Celebrity protection may be the most iconic form of physical protection but is it also the most challenging? Today, we’re taking a deep dive into this often-misrepresented area of security. We’re going behind the scenes with two of the most prominent celebrity protection experts to debunk myths and paint a picture of what it’s like to operate at the highest level in this field.

On the show this week, Phelim is joined by Elijah Shaw and guest, Anton Kalaydjian, CEO and founder of Guardian Security. By the end of this episode, you’ll be left in no doubt as to what it takes to be a celebrity protector and what’s required to carve out a successful career in this specialized sector.

Join us as we go behind the scenes of celebrity protection and we discuss:

• Is celebrity protection the most challenging form of protection and why does it get such a rap?
• Comparing celebrity protection to the corporate environment, what are the biggest differences that transitioning agents need to know?
• Is there a problem with agent vetting in the sector and what are reputable agencies doing to combat this?
• Social media has created the ‘Insta-guard’ phenomena. Why is this so prevalent in Celebrity Protection and is it harmful to the industry?

In a single line, Anton paints a picture of working this field that many listeners will relate to…

“Not knowing what tomorrow brings is what I've been doing my whole career.”

More about Anton:

Anton Kalaydjian has over 25 years of security experience providing top-rated security for the world elite, executives, celebrities, and talent across more than 60 countries. Anton built a 5-division operation from the ground up and drove the firm to the largest celebrity protection agency in the Eastern U.S. Guardian Professional Security’s divisions include Executive Protection, Celebrity Protection, Residential Security, Commercial Security and Concert/Event Security. Anton is recognized as one of the top Personal Protection Specialists in the world, he stays active in speaking engagements, close protection conferences and security seminars nationwide.

Anton founded Guardian Professional Security in 2005. Since inception the company has reported consistent increased growth, with each consecutive year surpassing its prior. It is now a multimillion-dollar security agency with over 350 employees with offices in FL, GA, IL, and CA. Guardian is an accredited business and has earned a continuous A+ Rating with the Better Business Bureau every year consecutively since 2010.

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Guardian Professional Security

More about the Circuit:

The Circuit Magazine is written and produced by volunteers, most of who are operationally active, working full time in the security industry. The magazine is a product of their combined passion and desire to give something back to the industry. By subscribing to the magazine you are helping to keep it going into the future. Find out more >

If you liked this podcast, we have an accompanying weekly newsletter called 'On the Circuit' where we take a deeper dive into the wider industry. Opt in here >

The Circuit team is:

• Elijah Shaw
• Jon Moss
• Shaun West
• Phelim Rowe

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British Bodyguard Association

It's not many of us that could be chameleons and change

colors with every different artists.

I got a guy right now on a R and B singer that would never be able to work on

a pop star that another client I have

He wouldn't last a day with that female pop orders because he's too rough.

Cause he's a good protector.

Yeah.

She'll be safe.

But you gotta be somebody that's tolerable in their world.

On the same note.

The guy that I got on her could never work with.

The hip-hop guy but not, not because he's not a tough guy, tough as

nails, but he's just very quiet and he doesn't have the street smarts

that my guy that's on him has.

welcome to

the Circuit Magazine.

The number one source for information on protection matters.

The industry leading magazine for all security professionals who

want to stay ahead of the game.

Celebrity protection.

It's surely the most iconic form of EP.

I'm here with Elijah Shaw.

And today we're going to talk to Anton Kalaydjian CEO and

founder of guardian security.

Uh, two of the most prominent celebrity protection experts.

Elijah, this is truly going to be a great session.

What are we going to do?

Yeah,

I'm excited to have him on a show.

You know, here's a guy who has a ton of experience and, you know, he's, it's,

there's not a lot of fluff with it.

You know, he he's got the bonafides, he's done the job, been there, done

that, and he can talk just real talk.

And so that's one of the things that I've respected about him in the past.

So I think that's a, that's what he's going to deliver to our listeners today.

What do you think our listeners are most gonna be

benefiting from hearing because.

I mean, he's not going to name names.

He's not going to kiss and tell.

He's going to give hard facts about joining the industry, what

you think we can hope to achieve.

Well, I think you get kind of a, um, an, an insider's view

without the sensationalism, you know?

So that kind of real-world, you know, this is how it is.

Yeah.

There's some great things about the industry.

I mean, this amazing things about the industry, but the reality.

You know, you got to work to do it.

And, uh, a lot of people, if you cut corners, you won't get the success

that you want to have in this business.

You think becoming a celebrity protector is so desirable

or is it, is that a misnomer?

Is it actually something that a lot of people could do without?

Is it something that we really should investigate or is it something

that nobody actually wants to do?

Well,

I think that's one of the things that we want to unpack

today on a, on a call, which is.

You know, there's some myths about it.

There's some, uh, illusions about the business, you know, and there's some

temptations that people fall for.

You know, you know, this is a, a job, it's a career that can be very rewarding

and have a ton of benefits, but you have to go into it for the right reasons.

And it's when.

Come into the segment of the industry with the wrong reasons.

One that can give us a bad name and then two can, can really sidetrack someone

who might have an otherwise promising.

This then needs no further introduction.

Let's meet Anton Kalaydjian, founder of guardian security, and let's go headfirst

into the world of celebrity protection.

now.

One of the contributors to the circuit magazine.

Celebrity protection and EP.

Everybody is in the public eye.

We're here with Anton Kalaydjian, CEO and founder of guardian

security and Elijah Shaw and myself.

We're going to be exploring this topic because.

Obviously, even for the people not in EP, we have con preconceptions

about what a body guard is.

