Investigators' Round Table

Child's Life Saved in Oklahoma with Val Thompson

• Amanda Appi • Season 1 • Episode 2

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A virtual round table where leaders in the private investigations and private security industries come together to discuss, tips and tricks for newbies, business strategy, and stories of memorable cases.

Sponsored by:
Safewatch360.com
Promo Code: PODCAST30

immaculatemerch.com
Promo Code: thankyou20


This podcast is hosted by:
Amanda Appi
Immaculate Investigations LLC
southcarolinadetectiveagency.com

Podcast Guest:
Val Thompson
Val Thompson Investigations 
https://www.vti.agency


What does it take to become a successful private investigator later in life? Join us as we uncover the inspiring story of Val Thompson, who took the leap into the PI field with unwavering determination and a passion for investigative work. Despite starting her journey just before the pandemic, Val navigated the challenges and obtained her license, building her business from scratch using online tools and partnerships with established PI firms. Her tale underscores the invaluable role of mentorship and the support of seasoned professionals in lifting newcomers in the industry.

In this engaging episode, we tackle the real-world obstacles faced by private investigators, from restrictive state regulations to varying educational requirements. Highlighting a compelling case, we showcase the life-altering impact PIs can have, such as rescuing a missing child. Val also shares an intricate child custody case where meticulous surveillance and attention to small details led to a successful resolution, saving the client considerable legal fees. These stories illuminate the critical importance of thorough investigation and the nuances that can make all the difference.

Wrapping up, we focus on the entrepreneurial mindset necessary for private investigators, emphasizing the significance of creativity, quick decision-making, and excellent customer service. Val shares her insights on transitioning from fieldwork to mentorship, the challenge of trusting a team to handle operations, and the crucial role of technology in connecting PIs nationwide. We dive into the essence of teamwork and trust in the PI industry, and the importance of empowering women. Don’t miss out on Val’s journey and valuable advice that could redefine your understanding of the private investigation world. Remember to like, subscribe, and share our episode for more fascinating insights!


****SUBSCRIBE AND DOWNLOAD TO SUPPORT US***

Youtube
Major Platforms

A virtual round table where leaders in the private investigations and private security industries come together to discuss, tips and tricks for newbies, business strategy, and stories of memorable cases.

Sponsored by:
Safewatch360.com
Promo Code: PODCAST30

immaculatemerch.com
Promo Code: thankyou20


This podcast is hosted by:
Amanda Appi
Immaculate Investigations LLC
southcarolinadetectiveagency.com


Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Investigator's Roundtable, where I, your host of RealLife PI, will interview leaders in the private investigations and private security industries. We'll be discussing things such as business strategy, tips and tricks for newbies and going over some memorable cases that we have worked. My goal with this podcast is to create a virtual space for industry professionals to come together and to collaborate, as well as to pull back the curtain so that you, the audience, can see behind the scenes in what is sometimes a mysterious and misunderstood profession. I'm your host, amanda Appy, of Immaculate Investigations LLC, located in Myrtle Beach, south Carolina. For more information on me or my company, you can go to SouthCarolinaDetectiveAgencycom.

Speaker 1:

I hope you enjoy this episode and thanks so much for listening. Okay, so here we are, sunday, august 25th, and we are on Take Two with Miss Val, which I am enjoying because I love to hear her stories. We had some technical issues with the first one, so we are redoing and I appreciate you being here, val. And this is Val Thompson of Val Thompson Investigations out in Oklahoma. So, again, I'm so happy to have you on, val, and why don't you just introduce yourself a little bit in your business if you don't mind?

Speaker 2:

Okay, I'm really glad you had me. I want to start by saying I'm very sorry about your uncle. Okay, so my name is Val Thompson. I run Val Thompson investigations and K Kaysen Investigations in Oklahoma City. I've been in business for four years. My website is val at vtiagency. My phone number is 405-343-3633.

Speaker 1:

Perfect, thank you so much for that, and we had such a good talk the other day so I hope we can replicate it. But you're out there in Oklahoma and you have an inspiring story about how you kind of went from changing careers really kind of late in life to really, you know, building your business immediately and kind of taking off very early on. When some people you know maybe need to have another part time job to fill in the gaps, you were able to just go full time, full speed ahead and build your business. Um, so would you mind explaining that you know your background, how you got into the field and how, um, how you were able to accomplish that, how you were able to just go full-ish.

