any type of business, you ve got to know what you re doing. you got to know your product. you got tot be able to sell it. you lean out and you re going to
diane credits her savvy investors for putting money back into the business. i have a lot of different guns and calibers. i feel like you do not take no for an answer. you will bargain somebody down. by the time somebody walks out the door, you will have gotten what you wanted. most of the time, yeah. after 17 years diane may be full of bravado, but she remembers how overwhelming it felt to start up a business from scratch. when i came in knowing nothing about it, i literally got down on my hands and knees and gave the business to the lord and said, you have to walk me through this because i don t know what i m doing. and he has been, you know, my support, my wings all the way through. diane said in her case being a woman in a male-dominated
knows about guns. diane buys them, sells them and teaches people to use them. go ahead and put your finger on the trigger. that s good trigger control. she s one of a small number of female gun seller operators in the country. believe it or not, there s more than you think. but they are all behind the scenes. where i am out front here. most of the gun shops are family businesses. the men are out front but the women are in the back. diane who runs the whole show from stock room to showroom never planned to have a career in firearms. her husband got her into it. he had more experience about firearms. i really didn t know anything about firearms. tell me about the first time you shot a gun. oh, my god. well, let s see, the casing went out that way, hit me the head, i put this down and said, this is
what you wanted. most of the time, yeah. after 17 years diane may be full of brovado, but she remembers how overwhelming it was to start up the business from scratch. when i came in knowing nothing about it, i literally got down on my hands and knees and gave the business to the lord and said, you have to walk me through this because i don t know what i m doing. and he has been, you know, my support, my wings all the way through. diane said in her case being a woman in a male-dominated industry either didn t matter or was a benefit for her. so when it comes to gender i base, does it exist? stella is the managing director of ladys who launch in new york city and new jersey. and jean marx is president of the marx group and small business columnist for the new