September 12, 2025 • 26 mins
Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed, Travis T. Wade.
🎯 Purpose of the Interview
To highlight Travis Wade’s transition from corporate HR leadership to entrepreneurship in the private security industry, and to share insights on leadership, hiring practices, and business growth strategies.
🧭 Outline of the Interview 1. Introduction
- Rushion McDonald introduces the show’s mission: inspiring listeners to pursue their own success stories.
- Travis Wade is introduced as a seasoned HR professional and founder of The Guardian, a private security firm.
2. Background & Transition
- Travis shares his 25+ years in HR, including leadership roles in New York’s banking sector.
- He discusses his pivot to entrepreneurship and founding The Guardian.
3. The Guardian’s Structure
- Three divisions:
- Armed & unarmed uniformed security officers
- Personal protection
- Private investigations
- Operates in Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina.
4. HR Experience & Impact
- HR skills translated into managing people effectively in the security industry.
- Emphasis on understanding business operations across departments.
5. Hiring Philosophy
- Avoids traditional interviews; prefers conversational approach to reveal genuine personality.
- Looks for patience, emotional control, and customer service skills in candidates.
6. Common Hiring Mistakes
- Rushion admits to undervaluing HR and hiring impulsively.
- Travis stresses the importance of structured hiring, background checks, and managerial coaching.
7. Private Investigations
- Focuses on corporate and small business cases (e.g., internal theft).
- Offers thorough investigative services including interviews, documentation review, and evidence presentation.
8. Leadership & Change Management
- Travis emphasizes communication, collaboration, and transparency when implementing new ideas.
- Encourages team involvement and ownership to foster loyalty and performance.
9. Growth & Partnerships
- Rather than competing with large firms, The Guardian focuses on partnerships and subcontracting.
- Advocates for collaboration, especially among minority-owned businesses.
10. Closing Remarks
- Travis shares his mission to build generational wealth and empower his team.
- Rushion reflects on lessons learned and thanks Travis for his insights.
💡 Key Takeaways
- HR is foundational: “Your business is your people.”
- Hiring is about character: “We don’t want to see their representative. We want to see their true selves.”
- Patience is critical in security: “If they can’t wait 20 minutes for an interview, they won’t be patient on the job.”
- Leadership is collaborative: “You have to roll up your sleeves and be a participant.”
- Growth through partnership: “We can’t afford to compete, but we can afford to partner.”
🗣️ Notable Quotes
- “HR needs to have a seat at the table.”
- “Do what you say you’re going to do, and do what you said.”
- “When people feel a part of something, they’ll do more.”
- “I wanted to create generational wealth for me and my family.”
- “We’re not competing—we’re partnering.”
#SHMS
#BEST
#STRAW
#AMI
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I am Rashaan McDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass,
where we encourage people to stop reading other people's success
stories and start planning their own. Listen up as I
interview entrepreneurs from around the country, talk to celebrities and
ask them how they are running their companies, and speak
with non profits who are making a difference in their
(00:26):
local communities. Now, sit back and listen as we unlock
the secrets to their success.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
On Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Our host is weekly Money Making Conversation Master Class show.
The interviews and information that this show provides are for
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(00:58):
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Moneymaking Conversation dot com, My guests, Let's get to it.
Is a season hr professional with over twenty five years
of corporate experience. His company, The Guardian, is a private
security corporation with three separate divisions, armed and unarmed, uniformed
security officers, personal protection, and private investigations. He's serving Georgia, Alabama,
(01:42):
and North Carolina. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations. I'm
gonna call him a good friend of mine. Travis, t Wayne,
how you doing, Travis good? Because you're always a shout
out and like the way my voice sound on the radio.
But I do it for you, brother, I do it
for you. But you know you're a New York boy.
Now down in the South, Now, how's that treating there?
(02:03):
The food exchange there, you know, Northast.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
And to listen to Southern hospitality has been great. Atlanta
has been treating me like I've been I've reached here
all my life. You know, I had a lot of
family down here, but I'm moving down here with different
experience and you guys have been awesome, So thank you
to all the Atlanta faithful and Georgia faithful. I've been
treated me with open af Well.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Tell, before we get started, let's talk about you a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
In your company, The Guardian, that's a great name, private
security corporation.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
You have three separate divisions.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Talk about it because your background is HR, which means
that you've been dealing for twenty five years, and the
corporate experience, that whole way of how people should come
to work, how people should be interview prepared for interviews,
how is that translated? And making your company, The Guardian
(02:55):
that much better because of your HR experience.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
So I think the the uniqueness of being an HR,
and I was the head of an HR department at
a community bank in New York is the fact that
you're dealing with all aspects in all departments and divisions
of a corporation. Right. You're dealing with the finance, you're
dealing with the sales team, you're dealing with the operations.
So you know, I always tell managers and employees to
(03:21):
learn the business of your industry. So you know, once
you learn the business of your industry, HR just gets
right in there. It's translatable to every industry that there is.
Every industry needs an HR department that takes care of people.