Speaker 2:

And I wanted to do I've always wanted to do some kind of investigations my whole life. So I didn't really know like I wanted to be like a crime scene investigator, some forensic files kind of stuff, um, but I, you know, couldn't do that till later on, and so I um found myself free and it was November before the pandemic, and so I was like okay, so what can I do for the rest of my life, like 12 more years of working? What do I want to do? And so I looked into being a pi, because I didn't really know anything about how to be one or do it or anything. And so, um, I looked it up and I went to pi school. So I started in january. Um, there were four classes and they were a week long each and you have to take them, you know, one, two, three, four. And so I did that. I got done the Friday before spring break. That Friday at noon was our last class, and he was like okay, you can come back and take your test at 2 if you want, or if you want to study next week, and then come back on monday and take your test. And so I was like okay, well, that sounds like that's something I need to do, because after every class you had to take a test and then at the end you had to take a test over all of the whole clock, you know the whole thing. And so I was like, okay, well, I'm going to take next week and study. And uh, then the pandemic happened that week and everything shut down, so I didn't get to take my test until august. So it was all I had four months to study, basically.

Speaker 2:

And uh, so I got my license, august of 2022, and everybody was saying like, oh, you're gonna have to have a part-time job. You're gonna, you know, have three years to build your company. You're not gonna just be able to start out right away. And I was like that's not really my plan. Like my plan is to do it. So either I'm going to do it or I'm not going to do it, like I can't be halfway in.

Speaker 2:

And so one of my friends has a friend that does websites in Canada and she said she is the best. So I called her, I got her to build me a website. I did a Google page, a Yelp page, um, got all those up and running. Um, I started out by working for national companies to do like workman's comp things and I worked for probably three or four of those and was a very tight schedule. I I had to like schedule everything. And then, um, I started working locally for another PI company and she's really successful and I want to, um, my goal is to like model her business, um, but that's what happened and I never worked for anybody else. I mean, I never, you know, had to get another job or not be on my own and do what I wanted to Thank you so much for sharing that.

Speaker 1:

And I love when there's other industry leaders that are willing to kind of take you under their wing and you know that are successful in the business. That is such a blessing. You know, when people aren't afraid of competition but they're willing to collaborate with you and throw you work blessing. You know when people aren't afraid of competition but they they're willing to collaborate with you and throw you work and, and you know, help build you up. I really that's, you know, across, I guess, all industries it's there's people who look at other people, new people, as competition and then there's people who really take on that mentoring role and that's great that you have somebody to model after. And there's a couple in my area that I have that kind of relationship with as well. That I'm extraordinarily grateful for and I hope to be able to be that person to new people starting out one day. But yeah, that's amazing.

Speaker 1:

So thank you for sharing that and thank you for touching on the importance of a good website, of strong internet presence, seo. You know the search engine optimization does wonders for a new business. You know it's with technology I guess we've come a long way in the marketing industry, and so I think that's a common theme that I hear from PIs or just business owners in general, that having a strong internet presence really is what boosts them and gives them you know, gets them the business coming in. So thanks for sharing that as well. I guess my next question would be what does your company specialize in? Do you have a niche? What kind of you know? What are the majority of cases that you take on?

Speaker 2:

The majority of cases are infidelity, child custody. I've done some missing persons, I've done some criminal things, all kinds of stuff, really anything that we could do, all kinds of stuff, really anything that we could do. Um, my favorite probably is child custody, because I feel like that helps me make a bigger difference. Because, like an infidelity, you know people are choosing to do that. You know what I mean it's like if you get caught, then you get caught and that's your choice. But with child custody it's like, um, you know, the children didn't have, don't have a choice in the whole matter. You know it's just like their parents making bad choices or bad decisions, or you know, and I feel like I help them more.

Speaker 1:

That's interesting and that's a good way to put it as far as the child custody stuff is concerned and you have an amazing story that we'll get to in a minute about how you were able to impact a child through a child custody investigation so I can't wait for our listeners to hear that and we also do a lot of domestics here in South Carolina. We are an at-fault state. I know Oklahoma, I don't think is. Last time we talked you said it was a no fault. So we are very heavily involved. Just PIs in general in this state are heavily involved in the family court system and, with that being said, one of the tools that we use to catch cheaters we do a lot of infidelity but also in the realm of child custody, trying to figure out where the child is, where the parents are you know what they're doing, are they drinking with you know and then driving the child in the car. One of the the very the best tools that we have are GPS trackers, and so I just want to give a plug to one of our platinum level sponsors, which is SafeWatch GPS, and their website is safewatch360.com, and they're giving they have given usa promo code of podcast 30 for equipment and just just a personal experience with these trackers.

