Transcript of Candace Has Cancer?! | 6

My last trip to Ukraine was really hard.

I was shot up.

I was hungry.

I didn't sleep. Mom sirens went off all night long. People stuck us for other people.

We didn't get what we wanted.

Man, there was a country with no hope. And last Tuesday, I was on the streets in Salt Lake City. You get shot at in Salt Lake City. Do you know that? It's just as tough. And there are people who felt no hope, too. And I'm so glad that we are the last choice. We're the last stop. And we offer a lot of hope. And I can't thank you enough for being here to help us provide so much more hope this year. And I will do this work until the day I die. So thank you for helping me do it.

This is Unicorn Girl, an Apple original podcast Produced by Seven Hills, hosted and executive-produced by me, Charlie Webster. As you are starting to get to know, Candice lives life fast, and she certainly doesn't do things by calves. Let me update you on where she's at. Candice and her team are now back from Ukraine. The two orphans they rescued made it to America and are doing well with their adoptive families. In just 12 months, Candice had been to Dubai, although everyone still thought she'd been in Afghanistan, to Ukraine multiple times, and she jettled off to Paris, Amsterdam, Iraq, Uganda, and Lebanon. She even took her nine and 14-year-old boys there for a weekend and flew business. Candice's schedule was packed, and her notoriety was growing. As an inspiring female leader, Candice was making a name for herself on the speaking circuit, and that's how she ended up at a widows conference at Disneyland, of all places.

I was widowed at 28, and I was left with a three-year-old son and a one-year-old baby.

That's Charlene, widowed in her 20s, now 67. Charlene was helping her friend put together a conference for widows when Candice was recommended to them as a speaker.

Candice sent her bio to us, and wow. I remember saying, Who are we that we would know somebody like this? Sits on a UN Council, is an international health advocate, and she wanted to help us. We felt very privileged.

The bio Candice sent over was extremely impressive. I've got it here. It's super long, but it starts humble. Single mom of two boys living in Utah. Then it goes on to say, She holds a seat on a UN task force, works with Fortune 500 companies, is the CEO and founder of three multimillion dollar companies, a New York Times best selling launch team member, and it finishes with CEO and founder of Exitus, which she says has a multimillion dollar foundation. The conference was intimate but powerful. Some of the women who attended had only lost their husbands just weeks before. Everyone assembled at Disneyland, though Candice turned up late.

When Candice finally showed up and came in and let us know that, Thank you, thank you, thank you for waiting for me, and I promise you I'm worth your wait. I never apologize for being late because I'm worth the wait. She gave some powerful talks to our widows. Part of the advice was that there are people that will lie to you. They'll lie to your face. They'll lie on social media. There are people that go after the vulnerable.

Interesting topic for a keynote on loss. When Charlene showed me the video of Candice's keynote, I couldn't quite understand why Candice was speaking at a widow's conference. Candice isn't a widow.

Her relatability to our widows was that she's suffered loss. She went through a divorce, which is extraordinarily painful. It's almost like losing a part of yourself. And then she talked about losing two little girls, and she was pregnant with twins, and she was in a serious accident and taken to the hospital and lost the twins.

I'm not a widow. I'm a pagan mother. I did this with two little girls. So I know a little bit about loss.

That's how Candice started her breach.

I had two little girls passed away. I felt really torn apart between child loss and then massive heartache and divorce. My heart was ripped up. I lost everything.

She was six months pregnant, and so she could understand loss. And she just... I loved being a girl mom, and now I can't be a girl mom anymore, but celebrate their birthdays, what would have been their birthday, every single year with her sons.

Opening up about her own loss was how Candice could relate to the women, but it wasn't the only reason she was there.

The other reason that she said that she wanted to be there was because she believes in entrepreneurship and that widows, that they're perfect for entrepreneurship, starting their own businesses, not having to work for anybody telling them what to do. They're out from under everybody's thumb now, and so they can start over.

Candice wanted to empower the women on their next journey, though I wouldn't quite have put it as getting out from under everybody's thumb like Candice did.

