all right misty star good morning how are you doing this morning i'm good how are you very good i'll tell you i have been excited to be able to talk with you and i'm gonna tell you why not just on this podcast, but I've covered the system a little bit over the last few months. I've gotten out to, I don't even know how many now, maybe 20 facilities. I think just last week I was in Dallas and spoke to between 300 and 500 staff members between three different recalls. and as I've been out, I hear your name a lot, a whole lot. I look and I talk about the importance of leadership. I talk about the importance of us identifying the right leaders, and I ask a lot of times, who do you think is a good leader? And I ask that question because it tells me a lot about the person that I ask it of, right? and I've been able to hear your name a lot. You are now the first selection that has been made into a regional director position. Now, we've made two others, but they were acting. You're the first one that we've pulled from the field into that role, and you start in that role very soon. You're probably already working on some things. but so so everybody knows about you tell me a little bit about what's your history in this agency how did you come up through this agency and what's been your experience so far sure and thank you for sharing that I started I was a public school teacher in special education before I started with the bureau so I was lucky enough to start at USP Hazleton 21 years ago as a H-er and then went up the ranks of education, went on to, at the time it was FCI Morgantown, now FPC, as supervisor of education, went on to be executive assistant at FCI Manchester, Kentucky, and then two associate warden tours, one at FCI Cumberland, one at FPC Alderson, and then on to warden at FCI Waseca, Minnesota, USP Florence, full circle back to FCC Hazleton. Wow. And so you've covered a lot of place. Covered a lot of ground. BOP likes to move people around a lot. I have learned that. I think there's some good by that, but golly, that can be so difficult on other things. So tell me some examples that you've seen in this agency of both poor leadership and of good leadership, and maybe how that has maybe shaped who you are. Okay. I'll start with poor leadership. I've witnessed those leaders over the years that I'm sure we all have that are just not engaged. They're in the seat. They have the title. But they're very hands-off with the staff that they lead as well as the inmates that are in their facility. You don't see them often. You don't hear from them often. and it just creates a divide between the line staff and management. So that would be an example of poor leadership. An example of good would be the opposite. Those leaders that are out there side by side with their staff, that are out there in the housing units that are in the programming areas observing what going on getting to know the individuals That what makes a better environment and culture within the prisons You know we got some great people inside this agency. I mean, you obviously know you've been to a lot of different places. But we also have some very poor ones, and they've been allowed to stay in those roles, in those areas. And that's something Director Marshall and I have identified and looking at saying, all right, how do we change that? When you walk into your role, what is your hope? I mean, now you're at one of the top positions in this agency. You have one of the most impactful jobs that helps identify these next leaders. It helps manage them. It helps train them. It helps all those things. What's some of the things that you've thought about as you've reflected going, wow, I just got tapped for this job. What is it that you would like to do? Well, building the new leadership, getting us a bench, so to say, so that we have people ready and willing to be taking these captain spots, associate warden spots, warden spots, because we need quality and we even need competition. We don't want to just be filling these positions with bodies because we need someone. We need people that are trained, that are passionate, and that are waiting in the wings, hoping they get in the seat one day so that they can make a difference. There is a lot of that just chasing the next GS level, right? Rather than, hey, I want to be in that position to be able to make a difference. We all want to make more money. We all want to move up. Our careers want to do that. But there are certain positions that have a lot of influence, and they have a lot of impact. You know, the suicide rate amongst staff, it's terrible. I mean, the staff rated this agency the worst place to work in all of federal government. You've heard me talk about that. I had said that, and I said, hey, that's been for the last two years. And somebody around here corrected and said, just so you know, we've been last or next to last for almost 10 years. I thought, wow, what does that mean for this agency? And then I think through leadership and the importance of that. How do you see the importance of leadership when it comes to how our staff wellness is? It's extremely important. And I think our staff know that we can't wave a magic wand and give them the pay increase immediately. We can't wave the magic wand and fill the 78 vacancies at Hazleton immediately. but if we're out there making the personal connection with them, being out there with them during their long days, when they're on their double shift after they've already worked all night, I think that is what matters to them, that they see that in their leader. They know there's challenges. They can be accepting of the challenges, although they want to see change, but they want to know that someone's in it with them to see them through it. And, you know, this month, this probably won't be when the podcast airs, but this month being Suicide Awareness Month, right? And so it's something that we really need to think about the health of the organization and the people in it, right? We've got people out there doing very difficult jobs that are working difficult situations away from their families, working double shifts, as you said. And that something Director Marshall and I are really focused on How do we make a healthy workplace How do we create a place that somebody can come into and know that their job is making a difference They're making a difference in the world. It's not just a job. They really, truly are having an impact. How do you feel like your job has been able to have an