If I recall correctly a family member commited suicide when she was a kid. Ever since then she's been leary around guns. She trusts her husband with them, but never had any desire to go shooting.
She's come along on a few outings as the camerawoman, and after some begging from me, she tried my S&W 4013. She didn't like it. She will occasionally shoot a Walther P22 but wouldn't consider anything else really.
I'm sure her husbands been trying to get her into shooting for years as he grew up a country boy and loves new firearms. I know I've been trying to get her to relax around guns for around 6 months.
Today, with some coaching from her husband, she tried the Saiga .223 that I had sold him. She had always been afraid of the kick in rifles (among other things) but loved the .223.
Honestly, just watching her finally have fun made it worth the 2+ hour drive each way to their house, then 30 mins. to the woods to shoot in.
It's definately a rewarding feeling, and that brings the count up to two newbie gals in the past month. If you're new to the shooting, and live near me (west side of the state's usually doable), I try to volunteer my time, guns, and ammo to get more people excited about the sport. I gotta do my part after all to make sure the gun grabbers don't win 'em all.