Vickie Faber

Guiding conversations with community leaders.

In this podcast, we'll explore the human journey of leaders, their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks and lessons learned. Come join us as we journey together and uncover the questions you've always wanted to know.

Well, here we are. We've got another great episode today and I can't wait for you to introduce this person.

I know this guest is a significant thread in the fabric of our community. For more than 20 years, she has served the community to meet the needs of the underprivileged while also developing programs to reduce crime through prevention, two of which have changed police agencies nationwide. This guest has a heart for serving and has fostered and rehomed more than 150 animals over the past decade. She she is the mom of two well accomplished adult daughters and a professional sprint car driver. Please welcome Vicki Faber.

Hey, Vicki.

Hey.

Welcome.

Thank you so much.

We're so glad you're here today.

Yeah, thank you. I am happy to be here. Thanks you guys.

I'm excited to have you here.

So let's get started. We always start with rapid fire.

Would you rather sing in public or dance in public?

Sing in public.

What is one of your nicknames?

Bixter.

Bixter.

Bixter. Would your 12 year old self think you were cool?

Probably not.

Have you ever won a contest?

Yes, I have.

Okay.

Would you ever skydive?

Yes, I would.

Vicki, what is your favorite breakfast?

I love. Well, I'm in law enforcement, so I have to say donuts.

Love it.

What is one thing you wish you.

Enjoyed more flying in a large plane.

Okay.

Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?

Oh, extrovert.

Do you have a favorite book?

I don't have time to read. I'm taking care of people.

I hear you on that one. Yeah. Okay, last question. Glass half full or glass half empty?

Always half full.

Love it. We get a lot of half fulls, don't we?

We do.

I love that about this. We got a lot of great people out there.

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All right, so lots of lots of good information today to talk about and I sort of want to Start back with small town roots. And I mean, when we say small town. Small town, 500 people, right?

Yes.

Yeah, Talk a little bit about that. And interestingly, how a coin flip determined your fate of moving to Arizona.

Yeah, well, lived in a really small town where literally my uncle was the mayor and there were only 500 people there. It was a very farming community is what it was. Jefferson, South Dakota, which is on the border of Iowa and Nebraska, So I could ride my bike either way and get into a whole different state. So it was a lot of fun. Great place to grow up. Not a great economy, as you can imagine. Farmers have it rough. And my childhood jobs for my school clothes consisted of pulling weeds in bean fields. One year, I actually was the only one left in the bean field. And I remember getting to almost the end, and I looked at the other side and saw that the weeds were taller than me. Anyway, it was a tough. It was a tough job and a different kind of life, but a great life. You know, we could be outside playing and, you know, everybody knew everybody and took care of kids and we all took care of each other, and it was a great place to grow up. Now, with that being said, my father was a mechanic in the town, and he also drove like the. Cause we had a lot of snow, the bulldozer in town, and would scoop, you know, all the snow and throw me in it so that we could get to school and throw other kids in there so we could all make it to school. But he was also the town mechanic, and it was him and his best friend Dave. And they started having hard times, and they decided that for them to be able to survive, or for one family to be able to survive, they were going to do a coin toss. And I was 13 years old. I was just getting ready to go to high school at that point. They coin tossed and dad lost. And what the coin toss was was whomever lost the coin toss had to just pack their stuff up, go from the business, from their home, from everything, so that the other one, the other family could survive. So my dad literally lost the coin toss, came home and said, we're moving. And of course, I was devastated because it was the start of high school, but he. In the next week, we packed up a van and we drove all the way across country. It's me and my little brother and my parents, and made it here and lived in downtown Phoenix with his brother, owned a home there. So it was an interesting start. And as terrible as it sounds, it was the greatest thing that ever happened to Me, I was petrified when I started high school, of course, because my high school was West High, 1200 people. It was bigger than my whole town, you know, by four times. But it was a great experience. I had a wonderful opportunity. And the education, of course, back home, because I was in a private Catholic school, was so much greater. So I, you know, smoothed through. I graduated a year early out of high school and had honors. I went to pilots school. I got my pilot's license. I was in college. I just had a blast. It was fun. It was a great, you know, a terrible thing for me at the time, but turned into a wonderful, wonderful thing, and I've been so lucky.

Wow. Lots of parallels there. I like this.

I know.

And I'm curious, like, how do you, as two best friends who own a business, come to the determination that one literally has to leave town?

Yeah.

And there's at least a two out of three or something, right?

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So that was the story of me coming here.

Wow. Yeah.

I spent some time in Aberdeen, South Dakota, So I lived there. And then I use the coin flip a lot.

A lot, a lot.

In a lot of decisions, people have known me to, like, hire people from a coin flip. It's crazy. I know.

So I'm honestly had a lot more respect for him. And now it's coming out.

How do you think Sarah got here? Tails, I guess.

