Three Sips to Shots Fired - What Happens Before the Sirens
Most podcasts about tragedy focus on what happened.
This podcast asks a different question:
What happened before?
Hosted by Lori Baxley, Three Sips to Shots Fired: What Happens Before the Sirens explores the moments, decisions, behaviors, warning signs, routines, and human factors that shape our lives long before crisis arrives.
Drawing from Lori’s experience as a former police officer, probation officer, criminologist, educator, and survivor of a violent home invasion, each episode examines the often-overlooked space between ordinary life and extraordinary events.
Through conversations with survivors, experts, investigators, advocates, military leaders, first responders, authors, and everyday people whose lives were forever changed in a single moment, the podcast seeks to answer one central question:
How can we live more intentionally before the sirens?
At the heart of the show is the STARS Framework:
⭐ Scenarios — What can happen here?
⭐ Triggers — What feels slightly off?
⭐ Action — What will you do about it?
⭐ Routines — What habits protect what matters most?
⭐ Stoicism — Can you remain calm when life isn't?
This is not a podcast about fear.
It is a podcast about awareness.
About preparation.
About resilience.
About learning from lived experience.
And about making small decisions today that may change everything tomorrow.
Whether the topic is personal safety, crime prevention, addiction, domestic violence, resilience, parenting, leadership, faith, mental toughness, or recovery, every episode explores what happens before crisis—and what we can learn from it.
Because sometimes the distance between three sips and shots fired is much shorter than we think.
Host Bio
Lori Baxley
Lori Baxley is the host of Three Sips to Shots Fired: What Happens Before the Sirens, a podcast dedicated to exploring the decisions, warning signs, habits, and human behaviors that shape outcomes before crisis occurs.
Lori's professional background spans more than two decades in criminal justice, higher education, and public safety. She holds a degree in Criminology, completed advanced studies in forensic psychology and gang behavior, served as a police officer and probation officer, and spent years teaching and mentoring others in higher education.
Her perspective, however, extends far beyond the classroom and the criminal justice system.
In December 2019, Lori survived a violent home invasion that left her fighting for her life. She endured catastrophic injuries, multiple surgeries, life support, temporary dialysis, and ultimately the loss of her right leg below the knee. Her survival journey transformed not only how she viewed safety and preparedness, but how she viewed life itself.
Today, Lori uses her experience, education, and hard-earned perspective to help others think differently about awareness, resilience, preparedness, and personal responsibility.
She is the creator of the STARS Framework:
Scenarios. Triggers. Action. Routines. Stoicism.
A practical approach to navigating uncertainty, recognizing warning signs, making better decisions, and responding effectively when life becomes difficult.
Through her podcast, speaking, writing, and advocacy, Lori encourages others to move through the world with greater awareness—not fear; preparation—not paranoia; and resilience—not helplessness.
Her mission is simple:
To help people think more intentionally about what happens before the sirens.
Episodes
9 episodes
STARS Foundation Series | Part 7: Closing Reflection — What Happens Before the Sirens?
What happens before the sirens?That simple question became the foundation for everything you've heard throughout this series.The STARS Framework for Vigilant Living was not created to predict the future.It was not create...
STARS Foundation Series | Part 6: Stoicism — Can You Stay Calm When Everything Isn't?
Sometimes the greatest challenge isn't what is happening around us.It's what is happening within us.Fear.Stress.Uncertainty.Frustration.Loss.Adversity has a way of testing not only our pre...
STARS Foundation Series | Part 5: Routines - What Habits Keep You Safe?
What happens before the sirens?Often, the answer has less to do with what we do in a crisis and more to do with what we do every day.The small habits.The repeated behaviors.The routines we build long before we ev...
STARS Foundation Series | Part 4: Action — What Will You Do About It?
Sometimes we recognize the scenario.Sometimes we notice the trigger.We know something isn't right.We know a decision needs to be made.And then we arrive at one of the most important questions in the STARS Framewo...
STARS Foundation Series | Part 3: Triggers — What Feels Slightly Off?
Often, long before a crisis unfolds, there are subtle signals that something isn't quite right.A comment that doesn't sit well.A situation that feels off.A change in behavior.A feeling you can't immediately expla...
STARS Foundation Series | Part 2: Scenarios — What Can Happen Here?
The STARS Framework for Vigilant Living was created to help people think more intentionally about uncertainty, preparedness, decision-making, and resilience before a crisis arrives.In this Foundation Series, we're exploring each pillar ...
A Retired Military Intelligence Officer on Home Defense | Ed McAlister
What does a lifetime spent studying threats, intelligence, and force protection teach us about protecting our homes and families?In this episode of Three Sips to Shots Fired: What Happens Before the Sirens, Lori Baxley sits down w...
From Lived Experience to Vigilant Living | Barbara Jordan
What happens when tragedy becomes a mission?In this powerful episode of Three Sips to Shots Fired: What Happens Before the Sirens, Lori Baxley sits down with Barbara Jordan, founder of Always BEV, personal safety educator, speaker, and advo...
STARS Foundation Series | Part 1: The Origin Story
Three Sips to Shots FiredWhat Happens Before the SirensMost podcasts about tragedy focus on what happened.This podcast asks a different question:What happened before?Hosted by Lori Baxley, Three Sips to Shots Fired: What Hap...