How can a business run without your people? Your business
is your people, right, So the HRR fat HR experience
(03:44):
and that industry helped me to be able to, you know,
first cater to our people. You know, I learned the
industry and the great mentor Benjamin Manner, and then from
that point, you know, took the experience that I learned
from my finance industry that I worked in New York,
you know, from the sales and operations, and took you know,
(04:08):
the things that I learned from some of those great people,
great executives there, and translated it to the security.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Industry's well, that's great to hear. You know when you
talk about you know, managing talent, which is basically what
you're doing your people who come in different personalities, you
have to get to work under a certain degree of leadership.
You don't know, you know, the great thing about people
fill out an application, right, Travis, They say they want
to work for you, but that doesn't mean that they
(04:36):
really want to work for you. How do you find
the right person for your company to guardian?
Speaker 3 (04:43):
So what we do is we try to. You know,
we don't do the normal interview process, right, We don't
sit there and say what are your stress what are
your weaknesses? Okay, we get a person there and we
have a conversation with them. Right. You get them comfortable
so you can see the genuine person. You don't see
their representative. So you'll see you know, you know, how
(05:03):
a person acts when they get comfortable, so you can
see their true selves. You know, when you talk about
how they get when they get upset, or you know,
when they get aggravated, or they a patient person. You know,
these are the things that that you have to be
aware of in the security industry. You know, your guards
have to be patient, they have to have that customer
service attribute to them. They have to you know, be
(05:26):
able to get along with other people. So you know,
you get them comfortable, you get them talking, talking about themselves,
seeing their family dynamics, seeing the type of the type
of people they are, the type of person he or
she is, and then you go from there. Listen, nothing
is one hundred percent, right, It's not. It doesn't always work,
(05:47):
but you know, if you do it that way and
you and you treat your people right on your end
after you hire them, you know, you can lower that
turnover quickly.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
But I'm sure there are certain qualities you look for
somebody paper, you know, talking too much, look like they
had a little edgy because, like you said, you're in
the security business, which means that the number one thing
that my thought process and security is to be that
person who buffers and in state, keeps situation calm and
makes people when something bad goes wrong. They're the leaders
(06:21):
of direction there. They show leadership immediately. So so if
someone comes in for interview for your company the guardian,
what are some of the no nos that you they
should make sure they don't bring to the table to
be interview for your company?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Right? Well, on one of my is if they're impatient, impatience,
you know they impatient. You know, if a person is
not patient, if they're sitting there and they can't wait
you know a good maybe twenty twenty five minutes for
the interview process and you know, to sit there and
meet security supervisor, then this is not a person that
(06:58):
we want, right. They really don't want to work, right.
They have a whole stash of money somewhere that that
we don't know about. A side gig for them, you know,
or or that's going to relate to them on the job,
you know, not being patient, you know, maybe having guarding
a line and there's people on the line who are
talking a little too much, you're not patient, or a
(07:21):
customer comes in and they're rushing them and they and
they're not being patient with the customer. So you don't
want that. So you want someone to be doing to
be patient. And then you also don't want someone to
be too hyperactive, too uberly excited to react right. You know,
sometimes if you react to something too quickly without having
(07:41):
either all the information or kind of laying back and
seeing how things transpire so you can react in an
appropriate way with having all the information, then that's someone
we do not want. Because there's a lot of times
you can overreact to a situation. And as you know
as well as I you overreact to something in the streets
or you know, some some people that are in the streets,
(08:03):
they're going to react to you in kind, right, they're
going to overreact to you just the way you're overreacting
to that.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
And there's always that level of disrespect too, you know,
because you know, as a security person, they don't see
you as a real authority. You know, you're playing cop
or something like that, or rental cop, and.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
So they have to flashlight I see you.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Right right, And so that's something that has to be
taking consideration. But I want to follow up something you
said earlier about HR because I made that mistake, Travis,
I undervalued HR.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I didn't realize the.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Uh oh, you can't do that. You can't do that.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
So I did it.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I did, you know, And so now I tell people
and I tell myself, you know, if I'm going to
start something, I have to have an account with legal,
on accountant and HR. You got to have those three
heads tied to your business if you want to start
it successfully. Because if you don't have those things, you
cannot be the person mediating staff. You cannot be people people,
(08:59):
a person hiring everybody, filling out the application, filing the application.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Doing all the reviews.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
It is really a complicated job because a lot of
people don't understand the nuances of HR. And it's a
lot how you speak to people when you when they're
not doing their job? Are you motivating? Of you giving
them the tools to win with? Really? You know, I'm
saying all the flag things, and I just wanted to
bring that back because I made that mistake. Travis, I
(09:27):
was like, I'm just giving me applications. Sometimes I wouldn't
even take an application. I just hire people. I get
the application later, you hire it. Not only doing a
background check. I did the mistakes and so, but people
do it on a regular basis. Tell them the ramifications
of doing that. What you do not do at the Guardian.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
So I'll take a movie a step further time. It's
all those things you just subscribe. Plus it's also making
sure managers know how to manage their staff. Like you know,
a lot of managers you get promoted or hired in
these positions and don't really know how to manage people.
