​There it was…a friend request I never thought I’d get. Was it real? I fumbled for my reading glasses just to make sure I could properly see the notification. 
 
It WAS real. After four years of silence, she wanted to connect again. My apology letter four years prior must have touched her in some way. After all, I took all the blame for whatever I did to sink the ship that was our seven-year friendship. It was never really clear what she and the others took issue with, but it was clear they wanted nothing to do with me around the time I filmed Shark Tank in 2010. 
 
But now she was back! Our friendship was built near the schoolyard doors, waiting for our kids to get out of kindergarten. We became lifelines for one another while our little ones laughed and played.
 
While I waited for some sort of personal message from her after I accepted her request, I surfed her Facebook newsfeed. It was clear she was still hanging with the same crowd that ostracized me. 
 
It was hard to see because, one day, we were part of a clique of friends who took vacations together and made homemade pizzas on Friday nights, and the next, all six families put us out on the curb. Was it because I was starting to awaken to my intuitive gifts? Was it because I was spending more time on Mod Mom, and less time on get togethers during the Shark Tank prep? Maybe it was a combination of all of it?
 
I’ve learned that female friendships can be incredibly brutal, even as adults. After talking to others who endured similar pain, I realized that the silent demise is commonplace in these types of relationships. I hadn’t experienced anything like it until we moved to LA. All of my friendships prior and after have thankfully not presented with the same pattern. 
 
In the years after being kicked to the curb, I ruminated on why it all happened, but mainly, I accepted that I was the one to blame. I had to be at fault. In my mind, the entire crew led by one funny, charismatic woman couldn’t be wrong. 
 
It would take years before I realized it wasn’t all my fault. When I was finally out of the abusive relationship and Scott and I were back together, I recognized a pattern in me that I couldn’t see all those years ago. Because I wasn’t healed from the abuse I endured as a child when I was part of the clique, I was still people pleasing and codependent. I made myself small in order to not compete with their energy and status. They seemed bigger than life, at times. Some were actors or wannabe actors, and all were interested in talking shit about other people. I never felt comfortable with it, but I molded myself to be someone they accepted and loved. 
 
Until they didn’t. 
 
The friend request I received was a sign that maybe she felt sad about how everything went down. I waited patiently hoping for a message that never came. The next day, I opened Facebook to see that I was no longer her friend. It took one day for her to shun me again. Maybe she was just feeling nosy and had heard that Scott and I had separated at that time? Or maybe the Friday night crew decided to see if I would take the bait of a request, and they stood around the kitchen talking shit about what they saw on my page?  I’ll never really know what happened that night, or why she decided to send that request in the first place.
 
Fast forward a few years to 2019…when I learned that one of the newer crew members who was part of the group when I was shunned experienced the same thing I did. She apologized to me for getting caught up in the drama of the queen bee, and for participating in my ousting. I was touched and sad. I couldn’t believe that, just a few years after I’d been kicked out of the club, it happened to her, too. Seems she became the villain that year in an all too familiar pattern. We both talked about just how much we learned and healed because of what happened. Like me, she was also a people pleaser and needed to heal codependent tendencies. 
 
She’s an amazing woman—smart, capable, beautiful, and sensitive. She now has an authentic, caring group of friends like I do. I am blessed to have girlfriends who love me for me, support me through the good and bad, and always have my back. 
 
Living through the heartache of friendship breakups led to revelations and healing, and for that, I’m eternally grateful. I will never again make myself small for anyone. And I will never again fall for the old Facebook request trick. 

It's been awhile since I've penned a blog post but for some reason (um, intuition?), I felt guided to write tonight. Like all of us, the health and well-being of my family, friends, and the world, is foremost on my mind. 

I go through stages of binge-watching the news, and then conversely avoiding it at all costs. I want to know but I don't want to know. Ya know what I mean? I've been self-isolating (minus occasional walks) for eleven days. Here in Flagstaff, I was one of the first to do this among my circle. And the reason is simple—I started trusting my intuition. And listening to spirit. 

On March 12th, I posted this on my Facebook page:

"Folks have asked if I’ve gotten anything intuitively (as an intuitive medium) about COVID-19. The answer is yes. I’m hearing we all have to take this very seriously. If you have lung issues, be especially careful. There are approximately 25 million asthma sufferers in the US alone. (I’m one of those asthma folks and I didn’t want to believe this was real.) It’s a big deal. Spirit is warning us. The Italians are warning us. Be calm but follow all of the instructions. We will get through this with preparedness, compassion, and a helluva lot of time alone in our homes. 
*For those of you who know my story, or read my book, Jason is one of those spirits sharing these messages."

