How to Rocket Your PI Business Podcast

Chris Salgado An accomplished and trusted security and investigations leader skilled in more than 19 years of innovation, mentorship as well as process implementation and refinement with diverse organizations. Director-level management of persons and global operations in corporate risk, brand protection, supply chain, criminal, civil, surveillance, and SIU investigations. Skilled at managing large teams of investigators, intelligence analysts, and support staff. Expert in investigations, court testimony, and counterfeit detection. Proven attention to detail, problem-solving capabilities, and the successful ability to operate remotely. A client-friendly attitude recognized by several operational awards.

Shaun received his Ph.D in Experimental Psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

He was an Adjunct Professor at Tarrant County College and Navarro College before getting his PI hours with another PI. He opened Red Door Investigations two weeks before the Pandemic hit in March of 2020. This is a great interview of planning and persistence and I am glad to have Shaun on the show.

Sandra Stibbards began her investigative career training and working extensively with one of the oldest and best-known private investigation agencies in California. Four years later, in 1996, she opened her own investigation agency, Camelot Investigations. Currently, she maintains a private investigator license in the state of California. Sandra specializes in Financial Fraud Investigations, Competitive Intelligence, Counterintelligence, Business, and Corporate Espionage, Physical Penetration Tests, Online Vulnerability Assessments, Brand Protection/IP Investigations, Corporate Due Diligence, and Internet Investigations. Social Engineering and Elicitation are specialized skills that she has developed and refined during her years as an investigator. She has included “Internet profiling” and online investigations within her work. Ms. Stibbards has conducted investigations internationally in five continents.

Grace Elting Castle, raised on the Siletz Indian Reservation in Oregon, is a fierce protector of Native culture, tradition, stories, natural resources, sacred itnms and burial sites. A retired professional investigator, writer/editor and reported/photographer, she helped plan and was a speaker at the 1998 “Wrongful Convictions and the Death Penalty Conference in Chicago. She was my editor when she worked at PI Magazine. She has participated in the re-investigation of wrongful convictions and continues to battle to reform our system of justice. Her debut novel A Time to Wail came out in 2018.

Kelly Paxton is known mostly as the Pink Collar Crime lady. She didn’t start out in law enforcement but that’s where she has spent most of her career. While working at a financial services firm a client was arrested on wire fraud charges by Customs. Kelly then became a special agent for US Customs and was able to work all types of cases including white-collar fraud, money laundering, and narcotics cases. Kelly has worked in the public and private sectors. Her cases have included embezzlement, conflict of interest, intellectual property, Open Source Intelligence, and fraud. Her most recent position was at Nike where she was recruited for her expertise in Open Source Intelligence and is a Certified Fraud Examiner. She is the showrunner for the Great Women in Fraud podcast. She is a keynote speaker, trainer, and educator. She is the author of Embezzlement: How to Detect, Prevent, and Investigate Pink-Collar Crime available at Amazon

Rob Holmes is Founder & CEO of MI:33 (formerly known as IPCybercrime). Raised in New Jersey in a family of private investigators, Rob worked his first case at the age of twelve. While aspiring as a comedian in Los Angeles in the early 90s, he was employed at a premiere investigative firm. Here, he found himself assigned to a new breed of faceless perpetrators: cyber criminals. Rob conducted some of the world’s first IP-related cyber investigations, and pioneered the study of the “virtual crime scene”. His regular clients include 20 of the 100 Best Global Brands. Rob is a private eye, funny guy, blogger, Libertarian, Freemason, Prius owner, and a Gene Hackman Fan.

Jeffrey Stein has 30+ years of experience in the private investigations, security, security consulting, CCTV, and loss prevention fields. He is the President / Owner of ELPS Private Detective Agency who provides investigative and security services to attorneys, businesses, the cannabis industry, and private citizens. Jeff has personally conducted over three thousand internal and external integrity and witness interviews during the course of his career in the private sector for both civil and criminal cases. He is a licensed Professional Investigator in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Jeff is also the President and owner of PA Digital Surveillance Systems, with over 33 years’ in-depth CCTV experience; “Hands-on” to senior executive levels. His experience and expertise with CCTV and motion detection analysis is derived from formal training, education, and years of hands experience to arrive at his opinions. In-depth analysis, frame by frame, is often pivotal in many civil and criminal cases. Stein received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from West Chester University. He has received advanced training in interviewing and interrogation techniques and attended the New Jersey State Police Academy, Municipal Class, located in Sea Girt, NJ. He is also Board Certified as a Criminal Defense Investigator by the Criminal Defense Investigation Training Council and a Board Accredited Investigator. His expertise, while specializing in criminal defense/homicide investigations, In January of 2018 he was inducted as a member of the Vidocq Society. In February of 2018, He was licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety as a Continuing Education Instructor for both Private Investigations and Security.

