In episode 86 of The Kitchen Table, Ken Baden interviews TJ Russell, President of Black Raven Brigade Security, as he shares his journey from military service to start his own security company, highlighting the importance of mentorship and networking in the industry.
Tune in for insights on business, security, and the importance of networking in the industry.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:02:32] Personal security in Hollywood.
[00:05:06] High-level personal security services.
[00:10:05] Safe rooms becoming more common.
[00:12:18] Training for home defense weapons.
[00:16:23] Home security and self-defense.
[00:20:32] Big leagues of personal security.
[00:24:35] Team dynamics in private security.
[00:27:10] Veteran support initiatives.
[00:29:37] Value of networking strategies.
[00:33:31] Strategic relationships and mentorship.
[00:38:43] Home security preparedness handbook.
[00:41:49] Cloud seeding and weather control.
[00:45:19] Black Raven Brigade Security.
[00:48:36] Pursuit of mentorship and networking.
QUOTES
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Ken Baden
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialkenbaden/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialkenbaden
TJ Russell
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackravenbrigadesecurity/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tjrussell3535/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tj-russell-04aa261b2/
Email: tjrussell@brbsec.com
Phone: 6232060807
WEBSITES:
The Kitchen Table Podcast: https://thekitchentablepodcast.net/
Blue Collar Ballers Union: https://bluecollarballersunion.com/
Black Raven Brigade Security: https://www.brbsec.com/
Welcome to the kitchen table, a podcast about where business is done. So pull up a chair and join your host, Ken Baden.
All right. Welcome back to another episode of the kitchen table podcast for business gets done. I'm your host, Ken Baden, and I'm here with TJ Russell from black Raven brigade security. I said it all in one smooth sentence. I didn't think I was going to be able to, I said that right, right.
Ken Baden
Boom, boom, boom.
TJ Russell
There you go, dude. TJ, what's up, man? How are you?
Ken Baden
Good, sir. I'm doing great. How are you?
TJ Russell
I'm doing very well, man. How was, uh, you're in Arizona. So how is, what is Arizona like this time of year? I should probably know, but I haven't been back out to see old Andy in months. What's it like there right now? Is it hot as hell?
Right now we are at 89 degrees. So I got a high of 93 and a low of 63, which is going to be all.
Remember Danny told us, uh, What do you say it was like in like the dead of summer is like, dude, it's like, basically when you go outside, it's like walking through a blow dryer. I was like, well, that sounds terrible.
Some of those are very terrible, but thank you for having me on your podcast.
You're very welcome, man. Thank you for coming on the podcast. Um, so we met a man when it was the last winter, it's been so freaking long time flies, dude. December? Was it December? No, January. It was December. I think it was December, dude.
December, December, I think December 7th or December 4th.
Yeah, it was. It was freaking December, dude. That's insane, man. Time is absolutely flying. So we met almost a year ago. That is nuts. It feels like it was just like, that's why I was thinking, I'm like, yeah, a couple months. No, it's been almost a year. Wow. So we met, December of last year in Arizona at the Andy Elliott Stumann event and we were down there with some of our team and I know you and Roger got hooked up and Kind of we've just been talking ever since or at least you guys have and I haven't had the pleasure But he was super excited to have you on so what kind of all has transpired since? We last saw each other What have you been up to in the last year, man? It's been a year since we've seen each other. What have you been up to?
It's been pretty dope. We've had the blessing and opportunity to be able to do some work for Amazon and Netflix, a little bit on the more personal security side. So providing security details to the actors. We're going to do a new release, say like, you know, a three body problem. Don't come do the premiere. Everyone shows up. that entire weekend's filled with shooting all types of content. So it's a really a big pleasure seeing as we're one of the newer cats in the game. It's not something that you get a big opportunity, you know, out the gate, excuse me. So there's a lot of the success that we've had for the past year goes up to our mentors. Jonathan has been a really good guy, really been taking care of us and putting us under his wings while he's been knocking out with all the Hollywood elites, Cali and inside of Texas.
Who's Jonathan is a mentor of yours.
