In this episode of the Mighty Process Server podcast, host Mighty Mike Reid interviews Valerie McGilvrey (the "skip trace goddess" and author under the pen name James O'Riley). Valerie shares how she stumbled into skip tracing through gritty, real-world marketing, then dives into high-adrenaline repo stories, de-escalation lessons, and the creative strategy behind some of her biggest wins. She also breaks down practical skip-trace tools, privacy protection, and how she'd rebuild from scratch today.
00:00 Introduction to the Mighty Process Server Podcast
00:14 Valerie's origin story (bar marketing → skip tracing)
04:05 Worst field experience: repo confrontation + staying calm
07:35 Key lesson: de-escalate, don't escalate
09:10 Greatest win: pretext strategy to recover a Mustang
15:55 What she's working on: Skip Trace Wiki book update
18:05 Favorite skip-trace tactic: MyCarfax + service-history intel
20:05 Online safety: removing your personal data from the internet
24:10 Rebuilding from scratch: calling note lots for hard repos
28:10 Parting advice: compare database results + don't ignore "no date" records
