Q: What was your first professional job?
A: My first professional job was police officer. Prior to this, I held several long time jobs that were never satisfying or significant to me. Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to become a police officer but in the 70s it was hardly something my parents (or probably any little girls' parents) encouraged. Finally, after moving with my partner to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1997 I decided I wanted to give it a try. So, at 38 years old, I applied for and was hired by a local police department and headed off to the police academy.
Police Departments are like any business environment in that they have their own culture. My first department was a larger more traditional police department. When I say traditional I mean a department with a paramilitary culture -- you can read here "old boys' club." After encountering one obstacle after another, I realized that I did not get into law enforcement at almost 40 years old to fight battles within my own department but to be a positive force for good in the community. I then set out on a search to find a department that matched my priorities. I quickly found my current department and within one year of graduating from the academy was working my dream job.
Q: How do you currently define success in your career?
A: When I began the long process of becoming an officer, people would ask about my career goals. It was very clear in my mind: I wanted to become a Detective and then promote to a supervisory position as quickly as possible. I have been a Police Officer for 10 years. I made Detective within my first 3 years and at 6 years, was promoted to Sergeant. I now supervise a team of 4 patrol officers working the streets and I love it. My next goal is to become Detective Sergeant overseeing our Investigations unit, which I hope to make happen within the next 3 years.
As a Sergeant, I am currently the highest-ranking female officer in the San Carlos Police Department. At my level, I am able to effect change and influence department policies that affect the entire department and our community. To me, this is the pinnacle of success.
Q: What's one of your most tried-and-true secrets for maintaining or re-gaining your sanity?
A: Getting back to the reason I do this job, the
people and the streets. Law enforcement can be a bureaucracy just like any business and just like every other business, upper management can be one of the biggest stressors. Being a Sergeant is considered 'middle management' and involves all the frustrations that come with that. When I go out and work the streets, it takes all that away. For me, interacting with people and feeling like I am making a difference reminds me of why I became a police officer.
Q: What's one piece of career advice that was given to you when you were an emerging leader that you'd like to pass along to other emerging women leaders?
A: At every turn, try your best to give a hand up to other women. My most influential mentor told me the best way to keep going forward is to always pay it backward. As a result, she and I, along with several other women, have started an informal, off duty, mentoring group. We are committed to, and focused on, helping other women in law enforcement who want to promote. The unexpected pay back from this group has been invaluable to me. I have developed contacts at other agencies that I would have never normally encountered. I have also strengthened relationships with peers in a way that may not have naturally occurred.
Q: What would your totally decadent day-off look like? (Think fairy-tale)
A: In order to really do this right it needs to be two days off. My partner and I would start by driving to the beautiful Napa Valley, which is a short 2 hours from our house. We head directly to Calistoga to the amazing Indian Springs Resort and Spa. Here we spend the entire day in mud baths, mineral baths, resting by the dragon fly reflection pond then finally a massage before heading to the mineral water pool to float away any remaining stressors. This would be followed by dinner at our favorite restaurant Martini House in St Helena and then off to the Napa Valley Lodge in Yountville for the night. In the morning we would head out to several of our favorite wineries for tasting and maybe Dean and Deluca for a brown bag lunch to eat under a tree somewhere before heading over the Golden Gate bridge to home. Since we've actually done this before (a few times), it isn't really fairy-tale but it is truly my idea of a decadent "day off".
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