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Carlia McFarland, welcome to my podcast.
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>> Hi, thank you.
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>> It's great to have you here. So, you're
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a a private investigator from Supenti
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Investigations.
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>> Yes, I am.
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>> I looked up. It means snake.
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>> It does. Yeah.
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>> So, my birth year is actually birth of
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the snake. So, there's a lot of meaning
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behind it as well. And snakes are good
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and they're bad and they've got there's
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a lot of mystical around it.
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>> What's good about snakes?
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>> They lie and they wait before they
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attack.
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>> Okay. So, they're measured.
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>> Yeah. And they can be quite friendly as
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well. They can. Yep. They can be
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friendly, right?
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>> Yeah.
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>> And when I when I looked that up, I
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thought, "Oh, it's a funny name for a
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private investigation company." Because
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um I don't know. I think when most
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people think of snakes, they think
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they're evil and mean.
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>> Yeah. A lot of people do. But Sepenti
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actually came from Bulgari. He has a
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beautiful jewelry line and it's all
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diamonds and it's relative around the
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snakes about the beauty of snakes as
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well. Yeah.
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>> How long you been doing this?
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>> Um almost 10 years. Yeah.
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>> So what is it um that people think you
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do and what is it that you actually do?
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People think that I sit out in my car
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and stalk people and do a lot of
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infidelity um investigations. What I
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actually do is um a lot of
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investigations. So, fraud
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investigations, personal investigations,
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um I'll help individuals with difficult
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problems that they might have, workplace
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investigations. Um skip tracing, that's
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a huge passion of mine.
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Skip tracing is locating people for lots
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of different reasons. Um, be it finance,
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be it families, be it estates, different
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reasons that people would need to find
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somebody. Um, and document serving. So,
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there's lots of things that we do, but
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yeah, lots of people think that we sit
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out there with our sunglasses and
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binoculars and watch people.
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>> That's me. Have I watched too much TV?
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>> I haven't You turned up with a box of
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Dunkin Donuts today, which is very, very
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kind of you. Um, that was just a joke I
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made when we were messaging backwards
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and forwards because yeah, I don't know.
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I've probably watched too many episodes
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of Law and Order or something.
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>> It is a stigma that is out there. Yeah,
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there is a huge stigma out there that
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Yeah. you're sitting there in a car with
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two of you with your binoculars watching
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just eating coffee and uh donuts and
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coffee.
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>> Yeah.
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>> I I do have um a card here specifically
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about the um infidelity stuff that
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you're talking about. Is does that make
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up any part of your job?
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>> Um I can do it. I don't enjoy doing it.
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It's not something that I like doing.
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And when I have had it come through,
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I've spoken to the client. Um it it's
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dependent on what the circumstances are.
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And quite often if it's a female that
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I've spoken to, it's your gut that
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talks. And if you have that already in
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your relationship, are you going to
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waste your money on me? That's probably
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not a good thing for other investigators
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cuz I know other investigators that is
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their bread and butter. that's what they
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do. But for me personally, it's not.
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>> Yeah.
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>> Okay. We'll get to that later cuz
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obviously you've you've done it to
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realize that it's not for you. Is is
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part of it not being for you because um
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you just hate going back with the
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conclusive evidence.
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>> Yeah, probably. Or it's boring. It's
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actually boring watching people and like
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it can be really boring watching
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somebody. Yeah.
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>> Yeah. So, what what does the day in the
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life look like?
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>> Oh my gosh. The day of my life looks
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like I have lots of different hats on.
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Not only do I run a company, I'm doing
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the invoicing or I'm checking a report
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or I'm out there doing it myself. So, no
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day is the same in my world. Um, for
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example, I woke up this morning. I had
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an urgent job that I had to do is what I
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had to come into the city. So, I've done
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that. Um, I've got a couple that are on
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the go at the moment. Last week, I was
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skip tracing somebody to find a family
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member for an estate. So yeah, it's very
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varied.
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>> So can most of your job just be done
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done by sitting in front of a computer?
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>> I can do it, but quite often I'll go out
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as well to interview people, to do scene
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examinations, to talk to other people,
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to gather all the evidence before I
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write my report.
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>> What's the question you get asked most
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when you tell people what you do? Say
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you're at a barbecue or a function.
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>> Is it infidelity? Again,
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>> it is. It is. A lot of it is infidelity.
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Um or it'll be, "Oh my gosh, I've never
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met a private investigator in my life.
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That's my dream job." That's the
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statements that I get
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>> because there is an intrigue about it or
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a curiosity, isn't there?
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>> Yeah, there is. And it's a very hard
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industry to get into.
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>> It is.
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>> Okay. What What is the process for
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qualifying or registering? So there's no
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um certificate any longer or any degree
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any longer and it's you're registered
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under the PSPA and quite often you have
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to be taught by somebody who is an
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investigator already or ex police or
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something like that to then come in. So
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you have to prove to the ministry that
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you have relative um education to be
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able to go into it.
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>> Yeah.
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>> Cuz a lot of ex cops end up doing it,
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don't they?
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>> Yeah. What what percentage of your job
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would you describe as exciting?
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>> You talked before about invoicing and
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stuff. Um which um yeah I mean every job
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I suppose has a level of excitement and
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a level of boredom.
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>> 90% of my job.
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>> Exciting.
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>> Yeah. I love I do enjoy my job. It's why
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I get out of bed. It's why I do it.
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>> Um what about skills or traits? What do
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you think you need to be a good PI? Oh,
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an inquisitive mind, a good
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communicator,
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>> a good listener.
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Um,
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sometimes empathy is really good
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depending on the investigation.
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>> Um,
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good at good at English and report
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writing. Like, you've got to be really
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good at report writing.
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>> Oh god. See, that doesn't sound like an
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exciting part of the job to me.
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>> I think so when I
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>> You lost me with invoicing before and
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now report writing. I think because
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when you have all your evidence and
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you're putting it into your report, it
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start like you re-evaluate what you've
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actually got there and sometimes that
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will trigger something else and go, "Oh
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my gosh, how did I miss that or I need
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to go back and do that." So, it's not
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just sitting at the computer writing out
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boring reports. Yeah, they can be quite
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interesting.
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>> Well, I'm no um PI myself, but I did do
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some investigative work on my own prior
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to you coming in here when I knew you
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were coming in. Um, and I've got your
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career history here. And it's very um,
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it's random. I think random is probably
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the best way to describe it. Air Force
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medic.
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>> Yeah.
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>> To primary school teacher
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>> to private eye.
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>> Yeah. Yeah. Um, as I would say to our
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kids, like when you leave school, you
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might have an idea in your head that
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this is what I'm going to do. This is
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what I'm going to be. This is my career.
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And all of a sudden your ch your road
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changes. And that's actually what
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happened to me. So my career was a medic
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in the Air Force. Loved it. Absolutely
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loved it. But I then got sick and I was
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told I was no longer deployable.
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So it I lost my career. So I had to rego
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what do I want to do in my life? And at
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that point it was, well, I always wanted
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to be a school teacher. I'll go back and
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study. So I went back and studied and
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was a teacher for 12 and a half years.
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>> Wow. And then another change in the road
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came along. I got sick again and I
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realized I was never going to be part of
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the club of being a mom and went
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>> this is really hard and a door opened
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and I walked through it and here I am
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today.
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>> Yeah.
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>> I'm in that club as well.
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>> Oh yeah.
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>> Yeah. Yeah. I just had a tumor removed
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which um yeah left me with fertility
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issues and yeah myself and my ex-wife we
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were unable to conceive. It sucks. It's
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funny cuz I've got a lot of friends that
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have chosen not to be parents but when
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that choice is taken away from you it's
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yeah
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>> I think it's a really different one.
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>> So mine resulted from I had was
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diagnosed with Crohn's disease when I
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was in the Air Force. So, I was in
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Bogenville and then came back and was
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treated for 18 months and then I had to
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have life-saving surgery where they took
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out my whole large intestine.
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And I didn't know at the time, but I was
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made surgically sterile because they
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saved my life.
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>> But I didn't know that at the time until
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later on. And then I had to have a full
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hyctomy in 2016.
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>> Oh,
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>> yeah. So, it's a different
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It's really different. I I don't know if
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it's any different for a man when like
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when you're married or something like
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that, people go, "Oh, when are you going
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to have kids?" And all of a sudden, you
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kind of there's this expectation in
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society that everyone thinks you're
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going to have kids. And the easiest way
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to shut the people down is I can't.
