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Episode 45

Celebrity Protection Deep Dive | Anton Kalaydjian

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.

LinkedIn

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


Connect with Us: 

Circuit Magazine

BBA Connect

NABA Protector

British Bodyguard Association

Transcript
Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

colors with every different artists.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

a pop star that another client I have

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Cause he's a good protector.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Yeah.

Anton Kalaydjian:

She'll be safe.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

On the same note.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

that my guy that's on him has.

Intro:

welcome to

Intro:

the Circuit Magazine.

Intro:

The number one source for information on protection matters.

Intro:

The industry leading magazine for all security professionals who

Intro:

want to stay ahead of the game.

Phelim:

Celebrity protection.

Phelim:

It's surely the most iconic form of EP.

Phelim:

I'm here with Elijah Shaw.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

founder of guardian security.

Phelim:

Uh, two of the most prominent celebrity protection experts.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

What are we going to do?

Anton Kalaydjian:

Yeah,

Elijah:

I'm excited to have him on a show.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

there's not a lot of fluff with it.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

that, and he can talk just real talk.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Phelim:

What do you think our listeners are most gonna be

Phelim:

benefiting from hearing because.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

He's not going to kiss and tell.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

you think we can hope to achieve.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

without the sensationalism, you know?

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

Yeah.

Elijah:

There's some great things about the industry.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

You know, you got to work to do it.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

that you want to have in this business.

Phelim:

You think becoming a celebrity protector is so desirable

Phelim:

or is it, is that a misnomer?

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

that nobody actually wants to do?

Anton Kalaydjian:

Well,

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

today on a, on a call, which is.

Elijah:

You know, there's some myths about it.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

temptations that people fall for.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

And it's when.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

who might have an otherwise promising.

Phelim:

This then needs no further introduction.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

into the world of celebrity protection.

Intro:

now.

Intro:

One of the contributors to the circuit magazine.

Phelim:

Celebrity protection and EP.

Phelim:

Everybody is in the public eye.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

security and Elijah Shaw and myself.

Phelim:

We're going to be exploring this topic because.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

about what a body guard is.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

EP is much, much broader than that.

Phelim:

And so on.

Phelim:

It's a pleasure to have you on how

Anton Kalaydjian:

you doing good.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Very good.

Phelim:

Very good.

Phelim:

Well, let's get into it.

Phelim:

We do these thematic.

Phelim:

We're looking at celebrity protection.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

to, to talk about this today.

Phelim:

But Anton, what is.

Phelim:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

celebrities.

Anton Kalaydjian:

How long do we have on this podcast?

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Uh, that's been a big thing.

Anton Kalaydjian:

That's been wrong with celeb celebrity protection.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I mean, the way we were taught.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

What kind of car is he driving?

Anton Kalaydjian:

Where does he live?

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

You're right by them.

Anton Kalaydjian:

So it gives, uh, people think.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

there, a favorite actor or whatever.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

of doing it for the wrong reasons.

Anton Kalaydjian:

And now I've had it.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

social and kind of saw a change in him.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

I think now it's just rising because.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Social media is allowing fans to become.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

up DM-ing and getting to these celebs.

Anton Kalaydjian:

So there are a lot more accessible.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

the wrong reasons instead of.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

coattails, uh, be your own man or woman.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Phelim:

one word.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

I've

Anton Kalaydjian:

always, I've always liked protecting people.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Uh, so obviously.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

So I was always constantly on the lookout for my.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

a friend, just anybody in general.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

So, um, it started as a.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

can say the same thing, you know?

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

It started as.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

be like to, to protect someone famous.

Phelim:

Right.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

the uninitiated out there to know?

Phelim:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

actually know.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

celebrity protection gets a black eye.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Uh, I think they should know.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

celebrity protection, they'd be amazed.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I've done.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I do both.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

But when we walk into an EP.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

discredits the EP world.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

of the time these guys are not noticeable.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

pushing out content are the wrong ones.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

what I do film because the minute I say.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Uh, oh, what's he like?

Anton Kalaydjian:

What's she, like now the conversation shifts.