Jason warned me to pay attention. He said, "you know what's coming." And he's right. I do. In the same breath, he told me to slow down my life and concentrate on what is important to me. He said all the other stuff was a distraction. I know exactly what he means. I work three jobs right now--Mod Mom Furniture and the new Frank Lloyd Wright furniture line that we're close to launching, my job at Moonshot at NACET as a marketer, consultant, curriculum developer, keynote speaker traveling around the state, and I'm working on edits (with my agent) on my soon-to-be-published book. Frankly, I'm tired, but also grateful for these jobs. 

This self-isolation took me from warp speed to snail's speed in one day. I slowed wayyyyyy down. And I started thinking about what I feel most passionate about. Yes, I'm excited about the new line of furniture but my eyes light up when I talk about telling my intuition story, and helping others who are struggling in an abusive situation and/or those who are struggling trying to figure out intuition.

Have you had the same kind of revelation? Has the quiet allowed for you to truly hear and see? 

I know we'll get through this, not without loss, but we will get to the other side. In fact, the "Other Side" is telling me this. And kids on the other side are telling me we'll come together more; help one another more. That's part of the silver lining. I am hopeful that what I'm intuitively hearing about us moving a bit more in June will be what actually happens. At the same time, I'm hearing we'll be dealing with the aftermath (financial and otherwise) of this pandemic until December. 

I hope that my message brings you a bit of comfort knowing that those you love who are in spirit are watching and helping. (Remember, ask them to help, either out loud or in your head. Ask specific things. They will help!)

Just like Jason did for me, they're probably telling you to slow down, too. Allow yourself to feel the things you don't feel when you're going a mile a minute. I'm taking my own advice, I promise. 

Most importantly, know that we'll get through this. We will. There is an end to this pandemic.

Our loved ones in spirit are helping light the way. 

FOREWARD FOR MY UPCOMING BOOK

Spending most of my adult life as a detective, private investigator, or supervising investigations, both in public service as a Detective in the NYPD, and then successively in the private sector working cases nationwide, I unconsciously developed a sixth sense or implicit intuition for reading people and uncovering the truth. While most police detectives and professional investigators I know and have worked with will not openly speak about or admit using their silent intuition to solve cases, it’s succinctly presumed by all that following our gut-feelings often makes the difference in discovering hidden evidence to solve a case, or in certain extreme circumstances, may even prove to be the decision that will inevitably save your life or that of your partner. I strongly believe that developing the ability to listen, understand, trust and then follow my intuitions has definitively made me a better detective, and quite possibly resulted in many of my greatest successes and accomplishments as a police detective, and more recently as a private investigator.

Thinking back to before we had the opportunity to speak on the phone, I remember asking myself, “What is this furniture company CEO from Arizona doing volunteering to assist on a high-profile missing persons case in Long Island, New York?” That being said, when I finally had the chance to speak to Kiersten on the phone for the first time, my intuition kicked into full gear. Much to my surprise, not long into our conversation, I realized that Kiersten was unlike any other intuitive medium I had spoken to through the years. She explained to me that she had recently discovered that she possessed certain abilities that might assist investigators in finding missing persons, and that she was simply looking to volunteer her time because she cared and just wanted to help. I eventually came to understand, as time went on and I got to know Kiersten personally, that she had truly been given a gift for helping others in this way . . . especially kids. 

More precisely, what I love about Kiersten, as is illustrated in her book, is that she’s just a regular person thrown into supernatural experiences that unbeknownst to her at that time, had meaning far beyond what she could see as the events were transpiring. The belief in what we can’t see, especially as a detective looking for quantifiable, tangible evidence, is extremely difficult. However, Kiersten makes it easy to believe. In her moving story and journey, we can see that she is just like most of us; she is extremely logical and fact driven. The most amazing part of her journey is that she wasn’t looking for any of what has happened to her . . . it simply found her. 

