When resilience and resolve forge the path to freedom, Amanda Hengst story emerges as a beacon of hope and transformation. Our latest episode uncovers her chilling narrative from a childhood overshadowed by the ATI/IBLP cult to the depths of sex trafficking and her incredible journey to advocacy. Amanda's openness about her past gives us a harrowing look at how a strict, controlled upbringing can leave scars that predators exploit, guiding us through her transition from an abusive relationship with a boxing coach to a life of entrapment, and how she bravely fought her way out.
Through the darkness of human trafficking, a light shines on the techniques traffickers use to manipulate and isolate their victims, as Amanda recounts her experiences—both personal and while working undercover with Say Left Freedom. Her courageous mission led to the liberation of children halfway across the world and the empowerment of law enforcement with the tools to combat this heinous crime. Amanda's relentless pursuit of healing and her contributions to anti-trafficking efforts are nothing short of inspirational, painting a vivid picture of recovery and the power of redemption.
By sharing this episode, we hope to extend Amanda's extraordinary impact to reach those who may be silently struggling, offering a lifeline to those in need.
This episode is brought to you by Premier Ridge Capital.
Sign Up for our Newsletter and get our FREE E-Book where you'll learn everything you need to know about creating financial freedom through multifamily syndication.
Visit www.premierridgecapital.com now!
Introducing the 60 Day Deal Finder!
Visit: www.MartinREIMastery.com
Use the Coupon Code: WEALTHYAFfor 20% off!
This episode is brought to you by Premier Ridge Capital.
Build Generational Wealth As A Passive Investor In Multifamily Real Estate Syndication!
Visit www.premierridgecapital.com to find out more.
When resilience and resolve forge the path to freedom, Amanda Hengst story emerges as a beacon of hope and transformation. Our latest episode uncovers her chilling narrative from a childhood overshadowed by the ATI/IBLP cult to the depths of sex trafficking and her incredible journey to advocacy. Amanda's openness about her past gives us a harrowing look at how a strict, controlled upbringing can leave scars that predators exploit, guiding us through her transition from an abusive relationship with a boxing coach to a life of entrapment, and how she bravely fought her way out.
Through the darkness of human trafficking, a light shines on the techniques traffickers use to manipulate and isolate their victims, as Amanda recounts her experiences—both personal and while working undercover with Say Left Freedom. Her courageous mission led to the liberation of children halfway across the world and the empowerment of law enforcement with the tools to combat this heinous crime. Amanda's relentless pursuit of healing and her contributions to anti-trafficking efforts are nothing short of inspirational, painting a vivid picture of recovery and the power of redemption.
By sharing this episode, we hope to extend Amanda's extraordinary impact to reach those who may be silently struggling, offering a lifeline to those in need.
This episode is brought to you by Premier Ridge Capital.
Sign Up for our Newsletter and get our FREE E-Book where you'll learn everything you need to know about creating financial freedom through multifamily syndication.
Visit www.premierridgecapital.com now!
Introducing the 60 Day Deal Finder!
Visit: www.MartinREIMastery.com
Use the Coupon Code: WEALTHYAFfor 20% off!
This episode is brought to you by Premier Ridge Capital.
Build Generational Wealth As A Passive Investor In Multifamily Real Estate Syndication!
Visit www.premierridgecapital.com to find out more.
You're listening to Wealthy AF, the podcast where we cut through the BS and teach you what it truly means to be Wealthy AF. And today I have Amanda Hanks. And after liberating herself from a harrowing world of sex trafficking, Amanda dedicated the next eight years of her life to becoming a formidable force against this heinous crime. Her advocacy and impact extended for far and wide. Amanda served as a counselor for the New Zealand government, where she shaped policies and initiatives to combat sex trafficking. Today, Amanda stands as a high-ranking executive with three innovative and influential companies. Amanda's expertise in smart investment and her commitment to fostering clear and effective communication have not only secured her success, but have also opened doors for others to pursue their dreams. Amanda, welcome to the podcast. So glad that you're here. And today's topic we're going to be discussing is growing up in a cult and striving forward. Thank you for coming on, my dear.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to share and to help others grow.