It's evidently someone looking after a celebrity, um, what we know of course,

EP is much, much broader than that.

And so on.

It's a pleasure to have you on how

you doing good.

Very good.

Very good.

Well, let's get into it.

We do these thematic.

We're looking at celebrity protection.

Obviously we got, uh, two of the best in the business, uh,

to, to talk about this today.

But Anton, what is.

With the way the industry is at the moment with regards to protecting

celebrities.

How long do we have on this podcast?

I mean, uh, you know, Elijah and me, we both, you know, been doing

this for a very long time and we, I think we both can agree.

It's just changed dramatically with the impact on social media.

Uh, that's been a big thing.

That's been wrong with celeb celebrity protection.

I mean, the way we were taught.

We'll stay out of the frame, stay out of the public guy.

Um, you know, uh, don't make it about you.

Uh, you gotta be, if now, you know, with the social media, Everybody's a celebrity.

Uh, I think that, you know, it's all about their followers and people are

following you that are not friends of yours, if you're able a public platform

and then they follow you just because of who you protect and they want to

see different angles of that principle that you're protecting daily life.

What kind of car is he driving?

Where does he live?

Uh, as a bodyguard, you get access to that a lot more than anybody else

because of the proximity of where you are to the artist at all times.

You're right by them.

So it gives, uh, people think.

An opportunity to kind of look the inside the day of the life.

If you will, all the artists are their favorites, their favorite artists over

there, a favorite actor or whatever.

So I think that with that, well, we have seen a rise of new types of,

uh, Insta guards that are out there, um, that they have, um, that are kind

of doing it for the wrong reasons.

And now I've had it.

Um, and again, tell me if I'm going to go off too far, because I can go on and

on about this, but I'll keep it short.

I had a very popular artist, one of the most popular, if not the most

popular artists at the time and my guard that my guards and were on them.

Uh, one of them had to soldier hit and it just turned into a different person.

I had been with me 10 years, then all of a sudden it all became about

social and kind of saw a change in him.

And I think that that's just the beginning when social first came out,

I think now it's just rising because.

Social media is allowing fans to become.

And, uh, you know, and it's allowing access to clients that no one had before,

before you had to go to the record label to even get an information about the

manager and then the manager to get to the, he said, now it's just straight

up DM-ing and getting to these celebs.

So there are a lot more accessible.

And, um, you know, you got a lot of people that are in it for

the wrong reasons instead of.

Stay in the shadows or trying to really not make a name for yourself

based on your artist's name, let them be who they are, don't ride their

coattails, uh, be your own man or woman.

Um, I think that that's a big issue with the bodyguard role, uh, right

now, uh, social media, I would say if I could just sum it up in

one word.

And I've heard, you know, your personal story before, but for those of, uh, you

know, the community out there that don't know, where does your passion come from?

I've

always, I've always liked protecting people.

Uh, I mean, I, you know, I think a lot of people in our industry had that, you

know, I remember being in elementary school, somebody was getting bullied.

I would step in, I didn't like to see that.

Uh, it's, it's just something that I was born with.

Plus being the youngest of four kids, all three of them are sisters.

Uh, so obviously.

Been always in trouble, you know, trying to protect them, growing up

in a bad neighborhood, immigrant parents, you know, he didn't have much.

So I was always constantly on the lookout for my.

And then that kind of just evolved into just, just doesn't have to be

a friend, just anybody in general.

So as I grew older, uh, I started making a living out of it and, and,

and the passion group, and I realized it's a very noble industry and a very

noble career, and that could really make a good living doing it as well.

So, um, it started as a.

And it just, it grew as I grew and the, you know, the clientele

the principals have grown along with, with, uh, with my career.

So it's just, it's just something that's in me.

I feel like I, you know, I think a lot of people that do this for a living

can say the same thing, you know?

Um, so that's, that's where the passion started.

It started as.

And then obviously lots of people think they know what it might

be like to, to protect someone famous.

Right.

But specifically in the world of celebrity buggy for regarding what do you want

the uninitiated out there to know?

Even the people that think they know, but they don't

actually know.

I think in the, in the security world in general, I don't, I think

celebrity protection gets a black eye.

Um, I think that they have, they get a bad rap.

Uh, I think they should know.

Um, as far as the security world should know how much really goes into

celebrity protection, they'd be amazed.

I've done.

I do both.

We do both here, guardian EPN, CP, um, and other divisions as well.

But when we walk into an EP.

Uh, I don't want to say it's easier because that's that

discredits the EP world.

And I don't, I don't want to do that, but, but it is easier because you know, most

of the time these guys are not noticeable.

Uh, they don't have, uh, they don't have to, they can go to Starbucks and be fine.

Uh, you know, when the EP world, I feel like the CP world should be.

Uh, looked into a little more and see what a day in the life really looks like

for a real CP agent and not, not one of these instant bars that show you what

that, and that's why they have a black guy because, uh, the people that are

pushing out content are the wrong ones.

So then that's why the CP is getting a bad name.

Um, and as far as the civilian world, uh, I just think that.

You know, I think you've got to not care, uh, like, you know, so I don't tell people

what I do film because the minute I say.

Uh, oh, what's he like?

What's she, like now the conversation shifts.

So I lie, I say do construction.

Cause I don't want to even deal because nobody gives a crap about construction.

Anyways, it's the boring, it's a boring topic and right away it stops there,

but it's just very intriguing for them.

They want to know so much about the artists, but when really, like, if you

just took a minute out to listen to me and how interesting my life is in my

world as a, as a CPA and there's, there's many layers to the young room that.