impact? And you can talk both staff and inmates as you've come up through the system. like you said we're in a position to influence either positively or negatively and every day you have to go in there and make that choice how you're going to lead hit the ground running go out see the problems don't turn a blind eye to the problem and hope that it doesn't rise to the level that you'll be called or the director will be called go out take a look at them address them with the resources that you have. And I think everything's related. We've talked about succession planning and building leaders, but I think getting the right people in the positions also helps with wellness because people are going to enjoy coming to work. Yeah. So I think everything's related. Yeah. If you don't like coming to work, If you're, you know, the number one reason people leave corrections is not because of pay, even though it's terrible, right? I'd say terrible, not enough. They don't leave because of the danger of inmates, which you would think that that would be higher up on the list. That's not even on the list. They leave because of direct line supervisors. The supervisor they report to, that's why they leave. So that's why it's so important, right, to get those right people in the right places. Are there any leaders that you look back or that you might look up to, that you might say that you would point to in the past? Anybody you could think of? I'll highlight my previous boss in the North Central region, Mr. Madvosian. He was a great regional director to us wardens in the field. and under his leadership, that is when I became more results-driven and data-driven to hone my own leadership skills. So he comes to mind first. That was very good. You know, you are, I mean, I haven't asked, I don't know how old you are, I don't know where you're at in your career time, but you look young, so it looks like you've got years, some time left. What do you hope for this agency? What would you like to see happen? Bigger picture, feel free to say whatever or however. I don't know that I've actually thought about that yet, but that's a good question. I hope that we're off of the bottom of the list. So I hope that we do our part to get the right leaders in place, to get us staffed and competitive in the law enforcement field again. And I hope that we do what we've always done when it comes to programming and rehabilitating, but that we amplify it. and the you know it's director marsh and i inherited a very difficult situation uh there were more than one call to say what are you doing why would you take this job why would you get involved because there's been a lot of you know difficulties right there's been a lot of difficulties in funding there been a lot of difficulty staffing and all these things uh but yet when i meet people like yourself or others that are in this fight that are working hard that are working hard for this agency to make the improvements, it is motivational. The director and I talk about it all the time. Just last night we were talking about how motivational it is. What is the motivation behind what you do? Why do you do what you do? Why would you accept the job moving up the level? I mean, obviously it pays more, but I think for you it's a lot bigger than that. Why have you continued on this path? From the time I started as a teacher, and I came into it thinking, oh, there's no way this will be as rewarding as teaching young kids. But it turned out it was to me. And I grew to love the agency. I grew to love the people and every place I've been, I've had the opportunity to meet and make connections with the good people. And now that I'm, and I'm extremely grateful to be in a position to, to lead them. I just want to be able to continue to give like people did to me. And I want people to love their job as much as I love it. And as much as I did 21 years ago, when I started. Well, I'm going to tell you, shout out to all the teachers out there. I know. I think seeing you, I hope many of them find, you know, motivation seeing you in this role. One of my favorite leaders as I've studied across the states is in Missouri. The number two, the deputy director was actually a principal in education inside of one of the prisons. When the state director then, and Precythe identified him and started moving him up very quickly up the ladder. And he's doing a phenomenal job there. And so now meeting other leaders, seeing those in education, I think there's some real qualities there that you get in that field that help prepare you, obviously for leaders, because you guys are doing a great job. There are. And we say once a teacher, always a teacher. There you go. Or a tight-knit group, too. There you go. Well, I just, I want to thank you for doing this. Again, this is different for the BOP, right? It is. Being able to communicate, being able to talk openly about some of these things, being able to talk about leadership, being able to talk about the good and the bad. But I think it's important. I think it's important for your coworkers and others to be able to see what's really going on. I believe that as leaders, we should be accountable, right? I tell people when they've told me, you don't want to do recalls this big. People are going to challenge you, and they might record you, and they might do these things. And I said, well, I believe that that's our responsibility as leaders to be out there. I think we should be accountable to people. We don't need to hide in our offices and those things to just be protected. We need to be able to answer to the people that we're responsible to. And so I really appreciate you being willing to do this. So you're now going to be leading, how many prisons are in that? 21 facilities. Yeah, 21 facilities and a lot of staff represented in that. And I can tell you, I've already gotten some messages from the field excited. People have known you from other places. And so I'm really excited for others to be able to get to know you. But I just want to say thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for the crew that you've chosen. Thank you for the work that you've done inside of this agency. And I'm really excited. I know Director Marsh and I were talking about last night. We're both really excited about your leadership and what this says for the direction of this agency. Thank you also. And it's a true blessing to be in my new position. We'll look forward to working with you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
