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CJ’s personal story of how she survived repeated sexual victimizations, overcame a “terminal” illness, and went on to become internationally known as a danger expert and Badass Grandma.
The world is actually safer for our kids today than any time in the past 50 years!
The media has it all wrong—the real numbers behind child abductions.
Your kid is safer being with strangers than their own relatives!
Don’t tell your lost child to find a police officer or store clerk. (Tell her to find a mom with kids.)
Don’t think your child is too young to learn about body safety issues: (The average age when a child is first abused is between the ages of 3 to 8.)
Why predators LOVE it when parents don’t talk to their kids about sex.
The #1 reason women are targeted by predators (Hint: you learned it from your mother!)
CJ’s top 5 tips for outwitting predators.
How predators select and groom their victims.
How to avoid being victimized by out-thinking and out-talking predators.
How to unleash your inner badass and fight (dirty) if you must (with no martial arts or self-defense training).
The #1 date rape drug (it’s not what you think!).
Thriving after surviving a victimization (e.g., sexual assault, military sexual trauma).
CJ’s personal story of how she survived repeated sexual victimizations, overcame a “terminal” illness, and went on to become internationally known as a danger expert and Badass Grandma.

Long Bio

CJ Scarlet was dying. Years of depression and anxiety from childhood abuse and rape as a teenager resulted in post-traumatic stress. By 1990, the dark secrets CJ harbored and the stress they caused led her to develop two life-threatening autoimmune conditions which, in 2002, left her fighting for her life. By 2004, she was told her condition was terminal. CJ became so debilitated she had to crawl on her hands and knees to get upstairs, and she couldn’t lift a cup of coffee or hold a hairbrush. She became very deeply depressed and anxious about her impending heart failure.

Then CJ was offered the opportunity to meet privately with a Tibetan Buddhist lama who kindly but sternly commanded her to “stop feeling sorry for herself and start thinking of the happiness of other people.”

Daunted but determined, she began performing small acts of kindness—letting the mom with the crying baby go ahead of her in line, giving her cane to a woman who was struggling to walk and volunteering at the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina. These simple, spontaneous acts made her feel a happier, so she did more. And the more she did the better she felt, until she reached a point where her heart was so full it no longer mattered whether she was sick or well, or even living or dying—she was filled with gratitude for each moment.

At that point, her condition went into remission—all within 18 months! Today, CJ feels better and happier than she ever dreamed possible, and she is thriving both personally and professionally.

An expert in survivors’ rights and advocacy, CJ initiated and co-chaired the implementation of the nation’s first statewide automated victim notification system which contacts victims before their perpetrators are released from custody. This award-winning system was selected as the national model by the U.S. Department of Justice.

CJ has given speeches and workshops at national and international events, and has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, including MSNBC and NPR. She’s the author of Badass Parenting: An Irreverent Guide to Raising Safe, Savvy, Confident Kids; Heroic Parenting (the PG-rated version of Badass Parenting), The Badass Girl’s Guide: Uncommon Strategies to Outwit Predators, and Neptune’s Gift: Discovering Your Inner Ocean.

The former roller-skating carhop, forest firefighter, and U.S. Marine photojournalist holds a B.A. in Political Science from Virginia Wesleyan College, and an interdisciplinary master’s degree in Humanities with an emphasis on human violence from Old Dominion University.

Named one of the “Happy 100” people on the planet, CJ’s story of triumph over adversity is featured in the bestselling books Happy for No Reason and Be Invincible.

Short Bio

CJ Scarlet, aka the “Badass Grandma,” is a danger expert, survivor advocate, parenting coach, and crime survivor who holds a master’s degree in human violence.

Most importantly, Scarlet is the doting grandma of three precocious toddlers. She’s helped thousands of crime victims, but when confronted with the simple innocence of her grandchildren, she felt utterly helpless. How to protect them? More importantly, how to teach them to protect themselves?

Badass Parenting: An Irreverent Guide to Raising Safe, Savvy, Confident Kids and it’s PG-rated “twin,” Heroic Parenting, is Scarlet’s way of doing just that and, in the process, helping other parents protect their loved ones too.

An expert in survivors’ rights and advocacy, CJ has given speeches and workshops at national and international events; and has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, including MSNBC and NPR. She is also the author of The Badass Girl’s Guide: Uncommon Strategies to Outwit Predators and Neptune’s Gift: Discovering Your Inner Ocean.

The former roller-skating carhop, forest firefighter, and U.S. Marine photojournalist holds an interdisciplinary master’s degree in human violence from Old Dominion University.

Named one of the “Happy 100” people on the planet, CJ’s story is featured in two bestselling books, including Happy for No Reason and Be Invincible.

Contact information:

Email: CJ@cjscarlet.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cjscarletdangerexpert

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cjscarlet

Threads: @cj.scarlet

Twitter: @cjscarlet

Instagram: @cj.scarlet

Tiktok: @realbadassgrandma

Pinterest: @cjscarletauthor