Just don't see, because they oversee that and look straight at

the, uh, at the, uh, principle.

Rightfully so they're the celebrities.

I just listen to you.

You make some excellent points and you know, one of the things that, that I

can see, uh, and I think I listeners can see is that you've got perspective.

So you've seen the industry grow and modify and adjust, you know, some

for the good and some for the bad.

And one of the last things you said was.

With celebrity protection, we ended up getting a black eye, but

it's a blackout we give ourselves.

Uh, and it's because the, the, the craft is, is, is very detail oriented.

The things that we have to do.

And the segment of the marketplace that you spend a lot of time in dealing with

those types of personalities, dealing with those types of schedules and those types

of potential threats, whether they're just a nuisance or something more serious.

I mean, that's, that's a challenge that, you know, nobody wants.

So it takes a very specialized skill.

The problem is, I think is that sometimes protectors have a hard

time communicating that to others.

And so they go about it the wrong way, because, because they.

For marketing wise, you know, for me to get the next opportunity, the

next job, the next business, I've got to put this image out there.

So

what

would you say to that?

Yeah, I think that image is BS right now.

I mean, I think you could put up anything you want, uh, and put

anything you want out there and there's no, there's no spill checks.

There's no fact checkers.

Well, I talked about this with my cousin.

He's a veteran, he's a purple heart recipient.

Uh, and we were having a cigar by the fire at his house in Tampa.

We're just talking about.

Uh, I was talking about, I was talking to exactly what we're talking about,

Elijah, and it's still him about why, why this angers me, why people

are just putting up smoke, smoke, smoke signals, and getting jobs.

And really they're not qualified.

And there should be some kind of fact checking system.

And he was talking about stolen valor.

And he said that there's websites that handle that for them.

And I thought that's brilliant that that needs to happen.

And.

The same needs to happen in our industry would be great if we

had fact checkers out there.

And so when a guy is pushing out content or pushing his name out

really, did you really do that?

Let's let's find out.

And, and then, and then maybe the guys that are a lot more quiet, uh,

like many guys in my company are very quiet, but all that had to debt two

decades of a career under their belt.

Uh, maybe that should be promoted a little more.

They don't do a good job promoting themselves because they're humble.

And that's just not of the disquiet in this.

Um, and, and, and to be honest, it took me, I was like that as well,

but, you know, I don't want to be the guy on a typewriter, but while

everybody else was on the laptop.

So I said, you know what, I'm going to, I'm going to get into this.

And while we're doing this right now, but I would just say that,

um, I don't, I don't feel that, uh, you know, people getting people,

getting jobs based on lies and, and.

I don't think management from artists or chicken, that

backgrounds as well as they should.

I don't think that labels are checking.

You know, I don't think that they're really fact checking and

they're just taking their word.

Um, I had a job interview many years ago with a female artist in New York.

And, uh, she had a bad stalker issue and they wanted, they

wanted to hire a people in a suit.

That's what they told them.

So then, uh, so that the manager reached out to me and, and, and, uh, the road

manager, not the actual manager, you know, um, reached out to me and said, if

I would interview and I interviewed and long story short, the manager came in

and said, oh, I heard you're so-and-so's.

Uh, ed had his security and that's a good friend of mine.

I'm gonna give him a call right now.

And I was like, sucking my teeth.

Like, go ahead, man.

Like you think I'm lying?

I've been there for years.

I've, you know, I've I didn't, you know, whatever, but he went ahead

and called him on speaker phone.

And the guy said to the, the, the male artists that's of the female voters,

honestly, you better hire that guy, you know, that's that's bodyguard of her head.

And then, you know, I kind of looked at the guy like you, you M effort, right?

I don't blame them for doing that.

Now that I've been doing it longer.

And I realized why he did that.

He did that because I'm in, he's interviewing a guy that's going

to be in charge of protecting the female artists life.

So he wants to be damn well.

No, sure.

That I am YSA.

So I respect that, but I don't think that's happening these days.

No, I'd agree with you and the vetting process on the client side.

In our segment of the industry leaves a lot to be desired, you know, with

corporate protection, they've got some layers, they've got an HR department,

you know, they, they've got people that, you know, have some established

business practices that know, okay, we need to, like I said, to fact, check

this, we need to call these references, et cetera, on our, in because so many

people are in the entertainment industry and maybe they're more creative.

Then they are, you know, businessmen and women.

What they'll do is they'll see a visual, like you said, you know, this 15, second

Instagram clip or, you know, five or six Facebook photos of, of someone standing

next to someone famous and they'll go yep.

Works for me.

Uh, and so, yeah, so that does become a challenge for sure.

It's a shame,

man.

I, I heard something that me and my jaw dropped last week, that this guard got

a job from whatever social, and then he hated they needed some assistance

and this guy did it for charity.

And, uh, it was an FBO pickup and this guy brought a film.

So he could get video.

And my mom dropped.

I was like, what?

So like, like I couldn't, like, I couldn't believe, and that's the

state of CP we're in right now.

This guy brings it by with a camera and the cut at the FBO so he can

get some good clips and hopefully parlay that to another job.

It's all BS, man.

It's all smoke and mirrors.

And I do feel.

Uh, people need to do some more background checking on the EAP side.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, just today, uh, you know, I, I, at sometimes I get upset

and I'm like, oh, I need his bio.

He's my guy.

I'm telling you.

He's good.

Right.

But can't be like that.

I understand, uh, the upper brass wants to see who this is and they're going to

do some background checks on the EAP side.

And, and, and, and I've learned to appreciate that and not look at it.

Like, why, why are you questioning me more?

