Raquel Rusing from Carlsbad, California.
Tell us where you grew up and now call home.
I grew up in Carlsbad - a small city by the sea in Southern California. When I went to college, I moved north to San Luis Obispo and then even further north to the Bay Area after graduating. I reside in a coastal town called Pacifica, which is south of San Francisco - I couldn't stay away from the ocean!
What do you do for a living and what got you started in that business?
I'm the Global Sales Director for Triple Aught Design. Prior to this job, I've been a high school geometry teacher, public relations director, financial consultant and odd jobs in between. One of the things that those roles had in common was engaging in relationships with people - sales was a natural transition. Since I'm an enthusiast for quality products with a little bit of edge, TAD was the perfect fit. I fell into it this combination by chance and I have no plans to fall out of it any time soon.
TAD seems to have a very naturalist feel with a high end approach towards quality for users. In saying that I'm very impressed with photography on the website and marketing therein, is that something you are a part of with TAD?
The benefit of working at a small company is that I have the opportunity to help the entire business. For the most part, I'm lucky enough to be our "field agent" so I travel to different events as our brand representative, but I also handle higher level strategic endeavors, such as developing our growth plan for 2012, as well as grunt work, like writing descriptions for our website. The versatility of my job is phenomenal.
Overall, our company is built with a team of passionate individuals who value our customers and have a personal appreciation for clean aesthetics and quality. It makes me really happy to hear that our culture is visible through our contact with customers, like the website.
You seem to be a very active person, tell us some of your other hobbies or interest?
It's an illusion. I spend almost 11 hours a day in front of my computer at work... ha. But on the weekends... I love to be outside. Within the last year, I've gained an interest in archery using a traditional recurve. Pacifica has a great range down the street from my house. I also take ballet lessons, a carryover from my childhood. Shooting is a given, but outside of bolt actions, I built myself an AR for Christmas with the help of a close friend and I'm looking at pistols for purchase, too. I just picked up the IOTA, so I've been dry firing after work!
But my average day consists of TAD, coming home to my animals and sipping scotch while I read a book to decompress.
Tell us how you got started shooting?
I used to shoot pistols in High School with my dad, but rifles were new to me until last April. When TAD attended Sniper's Hide Cup in Kingsville, I was privileged enough to demo the Barrett M-107 with incendiary rounds and I was hooked. It's been a rapid submersion into the sport ever since.
I immediately went out and customized a rig because I'm relatively tiny in comparison to the normal shooter and didn't feel comfortable behind borrowed ones. Then the math side of me was really intrigued by reloading, so I was eager to help friends turn our garage into a studio. I also bought Applied Ballistics and took my vacation time to attend the Rifles Only PR1&2 course. Since then, I've become incredibly comfortable behind my rifle and I try to get to the range whenever possible.
What got you into shooting competitively and what do you find most challenging or intriguing?
Having to sit through Sniper's Hide Cup and not getting to play with everyone else was a terrible aid to my addiction! It made me want to jump into competing with both feet in. So I did at the local level, shooting about three matches with NCPPRC. I started at 43rd place during the first match and moved to 12th this last round! I can't wait to play in a larger arena. My first match will be TPRC in February.
I think my biggest enjoyment is the camaraderie. It's competitive on an individual level - to push yourself to continually improve, but as a group, everyone is helping each other. That's a rare balance. The biggest challenge is finding time to practice!
Describe some of your favorite gear and what you do to prepare for match with your rifle, ammo, equipment other gear.
It's certainly hard to find gear that is friendly towards women - but I think that's where TAD is starting to help! We recently built a prototype pair of women's tactical pants for me to test on the range. Can't wait to try them out. I'll keep everyone posted. If you find me at SHOT, I'll be wearing them!
My favorite gear is a composition of great suggestions from seasoned shooters coupled with my personal opinions. I'm head over heels for the rifle that Francis Kuehl helped me build: Surgeon 591, Jewel trigger, Bartlein 26" contoured barrel, McMillian A3-5 stock, Vortex Razor HD EBR3, SureFire muzzle break, TAB Gear Sling and Badger Ordanance bottom metal. She's a lazer - she's shooting about 2950 fps and dialing at 7.6 for 1000 yds. I love her.
And I use my TAD FAST Pack Litespeed to sling around all of the other stuff.
What's something you have learned about shooting that could help other shooters?
Practice. Trust what the bullet is telling you - adapt to improve that. Ask lots of questions - the community is incredibly eager to help, but also discern with your own research. It's important to not walk into a suggestion blind. Don't be scared, but be safe. Always stay engaged in the fact that you have death on your arm. Respect the sport. Have a blast. And don't let a competition scare you - try it, even as a beginner, you learn more in those few hours than you ever will practicing on the range. Go kick some ass.