Speaker 1:I am excited for that as well, because that's what this podcast is all about. So let's start from the beginning. So can you share your story on how you ended up being in a cult and this sex trafficking whole thing? Because most of us see this stuff on movies, we see it on TV, but we never really have the opportunity to have a discussion with someone like yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, beginning is a great place to start. So when we talk about the cult, it was ATI, advanced Training Institute with Bill Gothard, or IBLP, institute of Basic Life Principles with Bill Gothard, and there was actually a recent documentary done on this call on Netflix called Shiny, happy People. So if you want to look more into that, that kind of gives a little bit of an overview of that organization. And my parents they were raised in the circus, they met in the circus, so they wanted to give their children a completely different kind of lifestyle than they had experienced and they were trying to do better. They were trying to do better than their parents and they felt like homeschooling was the correct way to go.
Speaker 2:And during the time when I was being homeschooled, homeschooling was not cool. There was no curriculum for homeschooling and this organization offered an actual curriculum for them to follow. So that's what made it very appealing to them. Again, best intentions possible. For us, it wasn't like they were incredible parents. They were amazing Anyway. So we got involved with the cult and we started doing the homeschooling curriculum that they offered and it was just very derogatory towards women. There were gender roles, but very, very strict gender rules, so females were not seen as anything other than a homemaker and a baby maker, and so that's what I was trained to be.
Speaker 1:So how does that evolve into the sex trafficking situation?
Speaker 2:So from that organization I was taught an underlying programming to say yes to men, to submit, to be kind of like an object and had very little self-esteem from the way. I was so traumatized and I was so naive. I was ripe for the picking, ripe for being exploited by a predator and my first boyfriend was actually my boxing coach and he ended up just kind of. It's a very weird thing when you talk about sex trafficking, because people normally think about a girl being chained to a bed.
Speaker 2:You know or scenario, but what it is is a lot more mental abuse and psychological warfare that goes on. So I'm dating this guy thinking that he's my boyfriend, and he knows that I'm naive, he knows of my background, and so he's using that against me to be like hey, you don't understand how adult relationships work. I'm going to show you how. And my friend thinks you're really hot, you should do something with him. And I'm like no, like that's not, that's not really me. And then those things will keep getting pushed and pushed and pushed of.
Speaker 2:Oh, I think it's really hot when my friends hit on you, or that my friends find you sexy, and I was like, okay, that's weird information to tell me. It would escalate into you know, he would take me to a party and there would be a lot of drunk dudes and I would end up getting gang raped. Little did I know that I was being orchestrated by him and he was getting paid for that opportunity to present me as that object. So these were the kind of individuals that would get off on that kind of scenario.
Speaker 1:Was this consensual on your side? So I mean you had been so naive. It was forceful. Was it like a rape rate?
Speaker 2:Yes, initially, initially it was, and then after you experience, one experience of rape is enough to really destroy you, especially as a female. I mean, I don't know what that feels like as a male, but as a female it will destroy you. So after multiple types of these situations happening, you realize that if you don't fight back, it maybe isn't as violent or they don't hurt you as much. So then it becomes it's not consensual, but it's an act of surviving and an act of less punishment and you're just trying to function. So while it might seem consensual from an outside view, you have to understand the psychological aspect and the consequences that will follow if you are not submitting so one like an example one time is I'm going to get pretty graphic here Like my trafficker wanted me to give blow jobs and I did not want to do that and I said no, and so he dislocated my jaw so I can shut it. So is that better, or should I have just consented?
Speaker 1:So so I have a gap here I need you to fill for me and the listeners. Right, so you went no-transcript when you left. What? What triggered you to leave the cult go to this boyfriend and then from the boyfriend you you mentioned the trafficker. Can you connect those dots for me and the listeners?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so leaving the cult wasn't nearly as dramatic as it sounds. Like I mentioned, we were there for the homeschooling curriculum. So once I had quote unquote graduated from high school, once I got my GED, ged, there was really no other curriculum to follow unless I started working for the organization and I was just deemed not holy enough to work, to work for them because I had a rebellious spirit in my eyes, allegedly.