It's like, yeah, let's show you who we got show you our cards where the CP world.

I want to dig in to one other piece there.

Well, you were talking about earlier when you said, you know, because

you're so immersed with these celebrity clients and the challenges that it

presented with them, and then you also work in a corporate environment

and to a degree that's easier.

And I can relate to what you were saying, and I knew what you were

getting at, but can I get you to, you know, for the listeners to kind of

expand on that a little bit about.

Yeah, definitely allows you when I, when I say easier, I don't,

you know, I don't mean, uh, it doesn't sound like what it, what it sounds like.

I'm not saying, oh, it's a piece of cake.

That's why I prefer, I said, when I, when I mentioned it, I want to say, and

the re uh, I think EAP is difficult.

It was difficult for me in the beginning.

And I only got a DEP about four years ago.

Uh, I got a C peek on my inventory.

Um, but I learned that there's so much similar though.

There's so many similarities in EPA and CB.

I think the, I think, you know, I think the big, the two biggest differences

is you're for the most part, you're not dealing with the biggest divas

in the world with, with executives.

So, uh, you know, I think that's one and the other one is how recognizable is

your, is your principal as an executive?

Those are the two major ones, but now you take that out of the.

CP is difficult.

Uh, EPA is difficult to in its own way.

You got to do, uh, you know, the way you dress, the way you speak, your, your soft

skills need to improve, uh, where I was on a CP side, maybe your soft skills.

Weren't so clean.

Uh, you know, you gotta, you gotta cover up your tattoos.

You gotta, you gotta, you know, put lipstick on a pig.

Uh, you gotta do things.

You gotta do things a little more, uh, professionally, I'm not saying

that CP is not professional, but you got to step it up on the AP side.

So that's difficult as well.

Um, I do.

I do think that the hours are different.

I think you could even relate to that.

Why don't you like we're used to being up 36 hours straight with, uh, you

know, not every day, but you know, once in a while, uh, we're on CP, it's

usually 12 hour days and you get relief.

I think that, and that, that creates longevity and that's

what guys our age want to do.

And, and that's why I got into what we got involved at CP or the EAP side of.

Uh, that's the right way to do it.

You know, you don't burn the guys out, you don't burn guys out, we get

burned out on the road, you know, eat the, the, this is the DP thing to me.

Uh, they, they know how to do it, right.

So I think that it's difficult and its own, uh, aspect also.

Um, you know, when you're dealing with ultra high net worth individuals,

you know, they're, it's not stalkers and gains you're dealing with right.

And people that are some really nasty people with a very high skillset

that can really get to your target.

So I think, I think EAP that's, that's a, uh, that's a big risk right there.

That's a lot of work that goes into that as well.

Well,

you know, from that too, I think when you're doing the job correctly in the

celebrity protection area, and you've been doing it for a while, you get this kind

of stress tests, you know, You know, a lot of things and I'm sure you've done it

with yourself and also, probably to your staff where the plan changes and they've

got to make an adjustment and we thought the detail's going to run for three days.

Now it's going to run for three weeks, you know?

So, and so if the agent's personality can deal with.

When they shift over to get an assignment in the corporate sector,

it does feel less stressful because there's less spinning plates.

And so for those that have the right temperament, they can really

shine in that area because again, they've been kind of battle-tested.

Yeah, yeah.

No, I agree with that.

Yeah, I agree.

Yeah.

So I think that's a good way to put it and you, you, you nailed it.

Uh, that I had to deal with.

Uh, there was, uh, there was a situation in Manchester that everybody knows

about that I had to fly out for.

Um, right after, right after the bombing happened, I would pull out

there too, because we wanted to do a, a concert anyway, for the, for the people

that Manchester, uh, like a benefit.

That's a big middle finger to terrorism, right.

So I have to go out there and I was only supposed to go

out there for, for that week.

So I brought a week's worth of clothes and I did the x-ray.

We did the, the performance, or we went to the, we did everything

that we did to work the right way.

Um, and then that night there was a bombing in London, I think, sealing,

you remember that with the one with the bridge bombing, and then there

was another bombing or stabbing or something about the marketplace.

So that, that five days turned into the entire European.

And, you know, and, and, and the amount of stress that that brought about now, you

don't want, you're doing close protection.

You're also doing the advanced security as well.

You're also trying to run the detail.

Uh, luckily you got the support, you know, you got venued guys got, but I

think that that's a perfect example of like, that's the typical I'm going

to say that happens every day, but not knowing what tomorrow brings is what

we've been doing, what I've been doing my whole career with the EP thing.

It's great.

Uh, you have a detailed list on a roster of bullet sheets.

You're going to pick up the vehicle here.

You're going to go there.

This is, you know, this is when you, they're going to go to church

or they're going to go to school.

You got it all lined up.

I want to see people.

World is just like, you're a Renegade.

And you know, you just got to roll with the punches.

I,

I like this, but I'm thinking if, if I'm a post protection and executive

protection, uh, colleague out there from.

Th the listenership on thinking, how on earth could I start?

How, how on earth could that be me?

Is it right place, right time, right.

Face right.

Occasion.

You know, cause, uh, at least, uh, several times at the PSB people said, oh, this

one got, uh, got fired because they wore jeans instead of chinos or this one

didn't have the right look about them.

So, so, so, so how did you get into it?

Is, is there a concerted effort you can make.

Are you just going to be plucked from the ranks of our community?

You know, I can only speak for myself.

Uh, I, it was a little bit of the right place at the right time for me.

You know, growing up, down here in south Florida, you know, south beach to Palm

beach, it's all club, life is a big thing.