Did you win or did you lose? That could have been me. Why I'm here, too. That's funny. But, yeah, South Dakota is a great place if you've never been there. It's funny because a lot of people that travel the all states say, the oddest state that I loved was South Dakota. People don't realize what a great place it is in Black Hills and Deadwood, the Mount Rushmore, Rapid City area. It's awesome. If you've never been there, it's a great place to go. And they also have what I call the small Grand Canyon, the Badlands. So South Dakota is a really fun place.

Great road trip.

It is a good road trip.

Okay, so you went into aviation and then found yourself in law. Right. How does this happen?

Well, actually, it's funny because when I was in college and through high school, I was also a cheerleader. So when I went into college, I was a cheerleader as well, but getting my pilot's license, and I got a really bad car accident. And so at that point, and my dad always laughed at me and said, you know, when people say, what is you? What are you trying to get in college, and he would raise his hand and say, she's trying to be a cheerleader, you know. But he loved it. Yeah, he loved it. But ultimately the accident kind of made me change a little bit. And after I had children, the insurance riders for pilots are. If you die in a plane, they're not going to cover you. And at that point, I had, you know, a baby, you know, in. In college. So it was a decision to, you know, step back a little, do it later, maybe after I get them all reared up and. And in their own lives and go back to flying again.

So where does that fascination and passion for aviation come from? Was there, is it.

My grandfather was a airplane mechanic. Yeah. And I've just always loved. I've always loved aviation. So I did. I got my degree at Phoenix College at the time in aviation and aeronautics and got to fly quite a bit and. Yeah, it's great. Someday I'll go back to it.

Did your grandfather fly as well?

He did. Okay.

So he probably took you up and things, and that's kind of where.

Yeah. Yep. So I really love the small planes are great because you can pretty much lose your engines and you're fine. You'll still be able to make it down. So that's, you know, great.

So I know you like to work with your hands. Is that really, I mean, a result of working alongside your grandfather?

It's all the bean picking, you know.

I feel like that maybe.

Maybe, you know, I think I just. I love being outside. I love creating things. And I've found this whole new passion for construction. So I do a lot of construction. I've remodeled several homes and I love real estate. I buy and sell real estate on my, you know, side time. And I love doing tile so in. And I don't know where that comes from. I don't know.

I appreciate the fact that you are an individual who doesn't just think about these things as cool or just pin them on Pinterest. You actually jump in and do it. I mean, you have done real estate and I mean, race car driving and all these things that other people might think that's. That's really neat, but not something I could do. And you just take the risk and go for it.

You absolutely could do it.

Yeah, well, I don't know.

And, you know, it's funny because that's the thing. And I think I really enjoy helping women do those things too. I had a secretary at work and she wanted to redo her bathroom. So I said, you know, just get the supplies, let's go. I'll teach you how to do it. We'll do it together. And I love doing that because these are things that women really need to know. You might be in a position where you need to do things, whether it be electrical or plumbing or even changing your car tires or maintaining your car. I mean, if you basically don't have a lot of money to be able to pay for those things, you want to have the ability to be able to do them anyway. So self sufficiency, I think, is really important. And I love. I love bringing girls in and making them realize that, you know what, you can do this.

Yeah. And you set an example that you're not held back by stereotypes. I mean, you really just jump right in and empower others to do the same.

Well, Vicki, I've got six daughters. I'm going to send them your way because they will not help me do anything. Maybe they'll listen to you.

Send them this way. Yes. We need, especially women need to be more involved in trades. You know, that's an important place for employment, and girls will find passion there, too.

Yeah. And breaking stereotypes. Let's talk a little bit about your role in Gilbert. First badged and uniformed civilian staff member of the Gilbert Police Department, worked 16 years to provide training and development programs to decrease crime and increase community connectivity. And I know firsthand, I mean, you've. You've been part of that even through some programs that the chamber supported as well. So a little bit about that and that experience.

Yeah, I've actually, it's 23 years I was with Kim Kelly and I. She was another my number two at Gilbert, and she was from North Dakota, so it was always fun. We were the Dakota team, you know, north and South Dakota girls. And it was a wonderful opportunity. Gilbert was a small town then, so we were able to spread our wings and do so many things. And it's interesting because they're really. Nowadays, law enforcement is not allowing civilian staff to really be a part as much as I have been throughout my career. And it's been such a wonderful opportunity. And we've had great leaders there that have let me bring in a lot of programs. Things like the bait vehicle program that started in Gilbert. I worked with NICB to bring that over there, and that was a great thing. And just so many other things that I've been able to do with the Gilbert community is awesome. And thank God that I was able to do this in the time that I was, because like I said, things have really changed in policing. And as I Enter the twilight of my career. Yesterday we just had a seminar in regards to retirement and planning for retirement financially and all of that. One of the statistics is that once people in law enforcement reach their mid-50s, they need to go because their suicide rate starts to really increase. So it's an interesting scenario, but it's also a good one because I'm getting excited for the next part of my turning of the page. But Gilbert has a wonderful. You know, I work with your mom at the chamber for many, many years and I have just I all of these friendships that I have been able to create and these business partnerships has been wonderful. And I have a great job. I really do.