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>> And they go, "Oh, oh, sorry, sorry." Um
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because yeah,
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>> good make them feel bad.
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>> But it it took me years to learn that.
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years to learn that it's okay to be open
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about this because it's not talked
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about.
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>> Yeah.
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>> And you you're 100% correct. As soon as
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you get married, it's the first thing
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people ask. And then and then I've found
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out that uh when you've had one baby,
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the next thing they ask cuz oh, when are
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you having another one? You having
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anymore? Um yeah, it's really invasive.
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Yeah. No, it's it's tough though when I
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don't know if this is the same for you,
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but um you have this vision of how you
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imagine the second half of your life
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looking and for me it included kids and
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then maybe eventually grandkids and then
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suddenly it's not there anymore. You
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have to think, okay, well, this isn't
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how I imagined, but let's make the best
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of it.
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>> Yeah. And you do like there was a point
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in my life where I thought I was going
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to be this old lady with my dogs. That's
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what I thought until I met my husband
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now and he has two children. So, they're
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my kids and they're amazing. So, I've
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been blessed with that when I did. Yeah.
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Thought this is it.
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>> I've done my research. I'm a I'm a I'm a
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I'm a PI here. Yeah. So, you you became
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a wife and a stepmom in 2022. Um your
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husband quite well known, Slade McFaran.
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>> Yep.
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>> Like a New Zealand rugby legend.
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>> Yes. like moldy all black and played so
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much um uh like club rugby and
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provincial rugby and super rugby in New
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Zealand.
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>> So you got married in 2022. Um he had
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two adult kids, young adult kids from a
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previous relationship.
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>> So they were 15 and 13. So yeah,
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>> I mean they're 22 and 20 now. Yeah.
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Yeah. When we first met.
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>> What do they call you? Um
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>> mom. Yeah.
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>> That's wonderful.
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>> Yeah.
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Yeah, it's that's what I mean. It's a
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blessing. I've Yeah, it's great. Yeah.
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So, Sophie lives at home with us and
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Bruno's in Wellington at university.
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>> Yeah.
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>> How was that the first time they called
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your mom?
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I cried because
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>> um it was unexpected but it was also
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this um like I have said to them,
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they've healed a part of my heart that I
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didn't know needed to be fixed. Yeah.
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>> Oh, that's so wonderful.
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>> Did they have a chat with you first?
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Like is it okay if we call you mom or
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they just hurt?
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>> No, I think they just No, there was no
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chat or anything. Like Sophie calls me
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Kalia and Bruno does as well, but they h
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like I do get called mom as well. Yeah.
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>> Yeah. How does that make you feel?
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>> Oh, it's an honor. It is the biggest
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honor to like if Sophie wants to
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introduce me to her friends. This is my
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mom. Yeah. She leaves out the step part
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like Yeah.
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>> Yeah. It's a massive honor.
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>> Yeah, that's really cool.
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>> It was something I never thought I'd
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have.
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>> Yeah. Yeah.
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>> Amazing. It's funny how things work out,
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isn't it?
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>> Yeah.
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>> Um not that not that ever would, but
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[ __ ] You um Slater would never cheat on
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you, would he? Like,
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>> hell no.
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>> No one's ever [ __ ] around on a
00:12:18
private eye. What What are like what are
00:12:22
red flags in relationships?
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>> Um hiding the typical hiding the phone.
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um putting the phone onto non-disturb
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whenever you're talking, things like
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that. Um
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always at work. Um
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yeah, there's a few different ones. Or,
00:12:42
oh, I need to go and do this, but you're
00:12:44
not sure what it is. Catching up with a
00:12:46
friend and then going, "Oh, I saw such
00:12:49
and such are here." Or they're going to
00:12:52
see a friend and then that friend tells
00:12:54
you, "No, I never saw them. Not sure
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where they are."
00:12:56
>> Yeah.
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>> It's kind of what you were saying
00:12:58
before. your gut. You you you Yeah. You
00:13:01
can generally trust your gut instinct.
00:13:03
>> Yeah.
00:13:04
>> Yeah.
00:13:04
>> What's What's Slay doing now?
00:13:06
>> He works for Mates in Construction.
00:13:08
Funny cuz he said, "You're not allowed
00:13:09
to talk about me."
00:13:10
>> Oh, really?
00:13:12
>> That I said cuz he said this is about
00:13:14
you because I'm not the forefront
00:13:16
person. And so we have had this
00:13:18
conversation because he is he's an
00:13:21
amazing spokesman. He is Yeah. He does
00:13:24
amazing work. He works for Mates in
00:13:26
Construction now, which is suicide
00:13:27
prevention, but he also works with um
00:13:30
Wiggy for Lean on a Gate, Talk to a
00:13:32
Mate. So, and now I think it's Mates for
00:13:35
Mates. So, he's on the road a lot. Um
00:13:38
talking a lot. Yeah,
00:13:40
>> I'll have no more questions about him. I
00:13:42
promise. Might have to get him on the
00:13:43
podcast sometime. I think that' be a
00:13:45
good
00:13:45
>> I think Yeah, I think he'd be great for
00:13:46
you.
00:13:47
>> Yeah. Oh, another thing I read you were
00:13:48
um a finalist um for the women in
00:13:51
security awards. Our Teda.
00:13:53
>> Yes. Congratulations. What did that
00:13:55
recognition mean for you personally and
00:13:56
professionally?
00:13:57
>> Um I think professionally it
00:14:01
acknowledged the work that we do
00:14:03
especially um that was for the fraud
00:14:06
investigations.
00:14:08
Um and it was more there was a lot of
00:14:11
defense winners or um
00:14:15
people in the ministry. So to be up
00:14:18
against them was yeah that was massive.
00:14:21
How
00:14:21
>> how does that work? So for the New
00:14:22
Zealand podcasting awards, you submit
00:14:24
like a few minutes of say three or four
00:14:26
of your best episodes and judges listen
00:14:28
to them. How does it work in the
00:14:29
security awards?
00:14:30
>> So someone else submitted something and
00:14:32
said this is what she does. This is um
00:14:34
how she works. This is some of the work
00:14:36
she's done. So it was somebody else that
00:14:38
submitted it. I didn't actually know
00:14:40
about it and I got a certificate in the
00:14:41
mail and then I was tagged into
00:14:44
something on LinkedIn and I was like,
00:14:45
"Oh, what's this about?" Yeah.
00:14:47
>> Oh, amazing. What a nice surprise. It
00:14:49
was it was a really good
00:14:50
>> Well done. Oh, that's wonderful. Um on
00:14:53
the Supenti website, there's um some
00:14:55
previous cases.
00:14:56
>> Yeah.
00:14:57
>> Um and I've got some of these here. I
00:14:58
thought we could get into some of these
00:14:59
um just in as much or as little detail
00:15:02
as what you are allowed to. Recovery of
00:15:04
a stolen dog.
00:15:05
>> That was an exciting one. So, I actually
00:15:08
saw it on social media. Um actually, no.
00:15:11
Somebody reached out to me and said,
00:15:13
"Calia, this is something you can do.
00:15:14
I've got two Frenchies. Love my babies."
00:15:17
Mhm.
00:15:18
>> Um, and it was a French bulldog that had
00:15:20
been stolen. And I was like, I don't
00:15:22
actually know what I can do. Anyway, was
00:15:25
put in contact with the owner and
00:15:29
I can't take the um accolades for the
00:15:34
work that was done. It was a real
00:15:36
community effort. So, there was CCTV
00:15:38
footage, but we couldn't pick up the
00:15:40
number plate. So, there was a couple of
00:15:43
people that worked it all out and
00:15:45
everything else. And then I went to work
00:15:48
from there once I got that information.
00:15:50
Um worked there were the police that
00:15:52
were involved but then I was put in
00:15:56
contact with the person who had the dog
00:15:59
and they were up north. So then I
00:16:00
arranged to meet with them and it was
00:16:03
very late. We set up a whole scenario
00:16:08
where we knew we were under CCTV.
00:16:11
Um, but our ultimate goal was just to
00:16:14
get this baby back back to their owners.
00:16:16
Yeah.
00:16:17
>> So, when you reach out to the people
00:16:18
that have stolen the dog, do you do you
00:16:20
lie about your identity?
00:16:22
>> No.
