A filmmaker and nonprofit founder who helps women recovering from trauma achieve financial independence, Debbie Isaacs is our guest this week on Nevada Week In Person.

♪♪♪ Support for Nevada Week In Person is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

-Welcome to Nevada Week In Person.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

In 2009, she was in search of the next best reality show.

Convinced she'd find it inside a Las Vegas courtroom, the stories she heard there ended up changing her life and career path.

Debbie Isaacs, Founder and President of the nonprofit Unshakeable, thank you for joining Nevada Week In Person.

(Debbie Isaacs) Thanks for having me.

-Take me back to that courtroom in 2009.

What was happening there?

-Well, it's a fabulous program in the city of Las Vegas run by Chief Judge Leung.

And at the time, it was helping street prostitutes and those women that had chronic homelessness really change their life.

There was an undercurrent of drug abuse, and so it's really a modified drug court.

And the women started sharing their stories.

And the physical story didn't match, but how they felt, how they saw themselves, and the work they were willing to do, I was literally moved to tears.

And I felt like I wasn't there to tell their story, but to change it.

And I spent a few years following the court, going to lunch, cooking dinner with the women at the house and realized that there was this gap of what happens next.

So I looked at other programs, and it was very similar.

All great at the rescue, residency recovery, therapy, but there wasn't a path for like sustainable financial independence.

So some years later, I went to the judge and said, I have this idea.

Can we try it?

And it started working.

And we've grown since then.

-And you are eight years in?

-Eight years in.

-What is it that you do to help these women get financial independence?

-Yeah.

Well, I would say the first thing we do is provide hope.

Right?

Because without that, I don't believe you could set a goal.

And hope is really the belief that you can have a brighter future.

So it's not a wish.

And then we work one-to-one with each client individually, helping them to discover some of the 12,000 jobs that exist in this world, and really carve a path for themselves, and many for the first time.

So what does that look like?

For many of them, they haven't worked in 13 years.

So that looks like, I've never worked on a computer.

So through skills and passions and just really allowing the women to create their story, we help them find sustainable employment.

And that's really the difference.

It's not a j-o-b.

It's really long-term financial independence through career.

-Back to that hope aspect, you said it's not a wish.

So what is it, and how do you give women hope?

-Well, I think one of the first things we do is really provide-- you know, our first step is our I AM Series, and we believe the most important word is what you're going to put after that.

So like myself, the women create a word that travels with them through their time with us, and we try to focus on it.

And it's really just allowing all of them for the first time to be seen and heard and dream.

Like, What is it you wanted to do when you grew up?

-What is your word?

I am... -Today, it's grateful.

I am grateful.

-So it changes.

-It changes.

-What did you start with?

-I started with I am humble.

-Really?

-Mm-hmm.

I really felt that-- you know, there was something greater than me that pulled me in to do it.

Like it was really one of those moments.

Like, you know, sitting in the courtroom, I was like, Look to your left.

Look to your right.

The woman sitting next to me was about my age.

And you know, she had shared a story how she had gotten dressed, she had picked out her outfit for herself that day.

And in some level, I understood that.

Like, what made her comfortable?

What did she feel like wearing without somebody else forming an opinion?

And I was like, Gosh, I've had that moment.

Even this morning, you know, Is this gonna make me look heavy?

Is this gonna make me look too this, too that?

And I think women are our own worst critics, and I think just that feeling of "I need to do something" didn't leave me.

-And you said that you identify with these women in their struggle to get confidence.

What led you, do you think, to perhaps losing your confidence?

Is that something you've always struggled with?

Is that just pervasive among women?

-Yes, yes, and yes.

You know, I think, I think I had, I had lost the job that I thought I had always wanted.

And in the end, I realized that it wasn't so great.

And-- -What was that job?

-I was working for a huge tradeshow company at the time.

And now I look back and think it was a compliment, but they were like, You're a round peg trying to fit in a square hole.

And, We don't want-- We don't want clients that only want to work with you.

We want clients that want to know the company and then you.

So you're not really seen, and it could be somebody else.

And I was like, Well, who doesn't want to be seen?

And so I'm grateful for that.

It, you know, it brought me to Las Vegas and then through a couple of jobs.

And I always say, you know, things get entered into your toolbox.

So trade shows taught me operations, just being organized, detailed.

That led me to be able to move that into production, right, because you have to know: Cameras are gonna come in.

When are we starting?

What's the schedule?

And now to Unshakeable.

-How involved are you day to day?

-Well, I'm still really involved.

So I think as Founder, it's really important, but also because it matters.

And just like yesterday, we had a client that we had met maybe, let's see, two years, three years, three years ago.

And she was all set, enrolled in the army.

That was her wish.