Speaker 1:

I've used a lot of companies. This one I prefer for a couple of reasons. One is that they have extended battery packs, so it just limits the amount of times that we're changing out the tracker on a vehicle. And then the other reason is just the extraordinary level of customer service. It's a small business here in South Carolina. I'm able to get my trackers almost overnight through regular mail and anytime I have an issue, no matter what time of day it is or weekends, I give them a call, they'll fix it immediately and it's just top notch. I've just never dealt with a company who has that level of customer service. So again, that's safewatch360.com and podcast 30. And, val, I know you have an interesting story being out in Oklahoma about the status of GPS trackers. Would you mind telling us about that, because that's an interesting one that I hope is dealt with here sooner than later for you.

Speaker 2:

Val Stoker yeah, there was. I mean it was years ago and I don't know who the person was. I mean I guess I could have looked it up and got all the information, but he wrote a law saying that pis could not use gps trackers period dot in no way, shape or form, and so we can't do that. Um, it makes me real jealous that you can. I think it would make our job so much easier and more more efficient and save the customer or the client time and money, like I, you know, I just am jealous that you get to do that yes, and it's almost like you know, it's costly enough to hire PI.

Speaker 1:

And if now you're limiting the tools available to the PI and it sounds like Oklahoma even has a more stringent level of education than most other states have.

Speaker 1:

In South Carolina we don't have to go to PI school, we do have a.

Speaker 1:

We have to work under somebody before we can go out on our own, and that's a three-year process, but we we don't have any schooling that is required other than a, you know, a high school diploma and so, um, that really limits your toolkit, if you will, and, like you said, it makes it more costly for the client and it's almost like they're being re-victimized where they have to pay more for, um, a service that they desperately need, and that's, that's a tragedy. I hope that I hope to see that get you know getting overturned one day, because I know it's like that in a couple other states as well. Along the same lines of child custody, would you share that beautiful story that you shared with me the first time we talked about really saving the life of a child, because that's really what it comes down to and and giving them, you know, hope for their future and just a better life in general. Would you be willing to share that again? You know, I would appreciate that of course it's my favorite story.

Speaker 2:

It's why it's one of the reasons why I love being a pi. I love my job, I love it. Um, so this man from flor, florida, called me and he had gotten a call from DHS, which is the child health like, and that they had his child in custody. And they called him and said, do you want her? And he was like of course I want her and so I'm in Florida, I'll be there in 12 hours. And so he left and came here. Before he got here, the DHS worker released the child to the grandmother, who was the mom of the subject. And so when he gets there they don't know where the kid's at. They're like, we don't know where she is, blah, blah, blah. So he called his lawyer and he said the only thing you can do is hire a PI and hope they can find her. And so he hired me right then I went to the grandma's house and just did surveillance.

Speaker 2:

I did a couple of checks on the house wellness checks to see if they would let the officer in or the officer could see the child or hear the child or something inside. But she wasn't there and so I just figured at some point the grandmother or the. The grandmother lived there, the aunt and then the aunt's boyfriend, and so at some point I figured that they would have to take her some food or some supplies or something. And so I just stayed on that house and Sunday rolled around, sunday morning-ish, and the aunt, who had knew I had been there watching I mean they knew because I did the request for the police to come out and so she comes and opens my door. It's right, when I first got my new car, so I didn't know that when you put it in park your doors open. I didn't figure that out until this thing.

Speaker 2:

So I'm sitting there, I get all set up for surveillance and my door flies open and this person ends up like right here in my face screaming at me that she's going to kill me and I'm never going to get the little girl. And I can't reach my gun, I can't reach my pepper spray, I can't reach my little stabby thing. I can't reach anything except for the screen to call 9-1-1. That's all I could do because she's literally taking up between all the space between me and my steering wheel. So I dial 911 and I say this is helpful that I knew the person on duty from a previous job. And so I to the 911 operator I just said this is Val Thompson, can you call Kim blah, blah, blah and tell her to come to me right now? And she can hear this lady screaming I'm going to kill you and everything, cause she's still right here in my face. And so she said yes.