Speaker 2:I mean, they weren't wrong I don't know, I did not think he was telling me this woman and it was like oh hell no, oh man uh, so they weren't wrong.
Speaker 2:I can't blame them for that, but um, that was a little bit. That was probably the easiest less dramatic part any part of this story is. So it's just like okay, you're not a good fit for me, I'm not a good, good fit for you, I'm going to go off and try to build my own life in a different state. To kind of try to reinvent myself was the goal. And then when I started dating my boyfriend, I saw him as a boyfriend, and a lot of traffickers will do this to where it's called a Romeo pimp. They'll date a woman and then they'll be all sweet and kind and have a boyfriend romantic kind of relationship, and then they turn them out. And so when they turn them out, that's when which is made from I'm your boyfriend to now I'm your pimp and trafficker, and things become violent. That's when things become abusive.
Speaker 1:So the same guy became your pimp and trafficker. So explain to me how does a woman like yourself get trafficked right? Can you define that for me? Can you give me a picture, can you give us a story, an example of what that means when you say trafficker?
Speaker 2:So the federal definition for sex trafficking is any sex act in exchange for something of value, through fraud or coercion, and with children, since they cannot consent, you don't have to prove fraud, force or coercion.
Speaker 2:So it's just like any sex act in exchange for something of value, and that can range from physical sex acts like blowjobs or whatever we're talking about sex, or it can be phone sex, it can be pornography, it can be nude photos, it can be pictures, it can be anything. So you see this a lot with children right now online is they'll be coerced into thinking that they're in a relationship with this Justin Bieber looking fellow on the other side of the screen, when really it's a full grown adult trying to get child pornography pictures. Because in order to buy porn off the dark web, you have to present a new photo and they run the IP on it and they make sure that you're adding to the market. So that's the only way. That's your only end to purchase it, which makes it really difficult to break into to do undercover work, because you're having to present new child porn hold up, educate me again.
Speaker 1:Repeat that in order for you to sell photos on the dark web. Can you repeat that again? I gotta process that.
Speaker 2:Go ahead, you're a pedophile and you want to purchase child porn off the dark web, and you have to bring your own new piece of child porn first before you're allowed to purchase holy crap, that is sick, that is crazy.
Speaker 1:Yep, you have to show these people that you are legit by first showing them something, which hence makes it hard for undercover worker for the law to break through.
Speaker 2:Because they're not going to bring new child porn to market, they're not going to exploit some child, because now they're a trafficker. So the exchange of the photo is them trafficking the child. Wow, so a lot of children, a lot of people are probably being quote, unquote sex trafficked but they don't even know because they've given, you know, pornographic pictures to their ex-boyfriend or to whoever, and now they've put it on the web and now, technically, they are being trafficked.
Speaker 1:Did your trafficker isolate you from the outside world, making you more vulnerable? How did he do that?
Speaker 2:Yes, he did so. He was Native American and he lived on a reservation and it was a very violent tribe. So when I first got involved with him, I remember thinking it was super weird, because he met me at the base of the mountain and he's like I have to be in the vehicle with you for you to come up here. I'm like okay, and he's like I have to be in the vehicle with you for you to come up here. I'm like okay. He's like don't ever come up here without me, don't ever. He's like they will, they will not let you come up here.
Speaker 2:And I was like, okay, whatever, like that's kind of security. Or you know in my head I'm thinking the most innocent. Oh, it's security. Come to find out. They will literally kill you if you come up there by yourself. So he would, he would take me up there and then, once I'm up there, I'm in their jurisdiction. There's no police, there's no. There's no any outside presence allowed up there by law. They have their own police, they have their own everything. And so, um, they were all basically working together to create these situations so where they could exploit other people, whether that was through sex trafficking or labor trafficking or whatever that looked like, and I was one of them.