00:16:22
>> No. Oh, so you're saying you're Cali,
00:16:25
right? You're a private investigator.
00:16:27
>> Yeah. I believe you have the dog,
00:16:28
>> right?
00:16:30
>> Do you think it's the right thing to do
00:16:31
to return the dog?
00:16:34
>> How do they react at that point? Are
00:16:35
they [ __ ] themselves or Yeah,
00:16:37
>> they just realize the numbers up.
00:16:39
>> Yeah.
00:16:39
>> Yeah. And when they when we did meet
00:16:43
them,
00:16:45
like they were really apologetic. They'd
00:16:47
made a dumb mistake, things like that.
00:16:48
And it was like, "It's okay. As long as
00:16:50
you own that, that's okay. I am not
00:16:54
going to do anything. The police may do
00:16:56
something because like it was theft,
00:16:59
there was other things. And I do know
00:17:00
that they were charged." So, the police
00:17:02
were involved.
00:17:02
>> Fantastic. I I'm a dog owner as well. My
00:17:05
little dog sleeping on the floor here. I
00:17:06
I can't imagine anything more. Um, many
00:17:10
things that would create more stress for
00:17:11
me in my life than someone stealing my
00:17:13
dog
00:17:14
>> because they're your babies.
00:17:15
>> 100%. Yeah.
00:17:16
>> Um, another one from your website,
00:17:18
exposing a romance scam in Oakuckland.
00:17:21
>> Mhm.
00:17:23
So,
00:17:26
>> similar.
00:17:27
>> You almost choked on your on your your
00:17:29
cup of tea.
00:17:30
>> Um, there was somebody that had somebody
00:17:33
that was messaging them and they said
00:17:36
that they owned their own company. They
00:17:38
owned their own house. They There was a
00:17:42
whole lot of things that they were
00:17:43
saying.
00:17:45
They turned up nice suit, everything
00:17:47
else, like everything that you would
00:17:49
expect for a first date. But there was
00:17:51
just something that just didn't sit
00:17:54
right with her. Anyway,
00:17:57
asked us to do a bit of a background
00:17:59
check and everything else. Yep. Found
00:18:00
out he was living in a flat. He didn't
00:18:03
own a company. He was on the winds
00:18:06
benefit. There was just a whole lot of
00:18:08
things and it was like nope here's
00:18:11
here's all the information you need.
00:18:13
Yeah.
00:18:13
>> How how do you find the stuff out?
00:18:15
>> Open source intelligence. So um which is
00:18:19
public knowledge um it's just knowing
00:18:21
where to look and how to look. But by
00:18:23
saying that we're bound by ethics like
00:18:26
there's a code of ethics that we have to
00:18:28
abide by. Um being a member of NZIPI
00:18:32
um I'm also bound by that but also under
00:18:34
the PSPLA. So there is a code of ethics
00:18:37
that we have to work around like we
00:18:39
can't disclose different information.
00:18:41
There's then the privacy act that you've
00:18:42
got to act under.
00:18:44
>> So there are different acts that we've
00:18:46
got to be careful with. Yeah.
00:18:48
>> Is this a big issue? Like there's
00:18:50
documentaries on Netflix like um Tinder
00:18:51
Swindler.
00:18:52
>> Um this is just one case that that
00:18:54
you've dealt with, but another security.
00:18:56
Is this a big thing? Romance scams.
00:18:58
>> I think it is, but I think um also what
00:19:00
I'm hearing and learning is the fraud
00:19:03
side of it. So you might then give them
00:19:07
money and so then it's deceitful and so
00:19:09
it's obtaining um money by deceit. So
00:19:13
that becomes fraud. So there's all sorts
00:19:15
of things that go along with it. But
00:19:16
yes, I do think it is a problem.
00:19:20
I mean I can know of another one. They
00:19:22
said that they were um they lived in New
00:19:25
Zealand and they traveled a lot back and
00:19:27
forth. They didn't live here at all.
00:19:30
They and they said they had a company in
00:19:32
the USA. quick search of that address.
00:19:34
That was a parking lot.
00:19:37
>> So,
00:19:40
but it's knowing how to search and where
00:19:42
to look, things like that. Yeah.
00:19:44
>> Right. So, so someone comes to you and
00:19:46
it's a
00:19:48
it can be fairly easy a lot of the time,
00:19:50
like really really quick.
00:19:52
>> Yeah.
00:19:52
>> Uh
00:19:53
>> and that's why I think I don't really
00:19:55
like the infidelity ones and things like
00:19:57
that because there's no meat in them. It
00:20:01
sounds really bad, but yeah.
00:20:04
>> Um, another one from the Centi website.
00:20:06
Um, these are previous cases. Serial
00:20:08
house fires, arson within the family.
00:20:11
>> Yeah, that was a really sad case. That
00:20:13
was, um,
00:20:16
yeah.
00:20:17
Um, there's obviously trauma involved
00:20:21
with that family member. Um, but that
00:20:24
was an insurance job, that one that came
00:20:27
through to investigate because it was
00:20:29
the first one. And then once so that one
00:20:34
became part of the investigation because
00:20:36
there was a second one. So then you
00:20:38
start to there's red flags that go off.
00:20:40
And so it's
00:20:42
>> all the scene examinations
00:20:45
um talking to the witnesses, things like
00:20:48
that. Working alongside the police,
00:20:49
working alongside the fire department to
00:20:52
Yeah. work out how these occurred. Yeah.
00:20:58
>> How many fires?
00:21:00
three on that one
00:21:02
>> and on just on the houses of this
00:21:05
person's family members.
00:21:07
>> Yeah. One of them one of them I felt
00:21:10
really sad for because they didn't own
00:21:12
the property but um the person who did
00:21:17
own it had inherited it from his family
00:21:18
and it wasn't insured.
00:21:20
>> So he lost everything. Yeah.
00:21:24
Yeah. So there is Yeah. You've got to
00:21:27
have empathy in there when you meet
00:21:29
people like this. Yeah.
00:21:32
>> And especially when it's a family
00:21:33
member.
00:21:34
>> Yeah.
00:21:35
>> Are you good at separating your work
00:21:37
from home or like how do how do you
00:21:39
compartmentalize and not carry the
00:21:41
weight of these things?
00:21:42
>> I talk a lot.
00:21:44
>> Um I swear a lot.
00:21:50
>> Swearing Elvis is quatartic.
00:21:51
>> That's great. Um,
00:21:55
yeah, talking with your colleagues and
00:21:57
things like that is it's a job, you let
00:21:59
it go. There's so many different things
00:22:02
I've seen in my world that I'm like,
00:22:04
whoa. Okay. And I've met some really
00:22:06
interesting people like criminals, 501s,
00:22:09
all sorts of things like that and you
00:22:11
would never know when you sit down with
00:22:13
them and they're human.
00:22:16
Do you ever feel scared or intimidated
00:22:19
or, you know, afraid, worried?
00:22:23
>> There's probably only been maybe once
00:22:26
and that's when I've had somebody stand
00:22:28
over me and I just have to breathe and
00:22:31
go, if anything happens, it's okay.
00:22:35
Like, and you just have to remain calm.
00:22:38
Have to remain calm.
00:22:39
>> What do you mean standing over you? um
00:22:41
doing an interview with somebody, they
00:22:43
got angry and annoyed because the
00:22:45
evidence was there when like they
00:22:48
realize and then it's the anger that
00:22:50
comes in. So, you've just got to remain
00:22:52
calm and then yeah, they'll stand over
00:22:54
you and you just end it. I'm just going
00:22:56
to end this now.
00:22:58
>> Um the evidence is there. I'll report
00:23:00
back to who it is that I've got to
00:23:01
report back to
00:23:02
>> doing document serving.
00:23:05
Um there's been a funny story. I did one
00:23:09
Oh, this is when I probably first
00:23:11
started out and um I got asked to go
00:23:14
into a doc serve and I was like, "Yeah,
00:23:15
sweetheart." And it was late at night,
00:23:17
knocked on the door and I actually had
00:23:19
Slade with me and it was in the rain,
00:23:21
but he was in the dark and I knocked on
00:23:23
the door and this guy opened the door
00:23:24
and he started to go off of me and then
00:23:26
Slade stepped out from the shadow and he
00:23:28
kind of went, "Oh." And so
00:23:31
>> right now there's going to be people
00:23:33
listening to this or watching this that
00:23:34
are googling Slade McFallen. He's a
00:23:37
massive a half half moldy half Scottish
00:23:40
but big dude.