So I was a bouncer in my young years, you know, 18, 19, 20 years old bouncing.

And, um, I, and I would, they would take me from club to club and I

would kind of clean up the club.

You know, if the club was bad at a bad rep, I'd go there and I'd fix it.

And then I'd go from club to club to the club and, uh,

the next club would pay more.

The next, it will be more.

Um, I had an artist come in, come into town and one of the clubs

that was a concert venue, and this artist was a very high risk guy.

And, and, you know, he's, he's been through a bunch of, you

know, it was very tough crowd.

You had a gang unit there, you had a helicopters yet

you had to close streets off.

And, uh, that's the kind of element this artist brought.

And this was not talking about 2003, 2002.

But yeah, I, I, I did, I did the job.

I executed, well, our team executed perfectly your night club.

I mean, we were taking razorblades out of, uh, baseball caps, brims

off girls had the, the comb with the pointer in her, in their hair.

And we were just taking everything out of everybody, all the weapons we

took out with and no anybody that's throuple gang sign, we grabbed them.

We didn't give him a warning.

We just threw them out and we just kept the club very clean.

And then the, and then the artist's manager is roadmap.

Um, my job at the end as a head of security was to go into the office and

they swear up whatever they owe the money.

Uh, usually they get 50% upfront and then the other 50 after they perform.

So I'm there to make sure the money transaction goes well, as I always do.

And it always does go well, it's never a beef, but it's

just, I'm an insurance policy.

Yeah.

And then the guy is like, uh, the road manager was like,

Hey, I gotta let you know.

This is the first venue we've been to in a long time where we've had zero problems.

There's usually fights break out this, that like you go, I got to tell

you, you got a good security team.

And my boss who was running the company, the concert, uh, Pointed at me.

And he goes, oh, that's because of this guy.

So they're not.

So my story started so that the road manager is like, Hey, we're shooting

a music video down here in Miami.

Could you help us out?

And I was like, if it's cool with my boss, I'll go.

So he's like, yeah, that's cool.

So then I ended up going and that parlayed into we're going on tour.

And then we did a tour and then that's how I started.

So it was the right place at the right time, but it's not

just that it's everything, all my spirits that led up to that.

So where there's a reason why that club went without a hitch.

We work our ass as well.

You know, we, we, we, we definitely mitigated a lot of potential, huge

disasters, and it comes from many years of working hard and that's

why every job I have, I, I, I try to be the best at it because you

never know who's looking and anybody is trying to get into the industry.

I would give that advice, you know, whether you're protecting some rich guy

that wants to take his, uh, girlfriend's at south beach for what it doesn't matter.

Uh, treat everybody like they're.

Treat them all, uh, you know, with a knit glove and work your ass off.

And I think that's, what's going to get you noticed sooner than later.

I mean, that's my story, but then again, that's 20 years

ago, uh, I think today would be.

And know I was going to say, I don't mean to cut you off now, though,

as your role as a business owner, you know, just to kind of drill down a little

bit, you're making decisions off of who you're going to bring in your company,

who you're going to recommend on the detail or, or just refer it to somebody.

Um, are you basing this off a skill or if it's something that you

see in their character, and then you're saying I can teach them.

It's character to me, it's character to me.

I mean, you know, we've got almost 400 people here and, and, uh,

on the DPCP side, there's only about 40 of us and, and, uh, we

keep that table 37 to be exact.

We keep that table.

Very close to our chest.

You know, the seat at that table is a big deal.

So, you know, oftentimes I'll get asked, uh, by random people.

They won't work and I'm like, nah, you know, you got to start with our

event division work as an event, security guard work your way up.

And it takes about a year and a half, two years for you to get really, to

the point to where we trust you here to go out and represent us and do well.

And with our clients, But, uh, I can train them if they've got

what it takes, I can train them.

Um, and I've done it many times over, uh, and it's worked maybe 95% of the time.

Sometimes it doesn't work and we just gotta part ways,

but the training will come.

The resumes are great.

I liked search.

I liked seeing, uh, you know, what kind of backgrounds they

have, whether it's military or Leo or martial arts or whatever.

That's all fantastic.

But to me, it's characteristic.

And the reason why is because.

Uh, you got a lot of guys that are in it for the wrong reasons and the, in

the, in the way that we've been able to keep our, our family type companies, 16

years old this month, we turned 16 guys have been here for 16 years, brother.

Thank you.

Long, long road, but these guys have been there from the day one,

and the reason they stick with you.

So they got a lot of pride and a reason, the way we've been able to recruit.

Uh, rookies, we call them is, you know, a guy who knows a guy.

So if I've got a guy, for example, Roman Roman's, uh, works with us on a detail.

He's also a police officer.

He lives up north by two hours, north in the Orlando area because

I got a guy that I, that I trust.

His name is RJ.

Can you give them a shot?

If you vouch on Roman that he must be.

Right.

Cause they're not going to vouch for somebody that's going to end up

making a company with bad because they're so proud of what they do.

So that's been how I've been able to do it.

Uh, just recruiting from within and not really not answering, uh,

ads or, or people asking for jobs.

It's been more of a character test for me.

And if they, if I feel like they don't have the right character, correct.

I defer to my guys, what do you guys think about.

Oh, yeah.

They'll tell me.

I like the kid, you know, he does got everything in common, but he does do this

and we'll work on whatever he does wrong.

And as a team, as a team, it takes a village to raise a child.

Right.

So that's a reality that we

have, but Anton, can I raise a tricky topic?

And I feel that me as a generalist, I am perhaps okay.

To ask this question, right.