Speaker 2:

So they, the 911 hangs up, they call her, she gets there. I mean, like they're coming with sirens and there's like three police cars and um, so they get the woman in custody and they are, you know, having her over the back and searching her and putting handcuffs on her and all that. And um, I mentioned earlier, the boyfriend, the grandma, the aunt and the boyfriend will all live together. Well, the boyfriend is the subject's ex-boyfriend, so it's the aunt now has the boyfriend of her niece, anyway, so the subject person and he had just gotten out of the hospital because he had liver failure, so he's dying. They had to release him because there's nothing else they could do for him. I mean, I'm sure that they did drugs and drank their whole life or whatever. And so he's in the house dying, she's out screaming, she's going to kill me.

Speaker 2:

They're arresting her, my friends, across the police car and I said, hey, kim, do you think she'll get out of the jail before her boyfriend dies? And Kim said no, I don't think so. And I was like, oh man, that sucks. And so she went from crazy lunatic, going to kill me, to total hysterical crying, like within seconds. And so she's in the back of the car crying like I don't even know what. So then I go over to Kim and I say, hey, if you tell her I'll release the charges if she tells us where the baby is. And she's like I'll try. And so she gets Kleenexes out of her car and she goes over and she's like patting her on the back, handing her Kleenexes, and she gets her out of the car, puts her in her car, tells me I'll be right back and she leaves. And I'm like what did she do? Like what's happening? And so then Kim calls and says they have the, they have the subject in custody. Um, they're bringing the ant back to the apartment complex and for me and the dad because I had called the dad in the meantime, me and the dad to come to this place. And so she tells us where they are. So we get there.

Speaker 2:

The subject's in the back seat of a police car in custody, the little girls in this motel room and this fleabag motel, and they left her in the room because they didn't want to scare her. So the dad walks up to the door and she like jumps off the bed. Was like daddy, daddy, and like jumps in his arms. So every policeman, I'm crying, the police are crying, the dad's crying, the little girl's crying, it's just like a big old cry fest. But the the bad part about the whole story was the mom, um, had been, you know, living in these flea bag motels and she was on only fans and she was just doing whatever. And um, so he had to take the little girl to the hospital to get checked out. She had marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and, um, something else in her system. I can't remember the other thing marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, I I don't know what else something in her system. And um.

Speaker 2:

Then he took her to get something to eat. She only only wanted. She went to McDonald's, she got chicken nuggets, but she wouldn't eat them, she was only eating the French fries. And he didn't really understand that, and so the DH worker had told him on the original call that they were eating or that the little girl had been eating couch cushions and cardboard. And when he relayed that to me I didn't get it in my mind. I thought he was saying like they were eating on cardboard, like a pizza box or something as a plate. Like I was, like I didn't comprehend exactly what he was saying.

Speaker 2:

And so that night he asked me if I would go with them to Walmart to get her good, you know new clothes and some food, you know snacks for the trip, and pick her out some toys. Because literally she had nothing. The clothes her jeans were like two sizes too big, her boots were two sizes too big. Her shirt was like two sizes too big. Her boots were two sizes too big, her shirt was like two sizes too small. It was just awful.

Speaker 2:

So we went and got her new clothes and he took her to the toy aisle and said you can pick out whatever you want. And like she didn't even know what to do, she didn't know what toys were, she didn't know how to play with them. Like he had to get them and show them what, show her what they did, like it was very it was the saddest story ever. And so the next morning, I mean, they go to their hotel get ready to leave. The next morning he got her Pop-Tarts, I guess, and so she opened the box and tore the lid off and started eating the lid of the pop-tart box and I was like that's what you meant. Like he called me and said that and I was like I didn't understand and he's like I didn't really either, but she's eating cardboard, so it was just terrible.

Speaker 2:

So now she's, he took her back to florida and they he's a native american so they have a fantastic tribe that they're um involved with. They have all the resources for medical, all of that. So the chicken nugget thing how come she couldn't, wouldn't eat those is because all of her teeth were rotten and so they had to pull all of her baby teeth out, and so it was. It's just a terrible story anyway. So now that was three years ago.

Speaker 1:

She's seven, she's in the second grade, she's thriving and has the best life ever well, evidently I should have wore my waterproof mascara for this one, because there were some details that you said this time that you didn't say last time. That hit me a little hard, and you know just the level of Depravity and neglect that some children are forced to go through is truly horrible, and, like you said, it's what makes doing this job and facing the risks obviously there was a risk associated with it, with what you did worth it, and you know that's a question I always get asked is your work dangerous? And the answer is yes, because anytime you're in the middle of a family, domestic situation, people really view that as their ultimate privacy. I would say so. Anytime somebody, an outsider, gets in the middle of that, where somebody doesn't want you know something coming to light or there's money involved, you know, maybe they were getting money from the state for that child or child support. Whatever the case may be, especially in the case where there's some sort of substance abuse or addiction, it really does become dangerous for sure, and so thank you for sharing that.