Candice did a breakout session that she called Burn It Down, and she said, I want you to write down all the things that you say about yourself. She said, Start it with, You are. So you are stupid, you are fat, you are lazy. And then she said, I want you to take your list and I want you to read it to the woman sitting in front of you. You are stupid. You are fat, you are whatever it was that you said to yourself. And then you traded, and the woman across from you said the same thing that she wrote to you. It was very It was very powerful, the idea that if it hurts you so bad to say that to somebody else, why do you accept it from yourself?

It is a powerful exercise to help you identify your own negative self-taught. I've definitely done versions of this myself.

The next day, we talked and I said, Do you do classes on entrepreneurship? And so she told me, Yeah, she had a class that did a course that she was just starting. She would love to have me to be part of it. She said, I usually charge $1,000, but I like you, Charlene. I believe in you. And so she charged me $400 for this. She had worksheets for us. I'm not great at worksheets, but she wanted to give her our budgets so that she could help us better be able to know what we could afford and what we couldn't afford. What do you make? And if you're not working, if it's your husband's income, put down his income. It had all of the spaces, the gross, the net, what you spend on your mortgage, your car, your insurance.

Charlene filled out the form with all her financial information and joined the class. The class being managed by Starly. If you remember, Candice made Starly pretend to be the US consulate in the car park of Chilly's. Starly told us that even though it looked like there were a few people taking the course, Charlene was the only one who paid.

Charlene was the only paying client everyone else Candice comped, but wanted it to seem like there was more attendees. And I think we had five women.

It was perfect timing claiming for Charlene. She had just finished writing her first book, Devotion, Deception, Deliverance: Isaac's Story, which is a true story of an escape from a polygamous cult in Utah. Although she didn't know she was Candice's only paying client.

As I was coming to the end of getting my manuscript ready for the publisher, I thought, I'm just going to see if she'll read it and see what she thinks. I mean, she's worked with these New York Times bestselling authors. And so I I sent her my manuscript. She said, I'm going to write the forward. And I said, I can't afford that, Candice. And she said, No, you don't understand. I am going to write the forward.

So Candice wrote Charlene's forward for free. Then she said she wanted to help Charlene with the marketing for the book.

She gets a hold of me and says, Hey, I've talked to my team and our calendar is completely full for next year. But I said, Listen, you guys, we've got to bump some things out. We've got to squash some things because I'm taking this woman on as one of our clients. She's wonderful, and she's so talented, and she's so gifted, and she's written this book, and she's on and on and on.

But this wasn't going to be covered in the original $400 price. It was going to be more, a lot more.

She said for three months, it's usually about $16,000 is what we charge. I am willing to give you our friends and family discount. It'll be $8,000, which is still a big chunk of money. I've said, I want to be more than just my book. I want to be able to speak and to teach and to share. So I would like to figure out how to come up with the $8,000 and sign up and see what she can do. And so my dad had recently passed away and left a little bit of money, and so that's where we took the money out of.

Charlene was in. She signed on the dotted line and handed $8,000 dollars over to Candice.

She called me a few days later and said, Hey, I've put you with my A-Team. My A-Team videographer, he's going to interview you. Make sure you've got things that you can quote out of the book. She said, Charlene, mark my words. Netflix is interested. Are you ready, girl? I guess. I don't know.

Just like with the entrepreneurship course, Candice made it look like she was busy with a whole host of clients. But once again, Charlene was the only one.

We had the one client That Candice said there was this huge waitlist of people, but she could never provide the list.

This is Kim. Kim's a digital marketer. When she met Candice, she was having a tough time at the company she was working at. So Candice offered her a job in her branding house, See Our House & Co, to work alongside Starly with their one client. Kim was soon to become Candice's newest bestie. You might be noticing a pattern here by now. Candice has a habit of collecting besties, and Kim was her latest fixation. When Kim came into See Our House & Co, Starly was a little confused about who Kim was and felt like she was being pushed out in favor of Kim.

Candice started talking about this woman, Kim.

I had never heard of her. I went over to her house one night, and Kim was there, and we met, and she was awesome. But it seems like Candice and Kim are partners, and what am I? Am I still a part of this? It seemed like, Oh, I'm just maybe an afterthought.

Candice brought her new bestie, Kim, the Exeter's marketing guy Matt, and Starly, together to launch another new initiative for women, helping them to start their own business.