Because I am, I'm asking you as a generalist.

Okay.

You can work very hard.

But in the world of celebrity protection, as opposed to corporate, is there a

certain genre of music, for example, that someone should aspire to join?

Like is there a typical country singer bodyguard?

Is there a typical, uh, film style buddy?

Got it.

Are there, are there some generals that just will not gel?

Anecdotally on the, on the grapevine, we have heard of people that have tried

to get work in one area and not really been so successful, but they, they, they

were really successful in another area.

And I know this is a bit of a tough topic, but, but I thought as, as the, uh, circuit

generalist, I could ask that question.

Yeah, definitely.

I mean, It's, it's not many of us that could be chameleons and change

colors with every different artists.

Like they, you know, uh, I can work any genre and I've proven that in my

career, but I got a guy right now and I on a RNB singer, uh, that would never be

able to work on a pop star that another client I have without dropping names.

If I said the names you guys would understand, but it's, you guys

could kind of put it the busiest.

He's awesome for protecting that hip hop R and B guy.

He's awesome.

He wouldn't last a day with that female pop artist, because he's too

rough, these rough around the edges.

He's not, you know, he doesn't, you know, there's a lot of

attributes that he doesn't bring.

Cause he's a good protector.

Yeah.

She'll be safe.

She'll be safe.

But as C as close protection, you gotta be close to them at all times.

So you gotta be somebody that's tolerable in their world.

And he just would've worked on the same note.

The guy that I got on her could never work with.

Uh, hip hop guy, you get eaten alive.

So not, not, not because he's not a tough guy, tough as nails, but

he's just very quiet and he doesn't have the street smarts that my guy

that's on him has the, you know, he's, he's very well white collar

compared to my guy that's on this guy.

Who's who's from the streets and he's got a more tougher mentality.

So you, there is, there is a certain type of guard for

serpentine, certain types of calls.

But anybody looking to get into it?

I mean, I would just say the hip hop is the worst.

Uh, I think the rap, the hip hop is the worst.

It's the most high risk you've got to chase your checks to get money.

You got to deal with all the BS.

Um, I'd cut my gin in that my first, uh, uh, 10, 15 years of doing this,

so I could speak from experience.

Um, that's the most high-risk.

Uh, but if you're looking to get into the CP industry and you're truly not

a fan, you're just, you're just a guy that has a passion and wants to

protect CP or AP, or it doesn't matter.

I would say, uh, you know, go with what you can tolerate and

that, and where they can tolerate.

You know, if you can't tolerate dealing with games and BS, then don't go for a

rapper or don't go for hip hop security.

If you, if you can't tolerate, uh, you know, 12 year old kids screaming,

you know, uh, in, in your ears magnified by 50,000 in the stadium

that don't go for the pop artist.

You know, you've got to, if you can deal with the diva mentality, don't

go with a majority of these artists.

But I think that it, it, you got to go with where you're comfortable, if

you're comfortable with country music, and that's something that you feel like,

you know, that genre then go for that.

But I think we don't have the luxury of picking and choosing in the

beginning of our careers, we don't have the luxury of saying, I'm going

to stick with pop pops easy, and this, you don't have that luxury.

I think I'm at our age now putting behind, you know, two decades of.

And building the resumes we have, we can pick or choose our clients now.

And it's a blessing.

I've fired clients all the time, artists all the time.

We don't want that guy.

We don't want that guy or this girl.

And we just, we say no to it, but in the beginning, I think if somebody's looking

to get into it thinks that they can pick and choose what genre in the beginning.

I think they're shortcoming themselves because, uh, just

get in, just get in first.

And then once you're written there, uh, you know, you can start

working your way from there and then start going to different

genres or different levels of us.

Yeah, I think you nailed that.

Um, you know, one of the things that I think people should do

is identify where they want.

More than just saying, Hey, I want to be successful.

Or I want to make a lot of money, you know, say, you know, in five years I want

to be doing this and then take a realistic assessment and say, can I do this?

You know, I'm sure it's so many people look at you and they go,

oh, I want to do what he's doing.

And they don't think about the two decades you've spent getting to that point.

And you know, and so one of the challenges is, is that when,

when they see someone who.

Who's at the top of the game, you know, operating well, you know, working full

time, they try and skip steps and a lot of times, and I'm sure you, you

know, you know, this is that when you skip steps, you start making choices

that you wouldn't normally make.

And some of those are less than honorable choices.

And.

And then you end up putting yourself in a position where people

can't trust you or you get a bad reputation and then you're forced to

take whatever job comes their way.

So it's kind of this self-defeating cycle.

You put yourself in by trying to

jump ahead.

Yeah, yeah, no, that's a good point.

No, no shortcuts in life.

Right.

And I agree with that.

Totally.

You are having a shortcut, which might end up in not only ruining your

reputation, but somebody getting killed, you know, don't say you're that guy, man.

If you're not that guy, like.

You know, I've seen it happen.

I've seen people get hurt on the job and people pass away on the job.

I've seen it too many times.

You know, I said at the last IP SB, they were asking either my friends,

eight colleagues, norm, you know, um, and it's a real serious business,

celebrity protection, you know, eight colleagues gone in 20 years.

That's a lot, man.

You know, that's a lot.

Um, but I think like if you do skip.

You're not only risking ruining your reputation, you're risking losing your

life or even worse your client's life.

Uh, so I think there's no shortcuts in, in, in this industry.

Of course you can get a job.

Well, that guy gets worked.

That's what that guy hasn't done.

What is he charged?

And he's probably doing it for a few months.

These guys would do for free sometimes.

