{"podcast":{"title":"The Scenic Route with Victoria Steward","slug":"the-scenic-route-with-victoria-steward-7782802","podcast_index_feed_id":7782802,"rss_url":"https://api.riverside.fm/hosting/S6ZcgSiO.rss","website_url":"www.victoria-steward.com","image_url":"https://hosting-media.riverside.com/media/podcasts/951714c0-7b4d-4675-bd36-b3bd278f8546/logos/46260bbc-d587-4fc0-b414-b393efa55bf4.png","author":"Victoria Steward","episode_count":19,"summary":"What if the detour was never a wrong turn? We get handed one map early on: the superhighway. Pick the career, hit the milestones, stay in the fast lane somebody else drew for us. And one day a lot of us look up and realize it's been heading somewhere we never actually chose. This is a show about the people who got off it. I'm Victoria Steward. I spent 20 years as a federal civilian engineer/project manager before I left on a gut feeling and started taking my own scenic route. Every week I sit down with interesting people who made a change, sometimes sudden, sometimes so gradual they almost missed it, that sent their life somewhere they never saw coming. The kind of stories that inspire you to start dreaming into your own. If you've started to wonder whether there's a different road available to you, you're in exactly the right place. ✨ New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:55.428806+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-scenic-route-with-victoria-steward-7782802"},"episode":{"title":"Air Force to FBI to a Dating Podcast: John Petrozelli on Prepping Before You Leap","slug":"air-force-to-fbi-to-a-dating-podcast-john-petrozelli-on-prepping-before-you-leap","published_at":"2026-07-01T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-scenic-route-with-victoria-steward-7782802/air-force-to-fbi-to-a-dating-podcast-john-petrozelli-on-prepping-before-you-leap","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-scenic-route-with-victoria-steward-7782802","url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/6eb7679e8dcb25bcc082271d29861c51601ea668d2309a25d0dc686f739eb1cc/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI4M2FkZjk5MS1kNzMzLTRmNTYtYWUzMC05YTBiMWZmOGFiY2EiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiI5NTE3MTRjMC03YjRkLTQ2NzUtYmQzNi1iM2JkMjc4Zjg1NDYiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTlmNjIyYzM1MDAxYzBlOWJlNGFlNGIiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmEyZjA5NTUwOWU3OTNlMmU2NjVjYjJhL3ZpY3Rvcmlhcy1zdHVkaW8tUGhZZDAtY29tcG9zZXItMjAyNi02LTE0X18yMi00LTM3Lm1wMyJ9.mp3","audio_url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/6eb7679e8dcb25bcc082271d29861c51601ea668d2309a25d0dc686f739eb1cc/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI4M2FkZjk5MS1kNzMzLTRmNTYtYWUzMC05YTBiMWZmOGFiY2EiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiI5NTE3MTRjMC03YjRkLTQ2NzUtYmQzNi1iM2JkMjc4Zjg1NDYiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTlmNjIyYzM1MDAxYzBlOWJlNGFlNGIiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmEyZjA5NTUwOWU3OTNlMmU2NjVjYjJhL3ZpY3Rvcmlhcy1zdHVkaW8tUGhZZDAtY29tcG9zZXItMjAyNi02LTE0X18yMi00LTM3Lm1wMyJ9.mp3","summary":"John Petrozelli has built his whole life around one rule: before you make a big move, prep the ground, study the risks, then leap. He learned it as an Air Force intelligence officer, sharpened it across seventeen years and five different roles in the FBI, and carried it into a career in cybersecurity. So what happens when a man who plans everything tells you about the one time he leapt without a plan? That is the heart of this conversation. John walked away from the military fast, on anger and instinct, and spent the next year and a half treading water before he found his footing again. If you have ever wondered what it actually costs to jump before you are ready, his answer is worth sitting with. But this is not a heavy episode. It is also the story of how John got curious instead of bitter: how he used those same intelligence skills to rebuild his life after divorce, why he finally stopped forcing the search and met the right person when he was not looking, and how all of it turned into Done With Dating, his free, podcast-driven dating platform where listeners can actually apply to date the guests. CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome to The Scenic Route 01:28 Dreaming of Becoming an Air Force Pilot 02:31 Switching From Engineering to Intelligence Work 04:27 What “Intelligence Preparation of the Battle Space” Means 07:08 Becoming an Air Force Intelligence Officer in 1998 08:07 What South Korea Taught Him About the Gray Area of Life 09:06 Combat Mission Planning for Special Operations 10:59 From the FBI to Director of Cybersecurity: Five Career Pivots 13:08 How Cyber Warfare Actually Works Today 17:25 Rebuilding His Dating Life After Divorce, and Hitting Burnout 21:23 Meeting the Right Person by Not Looking for Her 23:24 Building the Done With Dating Podcast: Three Pillars 26:50 Ho…","meta_description":"John Petrozelli has built his whole life around one rule: before you make a big move, prep the ground, study the risks, then leap. He learned it as an Air…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2695,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-scenic-route-with-victoria-steward-7782802/episodes/air-force-to-fbi-to-a-dating-podcast-john-petrozelli-on-prepping-before-you-leap/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-scenic-route-with-victoria-steward-7782802/air-force-to-fbi-to-a-dating-podcast-john-petrozelli-on-prepping-before-you-leap.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}