Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nic Brown. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Nic, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
Thank you, well to start, Golden Arrow Protection was created to help those looking for a higher level of professionalism. We specialize in venue security and personal protection services. We work with partners like Live Nation to keep their venues, patrons and artists safe. We make it a point to be security minded at all times, but we don’t loose track of our customer service duties. Finding a balance of those skills in the field is what we feel is our strong suit.
We also hold our team to a higher standard and we constantly look at ways to improve ourselves. We do not hire through third party companies to meet requested demands. All of our staff are state licensed and undergo real hands on training so their work will be exceptional. To help ensure that we are providing our clients with outstanding service, our supervisors go through advanced medical training and continued security education for higher licensing that allow them to be better informed, better trained leaders. The quality that comes from this not only adds value to the team, but the client as well. Our focus is to deflect the problem and de-escalating any situation before it becomes worse. Part of that is done through education and the other part is through our leadership. We are happy to address problems and concerns from our clients and find ways to help alleviate their issues through practical means.
Physical security I feel is just coming out of its infancy in terms of its future. While the tech side of things has grown leaps and bounds, physical security still has a lot of growing up to do. We feel that in order to see change, we must inact that change ourselves first to set the example.
Nic, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Long before starting Golden Arrow Protection, I worked in the film and music industry for nearly 20 years. I started off as a journalist in Denver, Colorado before I moved to Austin, Texas. By pure dumb luck I got a bit part as a rookie police officer in a low budget horror movie and quickly fell in love with movie making. I was working on sets like Olympus Has Fallen, Sin City 2, the reboot of Dallas, The Lying Game and so on.
In-between working on sets, I was still keeping up my writting. I worked on writting scripts and still did the occasional interview for some online publications. In 2012, while attending a panal discussion, I overheard the moderator, Corey Mitchell mention that he and Pantera’s own, Phil Anselmo were looking to start a little music and film festival. Following the panel I tracked down Mr. Mitchel and offered my services. We had no idea at the time, but we ended up creating the world’s only all heavy metal and horror film festival. Sporting countless headlining acts and world premiere films that I could have only dreamed about seeing as a kid.
2015 was my last year running the festival. I lost my best friend and mentor, Corey in 2014 and found it very difficult to continue my particular work in the industry. I felt like I had lost my passion and direction all together, but I had a wonderful support system that didn’t give up on me. My friends and family helped to turn my personal interest in survival skills and education into a new career direction with security.
Now, I was a honest to God, Boy Scout in my youth. I had a strong background in survival skills, exploration and community outreach. Had years of management experience and the idea of security actually perked me right up. I decided that I was going to go all the way in this new field. While it does live heavily in the same world as my prior career, it also stands alone on its own.
Starting a new career for most people is daunting and my experience was no exception. I had no idea how expensive the educational and gear costs were, but I saw it as an investment in my future. It took nearly every penny I had but, I went to school for executive protection, attended lots of classes, seminars and read everything there was to get me prepared for the work.
By 2020, after working in many facets of the industry, I launched my own company, Golden Arrow Protection. It gave me the ability to take the experience I have in security and the entertainment industry and give my clients a more tailored solution to their needs.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Building your reputation in the market place is just as valuable as in your personal life. When setting out the mission of the company, I had to take a look at what I not only wanted, but also what I could deliver. I know it sounds great when you’re a company like, Enron pitching the old “Ask why?” slogan, but their foundation was built on lies. “Ask why?” is exactly what you should be asking as a client and the foundation better be real. As for Golden Arrow Protection, the people I employ are my foundation. They are hard working, loyal and passionate. I’m lucky to have them in my life.
My business philosophy is built on three main components; Integrity, Reliability and Professionalism. Our growth has to be built on a scale that allows us to maintain these practices. Some companies strive only to meet a fiscal goal and where I strive to meet a quality goal. Can I provide my clients with these main components and can I do the same for the people working for me? Fortunately for me, I can say yes to both. I make sure that the people I work with from all sides feel a sense of value and are appreciated. I like to see my clients as equally happy as my crew.
That is how I built my reputation and how we will continue to do so in the future.
Any advice for managing a team?
Having a high morale starts with you. I work hard to build strong working relationships with those around me. When it comes to the work, I am the job, not the boss. Meaning that I do the same duties as everyone else. I roll my sleeves up and do the work. I will never ask my crew to do something I’m not willing to or already doing.
If you realize that the success of your business is built with the success of the team, you will find yourself investing in the team more. The value added from helping to develope the opportunites of your crew will pay off in more ways than one.
Contact Info:
- Website: GoldenArrowProtection.Com
- Instagram: @Goldenarrowprotection
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077434594215&mibextid=ZbWKwL
- Twitter: @ATX_Machine