Oh, yeah, he's a senior in the game and kind of taking me under his wing and showing me what's what and what I'm missing out because I mean, I just turned 30 this year. And when I got out of the military, that's when I started the company. So it wasn't something that was already aware of the difference between providing security on a military aspect of it, dealing with generals, high profile individuals there or from civilian and dealing with high profile individuals who are need a lot, a little bit more catering to, uh, as opposed to necessarily a general.
But yeah, general is still in the military. They still kind of know the deal, I suppose, I guess, versus some freaking, I don't know, bougie actor who doesn't know their butt from a hole in the ground.
There's some similarities, but significantly different as far as operations go. But at the end of the day, the mission is the same. Get the individual from point A to point B safely. All we're trying to do is everyone get home back to our families at the end of the day. That's all that matters.
So this is a much cooler podcast pretense than I thought. So I mean, I knew security and he did security. But I mean, that could be security is vague, dude. That could be cyber security. That could be So you're talking like real deal, personal, high level, personal security for like high level folks. Correct me if I'm wrong.
That's, that's correct. And the goal of black Raven brigade security is to take over the entire vertical. So, I mean, from the time that you build or you purchase a lot of plot of land, implementing that security all the way through the construction phase to make sure that, you know, you're able to finish out to the person getting there, how their overall security plan is going to look like. And usually these are custom homes. So I mean, a couple of million dollars you're looking at as far as the purchase of the home. And it's not including what your additional things that you're going to want for physical security, environmental security, how you set up the landscape, if you have a safe home in your house or not, what the alarm system looks like. So it's You can get really into the weeds. I love it.
So one aspect of the job is you've got a movie premiere. And like you said, you're a little newer into, I guess, this venture. So I guess you're probably not like, I would imagine it's like who you know in that, which is really dope that your mentor kind of plugged you in. Once you get going, I guess like you work with this guy, then you work with this gal, then it's like, you know, you're the guy working with a lot of the freaking actors and actresses. But outside of that, I was like, well, what else? You know what I mean? So you're talking like anybody and everybody, including myself, I want to go build a custom home in Arizona. I would gather anywhere. And you're going to what you're going to like, okay, let's talk about, you know, I don't know, let's talk about how to fortify this, this investment. I mean, like, take me through sort of like what that looks like when someone comes to you with, Hey, I want to build a house, but they're coming to you. What are they coming to you with? Are they coming to you with like, how do I make my house by my plot of land, a compound where I can impenetrable fortress? Are they just like, Hey, what do you, you know what I mean? Like, I'm really curious as to how in the woods, in the weeds, these folks go, or is it just like, what's the standard person want? They just want like a regular old security system. Like, do you do that?
Yeah, so your average person, you're pretty much on the money with that. So great job. The average person would just have their house built, regardless of if it's, you know, half a million, 200,000, or a couple million. At the end of the day, you want to feel safe in the home. So that just starts out with just basic physical security. So, you know, window, door, alarm sensors, whatnot, having all of those things, cameras, you know, you got glass break, window sensors. And if you want to go smart, then you can take know notice when it's on and open through an app and everything so it just that's pretty much a basic. The next step is you're in a custom home and you haven't built it yet right, and so you may be in a like, for instance. Arizona has a really good, nice plot of lands, right, that are more so in the mountains. If you can, you know, pay for that, then I've got a plot of land that's, you know, a couple miles from me, that $5 million, and it's only an acre, but you're smack dab up to a mountain, you know, so it's taking into consideration, okay, well, I'm on a mountain, what's the best way for me to cover the ingress, cover the egress, I mean, you know, secluded area, How best are we able to get cell signal out here? Because in an emergency, the alarm system's got to be able to send the signal out from the home, triggering that event out to the person who's going to be responding to that. Generally, it's monitored by monitoring station 24-7, right? Additionally, you'll get your emergency contacts on there and they'll get hit. And then you can also have a private security patrol be direct response to you. So that's why I love private security because it kind of takes that middle ground to All right, well, usually we'll say we wait on the public safety, right? The police to show up, but with an average time of 22 minutes, depending on how far you're out, you might be stuck, right? So you're relying on the defenses that are built inside of the house. Again, for the custom home, how's your landscape built? Can you, do you have opportunity or avenues of egress or egress, or can you see that individual prior to them seeing you, depending on whether or not we're utilizing The camera's going to the safe room. Do you have opportunities to pick up vantage points if you choose to protect your home depending on what state you're in with a weapon? And so taking all of those considerations, it's really custom and it just really depends on what you're comfortable with, really how far in the weeds could we go.