You have to manage personalities, you have to manage behaviors,
(10:06):
you have to manage different cultures, different genders you know
and understand how to relate to. And you can't treat
everyone the same. So you know, it goes a little
bit further, which is not just you know, the hiring,
the firing, the posting for positions. You know, it also
goes to coaching your managers. You know, because in my position,
(10:27):
my former position, I would coach you know the C
suite team, you know that tenior staff on how to
manage their employees, how to deal with difficult employees, how
to have difficult conversations. So it's a little bit more
than that there, you know. But HR needs to have
a feed, entertainment any type of discussions that you're having
(10:48):
when you're starting a business, small businesses, medium beside business,
a large businesses, HR should be somewhere in the room understanding.
You know, listen, if you're sober bride, if you're running
as in your own you have no employee, I get it.
There's time for you to to you know, you have
some time and at that point you might not be HR.
But as soon as you start to hire employees, you know,
(11:12):
you have to understand you have to have policy and
the procedures and practices in place, you know, for to
make sure your operations are run well. So HR needs
to act at that table. HR needs to be at
the forefront of every conversation. When you're starting a new
project and your initiative taking on a new client and
new vendor, HR needs to be there.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Now you're doing security in three different states, that means
a different is talking about Georgia. We're talking about Alabama
and North Carolina. There's different rules for hr different rooms
with taxes. Did it start out like that or did
you expand to that?
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Travis?
Speaker 3 (11:52):
So, so it starts out in the Atlanta, Georgia, and
then we expanded to Birmingham all of Obama with some
parts of Hoover Investmer, Alabama. And then are our latest
uh four year into Charlotte, North Carolina. Started a few
the beginning of this year. So yeah, started in the
(12:14):
hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, moved to Alabama, and now we're
in North Charlotte, North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
And I named three different departments. You had armed in on,
armed uniform security officers. Then you have personal protection, and
then you have private investigations. Now you know, I'm a
TV guy traffic. Now I hear private investigation. I have
magnum p. I I hear all these little detectives on TV.
Educate me because I'm a play dumb on this because
(12:43):
guess what did you try to jump out there and
and try to guide people down the wrong path? What
exactly is private investigations when it involved your company, The Guardian.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
So our private investigations involved more small business in corporations. Uh,
we offer a service of coming into your business and
helping out with any type of investigation you may have. Right.
For example, it might be an HR investigation. You might
have if you're a retail store, small business, retail store
(13:15):
and you see some money missing, and then you have
this employee saying no, I didn't do it. This employee
saying no, I didn't do it. You know, we can
come in right, have have the conversations, do the interviews,
do the investigation, you know, do all the background checks,
you know, do this, do that, gather all the information,
look at all the documentation. If there's video, if there's state,
(13:37):
if there's audio. We come in and we do all
that and then we sit down with the executive and
we present to them, you know what we found, what
the case is, what the case need be, so then
they can make an educated decision at that point instead
of getting and blaming people, you know and assuming right,
you know, we help them put together the facts, the information,
(13:57):
the data, uh, any type of evidence so they can
make an educated decision or make an educated understanding of
what's going on in the situation.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Yeah. Great.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Before we go to bake break, is there a number
if one is interested in seeking employment opportunities at the Guardian.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
What is that number?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
That number is four zero four seven six six two
six one. Again, that's four zero four seven sixty six
two six one one.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Good.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
When we come back, we're gonna hear more of a
Travis Wade, Travis t Way. Like I said, I joked
about the New York. Now, he didn't plan on doing this.
Now you know, he doesn't plan on doing this, but
he pivoted and now he's doing it, and he's doing
it fantastic. But he's a New York boy. Now he
in the South, loving it, loving it. But boy, he
(14:52):
missed he missed some He missed some patties up there.
He missed some food up there though, chicken.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
(15:21):
continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
He's a season hr professional, will over twenty five years
of corporate experience. We're not bringing that up twenty five years.
His company, That Garden, is a private security corporation with
three separate division and it operates in three separate states Georgia, Alabama,
North Carolina. That means along the way there was a pivot.
Talk to us about that because you went from corporate
(15:51):
world to entrepreneurship and a lot of people resist that.
A lot of people don't want to make change, but
it happened to you. Tell us your journey, Travis.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
So without without getting two deeps, I think, you know,
for years, I've been wanting to and and and admiring
uh people who were able to open up a business
and be successful and be their own boss. Right. You know,
even through my career, as I progressed through my career
(16:24):
from managers to director, to vice president to first vice
president to head of departments, you know, I always had
it deep inside that I wanted to own my own
and create generational wealth for for me and my family.
And and you know, at a certain point I felt
like I wasn't I wasn't doing that, you know, I was.
(16:47):
I was helping other people make money, you know, and
even though you know, the bank I worked for a
community bank, Carver Federal Savings Bank in New York was
originally a black owned bank and now it's a black managed,
publicly traded bank. Does a lot for the community. There's
a lot for the inner city in New York City.
(17:07):
You know, I still felt something missed right, something that
I wanted to do as a kid or a teenager
out of high school, out of college. Wanted to be
my own boss, wanted to have my own company.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
And then, uh, you know, I got a call about,
you know, being able to take over a business and
running day to day the security business.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
So I'm like a security business. I haven't done that
in a while. I mean I haven't been that at all.
