Badass in Heels

This is a short narration of my blog entry on the October 7th massacre. In December of 2023, I was invited to the Israeli embassy for a private screening of video footage depicting part of the attack. I saw approximately 140 people get killed, and many taken hostages. This episode contains details that are graphic and upsetting, discretion is advised. #hamasisraelwar #october7massacre

Heidi Chance, retired Detective from the Phoenix Police Department, has 27 years of law enforcement experience, 13 of those years working deep undercover in the dark sex trafficking world. Heidi shares her journey, from being inspired by her father, a retired police officer, who also served in the Phoenix P.D. for 26 years, to  joining law enforcement at age 18 and becoming the first female cadet!...

Sarah Shendy, Ohio’s first Egyptian-Muslim female police sergeant, takes us on a journey from Cairo to Ohio, talking to us about her life in Egypt, immigrating to the US, challenges she faced in school, and her amazing 16-year law enforcement career. Sarah tells us about the challenges she faced at a young age, which exposed her to the DARE program, a program that changed her life. Sarah herself l...

In this episode, Lindsay shares her fascinating life story, and opens up with many personal anecdotes: from her childhood to losing her father at age 17, to experiencing post-partum depression, to tragically and senselessly losing a colleague at her police department. She also recounts the day she was shot, ,how it not only impacted her but her family as well, and how she made the tough decision t...

Kristen Ziman kicks off Season 3, a special Season dedicated to our women in Blue!  Kristen broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first woman Chief of Police of the Aurora Police Department in Illinois. She had an extraordinary 30-year career and in this riveting episode she shares her personal and professional stories. A journey into the law enforcement world that is full of emotions, learning,...

Jennifer Cormack closes season 2 with her extraordinary story! From wanting to be a photographer, to joining the army to then becoming a badass FBI Special Agent, Jen shares her journey with us. Jen talks to us about why she joined the army, her role as a hazmat member in the 2009 crash of Continental Express flight 3407, which led to her receiving an Impact Award, how she earned a QSI (quality st...

This episode concludes my EMPoWER micro series! Grace Mason from the Department of State and Sugi Gomathinayagam from the Department of Justice close out this mighty episode. Sugi shares her personal story and talks to us about her journey in the Peace Corps in Ukraine, the amazing work she did in the Balkans, and her current role as Acting Deputy Assistant Director for the International Criminal...

In this episode, Lynn Holland and Vanessa DuBoulay, two amazing women from the Department of Justice ICITAP EMPoWER, the International Criminal Investigative Assistance Program, Engaging Multinational Police Women in Equality and Rights, share with us their personal stories and journey into the EMPoWER world. Learn about Lynn and her phenomenal 33 career in law enforcement as she talks to us about...

In honor of International Women’s Day, five extraordinary women from the Department of State and the Department of Justice joined me to talk about the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program, Engaging Multinational Police Women in Equality and Rights, ICITAP EMPoWER. This part 1 of the EMPoWER micro-series.  In today’s segment you will hear from Grace Mason, Program Manage...

Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Stacy Arruda shows us a glimpse into the cyber world at the FBI! She served in the FBI for 22 years and worked cyber most of her career, becoming a sought out subject matter expert. In this episode, Stacy shares her story, from working for Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to to hunting down online sex predators via the first FBI’s online undercover operation. She talks...

In this episode, retired Supervisory Special Agent Grace O'Neill takes us through her 24-year law enforcement career journey. From working as a police woman in the Chula Vista Police Department to her fabulous 21 year career in the Bureau in the Santa Ana Resident Agency, now known as Orange County RA, where she worked narcotics, white collar, and counterterrorism. Just as many of us law enforceme...

In this episode, retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Stephanie Yanta talks to us about her life and journey in law enforcement and in the military. From joining the Indiana University ROTC to becoming the first female Commander for a newly formed 638th Military Intelligence Battalion in Indiana, to joining the Bureau and kicking butt! Stephanie served in the FBI for 25 years, where she investiga...

Retired Supervisory Special Agent Lou Ann Sandstrom served in the FBI for 28 years. In this episode, she takes us to the world of SWAT, having become the first female operator in the Oklahoma City Division. She shares with us her career from working narcotics, organized crime, terrorism, running and gunning in the reactive unit, becoming a crisis negotiator, and a polygrapher!

Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Beth O'Brien served in the FBI for 28 years! She worked civil rights and environmental violations and espionage at Oak Ridge, Knoxville. Are you thinking Oppenheimer? While in Norfolk, she racked up about 72 convictions and saved a man's life! She became the first SSA at the Knoxville office, where she also acted as Special Agent in Charge (SAC) and Acting Spe...

Special Agent Amber Mann from the Omaha Field Office lets us in her journey in the world of the ATF and FBI. In her short tenure with the Bureau, Amber has worked white collar crime and human trafficking. She now leads the Violent Crimes Against Children (VCAC) task force, where she does extraordinary work saving children, teenagers and young adults from predators. Amber shares with us stories of...

Sasha Taylor medically retired from the FBI after serving for 11 years as an Intelligence Analyst. Sasha supported several portfolios at FBI Headquarters from counterterrorism to counterproliferation. In this episode, Sasha starts by talking to us about her early years, a very challenging episode of her life, in which she was forced into marriage as a child. Sasha shares her story, how she came ou...

In the second part of episode 11, retired Supervisory Special Agent Rhonda Glover Reese talks to us about leadership. She tells us about the challenges of ascending the ladder into Senior Executive Service (SES) positions and how those challenges put her on the path of true leadership! She also shares with us about her many accolades, her decisions to start mentoring and coaching others, and her c...

Dr. Rhonda Glover Reese is a retired Supervisory Special Agent who served in the FBI for 34 years. She held various leadership roles from Program Manager/Program Coordinator, Supervisory Special Agent to Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC). She also had temporary duty assignments within the Senior Executive Service at FBIHQ. In part 1 of episode 11, Dr. Reese talks to us about her mother, a h...

Larissa Knapp is the current Executive Assistant Director (EAD) of the FBI's National Security Branch. EAD Knapp is the highest-ranking FBI Special Agent and the first Asian American woman to achieve such branch. Talk about breaking the glass ceiling! EAD Knapp and I engage in a candid conversation about her life and career. Tune it to hear how a girl raised in New York climbed to the top and how...

Special Guest Bob Dougherty, a retired CIA Operations Officer, with 26 years of Agency experience, 23 of which he spent undercover working terrorism matters, and I have a conversation about the Israel-Hamas war. We have a candid discussion and provide our thoughts on the war, perspectives based on working the Hamas threat and potential impact on the homeland, and talk about how to stay vigilant du...

This is a Special Edition episode recorded in Spanish.  Retired SSA Doris Beaton has 27 years of federal government experience, 25 of those dedicated to the FBI. Doris started her career in the FBI in 1997 as a Clerk at the HIDTA High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, then was promoted to FOIPA PA Paralegal Specialist. In the year 2000, she attended Quantico and became a Special Agent. During her c...

Retired FBI Special Agent Ida D'Antonio Hangen shares with us her journey into the law enforcement world and talks to us about her 22-year career in the Bureau. Ida who had a remarkable 28 year career in law enforcement, worked against human trafficking, crimes against children, and Indian Country Crime. From heart-wrenching cases to tips that can save our children and teenagers, this episode is n...

Retired FBI Special Agent Ida D'Antonio Hangen shares with us her journey into the law enforcement world and talks to us about her 22-year career in the Bureau. Ida worked against human trafficking, crimes against children, and Indian Country Crime. In this episode we learn about Ida and what motivated her to join law enforcement, from becoming a probation officer, to a cross-trained firefighter a...

This episode is dedicated to everyone who was affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, to all of those who lost their lives that day, to their families, to everyone who responded from civilians to first responders, and to all of those whose lives were taken post 9/11 due to cancer and other health issues that arose from being at ground zero. Retired Special Agent Amy Loughney-Bytof, who had just jo...

Let's immerse ourselves in the world of retired Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Debra LaPrevotte. SSA LaPrevotte is an expert in Kleptocracy! In her 20-year career with the FBI, she seized over one billion dollars from foreign corrupt officials. But, she did not just sit at a desk examining boxes and following the money trail, she also did some badass work for the Evidence Response Team (ERT) proc...