We were sitting there and then Matt came over and we were talking about it. Candice was talking as if Matt knew all about this.

And he's like, Wait, what is this? Am I a part of this? And Candice was like, Yeah. I really wasn't in it. I just said, Okay.

That seemed to be a running theme for Matt. He was Candice's right-hand man across all of her projects.

And then she said that she was going to make all this money and that she was going to pay me, and I would just be able to work under her in her branding house. And I said, Oh, okay, cool. I'm already doing that, but okay, sure. With every business idea and everything she had, she just threw me in there. I'm the only male in there. I was like, I'm not really fitting into this she house. But Candice She was always wanting to promise me so much money, like anything that I do. I'm like, I wasn't really planning on being a part of this. I was just coming to hang out, and I happened to fall into your guys' meeting, gave you ideas. She just liked having me in there all the time.

Kim came up with an idea for what they were going to call it.

So what about Found Her? Because then it's like founder, found her. And we all got really excited about the idea. So that's what that ended up being.

Found Her was born, but not everything was Rosie for Kim. She was yet another member of what Candice called the Divorce Club. Kim had recently divorced and was going through a difficult custody battle for her young son.

I cried. I cried because this was the same week I had the news that I was going from having 70% custody down to 50. And And regardless of anyone's opinion on custody arrangements, going from being a full-time mom my kid's whole life to then being a half-time mom, it was hard to not feel like that was somehow a demotion. The custody battle had been a part-time job in and of itself. I had no energy. I was tired all the time. So Candice coming that week to me, telling me that I could do something with purpose, it almost gave purpose to having to go to 50% custody. I could now spend time volunteering and helping and building a business that was going to make a difference.

Kim put her energy into this new purpose. She was a valuable asset to Candice, newly divorced in her 20s and driven. Kim quickly became part of Candice's in a circle. It wasn't long before the two of them were texting and calling 24/7.

It was tricky because I felt bad that I was spending so much time because it did end up even taking away from some of the weeks that I had with my kids. But it was like, I think I was just trying so hard to fill my time with purpose on those off weeks and find purpose in my new normal with this new schedule. It was all-consuming.

Candice had an uncanny ability to turn conversations sexual with anyone, and Kim was no exception.

A lot of our conversations were sexual. Talked about how much she loved giving blow jobs. She joked with me that she found out that you can sell your used underwear to make money. I'm a germaphobe to begin I'm also a very conservative person. It's one of those jokes. If you say it once, I'll give you a courtesy laugh. But she kept going. It was like, Come on, Kim. We can make the money we need to really get found her off the ground. The amount that she said it, there was a piece of me that was like, I feel like she would really do this. When we would joke about stuff, Candice would be like, Just watch. Kim's the most conservative one, but you just wait. She's going to be the one with the most surprising, shocking secrets.

Candice wanted her new bestie, Kim, to experience the work that she was doing with her nonprofit, Exitus. Candice took her out on the streets of Salt Lake City, just like she did with Starly.

I went out with her a couple of times to Salt Lake City, where the homeless population was. We're in a whole other world. We were behind bridges and and train tracks and places no one would ever dare to step foot in, just lined with tents. You go what we call the other side of Salt Lake City, so the scary side. Candice was trying to comfort me with the fact that her car was bulletproof and that she had her gun in the glove department. I think it was a Glock. Candice had packed some food from her fridge and waters to hand out. She seemed to know all of the homeless people. They knew her by name. They knew her car. It was like they were buddies. And whenever we drive around, every time we went, she'd say the same thing, which is, This is like their living room. She just seemed to have this sense or this knowing of this population. She would also always tell me about how Jesus was out there with the homeless. He wasn't with the people who were clean or doing well, that this is where the real work happens, and I admired it.

Only a few weeks after that first meeting, Found Her was ready to launch. Candice put together a promo video where she explained what Found Her was all about. Although I couldn't quite figure out what exactly the initiative was meant to do. See what you think.

Found Her gives these women back the opportunity to see how to get to those podiums, those platforms, and those finish lines. Without Found Her, we leave a lot of women without access, and that's really what this program is.