Like, there's a, there's a lot behind that, but at our level, uh, I don't

think that, uh, I feel like if I have any advice to give anybody getting in, is this

is exactly what you just said as well.

Don't skip steps.

Don't take shortcuts.

It's it's going to potentially ruin your career or get somebody to.

You're talking about what came up with the IPS B especially last time,

I think, um, S uh, fixated individuals, um, it became a bit of a, a password

and perhaps a skill set for everybody.

And we had Philip Grendel, uh, on the podcast a few, a few months ago.

What do you think.

We need to improve on in, in, in this, uh, behavioral analytics or

behavioral skills, uh, because, uh, I think at the NPSP, at least 2016, we

had an example where someone said the worst thing in the world, when they

say I'm going to marry your client, the worst thing is to push them away.

The best thing, according to them was to say, oh, okay, When where, and, and,

and you start to gather information that perhaps you alluded to, if you do

work the concept, if you do work, uh, you know, all of the coordinates you'll

get that skill of picking up Intel.

Analytics.

So the, the, the, the ability to pick up on, uh, people's behavior, you

know, verbal judo, uh, as, as the police would, would, would have it.

Um, where can you get it?

How can you improve it?

Well, I'll tell you what man, for me, um, believe it or not,

I was a stockbroker before any of this.

So when I was 20 years old, I did the bouncing on the, at the,

at nights and on the weekends.

And I was a broker during the day, and I learned a lot about

being able to talk millionaires out of their money to invest with.

And I'm a poor kid that grew up in trailer park.

Like I'm talking to millionaires, like I'm a boss.

And so I w my skillset was something that I had to work on as a junior

broker until I became a, a broker until became a financial advisor.

And, uh, so that, that's something that I, uh, my sales experience, if you will

helps me sell my way out of stuff, I talked my way out of stuff all the time.

I know I could destroy this guy talking to me, but what good is that going to do?

Like, I'll just, Hey, you know, my verbal judo skills have evolved.

Being a broker and just being the bouncer in nightclubs, trying to break up fights

and talk to people and try to convince them not to make me throw them out.

You know?

Uh, I think like, uh, things like that when you're in the

fire and it's about to get back.

You you, that your tongue becomes a sore and, and, and as

the years go on, you train it.

Okay.

That it didn't work.

When I talked to that guy that way, what could I have done differently?

And then you evaluate it.

So it's an ongoing, uh, trial and error, uh, skill set

that you're going to develop.

And it's not going to happen overnight either because there's so many

different types of personalities in the world and types of scenarios.

And in places like.

So, you know, one word, what works for one person might not work for the other, but

when you deal with so many people for so long, you're able to develop that skill

set of how to do that verbal judo and talk your way out of situations and sell

them on not getting involved in physically with you, because that's ultimately

the, the, you know, that's, that's the.

If you asked Tom in his twenties, let's say, who cares?

Anton is like guys with a, with a large insurance policy,

like a pay for every year.

Um, it's um, constantly talking to my guys and teaching them that prevention,

beach secure, and we got to make sure that we prevent it rather than trying to get.

Uh, and I think when you deal with more and more personalities, more and more

genres of music or, or movie sets or actors, or, or cities or countries,

wherever, the more you do, you, you know how to speak to different people.

Uh, I think it's an ongoing and I still am still learning.

I mean, I don't think you've ever stopped.

I think that developing yourself skills and trying to do the verbal judo that

it takes to be a real protector and talk your fucker ways out of that.

Is is an ongoing something that I do every day.

And I feel like I'm going to do it for this for my life.

And I'm just going to get better and better at it because I have been from

the young, uh, you know, rough around the edges guy, took who I am now.

It's, it's, it's all, you know, you go to 70 different countries, man,

and you know, for two decades, like you, you learn a lot about people.

So I feel like I could talk my way out of things a lot more.

I want to say talk my way out of it.

I mean, calm down the situation before.

Sure.

And that was amazing, bro.

Uh, I'm in agreement.

I think that, well, I know that I have, and I think I listened as to,

well, you know, kind of get a sense that celebrity protection is more than

just standing next to somebody famous.

Um, you know, the majority of the things that you talked about were

cerebral things, you know, thinking about the situation, talking your

way out of a situation, analyzing the situation, getting advanced on.

And, you know, you, uh, one of the other great takeaways is that you mentioned,

which is the character of a person getting somebody to ref that trust that person to

bring them into your orbit for you then to say, okay, I'll take a chance on them.

And so for those that are interested in getting in the industry, you know, yeah.

Resumes a great, you know, those shiny business cards are great, but really what

you need to do is establish relationships and build trust with people back in.

Then, you know, third party validation goes along.

So thank you brother, man.

I really appreciate you coming on.

Anton.

Thanks.

Thanks very much for giving us your time.

The circuit magazine podcast is richer because of this

session, uh, from Elijah myself.

We look forward to seeing you again shortly.

Thanks very

much.

I appreciate you guys.

Thank you, bro.

I feel

there's so many stories that I really want to find out from Anton.

He went as far as he could.

He went as far as he could.

And I think he gave a fair and honest, uh, you know, outlook on how to get into

the sector, but hard work trumps it all.

What did you get out of today's session?

Oh, yeah.

I, you know, I thought going in that he was going to kind of deliver a no

nonsense take on the industry and, and he definitely did just that.

And I agree with you.

I feel like he's a guy that, you know, could talk for, you know, for hours, but,

you know, and talk about the real deal.

Like, you know, here's the reality of the business.

Uh, and here's why if you want to be successful, here's

the path you should go on.

And while there are people that are working.

