From promotional materials for YBeU, a beauty and life-coaching business run by Alfreda Scheuer, a former CIA officer who oversaw the interrogation of suspected terrorists during the George W. Bush Administration. A 2014 Senate investigation determined that she supervised the use of waterboarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation, and “dog boxes,” small crates in which detainees were locked.

Do you get frustrated when you can’t control a situation?

Do you believe in aha moments?

It was daunting to leave a big organization and realize that I had nobody to boss around.

It’s important to get out of your comfort zone.

For Christmas Day, I made my first ever prime rib! It sounded so fancy, and if I ruined it, the collateral damage would be contained and never spoken of again.

Do something every day that brings you joy! For me that’s turning up the radio and singing out loud, even though I am told that my Cher medley probably violates the Geneva Conventions! I could care less.

Are you making decisions based on fear?

Our brains are hardwired to notice threats and danger signs, which helps us survive.

Concentrate on something as simple as breathing.

Engage your five senses.

I have never met anyone who complained about getting too much sleep.

I purge with reckless abandon. It gives me a sense of order and control.

I do not like getting dirt on my hands.

I don’t want to relive my past.

We can never please everyone.