Kim and Kara talk about assigning colors to their feelings, the loneliness of advocacy work, creating community, and launching "Captive Audience" on Patreon with bonus content available now.

This week's guest pulls no punches in describing her recruitment, manipulation, and victimization at the hands of one of the most prolific human traffickers in modern history. Jess Michaels joins Kim and Kara to recount how this professional dancer was groomed and sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein himself. Listen as Jess discloses information about the names you know, the stories you don't, and makes details about the network of conspirators public, for the very first time. 

Buckle up, friends--this chapter is sure to leave you speechless.   

Jess Michaels is a dance industry professional with 30 years experience as a performer, educator and entrepreneur. She is also a 1991 survivor of sexual assault by Jeffrey Epstein and childhood sexual abuse who was silently tortured for decades by the repressed, unprocessed trauma that destroyed her emotional, physical, and intellectual health. 

Shockingly, her healing journey began December 14, 2012, after Jess and her hometown of Newtown CT were devastated by the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  In 2015, Jess joined Ian Hockley, founder of Dylan’s Wings of Change, a foundation dedicated to his son, Dylan Hockley, one of the first-grade victims in the shooting, and worked to help develop the Wingman program - inspiring empathy, courage, and inclusion in children through experiential education - for dance studios, sports, and schools.

It was there in Newtown, teaching dance classes and working alongside brave parents who lost their children, Jess began to connect the value of shame-free, community-based early trauma intervention to the needs of sexual assault survivors.

Now, the founder of 3Joannes - a revolutionary app and sexual assault first responder training that prepares & strengthens community trust, support, and safety - Jess hopes no one else ever loses 30 years of their life imprisoned in the wreckage of unprocessed trauma like she did.

Learn more from Jess:

Website: https://www.jessmichaelsspeaks.com/

Instagram: @jessmichaelsspeaks

TikTok: @jessmichaelsspeaks

Facebook: @jessmichaelsspeaks

Jess's CTA: Identify your "Three Joannes" and watch social media for the official launch of the #3Joannes app.

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The theme music used in Survivor’s Guide to True Crime is Uplifting Motivational Stomp by MarcusWay