Excuse me, but I know you thought about you thought
about well, okay, guards in the front, you know, I
high security. You know, to monitor the banks and the
branch where where I'm at. You know HR usually does
that and seeks out the vendors. I'm like, okay. But
(17:52):
as I as I started getting into learning the business,
which I always advise people to when they are are
taking another job, moving through the industry, learn the business
of where you're going. You know, HR can translate, but
I need to learn the business. So I started learning
the business and what this company was doing. It was
a no brainer. And you know, I don't want to
(18:13):
get to spiritual, but you know I prayed on it
and God told me this is something you need to do.
You need to move to Atlanta and take over this business,
grow it to where it needs to do, provide your
corporate executive HR experience combined with the roots that it
(18:34):
has already in Atlanta in the Alabama area, and then
just grow it, grow it and do what you need
to do. Now, that's what got me there.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Now, and it seems like you came with some ideas.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Now for people, your ideas, That don't mean they're always
happy about the ideas.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Okay, So how did you make those ideas commun people?
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Yeah? So what I always do is when you when
you bring in a new idea, right, it's all about communication. Right.
So when you present the idea, you present a lot
of things that comes with you present what it takes
to do it. You have to present, you know, uh,
let them know you're willing to roll up your sleeves
and be a participant, not just someone sitting in the
(19:21):
office calling the shots. You have to let them know
the outcome. What do you want out of these ideas,
what do we want from changing this or doing this,
What do we see what's the future goal? And then
then you get their buy in it and their thoughts
and hey, you know, get their their their opinions on
maybe we can tweak this or tweak that. You know,
I think just coming in and preaching, hey, we're going
(19:44):
to change this, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do that.
We can do this like a military general with something
that would never work. You know, once you explain everything,
you lay it out to them, explain everything. You explain
how we're going to do it, the outcomes, you know,
what we're looking for in the future, what it's going
to do for us in the future. You provide some
some very concrete details and some outcomes that you're looking for,
(20:09):
and also ensure them that you're willing to roll your
sleeves up as well, right and get down and dirty
with it, you know, I think you know they people
tend to initially have a little pushback once they see
you and you're passionate about coming in and doing what
you say and do. Always say, do what you're going
(20:32):
to say, what you're going to do and do what
you're going to and do what you say right.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So you know, you know, that's really great because you
know of these lessons I've learned. You know, you can
be a know it all or you can be the
smartest person in the room, and people will allow you
to be that and allow you to make the mistake
and just become a person who just will take their check,
cash their check, and show up the next day. That's
(20:58):
the environment that you will avoiding. And a lot of
people come in going, I don't care what anybody say,
I'm gonna do it my way. Yeah, I hear you.
You are the balls you do run the company, but
sometimes you have to kind of like, even though you
know the answer, and I know you've done this with
your Steff Travis, you kind of throw it out there
and hopefully they react to the direction you want to go,
(21:22):
or you guide them in that direction through conversation and
then the pros and the cons correct.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Yeah, and you keep them updated, yeah okay, And you
keep them involved, right, You don't just make decisions, right,
You keep them involved in the decisions. You know, you
give them all the information and you give them buying
like they're part of it. Right, So then when they
and then you keep them updating on the outcome. Right.
If they see that you got this the contract, let
(21:50):
them see how you got it right, you know, let
them see that they're hard work, you know, played a
major part in you're getting this right because they see.
People see the history. People see the Harvard that you
guys are doing. People see, you know, the professionalism that
you're putting out there as your guard. People see, you know,
how how presentable you are, you know, in your uniform.
(22:10):
People see that, you know, you're accountable of what you're
doing there out there. You know, that's a big part
of us getting this next contract, getting this next you
know opportunity. You know, once once they see that, they're
a big part of that. And when people feel a
part of something, you know they'll do more. You know,
when people don't feel like that's not mine, I don't
care right the trash it or throw it to the side.
(22:32):
And when you feel that you're part of it, when
you feel that ownership, that that that that entrepreneurial spirit
that that should be in them all being a small
business and they feel that they're part of and a
part of the growth and part of you know, the
maturity of the business and where we're going in the future.
They're willing to do anything for you in the company.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, you know it's really important. And thank you again
for coming on the show, Travis, because you know that
your company Garden three three three States now always bring
that out because of the fact that you know your
competition out there is non African American maybe bigger. How
do you compete and how do you win these contracts?
Speaker 3 (23:18):
So right now I'm not we're not even looking at
it as a competition.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Okay, smart they.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Have these larger they have these larger companies which they
call primes. Right, these are the larger individual companies, like
like an allied universal right, which is global right. We
can't compete with allies, you know. So what we do
there's enough opportunity there. Maybe we do a subcontract and
we partner with ally, or we partner with another minority
(23:46):
security company, you know, to to to get a larger
federal contract or a larger non federal or state or
government contract or public or private contract and we work together,
you know during some networking things. I've meant you know,
a few security industry professionals and either minority and non
(24:07):
minority and always offered the opportunity to work with them.
I met a gentleman and cybersecurity. We got together and
partnered in a few things. So, you know, it's not
about competition right now, you know, because we can't afford
to compete with anybody. We can afford to partner with you.
We can afford to get together and just them, especially
(24:28):
with our minority partners and brothers and sisters out there
in the industry. We would love to get together and
partner with them. And then at a certain point, maybe
we get together and we get big enough to you know,
compete with an ally, compete with you know, Secure Thoughts
and some of these larger security firms that are out there.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
The Guardian is a private security corporation. He's hiring, this
company's hiring. He uses his twenty five years of HR experience.
