The Intelligence Officer Who Talks to Spirit Guides

I was recently asked to be interviewed by my longtime friend WavenDean Fernandes for a series of conversations with energy practitioners, and this episode is the result--a warm, free-form conversation about intuition, mediumship, and spirituality.

I spent my career as an Air Force intelligence officer--the kind of background where you don't exactly bring up psychic readings at work. But underneath the logic and top-secret clearance, I'd always had a gift for reading people, one I kept quietly tucked away until a retreat about two years ago changed everything.

In this conversation, I open up about the unlikely path that took me from military intelligence to full-time intuitive and psychic medium--and why I now see that background not as a contradiction, but as the perfect training ground for this work. WavenDean and I talk through how information actually comes through to me (it starts as a scene, like a movie in soft focus), the difference between spirit guides and deceased loved ones, and two client stories that still give me chills: a woman I guided back to painting who now sells her art in a gallery, and a woman I saw in a past-life as a scholar--which explained her lifelong pull toward deep conversation over small talk.

We also get into the harder stuff--how I framed my own experience with cancer not as something I "had" but as something I was "experiencing," and why that distinction mattered so much to me. And we close with a genuinely mind-bending detour into past lives, parallel lives, and whether time is as linear as we think it is.

If you've ever felt a pull toward something you couldn't quite explain, this one's for you.

Highlights

From intelligence officer to intuitive. I spent my career in Air Force intelligence, then moved through politics and corporate wellness before a coach nudged me to lean into the intuitive readings I'd kept private--worried they'd clash with my security-clearance background.The retreat that changed everything. About two years ago, I gave readings to ten women at a self-discovery retreat. Their reactions--shock at my accuracy despite my knowing nothing about their backgrounds--became the encouragement I needed to pursue this work fully.How the readings work. I describe my process as multi-sensory: it starts as a visual scene (like watching a soft-focus movie), followed by impressions, sensations, and sometimes words. I'm always clear with clients that I don't want them feeding me information--it should feel like a natural conversation.Guides vs. deceased loved ones. A key distinction I draw: recently deceased relatives and ancestors tend to show up offering emotional support and reassurance ("we're here, we love you"), while higher-level guidance about life path and direction tends to come through spirit guides and the angelic realm.Real client stories. Two standouts I still think about: a woman facing a layoff who I guided back to painting, who now sells her art in a Kansas City gallery, and a woman I saw in a past life as a respected scholar--which explained her lifelong aversion to small talk and pull toward deep, philosophical conversations.Reframing hardship. I share my own experience with cancer and how I consciously chose language like "having a cancer experience" rather than "having cancer"--treating hardship as something temporary to move through and learn from, not something to own.The past lives/parallel lives conversation. Toward the end, I explain that "past lives" is really just a linear-brain way of understanding what may actually be simultaneous, parallel lifetimes--and I describe experimenting with intentionally "shifting" into a desired version of myself (including playing the best round of golf of my life after doing so).Where to find me. I offer private readings and a six-week "Applied Intuition" mentorship (built around a behavioral assessment tailored to each person's unique way of receiving information) via KathleenDavenport.com, along with my podcast and social