Speaker 1:

I'm so glad that we were able to hear that story from you and that the outcome was a positive one, because you a lot of times the outcome isn't positive. A lot of times people can't afford to hire a PI and so they're stuck really being victimized by the system in a lot of ways. That is kind of screwed up, if you will. I don't know if that you know DHS worker was allowed to release the child or not, but you know, even just sometimes they don't have a choice and that's just the way you know the law is written, or whatever their protocols that they have to follow are, and so it's really. It's really I don't know.

Speaker 1:

Rewarding, I guess, would be the right word, and that's not doing it justice to be able to have an impact, even in an indirect way, for a child that now has a chance, whereas before they didn't. So thank you so much for sharing that, and I guess we kind of went over what you like about the profession and it's the ability, you know, the chance to help people. Most PIs really do have good hearts. From what I figured out, we might be a little rough around the edges, but for the most part people do it because they generally want to help people, and you know you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's how you feel about it. Is there anything that you dislike about.

Speaker 2:

Maybe just the technical side of the job Is there anything that you know is not your favorite part of being in this profession Not my favorite part is, I think, that people don't understand. Our clients don't understand. And it's really important to do the customer service and really talk to them when they do their intake form or, you know, get the information to you. I always say I need every possible thing you can think of. Even if you think it's not important, tell me. And then I have an example of that as well.

Speaker 2:

I had a case where this one guy told me everything that bothered him. He was like I don't. He's like there's some things that are confusing and I don't understand them. It was a child custody thing. Had they had divorced, they had 50-50 custody, the mom had gotten a boyfriend, you know a year in or whatever, and the kids came home and said, oh, mom has a new boyfriend, he's blah, blah, blah, whatever. And so my client was like, okay, well, I want to see who this guy is that's spending half the time with my children, right. So we he called and we did a background check and all that kind of stuff. And then there was this weird charge on there. It was like child neglect. We're like that's weird. So I pulled the police report to see exactly what it was, and it ended up being that he had, um, molested his prior stepdaughter and so somehow I got reduced to child neglect. I still don't understand that, but anyway.

Speaker 2:

And so he's like, yeah, I don't want this guy around my kids. So he called the wife and said, or ex-wife, and said, hey, I found out, blah, blah, blah. And she was like, how'd you find out? Not like, oh my God. It was like, how'd you find that out? And so she already knew. And then he was really like I'm done with this situation. So he filed to get supervised visits. So they got supervised visits and then she's like you know, a year in saying oh, I don't see him anymore, that's not happening, I got rid of him, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 2:

So he's like but I don't believe her, so I want you to follow, you know, follow her whatever. And I was like okay, well, tell me all the stuff that makes you feel weird about it besides the obvious. And he said well, they, um, the boys, came home and said that they had got a dog, but they only saw it for one day and then they haven't seen it since. I was like that's real weird. He was like I know, and then, um, and then so I was like okay, well, I don't want to do surveillance on her because we don't care that she goes to Target or the grocery store or whatever, like there's no point in wasting all that time following her, we just care if she's at this man's house. And he said correct. And I said okay, well, I want to do surveillance at this man's house. He said okay, so I go sit up there.

Speaker 2:

I think he hired me like on a thursday night, friday night, I went and did my like pre-surveillance, drove around the neighborhoods, all the exits, did all the things. Then on saturday morning I started my surveillance and I get set up where I picked out the night before and um, I don't know, about 10 o'clock, 10 30, the guy opens the garage door. Her car's in there, literally the garage doors open for like 30 seconds and I'm getting all these pictures. And then the other side of the garage you can see and that was all of her furniture that he was storing for her. So it was like a you know win-win. And um, so literally they closed the garage door. He mowed the front yard.

Speaker 2:

Then like um, I don't know, like the second or third day of surveillance he comes out and he walks. He's walking, this dog, and I'm like so I'm taking pictures of the dog and the client tells me he what kind of dog he thinks it is. He just gets the information from the children. He doesn't really know what kind of dog it is. He said but I think she bought it from the pet's place that's real expensive on the north side of Oklahoma City and I said okay. So I called there and I said, hey, my friend, I'm giving away PI secrets, uh-oh. So I said, my friend, so so I call there and they told me, oh lord, they told me what kind of dog she had, what it looked like, exactly the colors, all the things. So I get on the internet, put all the things in, find the picture of the dog and it's the same dog that he was walking. So we had that.