00:23:41
>> Yeah. Samo and Maldi.
00:23:42
>> Oh Sam and Maldi.
00:23:43
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:23:44
>> Scottish as well.
00:23:45
>> Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So the
00:23:47
>> massive just a tank.
00:23:49
>> I wouldn't want to play rugby against
00:23:50
him. Put it that way.
00:23:51
>> Oh no. So we still play Mast's league
00:23:53
together. So we're on the same team. He
00:23:56
just has to run once at somebody and the
00:23:58
next thing they're all on the other side
00:23:59
of the field. It's really funny. Yeah.
00:24:01
>> No kidding. And what's what sort of
00:24:03
papers are you serving with um the stock
00:24:05
serve?
00:24:06
>> Just legal papers. So they'll come from
00:24:07
a lawyer and it they can range like but
00:24:10
they all come from a lawyer or it might
00:24:12
be from a company doing a legal serve on
00:24:15
another company to say, "Hey, you owe us
00:24:17
money, things like that." Um but yeah,
00:24:19
mostly legal papers.
00:24:21
>> So that um that's got to be done in
00:24:23
person.
00:24:23
>> Yes.
00:24:24
>> Right.
00:24:24
>> Yeah. Yeah,
00:24:26
>> I've seen that on movies.
00:24:27
>> Yeah.
00:24:27
>> Yeah.
00:24:28
>> Yeah. But we don't say you've been
00:24:29
served.
00:24:30
>> Why not?
00:24:33
>> What do you as you walk away? Do you say
00:24:34
you got served?
00:24:35
>> No.
00:24:36
>> It's a missed opportunity.
00:24:38
>> It is. It is. And yes, but there's still
00:24:41
a professional element to it.
00:24:43
>> You don't want to be sassy about it.
00:24:44
>> No.
00:24:45
>> No. Okay.
00:24:45
>> And we've had people throw I've had some
00:24:48
guys that have had um the documents
00:24:50
thrown at their cars. I've had them try
00:24:52
and shove them through a window back at
00:24:54
them. We don't want this. Yeah. So,
00:24:58
>> yeah.
00:24:59
>> So, you have to serve them and then like
00:25:00
briskly sort of walk away. So,
00:25:02
>> yeah,
00:25:03
>> it depends on what the situation is. Um,
00:25:06
and so we
00:25:07
>> Yeah, we'll work out is it a safe
00:25:10
situation or not? Like I'll pick and
00:25:12
choose like yeah, who would go and do it
00:25:15
kind of thing compared or I'll do a
00:25:17
two-up job. If I know it's dangerous and
00:25:19
we've been told this person can be
00:25:22
violent, we do what's called two-up. So,
00:25:24
you just have a backup. Yeah.
00:25:26
>> Gets laid. Get
00:25:28
>> um there was another one on your
00:25:29
website, a stolen trailer.
00:25:31
>> Yeah. So, um
00:25:33
>> that seems so random.
00:25:34
>> I know. I had no idea. Like these are
00:25:38
quite common to be stolen, but yeah, a
00:25:40
guy had it stolen. There was CCTV. Um
00:25:44
the number plate was there. Worked with
00:25:46
them, said tracked it. This is where
00:25:49
your trailer is. Yep. Got his trailer
00:25:51
back.
00:25:52
>> Mhm. So,
00:25:53
>> what what did the trailer thief say?
00:25:55
>> I didn't see the trailer thief. So, it
00:25:57
was literally, "Let's get the trailer
00:25:59
back and take it back."
00:26:00
>> Oh, you you literally just like Yeah.
00:26:02
did to the trailer thief what they what
00:26:04
he did to you.
00:26:05
>> Stole it back. Um there was another one
00:26:08
on the website, workplace investigation
00:26:10
exposing false injury claim.
00:26:13
>> So, this is like an ACC thing.
00:26:16
>> Yeah. But it's not for ACC, it's for the
00:26:19
business. So, the amount of businesses
00:26:21
in New Zealand that will have somebody
00:26:23
who's off on ACC,
00:26:25
um, and I have seen and worked alongside
00:26:29
ones where they've been off on ACC and
00:26:31
then all of a sudden they've gone
00:26:32
overseas, but you're being paid ACC, but
00:26:35
you can't work or they're off on ACC and
00:26:39
they're off for,
00:26:42
I don't know, let's say a strained back
00:26:44
kind of thing and then they're out
00:26:46
lugging their wheelbarrow full of like
00:26:49
stones and working in their yard and
00:26:51
doing all this stuff. So, there's two
00:26:54
different elements here. One, they're
00:26:56
claiming ACC. The second one is the
00:26:58
company can't replace somebody because
00:27:01
that's their um job. And so, there's a
00:27:04
big part around that of trying to get
00:27:07
rid of somebody who's on ACC. And so,
00:27:10
the businesses lose money. They can't
00:27:13
prove. So they have to have the evidence
00:27:14
to then have that meeting in a workplace
00:27:17
investigation to go actually we've got
00:27:19
evidence that this is not true and
00:27:21
correct and because you've breached our
00:27:24
terms of agreement under your contract
00:27:26
whatever it is it helps them.
00:27:29
>> Yeah. There's lots of businesses in New
00:27:31
Zealand that can do more workplace
00:27:32
investigations relating to ACC because I
00:27:35
don't believe well ACC do investigations
00:27:39
but I think there's a lot of work that
00:27:41
can be done there.
00:27:42
>> Oh yeah. There's no way they'd be as
00:27:43
thorough as Yeah. what someone like you
00:27:46
would be. Does that involve a stake out
00:27:48
and taking photos?
00:27:49
>> Yeah, that does.
00:27:50
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:51
>> But that's quite an exciting one because
00:27:53
you're trying to capture them
00:27:55
>> doing something
00:27:56
>> doing something or for example, you will
00:27:58
find them on Tik Tok doing something.
00:28:00
So, you screenshot them.
00:28:03
>> Yeah.
00:28:03
>> That's a rigorous dance for someone with
00:28:05
a broken ankle.
00:28:06
>> Yeah. So, there's all sorts of things
00:28:08
like that. Social media is amazing.
00:28:11
>> Yeah. or they'll be sent something to
00:28:13
go, hey, they're doing this. Yeah.
00:28:15
>> Uh there's another one on the website,
00:28:16
locating an aranged family member for a
00:28:18
state resolution. Um
00:28:22
c can you track everyone? If someone
00:28:23
wanted to disappear, can it be done or
00:28:26
does everyone have some sort of a
00:28:27
digital footprint?
00:28:28
>> No. If you want to go to ground, you can
00:28:31
go to ground. And it does make it very
00:28:33
hard to find somebody. So if someone has
00:28:37
a purpose to go to ground, they go and
00:28:41
it takes a lot more to yeah find them.
00:28:45
But generally speaking, it won't take
00:28:49
long before something rises again and
00:28:51
then it's like, oh, actually here we go.
00:28:54
I did one for a third party insurance
00:28:57
one 6 months ago. Tried to find them.
00:29:00
They were living in their car. All sorts
00:29:02
of things like that. Not last known
00:29:04
address was a freedom campaign. Waited
00:29:06
six months. Oh, hello. This is a new
00:29:09
one. Let's go and see if you're there.
00:29:11
Yep. Lo and behold. Yeah. So, it's a bit
00:29:14
of a patience game as well.
00:29:16
>> What's someone's reaction when they're
00:29:18
intentionally sort of hiding out and
00:29:20
then you find them?
00:29:21
>> Um angry.
00:29:23
>> Yeah.
00:29:23
>> Yeah.
00:29:24
>> Like confused. Like how how the hell did
00:29:27
you find me?
00:29:27
>> Yeah. Yeah. Depends on the reason of why
00:29:30
we're wanting to find them. for example,
00:29:32
an estate. Um, most people don't
00:29:34
actually know that they're a beneficiary
00:29:36
of an estate. Um, that's a nice job.