Speaker 1:Are there police involved in this? Are they aware that this is happening there?
Speaker 2:They definitely didn't do anything to stop.
Speaker 1:So they were aware of it, but they did nothing. Am I receiving that correct?
Speaker 2:I'm not going to say like they knew and they didn't do anything. I'm not going to make assumptions like that. But it doesn't make a rocket scientist to figure out what this Caucasian female was doing up there for days on end, looking like absolute trash.
Speaker 1:How did he control you? How did he isolate you from the world? How did he control you? How did he isolate you from the world? How did he get you? You know, you see you are. I can tell you're a strong woman, smart girl.
Speaker 2:I mean, maybe you weren't any better at first, but and I was in love with him or at least I thought I was and honestly it was the breakdown of boundaries every single day, that kind of loop you in because you're okay, well, I didn't want to do this, but now I've done it. So now, okay, I'm just going to give into it next time because it's easier. And it's this breaking down of your psyche and of your morals and of your boundaries to a point to where you have to now make it worth it. I've given him so much that now I have to find a way to turn this around, otherwise I've lost everything for nothing and I have nothing to show for it. So there's kind of that psyche in play. And then also he was labor trafficking me as well.
Speaker 2:So I was fighting professionally. He was my fight manager, he was arranging fights on different reservations. So physically I was just beaten up. I was a pretty good fighter. But if you fight every single weekend and then get gang raped afterwards, you're going to be pretty exhausted. And then he would have me train throughout the week. I'd be running miles and miles and miles in the mountains. I'd be doing mitts. I'd be running drills so I could fight well. So there was a lot of sleep deprivation involved as well. So it made me very controllable because I was exhausted all the time.
Speaker 1:That's one of the. I learned that a few years ago. That's one of the way to brainwash people is through sleep deprivation, so that makes sense. So what was your breaking point, amanda? What? What was your breaking point? And what happened to this guy? Did he ever wind up paying for what he did to you? Is he still out there somewhere in the world doing this to other girls? What was your, what was your point and how did you get out?
Speaker 2:I was driving from going to a training session with a different, with a male client, and I did not want to sleep with him. So while we were training cause he was a fighter as well while we were training, I knocked him out. When I knocked him out, I left and I knew there'd be hell to pay for it, but I was feeling sassy or rebellious, I guess. That day, and as I'm driving back to the reservation, somebody ran a light and T-boned my truck and totaled my truck and I sustained a traumatic brain injury from that accident. And I remember texting my trafficker at that point and saying hey, I just almost died in a car accident. He said is your face fucked up? And I said no, and he goes okay, you're still fuckable. And that was his text message to me and I was like, for whatever reason, it was like what am I doing? This is not who I am. I need to get out of this. He has no idea where I'm at, because now I'm going to the emergency room, I'll be surrounded by people who couldn't protect me potentially, and I bought a one-way plane ticket.
Speaker 2:I tried to commit suicide after I got out of the ER. It was a failed attempt. I got a puppy. And then I bought a plane ticket and I got the puppy because I figured that if I had something counting on me I wouldn't try to kill myself again. So that was my plan against suicide. Is that to get a puppy? So that the puppy was counting on me. So I had to stay alive to take care of the puppy. And then I got a one-way play ticket back to Florida and I just picked up and left everything. Five years, just picked up and left.
Speaker 1:But did you go back to your family, or did you? What did you do when you went back to Florida, back to mom and dad?
Speaker 2:I did, which was very humbling as a 25-year-old adult to be back in with your parents. They were exceptional. I had massive PTSD. I had the brain injury. Obviously, I was an absolute mess in every realm of my life, a lot of rage, and they gave me unconditional love and space just to heal. And they had no idea and I didn't really understand what had happened to me. But the fact that they just gave me space to exist and consistent support and love was the most incredible gift they could have given me.
Speaker 1:Parents are amazing, aren't they?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So how was your healing process and when did you decide to take your trauma to help others, which is what you're doing now?