Thankfully, in writing this book, Kiersten was brave enough to share her undercover life as a reluctant medium and her amazing journey of survival and healing from abuse. After reading her book, I hope you find the same strength and fearlessness as she has and you learn to trust your own intuition. What Kiersten reveals to all of us is a hands-on roadmap for life, and as it has proven to be in my personal experience, for truth and justice as well. 
​
Mark Pucci
NYPD Detective (ret.)
Founder / Chief Investigator
New York Private Detective Services

​This past week, Goop (founded by Gwyneth Paltrow) launched a Netflix series where they explore topics that are controversial. One of the episodes explored energy healing. The other episode Scott and I watched tackled intuition. They brought in renowned psychic medium, Laura Lynn Jackson, who not only read for several Goop employees, but also taught them how to open themselves up intuitively. She’s clearly very good at channeling and I liked watching the way she worked. I could relate to how the messages came in for her. 
 
As we watched the episode, I felt happy to see the topic covered but also sad that intuition still feels so stereotypically 'woo woo'.  Even the way Gwyneth and Elise Loehnen, the Chief Content Officer for Goop, talked to Laura felt different from how they discussed energy work with John Amaral in the first episode we watched. Both praised Laura for their incredibly spot on readings; however, Scott and I both felt they were more skeptical with Laura than John.
 
There was less skepticism in the energy healing episode even though the topic was about invisible energy. Is it because the energy doc didn’t give off the woo woo vibe? Is it because, unlike mediumship, energy healing is physical? The hosts listened without judgement when he spoke about moving energy around while Goop staffers writhed on massage tables. Mediumship is working with energy, too, just in a different way. 
 
As a late-in-life medium who didn’t ask for what happened to me when I suddenly started channeling messages from kids in spirit, you might be surprised to know that the woo woo world freaked me out when I was looking for answers to what was happening to me. Truth be told, it still does in many ways. I just don’t connect with it.
 
Now, let me explain what I mean by woo woo. The stereotype of a gypsy-like psychic medium is very much alive and, in my opinion, not doing the topic of intuition any favors in the mainstream world. To be fair, I know and love a few mediums whose personal style of dress and speak fits the stereotype. I love them for who they are—and they are incredible healers and channelers—but in the beginning of my exploration of intuition, I avoided anything and anyone that felt too out there.  Growing up, I didn’t know anything about the world of intuition so naturally, I sought guidance from those who felt and looked more like me. Now, when I tell folks that I discovered (at the age of 36) that I could channel messages, they always say the same thing: “But you’re so normal.” 
 
Nothing about what I endured when I was coming to grips with my heightened intuition was normal but I get what they mean. I look like the average Jane. And to be honest, I thought every bit of my awakening was crazy until I started getting validation from parents and detectives. In a nutshell, I was a skeptic until I was being hit over the head with stuff I couldn’t explain. 
 
But you know what, intuition IS normal—and we all have it—but it still predominately lives in the land of woo woo. 
 
To its credit, Goop stepped out on the ledge to produce a series about out of bounds topics. I'm sure they are getting gutted in the press. I personally think they did a good job of boosting credibility by including Dr. Julie Beischel, a researcher who is studying life after death and finding scientific ways to prove that mediumship is real. But even still, I don’t think there’s enough info out there about how it all works. Intuition is not one size fits all. 
 
For example, I would fail Dr. Beischel test miserably and not because I’m not good at channeling, but simply because it doesn’t work that way for me. I do not read for people—I simply share messages that come to me. For me, there is no sitter next to me wanting to hear from a loved one. I simply channel kids (and sometimes adults) in spirit who have messages to pass. Mostly, I pass messages to families and trusted law enforcement officers that involve sexual abuse. You see, I’m a sexual abuse survivor, too. I’m a safe place for these kids to come because I’ve lived it. It seems to be what I’m here to channel. For the most part, I channel children I don’t know who were murdered, died tragically, and/or endured sexual abuse in their lifetimes. 

I'm the first to admit I don't know exactly how it works. I just don't and I've accepted that. 
 
It’s not light, happy work but it’s something I chose not to ignore. And believe me, I had a choice to ignore it. I have successfully ignored my intuition to my detriment many times in my life. In this case, after realizing that what was happening was indeed real, I knew I had to pass the messages even though it was/is scary, heart wrenching, and not something I sought out. 
 
I hope, over the next ten years, we see more programs like Goop’s series, but I also hope that all of us out there who are doing this work (in all of our various ways) can move the mainstream needle a bit. I know plenty of people who are highly intuitive who are scared to talk about it. I don't blame them. If we can change the perception of what it means to be intuitive, people might just start trusting their inner compass more. And, people like me, won't feel like we have to dive into the deep end of woo woo to understand what it means to be intuitive. 

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