00:29:39
That's a really nice one to go, "Hey,
00:29:41
this is why I'm calling you. Um, a
00:29:44
lawyer's been trying to find you or a
00:29:46
genealogologist has been trying to find
00:29:48
you. Here's their details. I are you
00:29:51
okay with me passing your details to
00:29:52
them?" And, uh, generally, yeah, all
00:29:55
good. If it's because of finance, like
00:29:58
taken a car loan, um stopped paying your
00:30:01
car loan, sold the car, thought you'd
00:30:05
skip off to Australia or something and
00:30:07
get away with it, then come back to New
00:30:09
Zealand. Generally,
00:30:11
they can be angry to start with or
00:30:13
they'll hang up the phone or they just
00:30:15
won't talk to you. But you just have to
00:30:18
let them know that, hey, this isn't
00:30:20
going to go away. No matter what you do,
00:30:23
whatever, like if you give it a year,
00:30:25
two years, it's not going to go away and
00:30:26
you're gonna get yourself worse in
00:30:27
trouble.
00:30:29
>> What are the what are the main sort of
00:30:30
reasons people go to ground?
00:30:32
>> Is it avoiding people or avoiding
00:30:34
responsibilities or
00:30:35
>> I think it's avoiding responsibilities?
00:30:37
I think a lot of it is avoiding
00:30:39
responsibilities. Yeah.
00:30:42
>> You're going into a lot of um sort of
00:30:44
potentially volatile and quite dynamic
00:30:46
situations, eh?
00:30:48
>> Mhm.
00:30:50
Sometimes, not all the time, it's not.
00:30:54
>> I don't think of it as that.
00:30:56
>> But I did have somebody say to me the
00:30:57
other day, "Oh, we thought Slade was
00:30:59
scary." No. Why are you scarier?
00:31:02
Like, oh, okay. Yeah.
00:31:05
>> Thanks. I think
00:31:08
Oh, these are great stories. Well, I'm
00:31:10
I'm up to the card here about infidelity
00:31:12
and cheating. So, we'll just um I
00:31:14
mentioned on Instagram you coming in.
00:31:15
There was a a range of questions but
00:31:17
most of them to be fair are sort of
00:31:19
based around this and I suppose that's
00:31:21
um maybe that's the the the biggest sort
00:31:23
of misconception or myth about what you
00:31:24
do.
00:31:25
>> Yeah. I think it is the biggest
00:31:27
misconception. Um I think because
00:31:32
>> there are investigators who
00:31:34
predominantly that's their bread and
00:31:35
butter. That's what they do.
00:31:37
>> Um
00:31:38
>> but also it's a big industry.
00:31:40
>> It's a big industry infidelity. Um,
00:31:44
I don't know why, but I've been down
00:31:47
that path myself. I haven't cheated, but
00:31:49
I have been cheated on. And I think
00:31:51
maybe that's why I don't like it so much
00:31:54
because I know what it's like to receive
00:31:56
that news or to find out what it's like
00:31:59
to go,
00:32:00
>> I knew my heart was right. I knew you
00:32:02
were doing that. So,
00:32:05
you're the bearer of bad news, really.
00:32:08
>> Yeah.
00:32:10
Yeah. Yeah. You're confirming. I mean,
00:32:12
so I suppose someone comes to you, all
00:32:15
the warning signs are there, they they
00:32:17
want you to come back with information
00:32:18
that proves that they're wrong.
00:32:20
>> Yeah.
00:32:21
>> Ultimately, they want to Great news,
00:32:22
he's planning a surprise party for you.
00:32:24
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:32:26
>> But you know in your heart whether or
00:32:28
not that's true or not.
00:32:29
>> You do. You do. Um,
00:32:33
>> but there's all the red flags and I I
00:32:35
have actually thought about writing um
00:32:39
almost like a basic manual of what are
00:32:42
those red flags and if you're going to
00:32:44
have say three or five red flags, you
00:32:48
need to reconsider things seriously and
00:32:50
you can do it yourself like make some
00:32:53
phone calls. I think fear is a lot of
00:32:55
what drives people not to
00:32:58
>> um investigate themselves. M. Yeah. Cuz
00:33:01
they don't want to be proven right.
00:33:03
>> Yeah.
00:33:03
>> Yeah.
00:33:04
>> Cuz a red flag can be just a red flag,
00:33:07
but it's like strands of a rope. A if
00:33:09
there's enough strands Yeah.
00:33:10
>> then suddenly it's not good.
00:33:11
>> Yeah.
00:33:12
>> Um
00:33:14
what are the classic signs you see again
00:33:15
and again that make people suspect their
00:33:17
partner?
00:33:19
>> The phone.
00:33:20
>> The phone. Or they've got two phones.
00:33:23
One might be work, one's personal. Um
00:33:27
they're the classic ones. or it's on do
00:33:29
not disturb all the time when they're
00:33:31
together. Um, privacy screens are now on
00:33:35
the phone, so you can't actually look
00:33:36
over the shoulder and read um, yeah, the
00:33:40
phone over and over again.
00:33:43
>> Mhm.
00:33:44
>> Um, in your experience, why do people
00:33:46
cheat?
00:33:48
>> Oh,
00:33:50
>> this is probably more like a psych
00:33:52
psychological question rather than a PI
00:33:55
>> Yeah.
00:33:55
>> question.
00:33:57
I don't know because I think every
00:33:59
circumstance is different.
00:34:00
>> Yeah.
00:34:01
>> But
00:34:01
>> the thrill, avoid.
00:34:04
>> Yeah.
00:34:05
>> Yeah. I think those all go into it. Um,
00:34:09
communication's huge in a relationship.
00:34:12
And if you don't have communication,
00:34:15
then you have a problem to start with.
00:34:17
If you're not honest with each other,
00:34:20
um,
00:34:22
then there's a big breakdown there to
00:34:23
start with. So
00:34:26
yeah, I think maybe that might be
00:34:28
something that's missing in a
00:34:29
relationship. And I know children add
00:34:32
another element to it. Um stress adds
00:34:35
another element. There's all sorts of
00:34:37
reasons. But communi it comes back to
00:34:39
communication.
00:34:40
>> Yeah. If you can sit down and have a
00:34:41
conversation or hey, I'm not feeling
00:34:44
this. I'm not happy. I've lost our
00:34:47
spark. Okay. Well, how do we get it
00:34:49
back? like if you're feeling that, what
00:34:51
am I feeling kind of thing instead of
00:34:54
making it all about me? Let's look at it
00:34:56
bigger picture.
00:34:57
>> Oh, that's really smart. But I think
00:34:59
human human instinct a lot of the time
00:35:01
is to like avoid conversations that you
00:35:03
know are going to be tough.
00:35:04
>> Absolutely. Nobody likes to be in a
00:35:07
conversation and fear like what if they
00:35:10
say this or what if they reject me?
00:35:12
Rejection's huge.
00:35:14
>> Um
00:35:15
>> yeah, nobody likes a conversation.
00:35:17
Nobody likes to own their [ __ ] either.
00:35:20
>> That's one thing I've found out with
00:35:22
human nature. Nobody likes to own their
00:35:24
[ __ ] If you make a mistake,
00:35:26
>> own it. It's okay.
00:35:27
>> Yeah. Well, I suppose it's embarrassing.
00:35:29
Like I mean, we're all we're all um
00:35:32
flawed individuals, but you know, it's
00:35:34
never nice to admit that you're a flawed
00:35:35
person, is it?
00:35:36
>> No. No, it's not.
00:35:37
>> Yeah. Um is there such a thing as a
00:35:39
profile or of a likely cheater?
00:35:42
>> Is it more men than women?
00:35:44
>> Oh, no. There's women that cheat.
00:35:46
There's yeah there's definitely women
00:35:48
that cheat. Um I think it's pro the
00:35:52
pendulum's probably swung a bit where it
00:35:55
used to be predominately men but that's
00:35:57
because if you look back in history men
00:35:59
were the ones who went out to work and
00:36:01
they were the ones that were always out
00:36:04
whereas now women go out to work women
00:36:06
get to go out to bars. Women get to go
00:36:08
out and flirt. Women are very
00:36:12
much also about their friends. So, no. I
00:36:18
I don't know what the statistics are,
00:36:19
but
00:36:21
>> I goes both ways.
00:36:22
>> I reckon I reckon um this is
00:36:24
generalizing here, but but women are
00:36:26
probably better at covering their
00:36:27
tracks, too. I think guys are probably
00:36:29
more sloppy.
00:36:30
>> Yes. Yep. Yep. Yep. Absolutely. I would
00:36:33
I would agree there too. Probably.
00:36:35
>> Yeah. And in your limited experience on
00:36:37
this, how do clients usually react when
00:36:38
you present proof?