Anton Kalaydjian:

So I lie, I say do construction.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

but it's just very intriguing for them.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

the, uh, at the, uh, principle.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Rightfully so they're the celebrities.

Elijah:

I just listen to you.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

for the good and some for the bad.

Elijah:

And one of the last things you said was.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

it's a blackout we give ourselves.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

The things that we have to do.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

So it takes a very specialized skill.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

time communicating that to others.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

So

Elijah:

what

Anton Kalaydjian:

would you say to that?

Anton Kalaydjian:

Yeah, I think that image is BS right now.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

There's no fact checkers.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Well, I talked about this with my cousin.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

We're just talking about.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

And really they're not qualified.

Anton Kalaydjian:

And there should be some kind of fact checking system.

Anton Kalaydjian:

And he was talking about stolen valor.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

And.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

had fact checkers out there.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

really, did you really do that?

Anton Kalaydjian:

Let's let's find out.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

decades of a career under their belt.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Uh, maybe that should be promoted a little more.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

everybody else was on the laptop.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

getting jobs based on lies and, and.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

backgrounds as well as they should.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I don't think that labels are checking.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

they're just taking their word.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

wanted to hire a people in a suit.

Anton Kalaydjian:

That's what they told them.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

I'm gonna give him a call right now.

Anton Kalaydjian:

And I was like, sucking my teeth.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Like, go ahead, man.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Like you think I'm lying?

Anton Kalaydjian:

I've been there for years.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

and called him on speaker phone.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

I don't blame them for doing that.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Now that I've been doing it longer.

Anton Kalaydjian:

And I realized why he did that.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

to be in charge of protecting the female artists life.

Anton Kalaydjian:

So he wants to be damn well.

Anton Kalaydjian:

No, sure.

Anton Kalaydjian:

That I am YSA.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

Then they are, you know, businessmen and women.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

next to someone famous and they'll go yep.

Elijah:

Works for me.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

It's a shame,

Anton Kalaydjian:

man.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

and this guy did it for charity.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

So he could get video.

Anton Kalaydjian:

And my mom dropped.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I was like, what?

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

state of CP we're in right now.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

It's all BS, man.

Anton Kalaydjian:

It's all smoke and mirrors.

Anton Kalaydjian:

And I do feel.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Yeah, absolutely.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

He's my guy.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I'm telling you.

Anton Kalaydjian:

He's good.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Right.

Anton Kalaydjian:

But can't be like that.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

do some background checks on the EAP side.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Like, why, why are you questioning me more?

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Elijah:

I want to dig in to one other piece there.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

and to a degree that's easier.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

expand on that a little bit about.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

the re uh, I think EAP is difficult.

Anton Kalaydjian:

It was difficult for me in the beginning.

Anton Kalaydjian:

And I only got a DEP about four years ago.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Uh, I got a C peek on my inventory.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

There's so many similarities in EPA and CB.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

in the world with, with executives.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

your, is your principal as an executive?

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

CP is difficult.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Uh, EPA is difficult to in its own way.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Weren't so clean.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Uh, you gotta do things.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

So that's difficult as well.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Um, I do.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I do think that the hours are different.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I think you could even relate to that.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

usually 12 hour days and you get relief.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

what guys our age want to do.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

that can really get to your target.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Well,

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Yeah, yeah.

Anton Kalaydjian:

No, I agree with that.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Yeah, I agree.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Yeah.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Uh, that I had to deal with.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

about that I had to fly out for.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

that Manchester, uh, like a benefit.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

out there for, for that week.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

that we did to work the right way.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

was another bombing or stabbing or something about the marketplace.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

You're also doing the advanced security as well.

Anton Kalaydjian:

You're also trying to run the detail.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

It's great.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

You're going to pick up the vehicle here.

Anton Kalaydjian:

You're going to go there.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

or they're going to go to school.

Anton Kalaydjian:

You got it all lined up.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I want to see people.

Anton Kalaydjian:

World is just like, you're a Renegade.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

I,

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

protection, uh, colleague out there from.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

How, how on earth could that be me?

Phelim:

Is it right place, right time, right.