Their mission is to maintain a strict and unwavering code
of ethic with their employees, clients, and community to provide
the most qualified, dedicated professional officers that represent both the
client and the Guardian. What's that number to call? I's
(25:09):
one that wants to consider employment opportunities at your company, Travis.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
That number is four zero four seven sixty six to
six one one. That's poor zero four seven six six
six one one.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Travis, thanks for coming on my show. And I really
appreciate you taking the time man, you know because uh,
thank you. You know, you laid it out man, because
I think that, you know, I always like to admit
my flaws, because hr I really disrespected it. I did
not consider it. I just people come through that door,
they say the right things, and especially when it came
to family, I just hired family because they were family,
(25:46):
which is another conversation you know.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
We can talk about.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
But again, thank you for coming on Money Making Conversations
master Class Traffication. We talked soon.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Bye bye, right, don't go in nowhere. We'd be right
back with more Money Making Conversation Masterclass. This is Rushan McDonald.
I'm the host of this show. This has been another
edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass hosted by me Rushawan McDonald.
Thank you to our guests on the show today and
thank you for listening to audience now. If you want
to listen to any episode I want to be a
(26:18):
guest on the show, visit Moneymakingconversations Dot com Our social
media handle is Money Making Conversation. Join us next week
and remember to always leave with your gifts.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Keep winning
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I am Rashaan McDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass,
where we encourage people to stop reading other people's success
stories and start planning their own. Listen up as I
interview entrepreneurs from around the country, talk to celebrities and
ask them how they are running their companies, and speak
with non profits who are making a difference in their
(00:26):
local communities. Now, sit back and listen as we unlock
the secrets to their success.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
On Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
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The interviews and information that this show provides are for
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Moneymaking Conversation dot com, My guests, Let's get to it.
Is a season hr professional with over twenty five years
of corporate experience. His company, The Guardian, is a private
security corporation with three separate divisions, armed and unarmed, uniformed
security officers, personal protection, and private investigations. He's serving Georgia, Alabama,
(01:42):
and North Carolina. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations. I'm
gonna call him a good friend of mine. Travis, t Wayne,
how you doing, Travis good? Because you're always a shout
out and like the way my voice sound on the radio.
But I do it for you, brother, I do it
for you. But you know you're a New York boy.
Now down in the South, Now, how's that treating there?
(02:03):
The food exchange there, you know, Northast.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
And to listen to Southern hospitality has been great. Atlanta
has been treating me like I've been I've reached here
all my life. You know, I had a lot of
family down here, but I'm moving down here with different
experience and you guys have been awesome, So thank you
to all the Atlanta faithful and Georgia faithful. I've been
treated me with open af Well.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Tell, before we get started, let's talk about you a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
In your company, The Guardian, that's a great name, private
security corporation.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
You have three separate divisions.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Talk about it because your background is HR, which means
that you've been dealing for twenty five years, and the
corporate experience, that whole way of how people should come
to work, how people should be interview prepared for interviews,
how is that translated? And making your company, The Guardian
(02:55):
that much better because of your HR experience.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
So I think the the uniqueness of being an HR,
and I was the head of an HR department at
a community bank in New York is the fact that
you're dealing with all aspects in all departments and divisions
of a corporation. Right. You're dealing with the finance, you're
dealing with the sales team, you're dealing with the operations.
So you know, I always tell managers and employees to
(03:21):
learn the business of your industry. So you know, once
you learn the business of your industry, HR just gets
right in there. It's translatable to every industry that there is.
Every industry needs an HR department that takes care of people.
How can a business run without your people? Your business
is your people, right, So the HRR fat HR experience
(03:44):
and that industry helped me to be able to, you know,
first cater to our people. You know, I learned the
industry and the great mentor Benjamin Manner, and then from
that point, you know, took the experience that I learned
from my finance industry that I worked in New York,
you know, from the sales and operations, and took you know,
(04:08):
the things that I learned from some of those great people,
great executives there, and translated it to the security.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Industry's well, that's great to hear. You know when you
talk about you know, managing talent, which is basically what
you're doing your people who come in different personalities, you
have to get to work under a certain degree of leadership.
You don't know, you know, the great thing about people
fill out an application, right, Travis, They say they want
to work for you, but that doesn't mean that they
(04:36):
really want to work for you. How do you find
the right person for your company to guardian?