00:36:41
the ones that I have done,
00:36:45
I knew it. That's it. I'm leaving. Um,
00:36:49
others have broken down
00:36:52
and then now what am I going to do?
00:36:54
>> Well, hold on. That's not actually my
00:36:57
job either, like to tell you what to do.
00:36:59
Like, you can make the decision. You can
00:37:01
either sit there and say yes, you're
00:37:04
going to try and save it or what. Um,
00:37:08
yeah, those are probably the two main
00:37:11
ones. Or they'll ask you to keep going.
00:37:14
I've had that before.
00:37:17
>> For what?
00:37:17
>> Why? Why do you need more information if
00:37:21
you've got the little bit that you
00:37:23
needed? Why waste more money?
00:37:26
>> Yeah.
00:37:26
>> For these ones that you have done, how
00:37:28
Yeah. What's involved? So, a client a
00:37:30
client comes to you. Um, then what?
00:37:32
>> So, it would be finding out their
00:37:34
patterns first of all. Um, so it's
00:37:36
gathering all the information that
00:37:38
they've got so far and then finding out
00:37:40
their patterns. Some of it has been
00:37:42
following, some of it has been watching,
00:37:45
um, going out at night to see, well,
00:37:47
hold on, are they at work? Are the
00:37:49
lights on in the office? Things like
00:37:51
that. Or hold on, there's nobody in the
00:37:53
office.
00:37:55
>> Tailing. Yeah.
00:37:57
>> See, that seems fun. That sounds
00:37:59
exhilarating.
00:38:01
>> Until you lose them on the motorway that
00:38:03
it's not.
00:38:06
Oh yes.
00:38:07
>> Have you Have you ever been um not not
00:38:09
just with um infidelity stuff, but just
00:38:11
in general? Have like Have you ever been
00:38:12
um um Yeah. following someone or
00:38:15
watching someone and been caught?
00:38:17
>> No, I haven't been caught.
00:38:20
>> How How have you How do you avoid being
00:38:22
caught? Cuz I'm I'm I'm trying to think
00:38:25
if someone was following me, I'd think I
00:38:27
don't know. I actually I don't know. I
00:38:29
think I'd be aware of it, but maybe I
00:38:30
wouldn't.
00:38:31
I think if you
00:38:35
um
00:38:36
>> I mean you don't have a sign written
00:38:38
vehicle, do you?
00:38:38
>> No.
00:38:40
>> No. But also I think that's why I don't
00:38:42
do them because
00:38:45
>> Yeah.
00:38:46
>> I mean you can rent vehicles. You can
00:38:49
get in ones that don't look like you are
00:38:53
following somebody. I know investigators
00:38:55
that have got vans that have got your
00:38:58
typical all dark black van kind of
00:39:00
thing. So you don't know that somebody's
00:39:02
in there. So there are your typical
00:39:05
>> stigma kind of things that you do use.
00:39:07
>> Pi mobilebiles.
00:39:08
>> Yeah.
00:39:09
>> If someone um listening to this or
00:39:11
watching this suspects their partner of
00:39:12
cheating, what would be your best
00:39:13
advice?
00:39:19
>> Follow your gut.
00:39:21
>> Follow your gut. If you think that they
00:39:24
are cheating, a have a conversation with
00:39:26
them, don't don't go all out and be
00:39:29
angry. If if you've got evidence, like
00:39:32
if you've got messages there, um
00:39:36
I mean, you're both in a lose-lose
00:39:38
situation if they are cheating because
00:39:41
you're going to lose the relationship
00:39:43
and if you've got kids involved,
00:39:44
whatever, that's a big loss. So, it's
00:39:47
about having that conversation. But my
00:39:49
advice would be gather some evidence. If
00:39:52
you can't gather the evidence yourself,
00:39:54
yes, reach out to an investigator
00:39:56
because they will help you gather that
00:39:58
evidence. Um,
00:40:01
but if you're suspecting something,
00:40:04
what's giving you that feeling to go,
00:40:08
"Oh, I think they're cheating." Is it
00:40:09
your insecurities or is it something
00:40:11
they've done?
00:40:12
>> Can many relationships survive this?
00:40:14
>> Oh, I think some can. Yeah,
00:40:16
>> I think some can. Um, again, I don't
00:40:20
know the statistics or anything on it. I
00:40:23
think
00:40:25
probably depends on what's gone on.
00:40:28
>> Like if it's been I'll call it the
00:40:30
texting, the texting. If it's been that
00:40:33
side, um,
00:40:39
as a female, you would always hold that
00:40:42
to go,
00:40:43
>> are they still going to do it? And then
00:40:45
it becomes your inseal
00:40:53
there to go. Yes, if you can find
00:40:55
forgiveness in your heart and work it
00:40:58
out, that's a big thing, but you also
00:41:00
have to be really open with yourself.
00:41:03
And I mean, hey, if you need to go and
00:41:05
get counseling to talk about it with
00:41:06
somebody else, go and do it.
00:41:09
>> Well, it sort of lives back to the
00:41:10
communication aspect you were talking
00:41:11
about earlier.
00:41:12
>> Yeah. Um, maybe that's something that
00:41:13
was missing and yeah, potentially it can
00:41:15
be salvaged just by opening those lines
00:41:17
of communication.
00:41:17
>> Yeah.
00:41:19
>> You you've never caught like a couple
00:41:21
red-handed like hooking up in a car or
00:41:26
>> me and everyone on Instagram's watched
00:41:28
way too many movies.
00:41:30
>> I don't get me wrong, I think there are
00:41:31
some investigators that have caught that
00:41:34
or they'll catch them walking out of a
00:41:36
hotel room together. All it is is a
00:41:38
photo to go, "Hey, here's the evidence."
00:41:41
arms around each other, kiss goodbye.
00:41:43
That's pretty evidential that Yep.
00:41:46
Something's gone on there. Um, workplace
00:41:49
parties always happens.
00:41:52
>> Yeah.
00:41:53
>> Yeah.
00:41:54
>> Yeah. So, um, I mentioned on Instagram
00:41:56
you coming in and there was a bunch of
00:41:57
questions. A lot of a lot of them were
00:41:59
actually the the ones that we've just
00:42:00
gone through about infidelity. Um, but
00:42:03
then there's a bunch of random stuff
00:42:04
like this one. What's the toughest
00:42:06
investigation you've led at Supenti?
00:42:08
>> Oh.
00:42:10
The toughest investigation would have
00:42:13
been a fraud ring. Um, so
00:42:18
it was
00:42:20
again insurance. Um, but
00:42:24
a whole lot of claims came in and it was
00:42:27
putting together to go, hold on, this
00:42:30
looks like this one or this looks like
00:42:32
this one. And all of a sudden, we had a
00:42:34
wall in our office. Now, this is very
00:42:36
much like the movies where you have it
00:42:38
over the wall and you've got profiles of
00:42:40
people and it links to this one and it
00:42:41
links to this one and everything else.
00:42:43
So,
00:42:44
that was a massive investigation and
00:42:46
that then got handed over to the police
00:42:48
because that that was there were so many
00:42:50
different criminal elements to it,
00:42:52
identity theft, um monetary theft,
00:42:56
laundering. There was just so many
00:42:58
different elements. That was that was a
00:43:01
really cool case to work on because
00:43:04
yeah, there were just all those types of
00:43:06
elements. That would probably be the
00:43:08
most difficult. Would it be difficult?
00:43:10
Yeah, cuz you had to really analyze
00:43:12
things. Bank accounts, does this match
00:43:14
this? Does that phone match that?
00:43:16
Emails, all sorts of things. Yeah.
00:43:20
>> As a leader, how do you prepare your
00:43:21
team for cases that are emotionally
00:43:23
draining like family disputes or missing
00:43:25
loved ones?
00:43:28
We talk about it.
00:43:30
>> We talk about it. If they if it's going
00:43:33
to impact them, I will do it. I will
00:43:37
step in and take
00:43:40
the difficult ones. I'll do that myself.
00:43:43
I'll always protect my team.
00:43:45
>> Are there any cases that stay with you
00:43:47
long after they've ended?
