The Mom Who Reinvented Concealed Carry (ft. Anna Taylor)

Anna Taylor joins State of the Second to tell the story behind Dean Adams, the concealed carry company she built after a frustrating start with her own first gun. In 2013 she was a stay at home mom with four young kids in a shady part of Kansas City called Grandview, and her husband at the time traveled often. The conversations around Sandy Hook and the fear of losing rights pushed her to get her concealed carry permit. The gun store handed her the "shrink it and pink it" girl gun, she got home, and she could not find education or a way to carry that was comfortable, safe, and actually worked. She locked the gun up. Then she cut out a computer mousepad, sewed it to her postpartum wrap corset, and the gun disappeared under her T-shirt. That was the first prototype. Many designs later she launched her first concealed carry corset and kept going with education and instructor training. From that corset the line grew into thigh holsters built like shapewear, a bra holster, and concealed carry leggings. Anna walks John through the design priorities that separate a real holster from cloth: trigger protection, retention that does not slow your draw, consistent positioning that conceals on a woman's "squishy" spots, and a natural draw stroke that does not flag anyone with the muzzle. She also covers training as a mom, including running drills one handed while moving a child out of the way and covering a baby's ears on the draw. Her EDC is the P365, and she names her company after her grandfather, who taught her guns should be respected and not feared. The conversation gets personal and practical. Anna wrote a book, Intuitive by Design: A Woman's Guide to Fear and Self Defense, centered on mindset as the first line of defense. She shares her own history of abuse and the night a false alarm finally broke fear's hold on her. The hosts cover the media narrative around domestic abuse survivors and firearms, the "gun bunny" debate in the industry, her strategy of marketing to women through the men who buy for them, and detailed situational awareness habits for parents at the store and in the parking lot. She closes by teasing new products, including a first collection of smart holsters that integrate with a cell phone as part of a safety plan. Questions this episode answers How did Anna Taylor go from a frustrated new gun owner to founding a concealed carry company? In 2013, as a stay at home mom of four in Kansas City, Anna Taylor got her concealed carry permit but found no comfortable, safe way to carry the gun she was sold. With passion and a sense of duty rather than formal qualifications, she built a holster prototype and went on to launch Dean Adams. What was the very first holster prototype she made, and how did it work? She cut out a computer mousepad and sewed it to her postpartum wrap corset, which made the gun disappear under her T-shirt. After many design iterations, that first prototype became her concealed carry corset. What makes a holster actually safe, and why is retention more than just cloth? Anna says a real holster needs trigger protection, retention that holds the gun without slowing your draw, and consistent positioning that conceals on a woman's softer spots. It also has to allow a natural draw stroke that never points the muzzle at anyone. How can a mom train and carry while holding or wearing a child? Anna trains for it directly, running one handed drills while moving a child out of the way and covering a baby's ears on the draw. Her thinking is that under stress you default to how you've trained, so she practices the real scenario. What is Anna's book Intuitive by Design about, and what changed her relationship with fear? Intuitive by Design: A Woman's Guide to Fear and Self Defense centers on mindset as the first line of defense. Anna shares her own history of abuse and the night a false alarm finally broke fear's hold on her. How should domestic abuse survivors think about owning and carrying a firearm? Anna and the hosts discuss the media narrative around abuse survivors and guns, and her own experience as a survivor who decided she would do anything to stand between her kids and a predator. The episode frames firearm ownership as part of that survivor's safety plan. What is the "gun bunny" debate, and how has the industry changed for women in 13 years? The "gun bunny" debate weighs the industry's sexualized marketing against educated, serious female shooters. Anna reflects on how the gun store experience and the market for women have shifted over the 13 years since she started Dean Adams. What situational awareness habits does Anna teach parents for the store and parking lot? Anna teaches detailed awareness routines for parents at the store and in the parking lot, built on the idea that predators look for easy, weak targets. She also covers marketing to women through the men who buy firearms for them. Chapters 00:00 — Meet Anna Taylor, founder of Dean Adams 00:38 — The 2013 backstory and the first gun 02:05 — The mousepad and corset prototype 03:43 — Walking through the product line 09:56 — Has the gun store experience improved for women? 12:31 — The book on fear and self defense 16:40 — Making the decision to act before the moment 18:17 — Training and carrying with kids 23:10 — Domestic abuse survivors and the Second Amendment 29:09 — Soapbox: gun bunnies vs. educated women 30:21 — Marketing to women through the men 34:54 — The next trends in women's concealed carry 40:02 — Situational awareness for parents 45:16 — Where to find Anna and what's coming next About the guest Anna Taylor is the founder and CEO of Dean Adams, a concealed carry holster company she started in 2013. At the time she was a stay at home mom with four young kids living in the Grandview area of Kansas City, where her husband at the time traveled a lot. After a frustrating experience trying to carry her first gun, she built a holster prototype from a computer mousepad sewn to her postpartum corset, then pursued firearms education and instructor training. Thirteen years later her line includes the concealed carry corset, thigh holsters, a bra holster, and concealed carry leggings. She is also the author of Intuitive by Design: A Woman's Guide to Fear and Self Defense, teaches private firearms classes, and offers a line of e-learning material. Her company is named after her grandfather, who taught her that guns should be respected and not feared. Key quotes "So with no qualification other than passion and a sense of duty, I thought, I'm going to do something about this." — Anna Taylor "You have to have trigger protection, you have to have safe retention, but that doesn't slow down your draw." — Anna Taylor "Because when the fear hits, when the emergency happens, you will default to how you've trained." — Anna Taylor "I made the decision, I will do anything to stand between my kids and a predator." — Anna Taylor "Predators are looking for easy, weak targets." — Anna Taylor "He was big on family God, tradition, guns, his hunting, and taught me that guns should be respected and not feared." — Anna Taylor