Phelim:

Face right.

Phelim:

Occasion.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

didn't have the right look about them.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

Is, is there a concerted effort you can make.

Phelim:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

You know, I can only speak for myself.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

would kind of clean up the club.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

the next club would pay more.

Anton Kalaydjian:

The next, it will be more.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

know, it was very tough crowd.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

you had to close streets off.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

And this was not talking about 2003, 2002.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

We didn't give him a warning.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

they swear up whatever they owe the money.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

just, I'm an insurance policy.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Yeah.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Hey, I gotta let you know.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

you, you got a good security team.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

So they're not.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

a music video down here in Miami.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Could you help us out?

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

We work our ass as well.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Uh, treat everybody like they're.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

ago, uh, I think today would be.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

keep that table 37 to be exact.

Anton Kalaydjian:

We keep that table.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Very close to our chest.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

what it takes, I can train them.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

but the training will come.

Anton Kalaydjian:

The resumes are great.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I liked search.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

That's all fantastic.

Anton Kalaydjian:

But to me, it's characteristic.

Anton Kalaydjian:

And the reason why is because.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Thank you.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

and the reason they stick with you.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

He's also a police officer.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

I got a guy that I, that I trust.

Anton Kalaydjian:

His name is RJ.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Can you give them a shot?

Anton Kalaydjian:

If you vouch on Roman that he must be.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Right.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

ads or, or people asking for jobs.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Oh, yeah.

Anton Kalaydjian:

They'll tell me.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

and we'll work on whatever he does wrong.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Right.

Anton Kalaydjian:

So that's a reality that we

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

To ask this question, right.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

Okay.

Phelim:

You can work very hard.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

Like is there a typical country singer bodyguard?

Phelim:

Is there a typical, uh, film style buddy?

Phelim:

Got it.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

were really successful in another area.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

generalist, I could ask that question.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Yeah, definitely.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

colors with every different artists.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

could kind of put it the busiest.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

He's awesome.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

rough, these rough around the edges.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

attributes that he doesn't bring.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Cause he's a good protector.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Yeah.

Anton Kalaydjian:

She'll be safe.

Anton Kalaydjian:

She'll be safe.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Uh, hip hop guy, you get eaten alive.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

compared to my guy that's on this guy.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

serpentine, certain types of calls.

Anton Kalaydjian:

But anybody looking to get into it?

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

You got to deal with all the BS.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

so I could speak from experience.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Um, that's the most high-risk.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

that, and where they can tolerate.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

rapper or don't go for hip hop security.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

that don't go for the pop artist.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

go with a majority of these artists.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

you know, that genre then go for that.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

And it's a blessing.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

We don't want that guy.

Anton Kalaydjian:

We don't want that guy or this girl.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

get in, just get in first.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

working your way from there and then start going to different

Anton Kalaydjian:

genres or different levels of us.

Elijah:

Yeah, I think you nailed that.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

is identify where they want.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

when they see someone who.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

that you wouldn't normally make.

Elijah:

And some of those are less than honorable choices.

Elijah:

And.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

take whatever job comes their way.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

You put yourself in by trying to

Anton Kalaydjian:

jump ahead.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

No, no shortcuts in life.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Right.

Anton Kalaydjian:

And I agree with that.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Totally.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

If you're not that guy, like.

Anton Kalaydjian:

You know, I've seen it happen.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

I've seen it too many times.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

That's a lot, man.

Anton Kalaydjian:

You know, that's a lot.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Um, but I think like if you do skip.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

life or even worse your client's life.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Of course you can get a job.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Well, that guy gets worked.

Anton Kalaydjian:

That's what that guy hasn't done.

Anton Kalaydjian:

What is he charged?

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

These guys would do for free sometimes.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

is exactly what you just said as well.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Don't skip steps.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Don't take shortcuts.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

and perhaps a skill set for everybody.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

What do you think.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

get that skill of picking up Intel.

Phelim:

Analytics.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

Um, where can you get it?

Phelim:

How can you improve it?

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

I was a stockbroker before any of this.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

at nights and on the weekends.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

You know?