Mike Spencer grew up the youngest of seven children in the New York City suburb of Wilton, Conn. He graduated from highly competitive Wilton High School and attended Franklin and Marshall College, where he earned a degree in English. Still in high school, he started writing for his local newspaper and developed an interest in journalism. Into college he continued his passion for reporting, working for local papers. Growing up and in college, he competed in wrestling, lacrosse, and rugby. Perhaps from a combination of birth order and sports, that competitive streak remains a big part of his personality. He brought his intensity to private investigations.

In his 20’s he worked as a general assignment and crime reporter for daily papers in Virginia, Florida, and California, including the Contra Costa Times. He earned admission to and graduated from UC-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. His investigative thesis about a Vietnam combat veteran and post-traumatic stress disorder earned faculty honors. He reported on the Loma Prieta Earthquake, the East Bay Hills wildfire, and Hurricane Andrew. In Florida, he covered numerous local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Reporting instilled traits he brought to investigations: how to interview a variety of people, resourcefulness, being accurate with facts, knowledge of public records, and meeting tight deadlines.

Spencer worked under several licensed private investigators to obtain the hours in order to qualify for the private investigator test and licensing in California. He filled his early years with a variety of cases, from insurance defense investigations to criminal defense and infidelity investigations. One area he quickly gravitated to and excelled at was personal injury investigations. He started working on major cases for members of the Alameda Contra Costa Trial Lawyers Association. His success in personal injury investigations has played a part in numerous settlements well over $1 million. At every step in his career, he has tried to keep learning and improving. He prides himself on being able to get along with and help lawyers and all their staff. He was voted Best Private Investigator/Skip Tracer by readers of The Recorder legal newspaper.

His professional associations included memberships in: Alameda Contra Costa Trial Lawyers, San Francisco Trial Lawyers, and Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association. He is also active in Alameda and Contra Costa County bar associations. He attends many continuing education programs dealing with investigations and legal experts.

Spencer’s professional writing has also continued. In addition to publishing articles in local bar association magazines, he also contributes to Pursuit Magazine, a leading online national magazine of private investigators. A couple of years ago, his literary non-fiction book Private Eye Confidential, Stories From A Real P.I., was published by 99: The Press. The book is a mini-memoir that tells how he got into the business, shows how he runs the business, and recounts some of his early cases.

Bill Clutter is a licensed private investigator who began his career in 1985 working as a law office investigator for Springfield criminal defense attorney Michael Metnick. During that time he was part of the defense team that helped free Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez in the infamous Nicarico case, which lead to the arrest of police and prosecutors in the case that became known as "The DuPage 7". After that case ended, he began the post-conviction investigation that led to the exoneration of death row inmate Randy Steidl, who upon his release in 2004 began advocating for the abolition of the death penalty in New Mexico, Illinois, and Connecticut as a spokesperson for Witness to Innocence.

In 2001, Bill founded the Illinois Innocence Project. In January 2013, Bill formed a new national organization called Investigating Innocence after joining the Camm defense team. The core of this organization is made up of private investigators committed to working to free the innocent. There are nearly 70 Innocence Projects throughout the US that hire private investigators.

Jean Mignolet is the owner of Mignolet Business Research Consultants based in Fort Lauderdale for over 30 years. She is a certified Florida License Private Investigator with experience in law enforcement, criminal defense, and civil investigations. She is a pioneer in electronic information gathering and became a Subject Matter Expert in Open Source Investigative Techniques. When Ms. Mignolet lost a family member in the Towers on September 11; she was recruited by a Dept. of Homeland Security contractor to help design and train law enforcement investigators and analysts around the country within a terrorism prevention workshop. Ms. Mignolet showed how "Pieces of the Evidence Puzzle" can be found in open source and proprietary databases. Returning to her core investigative business these past couple of years, she was a team leader in developing the investigative action plans for the BP fraud cases. The majority of her investigations are now in-depth background investigations or due diligence on people and businesses for attorneys, businesses, and individuals.