Work With Felicia
You know those days when you can’t wait to get out of the meeting and you see your buddies in the parking lot and you talk about the audacity and stupidity and wonder how the hell you can still take it?
I write, speak, and teach about that.
SPEAKING
These are serious subjects, but the conversations don’t have to be stiff or miserable.
Why does everyone know there is a problem, but no one can say it plainly? Why do organizations punish the person who tells the truth? What happens to people when they remain inside unhealthy systems for too long? And how do we make good decisions when the pressure is high and none of the choices are easy?
I use stories, research, practical tools, and more humor than some of the topics would seem to allow.
My talks draw from more than thirty years in the military, law enforcement, crisis response, teaching, and leadership, as well as my own experience with trauma, recovery, and starting over.
I don’t show up with a collection of slogans or pretend that complicated problems have tidy answers. I help people look more closely at what is happening, understand the human behavior beneath it, and leave with something useful to think about.
Speaking engagements can range from keynotes and conference sessions to smaller conversations with professional groups, leadership teams, public-service organizations, and community audiences.
WORKSHOPS
Workshops give us more room to examine a subject together.
Depending on the topic, participants may work through real situations, identify patterns, test assumptions, map what is within their control, or practice responding to difficult behavior. The point is not to manufacture agreement. It is to help people think more clearly about the choices in front of them.
Workshops can be built for a particular audience or situation. They may last an hour, half a day, or longer when the subject needs more room.
SESSIONS
Psychological Safety and Broken Systems
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Organizations often investigate failures as if they began with the final mistake. This session looks further back. It examines the conditions that shaped the decision, the warnings that were dismissed, the information that never traveled, and the reasons people did not feel safe enough to speak.
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A crisis may feel sudden, but it rarely comes from nowhere. Drawing from crisis management, violence prevention, organizational behavior, and human psychology, this session explores the patterns that tend to appear before a situation reaches its breaking point.
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People do not usually become silent all at once. They learn, gradually, what happens when they raise concerns. This talk examines how workplaces train people to withhold information and what that silence eventually costs the people, the work, and the organization itself.
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After a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress changed my health, work, and sense of who I was, recovery required more than getting better. I had to understand who I was without the roles that had defined me. This is a personal conversation about injury, identity, grief, accepting help, and the strange work of building a life that does not look the way you expected.
Workplace Heretic ethos
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Learn to recognize the assumptions and past experiences shaping how you see workplace situations. You’ll separate what is happening from how you are interpreting it, understand what is actually yours to deal with, and make deliberate choices about where to put your energy.
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Sometimes the person who identifies a problem is treated as more dangerous than the problem itself. This session looks at the habits, incentives, and power structures that make honesty risky. It also explores what happens to decision-making when people learn that silence is safer than telling the truth.
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Leaving a broken workplace is not always possible, and it is not always what someone wants. This conversation is for people trying to remain in work that matters without surrendering their health, identity, or integrity. It focuses on boundaries, documentation, credibility, and making deliberate choices under pressure.
We Can Begin With the Audience
The subjects above are starting points. I am also happy to build a conversation around the questions your group is already wrestling with. Tell me who will be in the room, what has been happening, and what you hope they will leave thinking about. We can decide from there what kind of talk or workshop makes sense.
Testimonials
What Are People Saying?
People look to Felicia because she projects integrity, empathy, and enthusiasm… Most significantly, she has an innate ability to inspire others to recognize their own strengths and progress confidently towards their goals.
- Public Library Board Member
Her meticulous, professional, and dedicated application of instructional techniques and creativity allowed her students to have the best opportunity for success.
- Commander, Police Field Training Program
She is second to none when it comes to safety planning and crisis management. She is my go-to when I need a comprehensive safety plan for my clients which include State governments, universities, and insurance companies.
- Intelligence & National Security Consultant
She gave the keynote at a conference for my agency and left a lasting impression. Her dynamic and motivating presentation style captivated the audience and transformed intimidating topics, such as violence prevention, into practical and achievable goals. It resonated with everyone in attendance.
- Supervisor with the County Tax Collector’s Office
TESTIMONIALS
CONVERSATIONS & FEATURES
I have had the chance to talk about my work on podcasts and in the news. Here are a few of those conversations.
Tell This Story with Doug White
Felicia “Peco” Pecora. Delicate, Like Dynamite
In this episode, Doug talks with U.S. Army combat veteran and retired Tampa Police Lieutenant Felicia Pecora about the impact of trauma throughout her career and her recovery from PTSD and traumatic brain injury. Felicia discusses emotional intelligence in policing, peer support, journaling, hyperbaric therapy, and other tools that helped her rebuild after leaving law enforcement. They also explore identity, vulnerability, faith, and the challenge of finding purpose after retirement. Their conversation highlights the importance of psychological safety, strong support systems, and leadership that recognizes the human impact of high-stress work.
Story Samurai with Ari Block
Felicia Pecora | Oct 1, 2025
In this conversation, Felicia Pecora shares her transformative journey from a wild childhood to a successful career in the military and policing. She discusses the challenges of navigating the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, the importance of community engagement in policing, and the mental health struggles faced by officers. Felicia emphasizes the need for vulnerability in leadership, the impact of trauma on officers, and the importance of creating a healthy work environment. She also shares insights on raising resilient children and offers advice to her younger self about staying true to one’s values.
In the News
ABC Tampa Bay 28
Retired Tampa police officer starts crisis management academy
NBC News Channel 8
Tampa Bay area officials discuss RNC security measures
WTSB 10 Tampa Bay
Florida’s Republican National Convention footprint