Candice says a lot without actually saying much. If you've ever heard of the term word salad, that's what Candice does. And in true Candice fashion, to properly launch Found Her, she threw a big flashy party with the who's who of Utah at Kim's parents' house.

My parents have a home here in Utah, and I'm trying to describe it without sounding a certain way. It's a very big, nice home. It just is. It's very unique and has a lot of features that you don't see even in the big Utah homes.

It is unique. I went to Kim's parents' house whilst we were in Utah. How many bedrooms does it got?

Let's see One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, maybe 10.

I love that you've got to capture. Mine, maybe. There is a lot of concentration. Never mind the bedrooms. It has a climbing wall, a movie theater, indoor and outdoor swimming pool, day spa, bowling alley, recording studio, a huge garden, Fountain included, the perfect place to host the Fountain launch party. Kim didn't know at the time, but Candice had been telling everyone that it was actually her house.

She was saying this was her house. She not only said that, but she said, You're free to come whenever you want and use it whenever you want.

Candice said she had everything organized, but once again, didn't.

That was very stressful because she had nothing ready that needed to be ready for the launch. We had gotten these neon signs that said, See our house and co, that we're supposed to be hung. They never got hung up. It felt like a mess. However, everybody felt like it went off without a hitch. I was surprised just how many people were there, and it felt really cool to be like, Wow, all of these people are here seeing and hearing about work I never even knew I was capable of creating.

I've seen the pictures and videos. It was full of esteemed guests, all beautifully dressed, mainly women, and of course, Matt. Aura was there helping out. A local singer performed, philanthropist Mary Crafts gave a speech, along with multiple Utah mom influencers. Then it was Candice's turn to speak. She started with a little reference to Botox.

Originally, we were just going to have a fun ladies' party with Botox. We thought that'd be super fun. But you guys look way too pretty for Botox.

Candice then told the story of sleeping in the Mafia house in Moldova with Mary. Mentioned she was opening her own MedSpa. She even gave out gift vouchers for it. And then said she had three companies that had now hit eight figures. And then she got serious. She was very emotional and spoke really fast.

Our community must ache in our absence. There is no reason for me to have international market companies that hit eight figures if I am not pouring back into them for the people that are running them. There's no reason to have nonprofits if they're not run well, so making massive impacts in the communities, and UPD is calling us every single day to take out a survivor on the streets. There is no reason to have platforms that plug mentors in if they're not connected to the people that they're using them. Absolutely no reason. And there is no reason for you to be in this room or in my presence if you're not going to plug into it either.

Out of all that, there was one thing Candice didn't acknowledge, the other people on the Found Her team. Kim was really hurt.

Candice got up and then pretty much single-handedly took credit for everything. And I don't need a ton of credit, but I worked my butt off. And for zero dollars, mind you, zero dollars, it's like I would appreciate some acknowledgement. I actually was holding back tears by the end of that. It felt like I had just been used and she was totally okay, acting like I didn't even exist for that entire launch party. Starly pulled me aside. She goes, Are you okay? And I was trying to choke it back because I didn't want to be seen crying at our launch. So I'm like, I'm fine. I'm good. And she's like, Are you sure? Because that was not okay.

At the end of the night, Kim found a moment to talk to Candice about how she felt. But Candice didn't let Kim get a word out. Instead, she turned on the compliments.

Candice I was like, You are so good at the marketing side, and I'm so good at the business side, and we work so well together. We really are just the perfect team.

And then, Candice offered Kim the role of Chief Operating Officer right there on the spot.

I was like, Oh, She does see value in me. This successful businesswoman trusts me enough, and I've proven myself like, That sounds perfect because that's essentially what I've been doing anyways. I've been putting together the ins and the outs of how this thing is running, and that just makes sense.

Kim put her feelings aside and kept working on Found Her.

I did say before we do anything else, I want to make sure we have formalized contracts and a salary agreed upon and all of that. And she was like, Oh, yeah, of course. I'm going to have my lawyer draw that up.

Candice promised to send Kim a formal contract, but the weeks went by and she never did. And Kim wasn't getting paid.