In this segment of the industry that might on the outside

look like they're successful.

There's no longevity in some of those paths.

Absolutely.

And, you know, Anton's own story.

Very, very interesting.

And you know what I happen to know on YouTube separately, he has recorded a

few segments about his entire career.

So, um, that's, that's obviously something that people can look up, obviously

with a surrogate magazine podcast.

We like to be thematic.

Um, uh, but, but, uh, but that's somewhere to go for a little more information.

What else do we have coming up?

Uh, Elijah, I say this, but I can answer the immediate thing.

On Friday.

We have our workplace violence forum for the Circuit magazine.

That's Friday, the 19th of November in the UK evening, the PST afternoon

and the Australian morning,

you got a lot going on.

So I re I really think you should tell people what the

workplace violence conferences.

Oh, absolutely.

That's a good point.

So, uh, we are welcoming friends, including Joe Saunders, uh, the, uh,

host of managing violence podcast to look at the world of corporate

security and the way in which managing violence in the workplace will create.

Ever further into the world of BP.

Now I'm not saying that EAP has to go and become an HR discipline.

I'm saying that since AP and security have to solve issues, why not get promoted?

I'm saying with this, you know, this event, why can we not link with

our corporate security colleagues?

Uh, you know, more to get better threat Intel, to get more oversight, because if

you're taking your principal into another principal's office, they're at risk

who is responsible, who is responsible.

We had the whole, um, famous, uh, you know, tech company

incident a few years ago.

Why is this important?

Now it's important now because after the years that we've just had, there

are tempers, there are frustrations and there's an anticipation.

And already we're seeing it, that this will lead to violence.

Coupled with this, we're looking at other forms of violence and

its impact on the workforce.

So it's, it's, it's a really interesting, uh, field and of course,

You know, we just heard today.

We want to deescalate things as much as possible.

So as much as we want to manage this violence, we don't want the

violence to happen in the first place.

And we definitely don't want the embarrassment of having.

For sure.

So that's a long-winded way of me explaining what we're going to do.

Got it.

Well, I think it sounds like an interesting conference.

You always put some great stuff together.

A lot of, uh, uh, people that are, uh, experts in their respective

fields come out and give input.

So, uh, and it's got a ton of replay value.

So I think that's one of the benefits, uh, of, uh, when you put something.

Absolutely.

And it's good to bring people from different geographies together, and

this will be good for the U S good for European, UK and Australia, because of the

very interesting times when we've done it.

And what about you?

What have you got.

Uh, well, let's see, you're pretty much knocking NOV out.

I can talk to you about December.

So December.

Um, there's a few things going on in Vegas.

You'll speak to one of them and, uh, but there's also the executive protection

forum, which is going to happen as just a little bit of a, a prelude to the, the

big, um, uh, convention that's happening.

Uh, the conference has happened and, um, that same week, so

on, um, on December eight.

Byron is hosting the buyer Rogers, uh, for the to show is hosting,

uh, the executive protection forum.

The group of speakers together.

Um, Christian, Wes, um, Aaron.

Myself.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

Uh, and, and so we're going to all get together, end up under one roof,

uh, get a chance to rub elbows and then, uh, go from there to the,

uh, The the big, uh, big conference that's also happened in that weekend.

And

how will that differ if people are looking at the schedule

and thinking, I know I'll fly in a bit earlier, maybe I'll do the shooting

range or maybe I'll come to the form.

W how's how's the forum, uh, different.

Oh, I th I think the thing is just kind of a value added piece.

You know, people are going to be in town of coming to town.

Uh, already.

So they just wanted to put something together for people who just want

to maximize their time in Vegas.

Maybe not spend it all at the slot machines or something.

So, um, you know, it.

It's a welcome thing for me.

I haven't been able to attend for the last few years because

I'm always doubled triple booked.

Uh, and so this time I'm, I'm really making a commitment to come.

And so that's why I said, yup.

Uh, I'll be there.

And this is going to ensure that I'm going to be there because I'm going

to end up on a couple of speakers.

Well, that's, that's, that's absolutely going to be a really,

quite an interesting session.

Um, and you know what, there are a lot of our UK listeners going over.

I happen to know, um, obviously the most high profile who hopefully

would once in a while listening, uh, Jackie Davis, I would, I would

hope she's a friend of the podcast.

She is speaking at staff forum.

Uh that's you're also speaking out.

So, so there's definitely a lot.

And,

uh, prior to that though, you know, we've got a lot of things cooking.

Um, there's a circuit magazine.

Of course the podcast that everyone's listening to right now.

But in addition to that, we've got two really cool apps.

And one of them is the BBA connect, uh, which has a focus on you find gentlemen

and gentle women across the pond.

And then, uh, in the U S side here, we've got, uh, the NAB, a

protective, so now have a protector.

And so both of those apps are cooking.

Uh, Uh, there's a lot of conversation, great engagement

that are coming, going in there.

And then also, uh, we at the circuit are having these meetings

about some of the upgrades that are happening within both apps.

So we'll have some exciting things that are going to roll out and there'll

be rolling out November, December.

So that way we can kick off, uh, uh, 2022 with.

It's it's a, it's quite amazing to say that word in there

2020, it looks, it looks weird, right?

It, um, but it's coming around faster than, uh, we, uh, we can anticipate

and we're going to be ready.

So, um, celebrity protection and, uh, our very different Anton Canadian, it

was a pleasure talking about it today.

And of course, From Elijah and myself, this has been another fantastic edition

of these circuit magazine podcasts.

you have been listening to the circuit magazine podcast,

be sure to subscribe and be sure to not miss an episode.