Speaker 2:

We had her car in his garage. She had a friend come testify that she had had the dog the whole time and I was like, hmm, so when it came down to the pretrial, her attorneys and my client's attorneys got together and was like, ok, we have all this evidence, we have the dog, we have her car in the garage. Oh, and another thing, that he couldn't figure out why she wouldn't share her information from her insurance to him. And so, um, I looked on the registration to the car and the registration was made out to the boyfriend and to her. So his the car was.

Speaker 2:

I said that's why she didn't want you to know. So they, we had all this information. And her attorney was like, okay, we're just, we're not going to trial, we just need to sign these papers, and so they didn't have to do trial, they didn't have to do anything. So, like that saved him thousands of dollars in attorney fees and trials and court costs and all the things, because he paid me to do my job and he let me do my job with all the information that he had. Right, sometimes the bad thing about it is they don't understand, but give me all the information, everything you think I need to know that's important or not important. Like they had a dog for one day and you think that's weird, like that was important and so not everybody understands that, I think, and it's hard to get that across.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I totally agree, and I probably couldn't even count on two hands that the amount of times dogs have turned out to be important within an investigation. It's one of those odd things, and so that's actually one of my questions that I do ask during my intakes. Now, are there any pets in the home? Are there any pets in the? You know if they're separated in the other home, because here's the thing a lot of times it determines somebody's schedule too. Most people, when they wake up in the morning, they have coffee or go to the bathroom, whatever, but then they're walking the dog. And I've gotten so much. I've just gotten a lot from dogs man's best friend for a reason.

Speaker 1:

But I totally agree, the importance of just the smallest details that might not seem significant can really make or break a case, and so getting that up front, the importance of a good intake, is crucial. And then, as you've said, withholding information on the client's part or the attorney's part, whoever, can be detrimental and it could end up costing more for the client in the long run, really. So I agree with you there. Good intake is so important. And that kind of brings us into our next question about what makes up, in your opinion if you could name one or two things about what traits should a PI have or what makes a good PI in your opinion?

Speaker 2:

I think you have to be organized. Critical thinking is the main thing, I believe, because you know our questions are who, what, when, where and why. That have to be answered. That's our job, like if you could put five things out there. What's our job? Who, what, when, where, why. So I think critical thinking to answer those questions is the most important and it has to be almost a natural thing, like I don't, I'm not sure you can generate like just fabricate that, yes, I totally agree with you.

Speaker 1:

Critical thinking, unfortunately, is one of those skills that is very hard to teach. It's almost like you have it or you don't. And you've demonstrated, just over the course of talking to you, your critical thinking skills and being able to think quickly on your feet, such as negotiating with a woman who was trying to kill you 30 seconds earlier. That's a skill that really can't be taught. And just having that, that quick, those quick instincts, that quick wit to be able to say, ok, you know, use the leverage that you have. You knew the boyfriend was dying. You knew she didn't want to miss you, she didn't want to be in jail because of that. How can I use this to help my case? And you were able to get it done. And so critical thinking, I agree, is one of the, if not the most important thing that a PI can have. Critical thinking, creativity, thinking outside the box. And then I would just also add in having a good network, good vendors, like I'm about to talk about right now with our sponsors. Safewatch360.com, just in case you missed it, is sponsoring this episode. They have given us 30% off their trackers at using coupon code podcast 30. And I would just like to take a minute to really recommend them due to their really excellent customer service. These guys I've been able to call on the weekend, you know, last minute and get what I need to get done. And so I'm not. You know, a lot of times PIs work alone, but we're not one man islands. We do have a whole network of people that support us, whether it be vendors or resources within the police department even, or whatever the case may be. So I take my relationships, I guess, with my vendors very seriously and so, again, that's safewatch360.com. Promo code podcast30.

Speaker 1:

And now I kind of want to transition a little bit into the business side of things. So, and just for you know, other PI listening and just to be able to chat a little bit, and we kind of went over the marketing strategy, so I won't beat a dead horse there. We kind of said you know, seo, having a strong internet presence, is really key, but what advice would you give to someone who's just starting out? How do they? How do they do what Val Thompson did as far as let me just start a business and I don't have a plan B, I'm just going to go all in. What? What piece of, maybe technical advice would you give to somebody who's willing to do that?