I'm getting to the point I'm a little annoyed now that I'm putting so much work in and not getting anything for it. Hard, fast rule. I'm not going to do any more work until we have a signed contract and until we've agreed on my salary. The day I was convinced I was going to tell her that and lay down the line, I come in and she and Aura have been crying, and I was like, What's going on? And Aura, I can see her to Candice like, You should tell her. And Candice is like, No, I can't tell her. I can't tell her. And then Aura is like, You really should tell her. And I'm like, Tell me what? What's going on? And then Candice announced that she has stomach cancer and that it's potentially terminal. That was a big blow. And of course, I'm concerned as her friend And in my head, I can't bring this up today. Not the time, not the place. So I didn't.

Candice has cancer. We asked some of the people in Candice's life about whether they knew about Candice having cancer. Danny Remington, Candice's nursing school bestie and Exeter's nursing director, told us that when they were in nursing school, Candice had said she was in recovery from ovarian cancer. But now this was a different cancer that Candice had, stomach. Aura was the first to know about Candice's stomach cancer diagnosis.

I was over her calendar, so we shared a work calendar. I basically used it to schedule all of her meetings and basically control the schedule of her life. She went into all the upcoming Tuesdays and entered chemo in the calendar where I would see it, no one but me and her. Then even detailed chemo prep on these Tuesdays appointments.

Tuesdays were Aura's regular catch-up time with Candice about work. The catch-ups were all canceled for Candice's chemotherapy. As for Kim, she once again put her feelings aside and kept working on found her. She didn't question Candice again. Despite Candice's stomach cancer diagnosis and scheduled chemo, there was another a gala for her anti-human trafficking nonprofit, Exeter's on the calendar. Candice secured an impressive venue, a museum for rare and exotic cars called Automotive Addiction, with a James Bond theme, Casino Royale.

I am beyond excited for the Exeter's gala. It is going to be amazing. Casino Royale red carpet. I think Casino Night meets impacting. We have casino tables and super cars, and most importantly, hearing from survivors, mothers who lost their daughters, and those doing the work so desperately needed.

Candice's posts are read by Emi Jory.

Candice came to that party and she came late because she had said that she'd had a surgery.

That's Kate. She also runs a nonprofit in Utah focused on education. Kate was at the gala and was concerned when she saw Candice had bandages on her arms and was visibly in pain. She'd come straight from surgery.

Candice was really sore because they had done something and she had compression sleeves or something on her.

Candice became very, very sick a few days before the gala. When The catering still wasn't finalized. The bar wasn't finalized. None of the stuff had been taken care of. And she's like, I'm in the hospital.

With Candice out of action, everything was down to Aura. Something she was getting We used to.

We had to have enough food for 300 people, enough seats for 300 people, even just plates for 300 people. It was just such a nightmare. I worked day and night for probably a month putting this together, hours before the gala started. I'm getting calls from all these businesses involved because Candice is giving them my number saying, Oh, look for Aura. She knows what to She's in charge.

And once again, Aura pulled it off. Though the gala did have its issues. At least Candice gave Aura a mention in her speech.

I love the people of Exodus. In fact, I want to tell you that 60 plus volunteers volunteer with Exodus, and they have for over three years. We have very, very little paid staff. In fact, we only take a dollar every 10 to pay staff, which is really, really awesome because so many people love to volunteer. In fact, my assistant will tell you so many people do that I can't keep up with them, and they always call her because they haven't called them back. She can tell you there's a whole lot.

Then it was time for people to bid on the auction items.

I was concerned because Candice gave away almost all the seats for free. I was like, Candice, if you give the seats for free, people will not bid on these items. People will just come for a free night out and a nice meal.

It came to the auction, So the MCs, they got up and they excused everybody to go to the restroom if they wanted to go to the restroom, get a bite of eat before we started the auction.

This is Felicia. Felicia was on the Exeter survivor panel alongside the survivor who'd spoken at the first gala. The panel was made up of survivor ambassadors who could speak firsthand about their own lived experience of trafficking. Felicia was a keen photographer and was taking the photos at the gala.