That's the best thing when you can have something it's not even really a job is it's like you're passionate about it. It's a lot of fun.

Exactly. So the days fly by. I mean, I think, oh my gosh, where did all this time go? I'm not done yet. I'm still wanting to do more. So in the twilight of I'll be a free agent soon. So anyone listening to this?

Well, when you are a free agent and you look back at this career, what are some of the highlights for you?

The toy drive. I love the toy drive. 23 years I have my kids coming and participating in that. And I've been able to build it up to such a great opportunity to help so many families. And it spread, not just to Gilbert, it spread to other cities. Mesa started doing it and some other state organizations picked up on it. And so they're doing it as well. But I've had such a great opportunity to help folks in a different way, in a way that helps them see police in a different light as well. You know, a lot of times families, especially kids, see officers that take their parents away to take them to jail or, you know, there are legal disputes going on or what have you. Well, this is an opportunity to actually have an officer that comes to your home. And it's able to bring gifts right to those kids home and show them that this is a good profession and there are good people here. So I'm very passionate about it. The stories, the moving stories, man, it's been incredible. There's been individuals and I can tell you one case that just is really difficult. But I know that there was an individual in high school and he had phase deformities and one of his parents had died and the other had cancer and he was trying to be able to afford his electricity bill. And I have this great Opportunity to be that person that says, hey, you know what? This is what we have going on, and to be able to help that person. So I used that, and we were able to give that family that was suffering so much the opportunity to have their power turned back on and their water turned back on, and just things like that nobody really thinks about.

Yeah. Those simple things that we take for granted. Right. That are so important to our livelihood that it could be such a struggle for people. That's amazing.

And so in the downturn of why this is happening with me right now is I've decided this year that I'm not doing it anymore. Toy drive. I'm trying to give it over to the town. So that's been very difficult for me.

It's giving away your baby right there, huh?

Yes, exactly. Giving away the baby. And, you know, that feeling of changing over.

Yeah. Well, you've done incredible work in this community.

Thank you.

I appreciate it. Really big difference. And I think one topic that it highlights is that we sometimes turn our cheek to the actual needs in our community, and there is need. And the fact that you've worked to identify those and. And connect resources to need is a really significant effort.

Yeah. And the people of Gilbert, I mean, they don't realize that there are a lot of people in need. The McKinney, Vento families in our Gilbert public schools, they're families that are deemed homeless through the federal government. That doesn't mean that they're walking around the streets, but they've been displaced, and they are suffering financial difficulties, and there's a lot of them and their kids. So we have to do what we can to take care of each other.

That's right. Yeah, absolutely.

One of the premises of our show is talking about the journeys that you are on and those that inspired you. Who comes to mind?

My dad, actually. And I hear on the podcast a lot of people say your dad, but my father was somebody who inspired me, you know, who can flip a coin and leave everything behind. Well, he did. He can. So that's been great. I also, my two daughters, man, they're awesome. And I always tell them, you know, do good in the world. Make the world a better place. And so one of my daughters, she has come through the, you know, hard ranks of going through law school and becoming an attorney, and now she's a U.S. attorney hired during Trump. Merrick hired her. So I'm very proud of that. My other daughter is an investment broker. She supervises and blesses that. And, I mean, what great opportunities. And my Oldest daughter. She fights terrorists and gun violence in a big way. You know, something that, you know, things that you don't really hear about, but she's there protecting as well. Yeah.

That's awesome.

Well, what's pretty incredible is if they were sitting here, it would be you that they looked up to and that influenced them. And you have to be so proud of them. It's amazing. Yep.

Yep.

All right, let's talk about something fun.

Okay.

Just don't talk about bagpipes and don't talk about the Christmas toy drive that will make me do this. Isn't that funny? Bagpipes. I got a funny story about bagpipes. Let me just tell you really, really quick. So when they started our honor guard, they wanted to do bagpipes. And I have just loved. I love bagpipes. And I have this, you know, emotional connection to bagpipes. So I told myself, I am going to play the bagpipes, bought a really expensive pair of bagpipes, put the bagpipe, you know, trading CD in. Because I'm like, you know, I want to give it a try at home before I go in with everybody and threw that DVD in there. And that's how long ago I threw the DVD in there and started playing. And just watching the DVD made me cry. I'm like, oh, no, this isn't gonna work. So I'm like, okay, maybe it's just, you know, maybe it's just how something that came up because I have been through several, you know, people in my agency, friends that have passed away, been killed in the line of duty, that sort, and bagpipes are a big part of that. So I'm like, maybe that triggered that, all those connections. Yes. I decided, you know what? I'm gonna go try. Go down there. And the minute that I started hearing bagpipe music again, bawling.

Faucets turned on, just bawling.

So I'm like, this might not be the instrument for me. I put it under my bed, and I didn't see it for 10 years.

I love how connected you are to, like, you really know your emotion and your. I mean, you. You are connected to your feelings in.

Such a. Sarah's been searching for so long for a connection.

I just. Anything. I want to feel something.

Do I need to make you cry, Sarah?

No. Okay, let's talk about race car driving. I just think it's the coolest thing. Every time I see you, like, that's the first thing I think is, like, how cool is she that she's a race car Driver, how did this happen?

My dad used to take me to races all the time. We'd go to the drag strip, we'd go to the circle tracks, we'd go everywhere. And I think I had mentioned the story in my bio stuff, but there was actually a mounted police officer at these races that my dad became friends with. And he would. And this would never happen these days. He would lay his horse down so that I could get on it and he'd patrol around the racetrack with me on the back.

Yeah, that would not happen these days.

Never. Never. And all of it was just such a great experience for me. I enjoyed racing back then and have enjoyed it since now. To prelude that, my dad died in 2011, so he hasn't been around for a long time and I was never racing then. This would be his dream thing for me, so he didn't get to do it. And I have his ashes, so I always bring his ashes with me in the car when I'm driving, so he gets to come with me. But that's such a fun and interestingly enough, one of those things too, that I like to have the girl see, because there are things, again, that I'm the only female sprint car driver in the state of Arizona, and now I'm doing a lot of the senior circuit. I've hit that age where I can actually participate in that, which is great because those are people who are more experienced and are usually the ones that have paid for their equipment. So they're much more delicate and.

And you can crush the competition.

Exactly. So it's a little bit funner. Oh, yeah. But it's. It's good fun. I. I drive a 360 sprint car. It's a non wing, so you've probably seen them on television before. I do both asphalt and dirt and they're a blast. If you don't know much about sprint car racing, check it out on the Internet. But they basically strip the car down, so it only weighs about 1500 pounds. It's got a 900 horsepower engine, so they're pretty darned fast. They're pretty much on their side the whole time coming through the corners. So it's been a lot of fun. It's been a great opportunity too, for me to participate with my girls and with Ben, my guy that helps and is my partner in racing too. So that's been a great opportunity. And I get a lot of girls as well that follow my racing and come and talk to me about, you know, how did you get involved in this? And it inspires people to, you know, do their dream. That's all it was. It was a dream. And I said, I'm not getting any younger. I need to do this if I'm going to.

I think that's the challenge for listeners today. I mean, whatever it is you feel connected to, whether it's swapping out your tile and your backsplash or race car driving or saving animals or just act on it. I mean, live like Vicki and just do it.

It's amazing like that.

Yeah, it's fun, you know, don't let anything stop you.

Wow, that's so great.

So let's look to the future. You mentioned a little bit about the future, but what's on the horizon for you? What do you see coming?

I see so many things it's hard to pick from. I feel like I'm just out of college looking for a job. You know, it's weird. I loved law enforcement, you know, and it's just hard to see all my friends leave, too. Everybody's retiring, but there comes a time when, you know it's time. And so I enjoy working with my hands. I've been thinking about real estate. I've been thinking about doing. Getting my license to do home inspections. I'm a notary. I do notary servicing now. I do construction projects. So it's. The world is wide open.

Yes, it is.

How exciting.

Traveler, do you like to travel?

I do. I have a motorhome. It's my second one that I've remodeled.

Of course she does. Of course she has a remodel.

I haven't remodeled this one completely yet to be able to go somewhere this year, but I love to travel. Yeah, that's fun.

Well, whatever it is, I know it's going to be amazing, and I know you're going to continue to stay connected to the community, and I look forward to watching.

Yeah.

Awesome. Well, thank you for being with us today. This has been a great discussion. I've learned a lot about you, and I like it.

Thanks, you guys. I so appreciate being here.

There's a part two coming up soon. I'm sure of it.

Absolutely.

Thanks a lot, you guys.

So I know you like this show. We love this show. And hopefully you're subscribing to this so you can get more of these episodes as they roll out into the Internets and join our tribe. Thanks for being here. Guiding growth, conversations with community leaders.

Ben, let me ask you a question. How do you see other community members being involved in this podcast?

This is going to be a great opportunity. For so many people in the community to have a chance to be heard if they want to tell their story or if they just want to be part of this journey with us and help sponsor in a way that helps bring more people to the table with us. So I think there's many opportunities at hand. Whether you want to again be on the show. Reach out to us, let us know what your story is and how you think you could be part of it. We'd love to hear from you. Reach out, let us know, and we'll see if we can make that connection.