Speaker 2:

I, I think, being willing to do it. That's the first thing. You have to have that entrepreneurial mindset. Just give it 100 percent and there's no option to fail. Hundred percent and there's no option to fail. I'm not sure that any of that's technical, but, you know, have a good um base. Like start out good, you know, with the website and the things, and, um, answer your phone every second, every time it rings. Answer your phone. I cannot tell you how many times people have called and said I called three pis before you and nobody's answered their phone and they won't call me back. You've got to answer the phone, um, and you've got to be a good customer service. Like I don't. I I believe in like talking to them and getting the problem and I mean not like a whole long time, but don't be like, oh, you have a child custody, it'd be 50 million dollars. Like how do you want to pay that? Like, don't be like that. You know, talk to them and they're human, they're not a money machine.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I'm so glad you brought up the answer, the phone part, so important and so underrated as far as tips are concerned. I think Phone and email just answer them and also keeping the human approach in it. I think a lot of times when you've been in the field a long time, you can almost fall into a mindset of I won't say dehumanizing people, but it really is. You know, it's business as usual, whereas the person on the other end of the line they're at probably the worst point in their lives, and so I'm guilty of this. I catch myself doing this all the time, where I have to stop what I'm doing, take a deep breath and realize that, just because I do this every day and have been for the last almost decade, this is a new experience for them and they deserve my empathy and my you know utmost support and attention. And that is something I personally struggle with bringing that human approach to it.

Speaker 1:

So I have people who talk on the phone a lot of times for me, my office manager. She's great because she can bring sometimes a little more softness, whereas me I want to just get to the point. I want to get the job done as efficiently as possible, and so if you lack those skills like some I sometimes do again, being surrounded by good people who can make up for what you lack is also a possibility as well. But I totally agree with that Keep you know, answer the phone and keep it human, and I've even I feel so strongly about that. It's even written into our mission statements and our value statements in our on our business. As far as you know, this is, at the end of the day, it's not about business, it's about the human first, very important. I guess. One of the last questions that I will ask you, to kind of wrap it up before I let you interrogate me over here, is what are your goals and plans for the future of your business?

Speaker 2:

Well, since I started later in life, you know, sitting on surveillance 12 hours a day in a car is kind of hard. I would, I would like to have my people in the field and just, you know, be here and answer questions and direct them and and support them in their journey. And a PI, my niece, and Sheila and Mania, her best friend. They just graduated PI school, so Saturday was the first day they were out and I was at home and they were out in the field and that was a great experience for me because, you know, I got to update the system and help them in the field and it was really a good feeling, comfort for me, like I can trust them to to do what they need to do, to help to make sure our client is taken care of and they're doing a good job. And I'm still here supporting them and teaching them. And I think that's very important On. My mission statement is I'm we're a team, me and the client, or our team and the client are a team. Together we're going to fix your problem together.

Speaker 2:

So I don't want to leave them out in the cold like, ok, well, I'll, you know, know, call you in two weeks and let you know, like I don't really kind of feel like that's how I need to operate. I um, of course, don't tell them. If you know your husband's in the hotel with susie down the street, like you said the other day, like I'm not gonna do that, but you know, I'm gonna tell him. Okay, well, this car pulled up, it's a blue Chevy, whatever, and they're like oh, it's a sister. Okay, that's cool then I don't have to worry about a sister, you know. So I think that's important to to get that information and be a team coming to one goal to help them.

Speaker 2:

And another thing is I, so I want to grow my business with women, pis and um, and be able to sit here and tell everybody else what to do, but I want to help them and inspire them. So when I'm telling them what to do, like, but I want to help them and inspire them, so when I'm telling them what to do, like, I'm helping them, not just like yes.

Speaker 1:

And I think that's the. That's the goal I have, as well as to get myself out of the fields, which I have been trying to do for years, unsuccessfully. For the most part I'm out of the field, but not entirely, and it just goes down to. It comes down to trust being able to trust your people, being able to trust that you've mentored them well enough to get the job done in your absence. I came to the point over the summer where I had to leave the state to just let my see if my business would run on its own, in other words, you know, without me here. So there was like three weeks where I was just gone. I was like see ya, because if I was here I would have meddled. You know, I know myself well enough to know I would have been trying to fix everything or or solve everything, and it it goes against my goals for my business and, of course, I was available by phone to answer any questions, but it was, um, we took the training wheels off this summer and it was a good experience for everybody. It shed light on a lot of things and it it gave me some direction for, you know, training people and what to expect in the future, things like that. So I can totally relate to that.