So, no, that's awesome, dude. I mean, I was just thinking you keep saying safe room or panic room. Like, do you see that a lot? Is that like a thing that we see a lot these days? Is that, I mean, to me, that seems like like a 1% that would have that. Is that something that's becoming more common?
My goal is to make it more common because a room, a designated room is the safe room, if you make it a safe room, right? So typically your emergency response plan for your home, if you're the average person, is to what? Gather, identify the threat, gather the family, place them in one secluded area, go ahead and start making your calls while someone's securing that door. If you're competent enough and you've had the training, then go ahead and engage the threat, attempt to move the threat out of the house, give him the opportunity to leave. So it kind of really goes on to what the what you're comfortable with and how that response looks. But like I said, the safe room is something that's accessible to everyone. And my goal is to make sure that everyone is given the empowerment through the protection and the knowledge and the services that we provide by letting you know how to do that. Hmm.
I don't want to ask anything to like, cause I'm starting to really like, I'm like, wonder what this, something like this costs, you know, but feels expensive. Uh, but I mean, cause I would have a field day with this dude. I'd be like, man, I'd be like doing black ops in my house. You know what I mean? Like the call duty, like live action, black ops, like show me how, although technically speaking, I couldn't do any of that shit because I'm a felon. So I wouldn't be doing any of that, but I guess you guys could, you could show me, we could set it up to where I could be. uh, protected that way. My wife's an attorney, so maybe she could, she can do whatever she wants. But at any rate, how often do you, do you get folks that are like, teach me, teach me how to defend my house. Is that something you see a lot?
That's something I see a lot. Yep. And the only way that I'm able to even get the opportunity to do so, uh, is by making to one-on-one connection, uh, in person and knocking on the door and just having the conversation and just starting it from there. then typically we'll start at the dog. I have a German Shepherd, awesome dog. Other people have a dog already before they're able to move or they're willing to move into having the physical security of an alarm system, right? Or they may just have the dog and the weapon itself, but never use the weapon. In fact, my last client, she's a 80-year-old woman, lives out in Scottsdale. It's her and her dog, and she's got a revolver. And we talked about the revolver and I was putting the system in for her. And she said, I haven't used this revolver in six years. So she hadn't used it in six years. And so she's not since her husband had died. She hasn't had opportunity to maintain any type of training with that weapon. So little things happen like that to where, you know, you never really have to use it, but it's the fact that she had it in case she needed to have it was the best thing. And then after that, it's Now you need to have it and there's a point for you to use it. Do you remember how to use it? So training is one of those things that it's a perishable skill. I took Spanish in high school. It was pretty good in Spanish before during the army. Didn't speak a lick of Spanish afterwards. I'm having to learn Spanish all over again. So it's little things like that. So again, talking about accessibility, and making sure of value to the community itself is because we rely on ourselves and the people around us to support us in the need of an issue like that, an incident like that, right? And not a lot of us talk about the training enough, at least maybe it might be because of the whole political view of gun control, I don't know. But as a security practitioner, I feel as if if you're going to have it, Let's do something with it so that way you know how to use it when it's time to use it and you're not making an even bigger mess because you're already using it. So that intensifies your cases as usual. And please don't, if you kill them, then there's that. And so we talk about things about how to render aid if you're one of those individuals who were injured in the fight with the individual, or if you're providing first aid to that individual after you've incapacitated them and made them no longer a threat, then Our goal is to, okay, he's no longer a threat, but we don't want him to die. Right. So it's kind of interesting though. So custom will cost me your preferences, your preference. That's all I said. Yeah.
Was it like, what's like, he's got the, Roger's got the Rocky hoodie on. I was thinking about Ivan Drago. If he dies, he dies.
That's my favorite line. No.
