We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shawn Hancock. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shawn below.

Shawn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

When I was in elementary school, our home got burglarized while we were in school and my parents were at work. At the time, my father worked out of town during the week, so it was just me. my two siblings, and my mom who arrived home to find the house almost completely empty. When the two police officers arrived, they were kind and compassionate. They didn’t simply take down information for a report and leave. They worked hard trying to gather any evidence they could, and moreover, spent extra time with me and siblings to comfort us and show us how they collected evidence. It sounds silly, but I thought police officers were “superhuman” and “walked on water.” From then on, I never waivered on what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I feel this was intrinsic and that I’ve always been naturally wired for service. I explored other jobs from time-to-time, but none compared to filling the sense of purpose that drove me. Being a protector of those that could not, or did not have the ability to protect themselves was a natural fit for my soul.

I became a police officer at the young age of 18, served a total of 36 years in various roles in law enforcement until I was 54 years old. While it was time to turn the page, I struggled with what I would do next and found it challenging to be motivated by any other option than protecting people or assets in some way. I have to have a strong sense of purpose in what I do daily and my work must be meaningful. This is not to say that other careers aren’t useful, just not much to me.

I decided I could easily apply my skillset in Executive, VIP, and Personal Protection since I had worked in this arena during parts of my career. At the same time, I am learning new things narrowly focused on this craft. It is the perfect place for me to fulfill my service drive while continuing to learn and grow.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As I mentioned, service to others in law enforcement and protection has always felt like a natural calling. There’s no feeling quite like helping someone, saving someone, or having a moment of positive, lasting impact on a life. I was taught early on to always look for an opportunity to help, and opportunity to make something better, to be “looking for work.”

Now, in the executive and personal protection space, I provide peace of mind so that business executives, celebrities, political figures can focus on their business, event, family, friends, and clients and do not have to think about how to navigate the day’s itinerary. I take care of all aspects of planning, logistics, and protection from the lowest to highest levels. In addition to the protective role, we provide a concierge piece of service as well.

A relationship built on TRUST with the client is paramount. We are honest and transparent in conversations with clients to achieve a shared mental model and manage expectations. The key to effectiveness and success in this business is to handle problems without the client ever knowing there was a problem. While we employ highly trained and experienced professionals, the objective is to ALWAYS handle situations calmly and quietly when possible. We are not looking for a fight. In fact, if we ever have to go to hands or guns, we have failed.

In order to achieve this, we select personnel who are mature, discreet, and possess the ability to resolve situations without escalating to physical force. Our focus of effort always remains with the client. Calm, experienced, and highly trained personnel are critical to maintaining trust and confidentiality. Our goal is blend in with a low-profile approach, again, so that few even know we are there, who we are, or what we are doing. With over three decades of law enforcement experience, we have developed a robust network nationwide. This allows us to leverage resources to assist in seamless transitions when interstate travel is required with clients.

We have recently entered the space of providing protection for real estate professionals during private showings and open houses. I think it would surprise most people to learn how many of these professionals have been targets of violent predators in recent years. We aim to reduce these alarming statistics so that real estate agents can focus on client relations and selling.

Any advice for managing a team?

Simple. Take care of your people! While we continue to train together to keep skills and mindset sharp, we only onboard individuals with a proven background and strong proficiency abilities and decision making. These individuals have earned the trust, and that trust must be demonstrated. Select the right people to do the job, then show the restraint to not meddle with them while they do it.
Technology and equipment advancements have been a great force multiplier. They allow us to do things faster and with greater precision. However, they are just that, tools. We work in the human industry, where there has always been, and always will be a place for blue collar work. AI will never replace humans in this industry.

Our people are our greatest asset and we ask a great deal from them. We ask them extend and stretch for us often to get the job done. So any chance we get, we take care of them. We feed them, get them extra pay or other compensation, and show appreciation whenever we have the chance. Unfortunately, I have seen business owners negotiate contracts with clients and take the lion’s share of profits, paying the crew the bare minimum. We don’t get greedy. We believe in win/win concepts so everyone thrives together. If you take care of your people, they will take care of you. Bottom line is you stay with who brought you to the dance.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

PreFense and Preventive Defense by Steve Tarani.

Steve has been a trusted friend and mentor for over 30 years. Now in the business of protecting individuals and entities, his work in Preventive Defense serves as a perfect model for what our business embodies. Steve has always said, “The best way to win a fight is not to be in it.” Again, this is the tradecraft of the protection industry and what we strive to achieve. Our success is measured by what DOESN’T happen.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://preventivedefense.com/first-responders/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-hancock-71083b52/