Speaker 1:

I'm kind of in the same scenario where I just kind of want to quarterback everything going on. I did just get my CFE or I did just pass my exams. I'm waiting on the certification to be able to do more financial behind the scenes stuff, so to have key players out in the field. I cannot. I do not underestimate the importance of that and I cannot stress the importance of being able to trust who you have in the field, making sure they are trustworthy and know doing right by the client and things like that.

Speaker 1:

So thank you for sharing that and I wish you obviously the best of luck with your business and being able to accomplish that. And if you want to, either you know, go over your information again your website, stuff like that or you can ask me questions. Save that till the end. You could do it now and at the end, just so we know where to find you out there in Oklahoma. I know you did say you also do service of process, which we do, and sometimes we have referrals out there that we'll be happy to use you for things like that. So it's up to you. I'll let you have the floor for the last little bit here and you can ask me questions and promote your business as you see fit.

Speaker 2:

And you can ask me questions and promote your business as you see fit. First of all, thank you so much for having me. I love your personality, your energy, all your stuff, and I think we'll be friends from here on out. I'd love that. I want to know how your three weeks went. How did you let go? Because I don't ever see me doing that. I can't imagine what that would do to my mental health.

Speaker 1:

I will say the key to it was having an office manager. So I had previously tried to expand my business with just surveillance investigators in the field, with nobody doing the admin stuff but me, and I failed every time. So, having that middleman almost where she's talking to the clients, she's talking to me and she's talking to the PIs out in the field she was really the glue that kind of held that together. How I did it mentally is I literally had to talk to myself like a mental patient almost several times a day and say that nothing disastrous is gonna happen if I'm not there. So really I just talked myself through it. There was some wine involved. I had a couple of glasses of wine to chill out, but yeah, it was, and that's what I started my business in.

Speaker 1:

Let's see 2017. And that was the first time I've ever left for any amount of time. It was the first vacation I've had. Everything else has been funerals and weddings, and I was. It was a working funeral or working wedding, so that was a huge step.

Speaker 1:

So thank you for notice. You know, for understanding how insanely hard it is when you are, you know, transitioning from really being self-employed to running a business, and I read a lot of leadership books. I, you know, tried to just really change my mindset. Like with everything, it's about changing the mindset from doing it yourself to being able to mentor, teach and lead people to do it, and my goal is to have investigators out there that are better than me. You know I'm a pretty humble person. I would love to surround myself with people who are better at the job than I am and just, you know, be the motivator and the leader, so to speak, of that. So really just a lot of talking to myself, praying in that glue of the office manager and a couple glasses of wine would be how I would sum that up.

Speaker 2:

That's a great. That's great. I want to be you when I grow up Because I like right now, that is like I can't even imagine Like I'm almost having a panic attack thinking about it that you did it. I'm having a panic attack thinking that you did it, so I can't even imagine the part about you want your investigators to be better than you. I love that Because I've always, I always. My mindset about that is I never want to be the smartest person in the room, like I want to be in a room with everybody smarter than me so I can learn from them. You know, I feel that. So I think that's great. I, okay. So how to get a hold of me? It's Val Thompson Investigations. It's vtiagency. My phone number is 405-343-3633. My email is val at vtiagency is val at vtiagency and I will be glad to help anybody that has a problem in Oklahoma.

Speaker 1:

We'll work it out together as a team Perfect. Thank you so much for wrapping that up and if anybody needs anything out here in South Carolina, we're Immaculate Investigations LLC and we're based out of Myrtle Beach, but we cover more than Myrtle. We have an office down in Mount Pleasant and we go statewide if we can for papers service of process. We're statewide for PI work. It just depends on how far because it's a big state. So I'm happy to help out here in South Carolina and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you and I agree we will remain friends and I love being able to connect with other PIs because, like I said, it's not every.

Speaker 1:

We're a small group, number one, and we're also busy that we don't really have much time for social. You know socializing even if you do know other PIs. So this is great. Thank you technology for bringing people together and that's all I have for today. So thank you, val Val Thompson of Val Thompson Investigations out in Oklahoma. And that wraps up this episode. Have a great day. That concludes this episode of Investigators Roundtable. If you're enjoying this podcast, please like, subscribe and share, and information about myself and my guests can be found in the description box below. Once again, I'm your host, amanda Appy from Immaculate Investigations LLC, and thank you so much for watching.