Please give a brief background on yourself and your career.
After attending law school and practicing law for a few years, I had the opportunity to go into federal law enforcement. During my law career I did a lot of volunteer work in the community, and I acquired a new skill set to bring back to my community. I worked in law enforcement for 13 years, and during that time I helped establish a pro bono legal clinic at a local homeless shelter, and I use my bilingual skills to volunteer on weekends at a food pantry that serves a very underserved population. I have been working for the last several years on a documentary film about homelessness and the criminal justice system in Milwaukee, WI, where I live. My film crew and I, all volunteers, have been following the lives of several men in the community who live and have lived in various stages of homelessness. We have filmed them as they interact with the criminal justice system for various reasons, and I have been fortunate to be able to call upon my colleagues who are judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and police officers to enable us access to conduct film shoots and interviews. My crew and I all work full-time jobs, so our post-production phase, which is where we are now, is a part-time but ongoing process. Our passion is what drives us. Law enforcement was a good fit for me, and in addition to investigating crimes and making arrests, I developed crime prevention and community awareness programs, some of which were used as models for national programs.
I recently moved into a private-sector job at a Fortune 500 company, and am enjoying a quieter life managing a corporate security program. During my last year as a federal agent, I started a company and designed a line of concealed-carry handbags. I’m currently working on growing and marketing the Been & Badge brand through social media and retail and wholesale outlets.
How has your career changed since you originally envisioned it at Wellesley? What other careers did you consider as a student?
When I was at Wellesley, I was a sociology major. I saw myself going into social work or some other type of public service career…I just never thought it would be law enforcement. I was the first in my family to choose law enforcement as a career, and the first to carry a firearm.
How has Wellesley contributed to your career?
Wellesley taught me the importance of service, and the ability to empower oneself and change things for the better. My sister went to Wellesley before me, and my niece is a student there now, and as different as we all are, the common thread that Wellesley gave us is that nothing is impossible, and we all can make a difference when we try. Wellesley gave me a solid foundation for success, and belief in myself. A lot of people thought I was crazy to trade in my law practice, high heels and power lunches for a profession that entailed serving warrants, wearing tactical boots and carrying firearms and handcuffs. My Wellesley friends were the ones who cheered me on.
What is a typical work day or work week like for you?
My work week is typically spent developing crime prevention and awareness strategies, emergency management and evacuation planning, creating and conducting training, assessing risks in areas such as cyber security, workplace violence, asset protection and physical security. My evenings, weekends and vacations are spent working on business development for my concealed-carry handbag company. Between my job and my business, I do work a lot of hours every week…but it’s time well spent. My day job is interesting, and it challenges me to learn new skill sets, while my free time is spent investing in my passions and turning them into something tangible.
What piece of advice would you offer students looking to get into your area of interest and expertise?
Law and law enforcement careers give you the ability to make positive changes in the community and the world. Being a federal agent in real life is not the same career that is portrayed in movies and on TV. You deal with more danger than glamour, and solving crimes and bringing people to justice can be both rewarding and heartbreaking. It’s a career that can take you to new levels of stimulation both physically and mentally (think: spending months investigating a robbery, arresting and prosecuting a suspect, learning how to bench press your own body weight and shoot an automatic weapon) and it can take you on an entirely new path (think: finding a void in the concealed-carry handbag market and designing a line to fill that void). Do an internship first to see behind the scenes. Then, go for it!
What do you wish you had known as a student?
I wish I had known then that you don’t have to follow a linear path in one direction to find career satisfaction. It’s OK to make your own path if it fits you.
If you could come back and take one class at Wellesley what would it be?
Astronomy. That is my biggest regret, that I never took that class.