Speaker 2:your wound, there's going to be blood gushing, there's going to be infections, it's going to be painful. Same with internal healing and trauma. There's a lot of mess and a lot of grossness that has to come out first in order for that to be healed. So I honestly just started consuming every podcast I could get my hands on every self-help book, started pursuing therapy. I knew I was messed up. I just didn't know exactly all the technical terms, I just knew I was messed up and two podcasts really helped me quite a bit. One was Andy Frazella's podcast, which back then was MFCEO, and then the other one was Ed Milet's podcast, which I get to meet him in June and thank him for basically saving my life those first couple months through his podcast. I'm really excited about that.
Speaker 2:So that was my healing process. No one told me what to do. I didn't have any guidance. No one in my family had ever gone to therapy before. So I just kind of Googled my way back to health and then I wanted to make sure that he didn't win and the only way I knew how to make sure he didn't win at that time and place was to make sure to help as many people as I could get out of that situation and that's when I started working for Say Left Freedom, which is an anti-sex trafficking organization here in Sarasota, florida, and I worked undercover with them. I worked in the jails to get women out. I did trafficking things to get them out. I did education for police officers for New Zealand government, for FDLE, for FBI, and it was a really incredible couple of years and it was a very healing couple of years.
Speaker 1:Tell me about some of the undercover work you did. Tell me one of the stories. Tell me one of the coolest stories that you have as doing undercover work or in the prisons that you can share it was in Bangkok.
Speaker 2:I was in Bangkok, which is the sex trafficking capital of the world, and I went to the borderline because there's a borderline crisis where there's people refugees coming over the border into Thailand and they do not have Thai ID so they can't work and so the children are often trafficked down into Bangkok for sex work, because the families can't afford to eat or they're being kidnapped by the Myanmar government to work for them as to carry all their war stuff, all their luggage and just labor.
Speaker 2:So I was in a refugee camp there on the borderline and I snuck over the border and I negotiated with the Myanmar general for 40 children and I convinced him somehow. He thought that I was, since I was American there. He thought that I was a high ranking American official. So I just let him believe that. And then I was able to negotiate and convince him that educated children make for better slaves than uneducated children. So if he gave me 40 children and let me take them to school for the summer, then I would give them back to him. Of course I had no intention of giving them back. So I was able to get 40 children out of the war camp that night.
Speaker 1:He agreed to that. That is amazing. Wow, that must have been an amazing feeling for you to have saved those 40 kids.
Speaker 2:It was terrifying and I feel it's very selfish of me, right? Because the feeling that you do get from that is very gratifying. So people are like, oh, you must be so selfless to have done these things. Absolutely not. I was entirely selfish. I was trying to pursue my own healing, my own sense of self-worth, and by giving I was able to rebuild myself, and that was one of the major things that helped me rebuild myself. Was that operative, that mission?
Speaker 1:Thank you for your honesty. Thank you for your honesty. Right, that's appreciated. It winded up being a good thing, though, because you saved 40 kids. You saved 40 lives. Whatever happened to those kids, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they went on to go to. I have a friend there who runs a school, in a boarding school. So not only do they help them get an education but they also do job placement and life coaching with them. So I mean they went on to be seamstress and open businesses and go into ministry and all different kinds of things.
Speaker 1:Amazing, amazing. So tell me, do you know what happened to your trafficker? Was he ever held accountable for his actions? Do you know anything of this person? Is this person still out there doing the same thing?
Speaker 2:He is still out there. He is on a watch list, whether he knows it or not. Still out there. He is on a watch list, whether he knows it or not, and people are often really confused why I chose not to press charges. At the time. I had brain trauma. I couldn't remember a lot of things. I couldn't remember how to order a pizza. How the hell am I supposed to get in front of a jury and testify against a master manipulator? So I never did press charges. However, he is on a watch list and he has not after me.