We helped her accomplish all that.

And then just through being a single mom, some of that changed.

She came to us yesterday, and it was, I know what I want to do.

I want to, I want to go into TSA.

And she was just so enlightened, and she just looked at me and said, You saved my son's life, not just my life.

And her son, Jeremy, is six today.

And I was like, That's a great day.

Right?

That's a great day.

And I get-- you know, there's a million stories like that.

And I think, you know, to get to do that every day is a gift.

-Saving her son's life in that you helped his mother get a job.

Not a job-- -A career.

- --potentially a career.

And that is an important aspect.

You said two to three years ago you met her.

This program, you have a commitment of how many years?

-Yeah.

We have a commitment of two, but all of our ladies know they can come back whenever.

So they graduate, they find out maybe the career, the path they were on, they don't like it, and we'll do a reset.

So, you know, for every Silvia, Diane, Sophia that comes back, we're there.

And, you know, for every new client that starts next week in our I AM Series, we'll be there.

-You have described this task of getting these women careers and financial independence as daunting at times.

Why is that?

-I think what people don't realize is that if you haven't worked in 13 years, there's not only some physical barriers, you might not know how to set up your Outlook or even understand what that is or what it is to call out sick.

But there's also the emotional barrier of fear or lack of confidence or I don't know what to do or who to call if something goes wrong at work.

So we not only help them start their employment, we support them while they're employed.

And from the employers' perspective, how are you convincing people, Hey, you should give these women a chance?

-Well, I think, I think I'm a good salesperson, but I think the truth is that we are who we say we are, right?

Like, we're there.

We check in with the HR team regularly: How are they doing?

Are they showing up on time?

And we check in with our clients.

And I would say I was fortunate to have a very good career as a video producer here in this town, and I think a lot of people and relationships trust me for that.

-Let's talk about the film that you are known for.

-Oh, gosh!

-Well, and why do you laugh?

-Thanks for that.

Well, it was a disaster.

The Ghosts of Goldfield was a disaster.

But like the main theme of Unshakable, your past doesn't define you.

We now use it as an excellent fundraiser in October, and we just have a good time with it.

-What was the film about?

-The Goldfield Hotel.

-Okay.

-And the rumors about the ghosts that live in there.

-Why do you say that it was a disaster?

-You have to come see the film.

You have to come this year and see the film.

-Are you still working in film and producing?

-You know, I'm fortunate.

I still have a lot of clients that like me to dip my toe in there.

And currently, one of the things about Unshakeable and myself is that we're relationship driven.

And we collaborate with a lot of groups.

And this year, myself and the team over at Shine a Light and Wings and Crossroads are working on a documentary about the homelessness problem here in Nevada.

-Have you found anything that surprised you so far?

-Well, I don't want to reveal that.

You have to watch the movie.

-Okay.

We'll have you back on.

I want to go back to that aspect of confidence.

How were you able to regain confidence?

-You know, I think, honestly, for me, it's a daily struggle, sometimes hourly.

I am a person of faith in my personal life, and I think my relationship with God helps me in the morning to just focus and remember, like, it's not about me.

And I think when you're purpose driven like that, when you know it's not about you, it's about Silvia or Diane or Sophia or whoever we can help, then I can get out of my own way and allow the work I'm supposed to do to happen.

-What kind of conversations are you having with God?

-Just to literally work through me, you know, like make sure we don't step over someone that we're really supposed to help and to really just help our clients succeed as well.

-Off camera we had talked about when someone meets another person there is a 7-second time frame of that person developing an opinion of you.

And this is something that you teach the women that you serve.

What do you teach them to do in those 7 seconds?

-Yeah.

Well, it's a conversation about interviews, right, and that the minute you walk in the door, really before you might meet your hiring manager, how you said you were here.

Were you polite?

Were you chewing gum?

Were you on the phone?

So we want them to walk in with as much confidence as possible.

We do a lot of mock interviews to prepare them for that.

-Do you have a success story you'd like to share?

-Just yesterday, I think that's a success story.

It's a funny story because the client Anna wanted to do something, and I said no.

They were like, Oh, just give me some money, and I'll figure it out myself.

And I'm like, Yeah, that's not what we do.

And she's like, Um, well, you know, like, what's $2,000?

I said, Well, a lot of money, and it's not, that's not what our program is.

And we fought, and I was like, But you can come.

We'll still work together.

And a few months later she's like, Okay, you were right.

I'm really sorry, and I'm ready.

And now here we are.

She had a career in the military that she wanted.

She's in the reserves now and is interviewing at TSA.

So that's pretty good.

That's pretty good.

-Debbie Isaacs, thank you so much for joining Nevada Week In Person.

-Thank you.

It was great.

Thanks for having us.