We were lucky to catch up with Kerrie Droban Zhivago recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kerrie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I’ve been fortunate enough to have a dual career–as a true crime author/national speaker and criminal defense and family lawyer. Stories save lives, whether they are relayed to a jury, a judge or a readership. As a lawyer, I help people navigate crisis and effect profound change in their lives. My special skillset, (borne of personal experience), understanding narcissism and other dangerous personality disorders, gives me a unique perspective and has enabled me to turn tragedy into triumph.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been a family law attorney for over ten years, specializing in high conflict divorces and navigating toxic relationships. My knowledge of criminal pathology, particularly narcissism, psychopathy and other dangerous personality disorders has enabled me to navigate complex litigations, both at the trial level, motion practice, and in negotiations. I have been blessed to have a dual career as an award-winning, multi-published true crime author and lawyer where I continue to educate audiences on psychological abuse and the dangerous ways people “love” each other. As a former prosecutor and capital litigator, I’ve advocated for reform, victim’s rights and have also seen the benefits of rehabilitation and mitigation. I am most proud of my first capital appeal which overturned over one hundred death row cases nationwide and is responsible for jury sentencing in capital litigation. As an author, I am most proud of my latest book, Aurora, which provides insight into mass shooters, the threat assessment, and what we, as a nation, can do differently to mitigate the risk.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ve been most influenced by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s words, “let everything happen to you, beauty and terror, just keep going, no feeling is final.” It’s such sound advice and it puts all experiences in perspective. Everything that has happened in my life has been growth, is the story within the story, and has shaped me into the person I am now.

I became a lawyer at a time in my life when I was broke (couldn’t even afford the application fee for law school or the fee for the LSAT exam), and living in a trailer park in a gang-infested neighborhood. I subsisted on a diet of bagels and potatoes, and the Recession hit. I had the attitude that the situation I was in wasn’t forever and it didn’t define me. I used it for strength rather than defeat and saw law school as a way through not a way “out” of my misfortune. I applied to law school within two weeks of the deadline and took the last opening for the LSAT. I knew law school would irrevocably change my life and it did. It gave me the power and the platform to effect lasting change in people’s lives.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Vivian Schilling’s masterpiece, Quietus, has had the most influence on me as a writer. Her psychological thriller raises provocative questions about fate, mortality and what lies beyond. In my work as a true crime author, I’ve always been intrigued by what “makes a murderer”– the criminal pathology behind the monstrous acts. It’s a haunting question but one that makes for compelling narrative because it begs the question whether a person is born evil, or “becomes” evil based on environmental and family factors. If the former is true then are some people simply “fated” to intersect with others and what becomes of rehabilitative programs, lenient sentences or even mercy? The book powerfully informed my work both in the legal arena and in the true crime genre–I write to understand the “why” of the “who” and “what” can be done to prevent these kinds of crimes in the future (if anything)?

Contact Info:

• Website: kerriedroban.com
• Instagram: @kerrie_droban.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialKerrieDroban/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrie-droban/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/KerrieDroban1
• Other: kdrobanlaw.com

Image Credits
Goldy Locks/The Factory Photography Les Maness