Speaker 2:He got out of the business because I made threats that if he did, if I saw him ever do this again to anybody else, that I would make sure his children were taken away from him. And so he has two children that were my children or they weren't my children, but I took care of them. They're the closest thing I've ever had to having children and I love them. And that's my biggest regret is not just leaving them that's probably my biggest regret but making sure that they're okay and that they're taken care of. They are, and so he is not continuing on in the trafficking. He's on a watch list. So if he does, the moment he does, or the moment it looks like he is, he will be brought in by the FBI. But yeah, that's, that's where he's at.
Speaker 1:So was there a specific I mean after you had that, that specific event, that happened experience right During your healing process, where you felt this was the thing, this was the thing that helped me the most?
Speaker 2:When I was at therapy session with my therapist, john. He's incredible. He was wearing blue socks with yellow rubber duckies on them. I remember it because I was staring down at his feet right socks with yellow rubber duckies on them. I remember it because I was staring down at his feet and he stopped me at one point and he goes you know, you're allowed to be okay, even though what happened wasn't okay. And that just wrecked me.
Speaker 2:Because you go through something like this. Anyone who's been abused goes through something like this and they're gaslighted constantly by the abuser, by people around them, constantly gaslighted. They even start gaslighting yourself Like that didn't really happen, it wasn't really that bad. And so, in order to prove yourself right, sometimes people who have been through traumatic situations will re-traumatize themselves and they'll stay in that traumatic space to prove like, see, I messed up and I'm really messed up because this happened. It's almost like we feel the need to prove it, to prove that it was horrible. So therefore I can't be okay, because if I'm okay, then it's like kind of cancels it out. Does that make sense? So I think that was like the biggest mind block I had. And when John said that I was allowed to be fully healed, fully functional, healthy, whole. Okay, and that didn't change what he did, that didn't cancel out what he did. That freedom and that permission was revolutionary.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Let's give some people some strategies. If someone is listening to us around the world and they're questioning themselves, I would suppose that you know something's not right. Even while you're being gaslit, I would suppose there's a small little voice inside of us or inside of you saying hey, I know you're telling me this, but this is not right. What are some of the telltale signs? What are some of the red flags? If you're early in the gaslighting and in the manipulation of this thing, what are some of the telltale signs for you to identify and say, hey, the red flag, get out. Let's give some people some meat and potatoes one, two, three, four, five things, maybe that you can say, hey, these are the things to look out for if they're doing this and this, and then let's give them some strategies on how to get out safely.
Speaker 2:The trust in yourself has to be there, and if it's not there, the only way to get back to it is by start keeping little promises to yourself. So if you set your alarm to go off at 6 am, you get up at 6 am and so you start building self-trust in small ways so that you can trust that intuition when it's telling you something's not right. Because when you go through abuse, you question, you feel insane and you start to question everything. So if you're already in it, what I would suggest is writing out in detail the kind of person you actually want to become, a lifestyle, the characteristics of yourself, how you look, how you dress, to as much detail as possible and then look at how your life is going and is it aligning, is it giving you the trajectory to that person that you want to become? And if you're in an abusive situation, if you're in a toxic situation, you know that it's not going to get you there. Okay, so now we go. What's one thing I can change today that'll start to shift me to become that person, and is that getting up and going to working out.
Speaker 2:Okay, so you start maybe doing that, and if someone's trying to control you, they're not going to let you do things that will empower you or build confidence, because they have to control all of that.
Speaker 2:So you'll see pushback. Even when you try to do healthy things, even when you try to take some sort of self-care or self-control, even when you try to do things that will empower you, they'll try to destroy them. So if this person is coming against you for doing things that empower you, that make you stronger, that make you confident confident not good and it doesn't necessarily mean abusive trafficker. It just might mean narcissist, just might mean someone's got a as a control freak. So you don't have to go from zero to 100. You have to be like oh, you feel like you want to control this area of my life. Can you please talk to me about why you feel that way? Maybe they don't even know, but you know that that starts the conversation. So if somebody is looking at your life and you're making choices that are powerful, that create self-control, that create self-discipline, that create empowerment, and they don't like it, that's a really good sign that they actually want to control you and they want to be the source of all of that, for you to create codependency.