And I turned and I looked at Candice, and Candice just looked so pissed. And I'm like, What is going on? She goes, I can't believe that they would do that. Everybody just left before the auction. And Candice is like, We're not going to be able to sell the things I'd promised we'd sell, and we're not going to be able to raise it. And we have all these things and all these people that have all these needs, and I'm not going to be able to do it. And I sat back and the auction started, and the auctioneer is going and going, and there's not a lot of bidding going on. Candice literally looked like somebody took the legs out from underneath her. So I said, Candice, can I please talk? And she goes, If you think it'll make a difference. And so I went up to the auctioneer and I said, Sir, can I Grab that mic for just a second? Just a second. Absolutely. And it gives me the mic. And I stood up in front of the room, in front of everybody. And I said, I need to tell you guys who I am.

I'm not just your photographer for the evening. I'm also one of the survivors. Every bid that you make today, everything that you're bidding on goes to help people like me, like my family. Exodus did help me. And I said, I know we're asking a lot, but I want to tell you a little bit about my story. I am a child abuse survivor. And Candice perkt up, and then she up. And then she came over and she put her hand on my back. And I said, So even if it's a couple of hundred dollars, everything goes to help us. But I wanted you to actually see one of the survivors. And then I handed the mic back over. And the donations came in like crazy. We ended up selling everything that was on the auction that day. Right after that gala, I got a phone call from Candice, and she said that they had a special event at her house for the survivor panel only. And she wanted us to come to her house for a dinner to dress up and just feel glamorous. She wanted to do something kind for us. So we showed up at her house, and we're sitting there and there's a chacuterie board of everything you can imagine on her counter.

She loved her chacuterie board. Seriously, it was at every event. And as we're sitting there eating, doorbell rings. Candice opens the door and there's a dozen people walking into this dinner. I got very uncomfortable because there's a lot of people filling in her living room. Candice starts speaking. Some of these people were at the gala, and Felicia, they heard your story, and they wanted to help out. They wanted to provide you, women, with Christmas. And we all just stood there like, What? Candice knew I didn't have any personal belongings in my house, and I just gotten done moving into this other place. And she goes, Yeah, they have specific gifts for each one of you. And so I was one of the first ones to sit down, and I'm looking at Candice going, What the freak is happening right now? And this lady comes out, and she's holding this package, and I'm opening it, and it's bedsheets. And I just start crying, and she goes, The beds that these go to, are in the garage. And I'm like, What? Wait, I get my own bed, a brand new bed in a box. It's mine. And she goes, Yes.

And there's beds for your kids.

All the survivors got something. The survivor who spoke at the first gala got a guitar from a famous singer that was touring at the time. Another survivor called Amber got a laptop.

At the end of the night, I said, Guys, we need to say something. They came all this way. I said, I have to come out and I have to say thank you. I said, Because of you, me and my children, I actually have a bed.

The gala closed out the year, and Candice could focus on what was about to be her biggest one yet. Candice was featured in a local Utah magazine as an angel among us. She also started her own podcast called Welcome to My House with Candice Rivera. Her first guest was Tragil Wade, MBA Dwyane Wade's sister. Then she invited Arjan Urkel, an aid worker who was held captive by Islamic militants, onto her podcast. He came and spoke to her in front of a live audience at Kim's Parents House. And once again, she said it was her own house.

So we host this event at my parents house, and everyone's gone. My mom's sitting in their theater room with my son, and Candice comes barging in. She sat down next to my mom, and they're talking about something. And I come in, and my mom is not a touchy person at all. And Candice is right up next to her, leans next to her, and she goes, You're my favorite mom. Did you know that? And I can just see the terror on my mom's poor face. And then she goes, Can I ask your opinion? I'm trying to decide between this boy and this point. Isn't he so hot? If she's scrolling through pictures, it sounds innocent, but to someone like my mom, even calling someone hot is like, What? And so I'm sitting there, second-hand embarrassment. And she could tell how uncomfortable my mom was, but it was like, the more uncomfortable she got, the more she dug in and the more she was like, Oh, come on. Don't you think he's cute? And my mom not knowing what to say. And I was just like, I wanted to slap Candice upside the head. And I'm like, What are you doing?

Did she ever make you feel really uncomfortable like that?