Speaker 3 (04:43):
So what we do is we try to. You know,
we don't do the normal interview process, right, We don't
sit there and say what are your stress what are
your weaknesses? Okay, we get a person there and we
have a conversation with them. Right. You get them comfortable
so you can see the genuine person. You don't see
their representative. So you'll see you know, you know, how
(05:03):
a person acts when they get comfortable, so you can
see their true selves. You know, when you talk about
how they get when they get upset, or you know,
when they get aggravated, or they a patient person. You know,
these are the things that that you have to be
aware of in the security industry. You know, your guards
have to be patient, they have to have that customer
service attribute to them. They have to you know, be
(05:26):
able to get along with other people. So you know,
you get them comfortable, you get them talking, talking about themselves,
seeing their family dynamics, seeing the type of the type
of people they are, the type of person he or
she is, and then you go from there. Listen, nothing
is one hundred percent, right, It's not. It doesn't always work,
(05:47):
but you know, if you do it that way and
you and you treat your people right on your end
after you hire them, you know, you can lower that
turnover quickly.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
But I'm sure there are certain qualities you look for
somebody paper, you know, talking too much, look like they
had a little edgy because, like you said, you're in
the security business, which means that the number one thing
that my thought process and security is to be that
person who buffers and in state, keeps situation calm and
makes people when something bad goes wrong. They're the leaders
(06:21):
of direction there. They show leadership immediately. So so if
someone comes in for interview for your company the guardian,
what are some of the no nos that you they
should make sure they don't bring to the table to
be interview for your company?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Right? Well, on one of my is if they're impatient, impatience,
you know they impatient. You know, if a person is
not patient, if they're sitting there and they can't wait
you know a good maybe twenty twenty five minutes for
the interview process and you know, to sit there and
meet security supervisor, then this is not a person that
(06:58):
we want, right. They really don't want to work, right.
They have a whole stash of money somewhere that that
we don't know about. A side gig for them, you know,
or or that's going to relate to them on the job,
you know, not being patient, you know, maybe having guarding
a line and there's people on the line who are
talking a little too much, you're not patient, or a
(07:21):
customer comes in and they're rushing them and they and
they're not being patient with the customer. So you don't
want that. So you want someone to be doing to
be patient. And then you also don't want someone to
be too hyperactive, too uberly excited to react right. You know,
sometimes if you react to something too quickly without having
(07:41):
either all the information or kind of laying back and
seeing how things transpire so you can react in an
appropriate way with having all the information, then that's someone
we do not want. Because there's a lot of times
you can overreact to a situation. And as you know
as well as I you overreact to something in the streets
or you know, some some people that are in the streets,
(08:03):
they're going to react to you in kind, right, they're
going to overreact to you just the way you're overreacting
to that.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
And there's always that level of disrespect too, you know,
because you know, as a security person, they don't see
you as a real authority. You know, you're playing cop
or something like that, or rental cop, and.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
So they have to flashlight I see you.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Right right, And so that's something that has to be
taking consideration. But I want to follow up something you
said earlier about HR because I made that mistake, Travis,
I undervalued HR.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I didn't realize the.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Uh oh, you can't do that. You can't do that.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
So I did it.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I did, you know, And so now I tell people
and I tell myself, you know, if I'm going to
start something, I have to have an account with legal,
on accountant and HR. You got to have those three
heads tied to your business if you want to start
it successfully. Because if you don't have those things, you
cannot be the person mediating staff. You cannot be people people,
(08:59):
a person hiring everybody, filling out the application, filing the application.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Doing all the reviews.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
It is really a complicated job because a lot of
people don't understand the nuances of HR. And it's a
lot how you speak to people when you when they're
not doing their job? Are you motivating? Of you giving
them the tools to win with? Really? You know, I'm
saying all the flag things, and I just wanted to
bring that back because I made that mistake. Travis, I
(09:27):
was like, I'm just giving me applications. Sometimes I wouldn't
even take an application. I just hire people. I get
the application later, you hire it. Not only doing a
background check. I did the mistakes and so, but people
do it on a regular basis. Tell them the ramifications
of doing that. What you do not do at the Guardian.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
So I'll take a movie a step further time. It's
all those things you just subscribe. Plus it's also making
sure managers know how to manage their staff. Like you know,
a lot of managers you get promoted or hired in
these positions and don't really know how to manage people.
You have to manage personalities, you have to manage behaviors,
(10:06):
you have to manage different cultures, different genders you know
and understand how to relate to. And you can't treat
everyone the same. So you know, it goes a little
bit further, which is not just you know, the hiring,
the firing, the posting for positions. You know, it also
goes to coaching your managers. You know, because in my position,
(10:27):
my former position, I would coach you know the C
suite team, you know that tenior staff on how to
manage their employees, how to deal with difficult employees, how
to have difficult conversations. So it's a little bit more
than that there, you know. But HR needs to have
a feed, entertainment any type of discussions that you're having
(10:48):
when you're starting a business, small businesses, medium beside business,
a large businesses, HR should be somewhere in the room understanding.
You know, listen, if you're sober bride, if you're running
as in your own you have no employee, I get it.
There's time for you to to you know, you have
some time and at that point you might not be HR.
But as soon as you start to hire employees, you know,
(11:12):
you have to understand you have to have policy and
the procedures and practices in place, you know, for to
make sure your operations are run well. So HR needs
to act at that table. HR needs to be at
the forefront of every conversation. When you're starting a new
project and your initiative taking on a new client and
new vendor, HR needs to be there.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Now you're doing security in three different states, that means
a different is talking about Georgia. We're talking about Alabama
and North Carolina. There's different rules for hr different rooms
with taxes. Did it start out like that or did
you expand to that?
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Travis?
Speaker 3 (11:52):
So, so it starts out in the Atlanta, Georgia, and
then we expanded to Birmingham all of Obama with some
parts of Hoover Investmer, Alabama. And then are our latest
uh four year into Charlotte, North Carolina. Started a few
the beginning of this year. So yeah, started in the
(12:14):
hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, moved to Alabama, and now we're
in North Charlotte, North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
And I named three different departments. You had armed in on,
armed uniform security officers. Then you have personal protection, and
then you have private investigations. Now you know, I'm a
TV guy traffic. Now I hear private investigation. I have
magnum p. I I hear all these little detectives on TV.