Speaker 1:So what advice are you giving to a young lady or a young man that finds himself in this situation?
Speaker 2:It's really dangerous. So for domestic violence, the most dangerous time is when one of the parties leaves their partner. They're mostly murdered during that time. It's the most highest dangerous time. So I would really suggest getting outside forces involved so that they can help you. So when you're not thinking clearly, they can think clearly for you and they can support you, so that there's a very strategic plan of where you're going to go, what you're going to do. You're going to call this person at this time and it's very scheduled out, One because of the danger factor and two because a lot of people will return to their trafficker or to their abuser multiple times before they finally make the choice to leave again, which has a very high fatality rate. So if you can help bring in outside forces to help you think clearer and help you act in a way that's very careful and strategized and safe, that's what needs to happen.
Speaker 1:Tell us about outside forces. When you say outside forces, what do you mean? Right, because when I hear what you just said, I think police. Right, I think outside force, police, law enforcement. But based on what you just said, as you elaborated some more, I don't think you meant that, because you're talking about strategies and where you do this and do that and do this, you know law enforcement is going to lock that person up. If that was the case, so what do you mean?
Speaker 2:They won't. They won't If that was the case. So what do you want? So when it comes to domestic violence and sex trafficking, there has to be a really strategic way that you go about it, because of the points I just made, but also because if you want to build a case against the trafficker especially there's a lot of it's really hard to prove fraud, force and coercion. Those are kind of like really ambiguous things to try to have concrete proof on. So when you have a trafficking case, it might take a while to actually charge someone with trafficking, because that's when the clock starts ticking for you to prove it.
Speaker 2:So a lot of times you'll see, like a nail or a massage parlor and you all know that something sketchy is happening there. You all know that they have happy ending massages or whatever, and you're like, why aren't the police doing anything about it? They probably are. They're probably gathering information so that they can actually, when they put the charges for trafficking on the owners, they can actually charge them because they have the proof.
Speaker 2:So same thing with an individual who's in a domestic violence situation or trafficking situation is that you have to work with police and with nonprofits in the area, like domestic violence, hotline different nonprofits that help women or men get out of these situations, because they're trying to make sure that they have a bed for you, that they have a safe house for you to go, that the funding's in place for relocation services, and to do all that you do have to usually make some sort of police report and you do have to press charges. So when you do that, all those things must work together in order for it to be successful. So a good police department knows that and is already partnered with nonprofits and organizations, and they all collaborate together to make sure it's safe and to make sure that the woman has a bed or someplace to go, she has children, she has a place for the children to go with her, etc.
Speaker 1:Okay, great. So let's say we have a woman listener listening to us, or man, doesn't matter. They're in this situation. Where do they start? Because you know it seems like there's quite a bit of coordination. Where would they start? Do they go to the police and then go to these organizations? Can you help them put it together right now, help us, help them map all of these pieces for them to get help and get out.
Speaker 2:Definitely start with the National Abuse Hotline or the National Sex Trafficking Hotline. So those are easy. I'm sure we can put them in the notes.
Speaker 2:Yeah let's give it up right now With this National Abuse Hotline. Just Google that websites. They have measures so that if you're on there and your abuser is around you can quickly click off the screen and they won't know you're on the screen because you can get in trouble for that too. So call the National Abuse Hotline. Even if you're in a sex trafficking situation, you can still call that hotline and then from that point they'll take care of the rest. So they'll start all the resources. They'll start talking to police and their contacts there, because sometimes if you just start with the police they're not educated enough sometimes. So you're. The safest route is to start with the nonprofit and start with the national domestic violence hotline.
Speaker 1:That's great, and so so they'll. They call the police and they they coordinate everything with the, with the cops, and give you, then give that person hey, when you, on the day that you decide to leave, you're going to go here, here, here, you're going to grab the kids and do this, this and this and this. That's amazing that that there's organizations helping people like that out there. That is amazing. And it's amazing that you've taken your trauma and now you're helping others. So what are you doing now? How are you helping others? Tell us about what you're doing now in your career and how you've taken all of this and are using it to help others.