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

fire and it's about to get back.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

the years go on, you train it.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Okay.

Anton Kalaydjian:

That it didn't work.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

And then you evaluate it.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

that you're going to develop.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

And in places like.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

like a pay for every year.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

Is is an ongoing something that I do every day.

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

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

Anton Kalaydjian:

I want to say talk my way out of it.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I mean, calm down the situation before.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Sure.

Elijah:

And that was amazing, bro.

Elijah:

Uh, I'm in agreement.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

just standing next to somebody famous.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

Then, you know, third party validation goes along.

Elijah:

So thank you brother, man.

Elijah:

I really appreciate you coming on.

Phelim:

Anton.

Phelim:

Thanks.

Phelim:

Thanks very much for giving us your time.

Phelim:

The circuit magazine podcast is richer because of this

Phelim:

session, uh, from Elijah myself.

Phelim:

We look forward to seeing you again shortly.

Phelim:

Thanks very

Anton Kalaydjian:

much.

Anton Kalaydjian:

I appreciate you guys.

Anton Kalaydjian:

Thank you, bro.

Intro:

I feel

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

He went as far as he could.

Phelim:

He went as far as he could.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

the sector, but hard work trumps it all.

Phelim:

What did you get out of today's session?

Elijah:

Oh, yeah.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

And I agree with you.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

you know, and talk about the real deal.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

the path you should go on.

Elijah:

And while there are people that are working.

Elijah:

In this segment of the industry that might on the outside

Elijah:

look like they're successful.

Elijah:

There's no longevity in some of those paths.

Phelim:

Absolutely.

Phelim:

And, you know, Anton's own story.

Phelim:

Very, very interesting.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

few segments about his entire career.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

with a surrogate magazine podcast.

Phelim:

We like to be thematic.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

What else do we have coming up?

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

On Friday.

Phelim:

We have our workplace violence forum for the Circuit magazine.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

and the Australian morning,

Elijah:

you got a lot going on.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

workplace violence conferences.

Phelim:

Oh, absolutely.

Phelim:

That's a good point.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

Ever further into the world of BP.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

our corporate security colleagues?

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

who is responsible, who is responsible.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

incident a few years ago.

Phelim:

Why is this important?

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

its impact on the workforce.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

You know, we just heard today.

Phelim:

We want to deescalate things as much as possible.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

violence to happen in the first place.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

For sure.

Phelim:

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

Elijah:

Got it.

Elijah:

Well, I think it sounds like an interesting conference.

Elijah:

You always put some great stuff together.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

fields come out and give input.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Phelim:

Absolutely.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

very interesting times when we've done it.

Phelim:

And what about you?

Phelim:

What have you got.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

I can talk to you about December.

Elijah:

So December.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

on, um, on December eight.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

uh, the executive protection forum.

Elijah:

The group of speakers together.

Elijah:

Um, Christian, Wes, um, Aaron.

Elijah:

Myself.

Elijah:

Yeah.

Elijah:

Yeah, exactly.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

And

Phelim:

how will that differ if people are looking at the schedule

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

range or maybe I'll come to the form.

Phelim:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

Uh, already.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

to maximize their time in Vegas.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

So, um, you know, it.

Elijah:

It's a welcome thing for me.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

I'm always doubled triple booked.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

And so that's why I said, yup.

Elijah:

Uh, I'll be there.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

to end up on a couple of speakers.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

quite an interesting session.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

hope she's a friend of the podcast.

Phelim:

She is speaking at staff forum.

Phelim:

Uh that's you're also speaking out.

Phelim:

So, so there's definitely a lot.

Anton Kalaydjian:

And,

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

Um, there's a circuit magazine.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

and gentle women across the pond.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

protective, so now have a protector.

Elijah:

And so both of those apps are cooking.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

that are coming, going in there.

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

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

Elijah:

be rolling out November, December.

Elijah:

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

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

2020, it looks, it looks weird, right?

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

and we're going to be ready.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

was a pleasure talking about it today.

Phelim:

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

Phelim:

of these circuit magazine podcasts.

Intro:

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Intro:

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The Circuit Magazine Podcast
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