Theresa Carpenter is an active-duty Navy Commander and professional communicator with 10 years of enlisted time and where she has served for nearly 30 years. She has deployed in numerous combat zones, served on four joint staffs, and worked extensively with NATO. Her passions include helping people succeed, leadership, protecting animals, moving past traumatic experiences, speaking up for positive change, and the professional development of the craft of public relations. As a reflective writer, she discusses the human experience for her blog, Theresa’s Tapestries. She has published in several media outlets and trade press, notably the War Horse and the Public Relations Society of America. Tapping into her love of storytelling through the visual medium, she shares her life journey and the stories of others in a raw, vulnerable, and always honest format. Her podcast S.O.S (Stories of Service), which she started in April 2020 and now has more than 170 episodes, features ordinary people from all walks of life who show up in service to their respective communities and are beacons of change. She is a co-author of two books, Complicated Alliances, an anthology that tells the stories and struggles of women who serve in the military and those married to one who serves, and The Undercover Leader: Why Rule-Breakers Make Exceptional Game-Changers. Her last operational assignment was in the United Kingdom as the Chief Public Affairs Officer for NATO's Allied Maritime Command. She is set to retire in September 2025 at her last military assignment for the Atlantic-based Navy Seabees as a public affairs officer for Naval Construction Group 2.