We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bess Gamblewilliams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Bess, thanks for joining us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your professional career?

The most important job that I held was that of a non-commissioned officer in the military. This promotion was the start to developing invaluable leadership skills. These skill sets included marching and calling cadence to move a platoon of veterans. You are also interacting with top leaders who have specialized skills. Great leaders are highly respected and admired.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a RARITY in this field as a Black female federal private investigator.

I’m from a small town called Texarkana, Tx. I’m a tomboy and a girly girl who loves to read mysteries, history and detective stories. Since we are Choctaw Native Americans, every generation in my family has served in the military, including the American Revolution.

I love history and in our culture, history is passed on by the elders or the ‘storytellers’ in our tribe. That’s how we learn our history from generation to generation. In each generation, elders pick the ‘chosen one’ to tell the family history for the next generation. I am the ‘chosen one’ for my generation (baby boomer), so I began to pick up the task from the last generation and started to investigate my family tree.

Through my investigative findings, I discovered over 500 years (five centuries) of our family tree including our Moors, Scottish, and Irish lineage. Tracing my family history was so rewarding that I began to help others with their genealogy. I was very good at getting information that regular people couldn’t attain and that gave me many customers who wanted my services. That’s when I decided to become a P.I. I also began to hustle many side jobs including for Marines who deployed for months and needed someone to keep ‘an eye’ on their spouses while away. Insurance companies are also in demand for PI’s due to fraud.

I obtained my license while on active duty as a United States Marine along with my late husband who was also a Marine Drill Instructor in 1997 over 27 years ago. Thereafter, we joined the prestigious international company of Hightower Investigations Worldwide, LLC., owned by army veteran, Mr. Willie Hightower and his wife, Shelia Barnes Hightower. They had international offices in Germany, Italy, and Japan. The first office was in Frankfurt, Germany where he set it up after serving in Vietnam as a military police officer.

My proudest moment was when I found out that our company worked directly with the White House’s Civil Rights Commissioner, Dr. Arthur Fletcher along with the Armed Services Committee Chair! What? This was epic and an opportunity of a lifetime. I was blessed when I hit the jackpot and received my license while stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Dr. Fletcher specifically chose Hightower Investigations Worldwide, LLC., as his ‘pitbull’ Private Investigator to oversee all complaints from minorities overseas and around the country on military installations who were being discriminated against during the Clinton Administration. Hightower Investigations was there for the defense of many military and civilian DoD employees. I was one of his first clients. After a successful resolution, we became lifelong partners with Hightower Investigations. I now own Hightower Investigations, LLC.

I am RARE as a Federal PI who is International, very rare. Women federal private investigators are even rarer down in the South even though Texas has the largest number of female military veterans in the country. We need more MINORITY WOMEN ‘FEDERAL’ Private Investigators. The work is exciting, the pay is phenomenal and the hours are long. You cannot be lazy in this field. You’re on the go and traveling. All military personnel have the best opportunity to become Private Investigators because of the extensive training. Civilians (non-military) work as ‘state’ or ‘county’ for other PI companies – rather than having their own company. This generation is very progressive and smart. They should look into owning their businesses instead of working for others.

I have partnered with another international veteran-owned private Investigation company named ‘Shield of Valor Executive Protection, LLC.’ This team of veterans specializes in ‘Special Ops’, Intelligence, Secret Service Details, Presidential/Dignitaries Bodyguards, Security, Military Embassies, and much more including trafficking to name a few.

The work of a private investigator is very rewarding. You get to learn the psychology of people and their habits while learning about yourself at the same time. It takes strict discipline, stealth and secrecy to be successful as a PI especially on a federal and international level. Federal PI’s see lots more action than the lower levels of county and state. If you’re going to work in this field, work a the top of the chain. Work at the federal level.

Be RARE. Do YOU.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My extensive military background helped build my reputation because I already had a saturated market. Once word gets around to anyone within a community about your skills and the success, your customer base will grow quickly. Remember to always follow-up with your customers base, its basic business etiquette.

Any advice for managing a team?

When managing a team, you must be honest, fair and humble yourself. Sharpen up your communication skills so that you speak clearly and communicate passionately and consistently. Motivate your people by empowering them with the freedom to create freely and think ‘outside the box’ . Build trust and transparency within your team so that your relationship is solid and never questionable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shieldofvalorep.com/

Image Credits

All photos taken by Bess Gamble-Williams & Choctaw Williams