Educate me because I'm a play dumb on this because
(12:43):
guess what did you try to jump out there and
and try to guide people down the wrong path? What
exactly is private investigations when it involved your company, The Guardian.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
So our private investigations involved more small business in corporations. Uh,
we offer a service of coming into your business and
helping out with any type of investigation you may have. Right.
For example, it might be an HR investigation. You might
have if you're a retail store, small business, retail store
(13:15):
and you see some money missing, and then you have
this employee saying no, I didn't do it. This employee
saying no, I didn't do it. You know, we can
come in right, have have the conversations, do the interviews,
do the investigation, you know, do all the background checks,
you know, do this, do that, gather all the information,
look at all the documentation. If there's video, if there's state,
(13:37):
if there's audio. We come in and we do all
that and then we sit down with the executive and
we present to them, you know what we found, what
the case is, what the case need be, so then
they can make an educated decision at that point instead
of getting and blaming people, you know and assuming right,
you know, we help them put together the facts, the information,
(13:57):
the data, uh, any type of evidence so they can
make an educated decision or make an educated understanding of
what's going on in the situation.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Yeah. Great.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Before we go to bake break, is there a number
if one is interested in seeking employment opportunities at the Guardian.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
What is that number?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
That number is four zero four seven six six two
six one. Again, that's four zero four seven sixty six
two six one one.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Good.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
When we come back, we're gonna hear more of a
Travis Wade, Travis t Way. Like I said, I joked
about the New York. Now, he didn't plan on doing this.
Now you know, he doesn't plan on doing this, but
he pivoted and now he's doing it, and he's doing
it fantastic. But he's a New York boy. Now he
in the South, loving it, loving it. But boy, he
(14:52):
missed he missed some He missed some patties up there.
He missed some food up there though, chicken.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
(15:21):
continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
He's a season hr professional, will over twenty five years
of corporate experience. We're not bringing that up twenty five years.
His company, That Garden, is a private security corporation with
three separate division and it operates in three separate states Georgia, Alabama,
North Carolina. That means along the way there was a pivot.
Talk to us about that because you went from corporate
(15:51):
world to entrepreneurship and a lot of people resist that.
A lot of people don't want to make change, but
it happened to you. Tell us your journey, Travis.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
So without without getting two deeps, I think, you know,
for years, I've been wanting to and and and admiring
uh people who were able to open up a business
and be successful and be their own boss. Right. You know,
even through my career, as I progressed through my career
(16:24):
from managers to director, to vice president to first vice
president to head of departments, you know, I always had
it deep inside that I wanted to own my own
and create generational wealth for for me and my family.
And and you know, at a certain point I felt
like I wasn't I wasn't doing that, you know, I was.
(16:47):
I was helping other people make money, you know, and
even though you know, the bank I worked for a
community bank, Carver Federal Savings Bank in New York was
originally a black owned bank and now it's a black managed,
publicly traded bank. Does a lot for the community. There's
a lot for the inner city in New York City.
(17:07):
You know, I still felt something missed right, something that
I wanted to do as a kid or a teenager
out of high school, out of college. Wanted to be
my own boss, wanted to have my own company.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
And then, uh, you know, I got a call about,
you know, being able to take over a business and
running day to day the security business.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
So I'm like a security business. I haven't done that
in a while. I mean I haven't been that at all.
Excuse me, but I know you thought about you thought
about well, okay, guards in the front, you know, I
high security. You know, to monitor the banks and the
branch where where I'm at. You know HR usually does
that and seeks out the vendors. I'm like, okay. But
(17:52):
as I as I started getting into learning the business,
which I always advise people to when they are are
taking another job, moving through the industry, learn the business
of where you're going. You know, HR can translate, but
I need to learn the business. So I started learning
the business and what this company was doing. It was
a no brainer. And you know, I don't want to
(18:13):
get to spiritual, but you know I prayed on it
and God told me this is something you need to do.
You need to move to Atlanta and take over this business,
grow it to where it needs to do, provide your
corporate executive HR experience combined with the roots that it
(18:34):
has already in Atlanta in the Alabama area, and then
just grow it, grow it and do what you need
to do. Now, that's what got me there.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Now, and it seems like you came with some ideas.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Now for people, your ideas, That don't mean they're always
happy about the ideas.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Okay, So how did you make those ideas commun people?
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Yeah? So what I always do is when you when
you bring in a new idea, right, it's all about communication. Right.
So when you present the idea, you present a lot
of things that comes with you present what it takes
to do it. You have to present, you know, uh,
let them know you're willing to roll up your sleeves
and be a participant, not just someone sitting in the
(19:21):
office calling the shots. You have to let them know
the outcome. What do you want out of these ideas,
what do we want from changing this or doing this,
What do we see what's the future goal? And then
then you get their buy in it and their thoughts
and hey, you know, get their their their opinions on
maybe we can tweak this or tweak that. You know,
I think just coming in and preaching, hey, we're going
(19:44):
to change this, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do that.
