Luke Smith, owner of Alaska Investigation Agency, started in private investigation in 2001 after serving in the Army Reserves. His worst experience was helping remove a child from their mother in a custody case—something that made him avoid such cases in the future. His best was tailing a subject so closely during surveillance that they unknowingly had dinner together and rode the same elevator. Operating in Alaska's vast, remote terrain, Luke uses planes, snowmobiles, and even faces wildlife encounters. His advice: be professional, respectful, nonjudgmental, and build strong contacts to succeed.
00:00 — Introduction & show opener
00:30 — Meet Luke Smith (Army Reserves → Private Investigator)
01:30 — How Luke got started in investigations & process serving
03:10 — Worst experience: child custody case & emotional toll
05:20 — Lessons learned from difficult field work
06:40 — Greatest experience: undercover surveillance success
08:10 — Pushing limits in the field & sub rosa tactics
09:40 — What Luke's excited about now: adding a K-9 unit
11:10 — How K-9 services are used in civil investigations
12:30 — Serving papers across Alaska (planes, snow machines, wildlife)
14:10 — Wildlife encounters: moose, bears & staying safe
15:40 — Rapid fire round: skip tracing in Alaska
16:40 — Favorite defense tools & firearms mindset
18:20 — Book recommendations for servers & investigators
19:30 — Best advice received & professionalism in the field
20:40 — Advice for struggling or new process servers
22:10 — Starting over: networking before opening a business
23:10 — How to connect with Luke Smith
24:00 — Closing thoughts & outro