Speaker 2:I'm super blessed in that I run a copywriting agency is my main gig right now, and so I help other people find their voice and use it to help others, whether that's in business and investments. So it's come from a very little sense of setting people free to now sending people into more freedom through business, through communication, through investments with Gray Wolf Investing. So I'm working with a number of different companies, and the two major ones are my copyright agency, inca Rico, and then Gray Wolf Investing as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, great. So I mean, you're a beautiful story of, even though you went through some really traumatic experience, going from a cult to a sex trafficking type of situation, and now you have a flourishing career. It's amazing and that's something to be really, really proud of. If people wanted to connect with you, amanda, they wanted to figure out how to work with you, or tell us about what you're doing with copywriting and are you helping people write books. You know how do people connect with you. Tell us about what you're doing with copywriting and are you helping people write books. You know how do people connect with you. Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:I'm the CMO of Graywolf, so I have the incredible opportunity to write all of their content, to write all of their ads, create, write all their blog posts. All any writing, you see, is me, my team, and what we do there is we set up new business owners with a wholesale investment that cash flows month over month and compounds annually, and so it's a way to break people out of just blue collar money and into wealth, because I was never taught how to create wealth and this is basically an introduction into how to build wealth, and it is UGC returns, quicker than an average long-term investment, but it is a long-term investment that pays out and leverages Amazon's platform to do that.
Speaker 1:Man, I know your CEO. Oh you do I do. I had him on the podcast. I'm actually invested with you guys. Oh, you are. Yep, I had him on the podcast. I'm actually invested with you guys. Oh yeah, yeah, I know your CEO. I didn't know that. You got it. I was trying to put the two together. It's Automation Empire, correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've rebranded to Gray Wolf Investing.
Speaker 1:Yes, I remember Ron told me you guys were doing that. Actually, he texted me. We were talking this weekend. Oh wow, we were going back and forth this weekend. He was texting me and telling me your teammates, paul, and what are you doing with copywriting? You said something else. You were doing something else with copywriting.
Speaker 2:What are you doing, whatever? I mean clients, and then I also. We write books for influencers, we create courses, we create coaching materials, social media, vsls, scripting ads so we do that for a number of different business owners, influencers who are, who are making an impact on the world. We want to empower those people. We want to empower everyday people who are doing great things to help others Amazing.
Speaker 1:So if people wanted to connect with you, maybe they want to invest with you, with your company, with Grey Wolf, or they wanted to just, you know, have a discussion with you about, about you, what you're doing with the books and copywriting and stuff like that. How do they find you? Where do they find you? Of course, we're going to put it in all the notes, but why don't you share with us how they can get connected?
Speaker 2:with you. The best place for me is because I guess I'm a boomer. I don't know if I'm a boomer or millennial, but it's Instagram. You're not a boomer, you're young. You're definitely not a boomer. If you go on Instagram, my main name, amanda Catarsi, is my handle and, honestly, I live on that platform. So if you slide into my DMs, I'm more than happy to connect you with referrals, resources for business, for life, for copy, you name it, I got it. I've got an incredibly extensive network, which I'm really grateful for, and so any way I can help people thrive is just what I want to do.
Speaker 1:Thank you, amanda, really appreciate you coming on, my dear. It's been my pleasure to have you and thank you so much for being so vulnerable and sharing your story with us, with my listeners and myself Really really appreciate it, and I hope that the listeners, if you know someone that might be going through this type of experience that Amanda shared with us, going through this type of experience that Amanda shared with us, please share this episode with them. She shared some resources here and this is important and really really important. Important content literally could save someone's life. So if you know someone that could be going through this, share this episode or just give them the hotline that Amanda shared here today. Amanda, thank you so much, my dear, really really appreciate you, thank you.
Speaker 2:My pleasure. Thank you for having me.