My story begins in 1984 when my father started a security guard business. He launched the company with very little outside assistance while also working full time.
At the time, I had a great job working in the marketing department of a large publishing house. It was, I felt then, the job I had always dreamed of… full of glitz and glamour. I had a nice office, wore fancy suits, and had an expense account. Yet something kept calling me back to my fathers’ security business. At first, I just worked with him on weekends, taking calls and meeting with employees. Until eventually it was obvious that I needed to join the company full time.
After completing my first task of getting the company certified as a Minority Business Enterprise with NYC, NYS, and the federal government, I thought the business would start pouring in. It didn’t.
We were right back where we started – struggling, unable to meet payroll, and facing the worst. It was then that I made the critical decision to immerse myself into learning how to make our business succeed.