00:43:49
>> They probably do, but I probably don't
00:43:52
think about them. like um yeah, it
00:43:56
wasn't until I sat with actually my
00:43:57
website guy and he went I need some case
00:44:00
studies and I was like case studies and
00:44:01
it wasn't until I sat down and I went oh
00:44:03
my god I've done heaps like I've done
00:44:06
heaps like this is and they're all so
00:44:09
different and I think it's not till you
00:44:11
reflect back that you realize the depth
00:44:14
you can go into on them but have some
00:44:17
stayed with me
00:44:20
>> um probably in the back of my mind yeah
00:44:23
they do I've worked on some high-profile
00:44:25
ones, but I do the background work. So,
00:44:28
I'm not out the front saying, "Hey, this
00:44:31
is me. I did this work." Because there's
00:44:34
the elements of protecting those that
00:44:35
are involved. And there's also the
00:44:37
elements of the work that I done.
00:44:39
>> Yeah.
00:44:40
>> How do you handle situations where the
00:44:42
truth you uncover is not necessarily
00:44:43
what your client wants to hear?
00:44:45
>> Oh,
00:44:47
>> it's almost like you go from being a PI
00:44:49
to being like a a counselor.
00:44:51
>> Yeah. Yeah. And you've got to have that
00:44:53
empathy role. You've got to be quite
00:44:55
empathetic.
00:44:56
>> Um,
00:44:57
>> also you can be quite pragmatic and well
00:45:00
there's the evidence. That's what it is.
00:45:02
Here you go.
00:45:03
>> But um, the empathy more comes with when
00:45:07
I'm talking to individuals, particularly
00:45:10
if it's fraud related and they know that
00:45:14
they've done wrong. And then I'm like,
00:45:16
"Well, you can either own it here with
00:45:18
me now or you own it later when you get
00:45:22
yourself more in trouble."
00:45:24
>> And that's when they'll open up and
00:45:25
they'll be like, "Yeah, I'm sorry. This
00:45:26
is what I've done." And it's like,
00:45:27
"Cool. Thanks. You've owned it now. Do
00:45:29
it while you're young. Don't do it while
00:45:31
you're older." Yeah. But
00:45:34
>> you learn from this.
00:45:35
>> Exactly. And that's what I've said to
00:45:38
lots of people.
00:45:39
>> You've made a mistake. Own it.
00:45:41
>> Move on. Just don't do it again.
00:45:44
Um, what has working as a PI taught you
00:45:47
about human nature?
00:45:49
Oh,
00:45:49
>> I've learned.
00:45:50
>> Have you had trust issues?
00:45:51
>> Probably.
00:45:52
>> Probably.
00:45:53
>> Do you start to think like everyone's a
00:45:55
piece of [ __ ]
00:45:56
>> Yeah. Or I start to kind of go, "Oh,
00:45:59
you're such a liar." Like, yeah. Um,
00:46:04
I don't like to think I do, but I maybe
00:46:07
I do look at or I look at things like
00:46:09
people believe things
00:46:12
>> everything they hear the media.
00:46:14
>> I love the media, but I don't love the
00:46:16
media because people believe it and I'm
00:46:18
like, hold on, there's got to be another
00:46:20
side to this. What's happened here? And
00:46:22
I start to look at both sides of things.
00:46:24
So, I guess what's it taught me about
00:46:27
human nature? any everybody
00:46:30
has two sides to them.
00:46:33
>> Yeah.
00:46:33
>> Yeah.
00:46:35
Um do you think do you think you see the
00:46:37
world differently now than before you
00:46:38
got into this career?
00:46:40
>> Absolutely.
00:46:40
>> Yeah.
00:46:41
>> Yeah. How could you not?
00:46:42
>> Yeah. Absolutely. Like going from
00:46:44
teaching I had my beautiful kids. They
00:46:46
were like great. Everything was roses
00:46:49
and unicorns and
00:46:51
>> Well, because you were a primary school
00:46:52
age teacher, right? Yeah. Yeah. primary
00:46:54
school age kids can be um you know
00:46:56
pieces of [ __ ] but it's it's still kind
00:46:58
of cute in a way.
00:46:59
>> Yeah. So yeah
00:47:00
>> sly sort of devious.
00:47:02
>> Yeah. But do you know what it did teach
00:47:04
me primary school teaching was it taught
00:47:06
me if you can get information out of a
00:47:08
kid you can get information out of
00:47:10
anybody
00:47:11
>> really.
00:47:12
>> You try and get question a kid and
00:47:14
they'll go yeah I don't know whatever.
00:47:17
Yeah it's good. Well what's good? Tell
00:47:19
me more. So, you learn really good
00:47:22
questioning skills from teaching.
00:47:25
Yeah, that's what teaching taught me
00:47:27
>> actually. Yeah, that's a good point. If
00:47:29
you ask just how was your day, you're
00:47:30
just going to get a one word answer,
00:47:32
aren't you? Yeah.
00:47:33
>> For anyone listening that's curious
00:47:34
about this career path, what advice
00:47:36
would you give them?
00:47:39
>> It's not what it seems on the movies.
00:47:44
Um, it's great if you like to be
00:47:47
analytical and question things and love
00:47:50
jigsaw puzzles. Like sometimes I'll
00:47:52
explain it like it's a spiderweb. Um,
00:47:55
and you're solving different problems.
00:47:58
Um, if you're a police officer or
00:48:00
something like that and you think, "Oh,
00:48:02
yeah, it's something I'd like to get
00:48:03
into." Absolutely go for it. There's
00:48:06
nothing to stop you. It's hard to get
00:48:09
into because it is the stigma that goes
00:48:12
with it is probably that it is an old
00:48:15
boys club, but there's lots of females
00:48:17
that do it.
00:48:18
>> Yeah.
00:48:20
>> Yeah. I think in a lot of ways uh Yeah.
00:48:23
I think females could be a lot a lot
00:48:24
better at it than what guys. Maybe
00:48:26
you're going into these um potentially
00:48:28
volatile situations. It's probably a lot
00:48:30
less confrontational.
00:48:31
>> Yeah.
00:48:31
>> In a way,
00:48:32
>> I had a conversation intimidating. I had
00:48:34
a conversation with a male investigator
00:48:37
about that because um I wrote something
00:48:39
and I said females look at things
00:48:41
differently. We have a very different
00:48:43
investigative mind. We're not so black
00:48:47
and white sometimes or we'll bring a
00:48:49
different element like empathy more so
00:48:51
than a male. And women, I'm going to be
00:48:55
very general and go generally make a
00:48:58
great investigator,
00:49:01
but it's really hard to crack sometimes.
00:49:04
Y
00:49:05
>> um Oh, you may not have an answer for
00:49:07
this from Instagram. What's the wildest
00:49:09
takeout you've ever done? Like movie
00:49:11
level drama?
00:49:12
>> Oh, wildest steak out I've ever done.
00:49:17
H
00:49:19
>> Have you ever done one where you're out
00:49:20
there for days?
00:49:23
No, the longest I've done is probably
00:49:26
three days, four days.
00:49:27
>> Three days.
00:49:28
>> Yeah.
00:49:29
>> Like not not round the clock though.
00:49:31
>> No. So we would take shifts kind of
00:49:33
thing like that's
00:49:34
>> So someone would be there. Yeah. You
00:49:36
were monitoring someone or they Wow.
00:49:38
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:49:39
>> What was the case?
00:49:41
>> Um a child custody,
00:49:44
>> right?
00:49:44
>> Yeah. Yeah. So there was a lot of
00:49:46
tailing in that. Um, yeah, the guy Paul
00:49:51
that I have working for me, he's got
00:49:54
amazing stories, but he did a lot of his
00:49:56
investigations in Australia. He's got
00:49:58
stories about where he's been traveling
00:49:59
across the outback of Australia. He's
00:50:01
had to wee in a bottle, things like
00:50:03
that. Like, he's got some But he's been
00:50:05
an investigator for sheesh, I'm going to
00:50:08
be rude here and say probably 50 years.
00:50:11
Yeah. He's got some amazing stories.
00:50:14
>> Yeah.
00:50:15
>> Well, that was going to be my next
00:50:16
question. Have you ever weighed in a
00:50:17
bottle?
00:50:18
>> Not me personally. No, not me
00:50:21
personally. In my military days, I
00:50:22
probably did some weeing in unusual
00:50:24
places as you do, but um no, I haven't
00:50:28
weighed in a bottle. It's quite
00:50:29
difficult for a girl.
00:50:30
>> Where where do you see the private
00:50:32
investigation industry heading in the
00:50:34
next decade? Especially with things like
00:50:36
AI.
