We were lucky to catch up with Jeff Corbin recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jeff, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I retired as a police officer after a 22-year career having worked with both the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Ventura, CA Police Department. In addition to hundreds of hours of training in a 6-month police academy, I attained thousands of hours of specialized training, years of experience, and worked in tactical units (narcotics, violent criminal apprehension team) with the primary responsibility of protecting people and property. Often times this mission was carried out under the most dangerous, extreme, unpredictable and stressful conditions imaginable. During the course of my law enforcement career I was able to develop effective verbal communication skills to gain compliance in very difficult situations.
Prior to my law enforcement career I served our nation in the United States Marine Corps as a Marine Security Guard responsible for the protection and access control to nuclear storage facilities, cryptography sites and other secure areas at a strategic location in close proximity to the Persian Gulf. Upon completing this mission I was in the Fleet Marine Force as an infantryman and training NCO.
Additionally, my wife and co-owner of Corbin Protective Group, which has come to be referred to as CPG, Celeste, is a 21-year retired deputy sheriff from Southern California. In addition to all of the tangible and intangible skill sets that we both possess, she worked several years in a gang unit confronting some of the most hardened and violent individuals on the streets. Her final assignment was in Personnel where she was tasked with interviewing applicants seeking the position of deputy sheriff and conducting thorough background investigations.
Law enforcement and the aspect of protecting people is a calling. It isn’t something that leaves you when you leave a law enforcement agency. Not everyone can do it nor wants to accept the risks of doing it. Upon our retirements and relocation to the greater Nashville area we realized that we had a very specialized and in-depth skill set that could be offered in a similar yet different realm. In the arena of entertainment hubs I consider Nashville to be among the “Big Four”; Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, and Nashville. Ironically, I’ve lived and worked in three of the four areas. There is such a demand for personal protection here that we decided to take our skill set and apply it in the private sector.
Jeff, 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?
Once we made the decision to embark on this business endeavor I wanted to create something that was different from the norm. We saw that the other protection companies employed a variety of individuals with various backgrounds yet not one of them consisted entirely of former, career law enforcement officers. Many companies hire in mass where unfortunately, quality is sacrificed for the sake of quantity. Training with many of these companies is very basic and minimal. The minimum training requirement for an armed guard in Tennessee is 16-hours. There isn’t anything wrong with this standard as there is definitely a need for armed “security guards” however, the clients that we seek to provide services to demand a much higher skill set in regards to close personal protection.
In our social circle we began meeting other retired law enforcement officers from not only the Nashville area but other areas of the country that now proudly call middle Tennessee “home”. In addition to learning about their careers, I got to know them personally which includes their character. I began recruiting these individuals to form the CPG team. In addition to their law enforcement careers, all of our team members first and foremost possess the highest levels of integrity with a due north moral compass. All maintain a professional appearance that gives that first impression of competence. Another hiring criteria is that during the course of their careers they all have worked in a tactical assignment; SWAT, gang units, narcotics, violent criminal apprehension teams, dignitary protection. By way of these assignments these individuals have demonstrated exceptional performance in their careers and received even higher, more specialized training and experience that exceeds what the average law enforcement officer possesses. Additionally, several of our team members still work as firearms and law enforcement instructors with renowned organizations across the country. Finally, in addition to being licensed in the state, all of our team members are lawfully authorized to carry concealed firearms in all 50 states. This is something that only active and “qualified retired” law enforcement officers can do…not military veterans or security guards.
There are protection companies that tout the fact that they hire only military veterans. First and foremost, as a proud Marine Corps veteran, I salute both those employers for hiring and our veterans that proudly served our nation and wrote that blank check! With that said, in the realm of protection and the essential skills that are needed a potential client needs to read the “fine print’ with these companies and ask some questions. What did these individuals do in the military? A musician in the band, a payroll clerk, diesel or aircraft mechanic, bulk fuel specialists, water decontamination and the majority of other military occupational specialties have no correlation to personal protection. If they were in a combat arms MOS that is better yet still doesn’t offer what is most applicable to the role as these individuals were trained to operate in a combat zone versus a civil environment where laws regarding various uses of force and what is legally justifiable vastly differ! They also don’t receive the invaluable training, nor experience, of gaining compliance through verbal deescalation skills. It’s this tool that may just prevent an inappropriate response and subsequent civil litigation against a client. Having both military and law enforcement experience, in the realm of close personal protection in a civil society, law enforcement experience is by far the most applicable. However, if military service is still appealing to a client, most of our personnel are veterans, many having deployed.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
The biggest challenge for us in regards to gaining clients has been two-fold; being new to the private protection market and new to the geographical location. Being new and only a year into the realm of private personal protection isn’t so much of a challenge as we possess and have rapidly demonstrated in our short existence all of the skills to be successful, but more so jumping into the industry among established companies with an established client base. Not being privy to the career field, what clients don’t realize is that there is a huge difference between a protection agent with minimal training and experience and one with an unbelievable amount of proven training and experience. An analogy is yes, both will get you to your destination but in the case of a high speed accident would you rather be in a Mini Cooper or a Hummer?
Similarly, not having years worth of relationships and contacts in the Nashville area has created the hurdle of getting our name and who we are out there. We have definitely gotten our steps in meeting with potential clients, management companies, and other prospects. We knew that this would be a challenge when we started however, word has spread like wildfire with recommendations and reviews from existing clients creating new clients. As a result, we have picked up steam in a very short time. So much so that even other protection company owners have reached out and met with me expressing their desire to “team up” and collaborate on some of their projects based solely on what we can offer and they can’t.
Finally, being active on social media has gained a lot of attention and inquiries. We have gained clients through these sources which in turn created new clients via recommendations. I’m guessing that eventually we may get to a point where solely word of mouth and recommendations among clients will keep us beyond busy however, the social media platforms have definitely been an asset up to this point.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Word of mouth from existing clients has been the primary source of building the company’s reputation. It’s the totality of the service that we provide that speaks for itself; the first impression, our responsiveness, the planning, constant communication and dialogue, ability to adapt in situations that are fluid and without predictability, being honest with what is and isn’t needed, how we respond and address various situations, our professionalism and our integrity.
I also believe that what I aforementioned reflects directly from our resumes and extensive careers in law enforcement where the primary consideration is keeping people safe and providing them with a sense of security. We are constantly assessing situations and our surroundings. We continuously run scenarios through our minds and develop contingency plans. This is something that is embedded in us as it was what we did when responding to radio calls, entering homes that we were unfamiliar with, serving high-risk search warrants, or escorting dignitaries. Its a constant state of planning.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.corbinprotectivegroup.com
- Instagram: @cpgnashville
- Facebook: Corbin Protective Group LLC
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-corbin-0217952a
- Twitter: @CPGNashville
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CorbinProtectiveGroup