We can do this like a military general with something
that would never work. You know, once you explain everything,
you lay it out to them, explain everything. You explain
how we're going to do it, the outcomes, you know,
what we're looking for in the future, what it's going
to do for us in the future. You provide some
some very concrete details and some outcomes that you're looking for,
(20:09):
and also ensure them that you're willing to roll your
sleeves up as well, right and get down and dirty
with it, you know, I think you know they people
tend to initially have a little pushback once they see
you and you're passionate about coming in and doing what
you say and do. Always say, do what you're going
(20:32):
to say, what you're going to do and do what
you're going to and do what you say right.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So you know, you know, that's really great because you
know of these lessons I've learned. You know, you can
be a know it all or you can be the
smartest person in the room, and people will allow you
to be that and allow you to make the mistake
and just become a person who just will take their check,
cash their check, and show up the next day. That's
(20:58):
the environment that you will avoiding. And a lot of
people come in going, I don't care what anybody say,
I'm gonna do it my way. Yeah, I hear you.
You are the balls you do run the company, but
sometimes you have to kind of like, even though you
know the answer, and I know you've done this with
your Steff Travis, you kind of throw it out there
and hopefully they react to the direction you want to go,
(21:22):
or you guide them in that direction through conversation and
then the pros and the cons correct.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Yeah, and you keep them updated, yeah okay, And you
keep them involved, right, You don't just make decisions, right,
You keep them involved in the decisions. You know, you
give them all the information and you give them buying
like they're part of it. Right, So then when they
and then you keep them updating on the outcome. Right.
If they see that you got this the contract, let
(21:50):
them see how you got it right, you know, let
them see that they're hard work, you know, played a
major part in you're getting this right because they see.
People see the history. People see the Harvard that you
guys are doing. People see, you know, the professionalism that
you're putting out there as your guard. People see, you know,
how how presentable you are, you know, in your uniform.
(22:10):
People see that, you know, you're accountable of what you're
doing there out there. You know, that's a big part
of us getting this next contract, getting this next you
know opportunity. You know, once once they see that, they're
a big part of that. And when people feel a
part of something, you know they'll do more. You know,
when people don't feel like that's not mine, I don't
care right the trash it or throw it to the side.
(22:32):
And when you feel that you're part of it, when
you feel that ownership, that that that that entrepreneurial spirit
that that should be in them all being a small
business and they feel that they're part of and a
part of the growth and part of you know, the
maturity of the business and where we're going in the future.
They're willing to do anything for you in the company.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, you know it's really important. And thank you again
for coming on the show, Travis, because you know that
your company Garden three three three States now always bring
that out because of the fact that you know your
competition out there is non African American maybe bigger. How
do you compete and how do you win these contracts?
Speaker 3 (23:18):
So right now I'm not we're not even looking at
it as a competition.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Okay, smart they.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Have these larger they have these larger companies which they
call primes. Right, these are the larger individual companies, like
like an allied universal right, which is global right. We
can't compete with allies, you know. So what we do
there's enough opportunity there. Maybe we do a subcontract and
we partner with ally, or we partner with another minority
(23:46):
security company, you know, to to to get a larger
federal contract or a larger non federal or state or
government contract or public or private contract and we work together,
you know during some networking things. I've meant you know,
a few security industry professionals and either minority and non
(24:07):
minority and always offered the opportunity to work with them.
I met a gentleman and cybersecurity. We got together and
partnered in a few things. So, you know, it's not
about competition right now, you know, because we can't afford
to compete with anybody. We can afford to partner with you.
We can afford to get together and just them, especially
(24:28):
with our minority partners and brothers and sisters out there
in the industry. We would love to get together and
partner with them. And then at a certain point, maybe
we get together and we get big enough to you know,
compete with an ally, compete with you know, Secure Thoughts
and some of these larger security firms that are out there.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
The Guardian is a private security corporation. He's hiring, this
company's hiring. He uses his twenty five years of HR experience.
Their mission is to maintain a strict and unwavering code
of ethic with their employees, clients, and community to provide
the most qualified, dedicated professional officers that represent both the
client and the Guardian. What's that number to call? I's
(25:09):
one that wants to consider employment opportunities at your company, Travis.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
That number is four zero four seven sixty six to
six one one. That's poor zero four seven six six
six one one.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Travis, thanks for coming on my show. And I really
appreciate you taking the time man, you know because uh,
thank you. You know, you laid it out man, because
I think that, you know, I always like to admit
my flaws, because hr I really disrespected it. I did
not consider it. I just people come through that door,
they say the right things, and especially when it came
to family, I just hired family because they were family,
(25:46):
which is another conversation you know.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
We can talk about.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
But again, thank you for coming on Money Making Conversations
master Class Traffication. We talked soon.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Bye bye, right, don't go in nowhere. We'd be right
back with more Money Making Conversation Masterclass. This is Rushan McDonald.
I'm the host of this show. This has been another
edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass hosted by me Rushawan McDonald.
Thank you to our guests on the show today and
thank you for listening to audience now. If you want
to listen to any episode I want to be a
(26:18):
guest on the show, visit Moneymakingconversations Dot com Our social
media handle is Money Making Conversation. Join us next week
and remember to always leave with your gifts.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.