00:50:38
>> The there's investigations everywhere.
00:50:41
>> There's huge room for more
00:50:43
investigations. And I think that's what
00:50:45
the public need to know is
00:50:48
uh or work or businesses like use an
00:50:51
investigator if you think something's
00:50:53
going on in work. Um workplace
00:50:56
investigations
00:50:58
um locating loved ones, lost ones,
00:51:01
lawyers, things like that. Um there's so
00:51:04
much room for growth for investigations.
00:51:08
What kind of legacy would you like to
00:51:10
leave both for your clients and for the
00:51:11
next generation of investigators in NZ?
00:51:15
>> Oh, what kind of legacy?
00:51:20
Resilience.
00:51:22
>> Resilience is probably
00:51:26
and you can reinvent yourself. That's
00:51:29
probably my legacy. going from what I've
00:51:33
done and showing that.
00:51:37
Yeah.
00:51:39
And a great legacy for the kids
00:51:41
>> to go, hey, here's a cool company. If
00:51:43
you want to own it, if you want to work
00:51:44
in it, then Yeah.
00:51:47
>> Yeah. How long are you going to do this
00:51:48
for in terms of you? Yeah. Are you done
00:51:50
with career pivots?
00:51:52
>> Oh, yes.
00:51:55
>> You're a medic in the Air Force, primary
00:51:56
school teacher, and PI.
00:51:58
>> Yeah. I don't know. I No, I've found
00:52:00
what I love. I've found my niche. And
00:52:06
if as long as, God willing, nothing
00:52:08
happens. Um, no, I'll stay doing this
00:52:12
>> for I don't know, until I retire. But
00:52:14
when do you retire? Like, yeah. How old
00:52:17
are you when you retire? I don't know.
00:52:19
>> Well, if you enjoy what you're doing,
00:52:20
which you do, then I mean it doesn't
00:52:23
feel like it's something that you want
00:52:24
to
00:52:24
>> no
00:52:25
>> quit doing. Eh, you just want to keep at
00:52:26
it.
00:52:27
>> Yeah. This has been super informative.
00:52:29
>> That's really good. Please.
00:52:30
>> So, um, any anyone that's listening for
00:52:32
this, like who who should reach out to
00:52:34
you or under what circumstances should
00:52:36
someone reach out to you
00:52:38
>> for business wise or if they want to
00:52:41
know about being a PI, like I'm open
00:52:43
either way. So, if it's bit for business
00:52:45
and you um need a workplace
00:52:48
investigation done or um lawyers, if you
00:52:52
need defense um investigations done, if
00:52:56
you own a funeral home, if you need to
00:52:58
locate a whole lot of lost ones, um
00:53:01
because families haven't come to collect
00:53:03
things, um estates, all sorts of
00:53:07
reasons. Infidelity, yes, I'll take it.
00:53:10
if you
00:53:12
>> if you
00:53:13
>> so reluctant about it,
00:53:14
>> but also um I've done a few recently
00:53:16
where I've helped people with tenencies.
00:53:19
So first time landlord problem tenant
00:53:22
don't know what to do. They've come
00:53:24
through and said, "Cal, what do I do?"
00:53:25
And I've said, "Look, I can help you
00:53:27
package it up. Here's for the dispute
00:53:29
tribunal. I'll go and talk to the
00:53:30
tenant. This is the law. This is what
00:53:32
you need to do." People kind of take a
00:53:34
step back when they go, "Ah, shit." And
00:53:36
investigate it. I'm not scary. It's just
00:53:39
about having that conversation to go,
00:53:41
"Well, hold on. This is where we're at."
00:53:43
Finance companies if they need anything,
00:53:45
but also, yeah, I'm happy to chat. I've
00:53:48
got a couple of people that have reached
00:53:49
out to me and said, "Can you just tell
00:53:51
me a little bit more about what you do
00:53:52
cuz I find it fascinating." Yeah.
00:53:56
>> Yeah. Well, hopefully this podcast sort
00:53:57
of serves as part of that, like giving
00:54:00
people an insight into the job and
00:54:01
>> Yeah.
00:54:02
>> and what it's like.
00:54:03
>> Yeah. It's Yeah. Fascinating. Who Who
00:54:05
are your main regular clients? Do you
00:54:07
have insurance companies and things that
00:54:09
>> Yeah, there are insurance companies that
00:54:11
there's a lot of fraud in New Zealand.
00:54:14
>> Oh, people that people that get burgled
00:54:16
and they say stuff got went missing that
00:54:17
they didn't even own and that sort of
00:54:19
thing or
00:54:19
>> Yeah. Yeah. Or my vehicle was crashed
00:54:22
into and it wasn't. Um or my vehicle was
00:54:25
stolen and it wasn't. Um yeah, there's a
00:54:28
lot of that. Um they it was something in
00:54:32
the UK called Crash for Cash, so they're
00:54:35
staged accidents. Um, and you get cash
00:54:38
because it's from the insurance company
00:54:40
because if you think about it, insurance
00:54:41
companies don't like you don't pay tax.
00:54:44
It's money in your pocket.
00:54:46
>> Um, that and lawyers. Lawyers are the
00:54:50
big ones. Um, and then finance companies
00:54:52
to locate people. Um, so some of my main
00:54:56
clients,
00:54:58
um, I'm working on a couple of proposals
00:55:00
at the moment for other ones and
00:55:01
workplace investigations. Yeah. Out of
00:55:04
the three careers you've had, is this
00:55:06
the most fun? Is this the one you enjoy
00:55:08
the most?
00:55:11
>> That's a hard one to answer.
00:55:13
>> Let's rank them first, second, and
00:55:15
third.
00:55:16
>> Most fun.
00:55:21
>> They all have different elements. Like I
00:55:24
loved my time in the Air Force.
00:55:26
Absolutely loved it. That was my career.
00:55:28
I made lifetime friends. Loved my time
00:55:31
teaching. Um, and I love being a PI, but
00:55:36
ranking them.
00:55:39
You couldn't pay me to go back to being
00:55:40
a teacher, so that's probably down the
00:55:43
bottom now.
00:55:45
And you probably couldn't pay me to go
00:55:47
back to being a medic. So, no. Yeah. So,
00:55:49
this one here, owning your own business
00:55:51
is totally different as well. It's And
00:55:55
opens you up to a whole different world.
00:55:58
Like, there's things that I've had to
00:55:59
learn and grow and Yeah.
00:56:03
I think I think it's super inspiring
00:56:04
what you've done. Are there transferable
00:56:07
skills like from from Air Force medic to
00:56:09
primary school teacher, the primary
00:56:11
school teacher to private eye or they
00:56:12
just all completely
00:56:14
>> Oh, no. Apart.
00:56:15
>> No, there's transferable skills. So,
00:56:17
being a in the Air Force, you learned
00:56:20
what it was like to be very disciplined.
00:56:21
You learned what it was like to work a
00:56:25
in a very maledominated area. Um
00:56:29
and being disciplined is huge into a PI.
00:56:33
Um
00:56:36
traveling things like that. Being an un
00:56:40
uncomfortable situations would be
00:56:43
transferable from the military to PI. Um
00:56:47
like as a medic you work with the Navy,
00:56:50
you work with the Army and Air Force. So
00:56:52
you try service. And then teaching
00:56:56
report writing, it's very transferable
00:56:59
>> and and sometimes dealing with
00:57:01
unreasonable humans.
00:57:02
>> Yeah. Yeah. And remaining calm and like
00:57:06
going okay and asking questions. Lots of
00:57:08
different questions. Questioning people.
00:57:11
Yeah.
00:57:11
>> Yeah. Hey, well this has been a lot of
00:57:13
fun.
00:57:14
>> I'm pleased.
00:57:15
>> Yeah. Thank you so much for coming on
00:57:16
the podcast today. Kalia McFarland from
00:57:19
Sir Penty Investigations.
00:57:20
>> No, great to be here. Thank you for
00:57:22
having me. I appreciate it. You You're
00:57:24
um Yeah. You're not following me at the
00:57:26
moment for anything, are you?
00:57:27
>> No. No. You're not under investigation
00:57:29
or anything. You're fine. You're very
00:57:31
safe.
00:57:31
>> Yeah. Lovely to meet you. Thank you for
00:57:33
coming on the podcast.
00:57:34
>> No. Great to be here. Thank you.
