When a close friend was the victim of domestic abuse from her own father and brother, Lina couldn't bear it. She started looking for solutions in a society that accepted this as a norm. ‘Women don't work much here, so men are normally the ones in control, this leads to an ingrained belief system that domestic violence is ok.’ shares Lina. She refused to accept a lack of solution. Being a person into sports and martial arts including Taekwondo, Kick-Boxing, Kung Fu and Boxing since the age of 5, she looked for a solution within that and found the art of self defence. Teaching women to fight eventually makes them feel strong, which would also lead to women feeling independent, and maybe even lead to their economic independence over time - such was Lina’s thought process when she began Shefighter in 2012.

She knew she was up against a belief system and not just individuals, when she started her journey. A belief system that considers ‘normal’ as ok and anything out of ordinary as something to be brought down. So here was a woman who didn't fit any definition of ‘normal’, running a business, teaching other women to fight through kickboxing and fitness initially. ‘I had to position it very right’ says Lina ‘I couldn't directly start with the goal to teach women to fight back as that would have turned everyone off. I positioned it as a fitness workout. It took me almost four years to start the real work - my fight against domestic violence and abuse.’ By 2016, Lina initiated lectures at Shefighter studio - mental and psychological training, she calls it, that made more and more women aware about the fight against domestic violence. SheFighter was the first Self-Defense studio for women-only started in Jordan and has now expanded to more than 35 countries. The studio has trained more than 25,000 women all over the globe and has more than 700 trainers. It continues to expand through its Train-The-Trainer model.

Many accolades have come Lina’s way for this path breaking work: She has been awarded the ESPN Humanitarian Award presented by UFC and ESPN in 2019, the Economic Empowerment Award by Hillary Clinton in 2018, Female Entrepreneur of the year 2016 by The Women Economic Forum in Dubai to name a few. She has also been recognized by President Barack Obama during his speech in 2015 at the white house. Whilst recognitions were many, so were the challenges. Women refused to accept the concept of self defence as a need. They refused to see it as a way of independence since they expect to be taken care of at all ages by men. Changing this mind set was a slow process. Along with this came threats, legal suits as well as threats from political leaders. How did Lina navigate this? By an undying determination that her cause is far bigger than any challenge that comes her way.

Lina owes her determination to her solid support system - starting with her mom and grand mom to various women who did believe in her work to a set of mentors she recommends every entrepreneur should have. However, a journey this intense comes with a lot of self growth is what I have always found and Lina agrees. She says her biggest conflict comes from whether to follow her heart or her head. She’s learnt the hard way that the heart is a great leader and the head a good servant. In hindsight she has always found decisions made by the heart to have come out right.

You couldn't be more right about this, Lina. An idea born out of the heart can do wonders - just as SheFighter has and continues to do.