Yeah. We were joking around about stuff, and we were joking around about pictures. And she was shocked that I had never taken certain pictures before. And I was like, Well, of course not. And she's like, Oh, it's so fun and so empowering. Come on, let's go do it right now. So she got up and grabbed my arm and pulls me into her room, joking, we're laughing. I'm laughing, thinking she's doing it for show. She's like, Oh, come on. It'll be so empowering. And it Let's take these pictures. She was like, Go put on my lingerie. And I'm like, Come again? And she's like, Oh, it's an old pair, so it'll probably fit you. And I honestly don't remember the fit. I I do know that I was shocked, though, when it wasn't ginormous on me.

She's a curvy woman. Yes. And you're slim. Just different builds.

Yeah. You don't have the same size as her. No.

Because she's got big boobs.

Exactly. So why does she have that? And I ended up letting her take these pictures. It was incredibly uncomfortable, and I didn't want to. And I had said no, but she has this way of pushing and pushing and pushing. You don't recognize it as going in crossing boundaries. So I don't know how she did it. I don't know. I honestly don't know how I got from point A to point Z in that situation. I was certain she was just joking the entire time until it was actually happening.

This photo shoot with Kim happened six years after the Boudoir shoot at Mops with Lacy, Timber, and the rest of the women. In the course of our reporting, we discovered at least another two people who were coerced into the same situation by Candice on separate occasions.

I am not someone who gives into peer pressure. At all, ever. I pride myself on that. The fact that I was in the situation I was in, I'm still like, How on Earth did that happen? Because I do feel like I said no. I think part of the tactic was it was done under this guise of we were joking around and me thinking we were joking around until suddenly we weren't.

Candice had a knack for getting people to do things they didn't want to do, crossing boundaries in a way that made people question and blame themselves, not Candice. Kim dismissed how she felt and carried on being Candice's bestie. But someone was starting to question Candice. For her other bestie, Danny Romington from nursing school, the red flags were adding up and couldn't be ignored any longer. As nursing director, Danny was responsible for the nurses that worked with Exeter. As she was checking in on one of the adopted orphans that had been rescued from Ukraine, Danny received an anxious phone call from a nurse who had been a part of that operation.

That nurse provided medical support under Candice's direction and under Candice's license. And Candice had sent her with a robust medical kit. The nurse had me that there was an extensive amount of equipment and medication.

The nurse confided in Danny, telling her that the medical kit she'd been given included the antipsychotic drug Haldol, as well as the controlled substance, Ketamine.

The issue was, where did it come from? And how is Candice getting this? The nurse ended up understandably being very concerned about the medication and the equipment. And then that nurse started to ask questions about Candice's credentials. And I was already growing in my suspicion and concern. And this nurse said, Based off of this, this is illegal. I exhausted every possible resource that I could think of to try to determine that Candice was a registered nurse or nurse practitioner, and Candice would not provide me those documents. Every time I asked her, it was never a no. It was always, Oh, yes, sorry, I'll get that to you.

Without being able to verify Candice's nursing license and the potential that the nurse may have been given an illegal medical kit. Danny started to pull away from Candice and Exeter.

I had literally started working on my resignation letter when Candice reached out and asked if I would help that she was partnering with Homeland Security to try and fight human trafficking during the NBA All-Star Week in Salt Lake City. I was shocked. I was shocked.

Danny put away the resignation letter.

It didn't give me pause to stop and question some of the things that were making you want to leave. Maybe I should just keep going and extend understanding or trust.

She jumped on board for the first big Exeter's operation for 2023. Candice was partnering with the Department of Homeland Security security.

I was floored that an organization like Homeland would partner with her.

It was very exciting to be a part of something so big. She was pioneering the way for NGOs CEO and government collaboration. Candice said that they were working with Homeland Security, and so that made me realize, Oh, wow, Candice is legit. This is the real deal.

We'll get to that in the next episode. This has been Unicorn Girl, an Apple original podcast produced by Seven Hills and hosted and executive-produced by me, Charlie Webster. Unicorn Girl is produced by me, Charlie Webster, and Jackson McLennon. Original score and theme music by Ryan Sorenson. Editing and sound design by Nico Pallela. Assistant producer of Fact Check-in by Emy Jory. Candice's social media posts are also read by Emy Jory. Mixed by Little Big Room. Additional production support by FunMeter. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts.