For New Orleans native and award-winning entrepreneur Brianne Joseph, leading a first-of-its-kind all woman-led detective agency was about a purpose. Joseph, who is the owner of Sly Fox Investigation Agency, has been licensed as a Private Investigator for the past 15 years. In a largely male dominated industry, of the 60,000 Private Investigators in the industry only 15 percent of that number represented woman while 3 percent accounted for African-American woman. The numbers disparity between both men, woman, and minorities in the industry became the driving force for change and part of the reason why Sly Fox Investigation Agency was created.
“When I first came into the industry, there were not a lot of woman who were doing this” Joseph explained. “I wanted to start an agency that introduced more woman to the field for one. When I first started, I realized just how much of an advantage woman can have in this industry. Woman are naturally inquisitive. We are naturally just more determined to get the information we need. People do not look at me and think I am an investigator so it just really works well in our industry.”
Sly Fox Investigation Agency, which became the only agency in the State of Louisiana called to the state senate floor for excellence in surveillance and in woman empowerment initiatives, specializes in video surveillance for insurance fraud, child custody, and infidelity cases. Joseph, who feels a great sense of responsibility to her clients in all cases, desires to ensure claimants are held accountable for filing frivolous insurance claims.
“Insurance fraud costs our nation billions of dollars each year. When insurance companies have to pay out these large amounts of money unnecessarily that makes my insurance premiums go up. That makes your insurance premiums go up. We end up bearing the cost of the lies” Joseph stated. “It is important for us help stop these people from taking advantage of the system because at the end of the day we as American citizens end up bearing the cost of this untruthfulness.
Among her many accomplishments, Joseph, who whipped cancer in 2016 and has an award-winning book titled ‘Punk Azz Cancer How Dare You?!’, is a keynote speaker for woman empowerment sessions on overcoming fear and a consultant for an upcoming series on VH1. Complacency is a word you would never find in Joseph’s vocabulary. By contrast, her speaking sessions amongst her peers brought on a sense of humbleness from those who shared in the same struggle of overcoming fear.
“I was a keynote speaker at oncology conferences where I would talk about the relationship between the health care providers and the cancer patient and explain how there could be improvements in that area from the patients perspective. I would talk about my book and talk about ways that would help influence the transformation we were trying to see in the oncology world” Joseph said. “I would also speak (at woman’s empowerment sessions) on fear and overcoming fear while helping woman become their best selves and show up as their best selves while overcoming fear and stepping into their greatness.”
Joseph, who plans on expanding Sly Fox Investigation Agency east to Atlanta as part of a requirement through VH1, has obtained her Private Investigator’s license and is excited about the new opportunity. “I am in the works with establishing a presence for my agency in Atlanta and setting up another agency out there. Just expanding and growing and using the opportunity to just be bigger and better than yesterday.”
From what Brianne Joseph has endured, success will find Sly Fox Investigation Agency no matter where she expands to.
