Today on the Podcast I talk with The Bond Queen of New York State, Michelle Esquenazi. I am also proud to announce that she will be my personal Bond Agent when I begin my comedy crime spree later this year on Loor.tv A show where I travel across America with the hope of being arrested for breaking some of the stupidest laws still on the books.

Michelle Esquenazi, bail bondsman and the founder and CEO of Empire Bail Bonds, continues to fight for equality as the industry begins to restore from the initial destruction of Covid-19. As a leading woman in the industry, especially in New York, she has been pivoting her business approach through the pandemic and New York's latest bail law. Initially, the new law eliminated pretrial detention and cash bail as an option. Judges had the option of setting cash bail and for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, cash bail was no longer permitted. Bail agents feared that this new bill would put them out of business. Three months after the bill went into effect, the state legislator amended it so that now there are more situations where the judge can impose cash bail.

During the adversity and uncertainty, Esquenazi expanded her position within the industry. In February, right before the nation underwent quarantine, she founded the National Association of Bail Agents to message the importance of bail agents and fugitive reconstruction agents in every successful criminal justice system throughout the nation. The Association has attracted roughly 2,000 members.

As a leading woman in the male-dominated industry, Esquenazi quickly learned how to deal with large egos. "I was jumping into a universe that had very little to do with women," she shares, "and how to navigate that is something that I still work on to this day. A lot of the time [when working with men], it's not about whatever cause it is that we're working on, whether it's a corporate cause or social cause, it's about them. I find when women work together, it's more about we. I still have to learn how to navigate that. I try to strip whomever it is of their ego, and certain women have this as well, but it's fewer, bringing them back to being human. For example, if I met a very successful and egotistical man, instead of asking him about the stock market, I'd say something like, 'how are your children?'"