That's how I, you said that. I'm like, yeah, come up with my house, dude. I mean, I don't know if I'm going to be, oh no, let's make sure, you know. Yeah. Duke gets you into rap anyhow, man. He's such a nice dog, but I could see it too. Like, I just don't. I'll shake your hand. That's true. You know, we, uh, you won't see this because we edited out, but we had to stop for a second because TJ has got a German shepherd. And if you've watched the show, you know, I have a German shepherd Duke. He's been on the show before, but I can't film at my house because he picks the times. Every time anything goes for whatever reason, if I get on the phone, all of a sudden, now's a good time for him to start barking, barking, especially if I'm filming something. So, but I brought him in the office a lot. And I recently, man, it's mostly because of his sister and she's had surgery and stuff on her elbow. And it's just haven't been able to bring him in as much. But when I bring him in, no one can shake my hand, man. He's just gotten weird. He's gotten weird about that. Like he sits in my office. He's chill. Doesn't mess with nobody. Doesn't really. But the second we get up and dude goes to shake my hand, he lets them know, like, I don't like that, dude. He's let them know the last couple times to the point where like, all right, well, we, we gotta, we gotta figure something out with that. Cause that's going to end up being a problem. You know what I mean? So I don't know. I can only imagine what would happen if somebody actually really did get ahold of me and my wife, they'd probably be in trouble. So, but that's a great thing to think about, right? Is Home security, start with something like a dog, or maybe a dog, plus your right to defend yourself, which I, even though I am a felon, before that I was a two-way loving, I'm just a common sense American, dude. I don't know what else to say. I don't really, but I live, I think that is the stupidest shit in the world to align yourself blindly anywhere. I just have common sense, personal fucking policies, dude. You know what I mean? Like, cause that shit could switch up. And then it's like, well, I'm a this and then, but what does this mean? You know what I mean? Like, I just know what I believe in X, Y, and Z. And that's just period. If, if everything that you are saying aligns with my values, I really don't care what you call yourself Democrat, Republican, independent. I don't care. Do you align with my personal values? Cause you, that could be a quick okie doke. I mean, hell right. Like Democrats were like, Oh, we switched everything. Like, What? Did you? I don't know. Like you could do that again. Who knows? So I don't, I don't, I don't do all that mess personally. I just have what I believe is common sense and good practice. And I believe you should be able to freaking somebody can come up in my house with a gun, dude. I want to, I want to have the right to be able to protect myself with that. And I have to call you to come help me because I chose to obey the law. You know what I'm saying? You can promise me that's never, ever a possibility, but I mean like, I just don't see it in the good old US of A, dude. There's way too many out there. You know what I mean? And then it's like everybody who's got them is just breaking the law. I'm like, nah, we ain't doing that. So at any rate, that's my, here's my gun control, uh, rant, but, uh, I really support what you're doing, man. I think it's besides the gun stuff, man. I mean, personally, it's just dope. What a fun job, man. Like you gotta have a blast. I mean, you get to just like do cool shit and like, all right, how do I get to like fortify this little compound? I mean, I would imagine it might get a little rudimentary or boring just putting in like security systems. But like when I get a client that's like, all right, even that lady, I got a revolver here. Can you show me how to use it? Yes. Yes, I can. Yes, I can.
I jump at the chance. It's sometimes it's boring just to get in there, but it all works out because I think Alex Gramozzi said this. just making those just you're just trying to load the basis right and every now and then you may get up and you've got all the bases loaded and you'll hit that home run and it'll all count for that one right there and so those little things like that customer permit right there that's loading up the bases of the skills prior to me able to me be able to utilize them in that moment to provide her some value. That's the goal. Provide her value and keep her safe and try to utilize these objects to protect her home and herself.
And take me through how someone in your line of business goes from, all right, we're doing, you know, home security, we're doing security systems, and I can show you how to use your own methods of securing your home, I can help you set up security systems. but it feels like getting into like personal security, especially like high level, you know, generals, uh, musicians, influencer, I don't know, famous folks, man, people that would need high, people that would need personal security. Like, how do you get into that? Cause it feels like it's almost two different, like, you know, one's like what I would consider residential. And then you have this other, arm of this industry that seems way more, I don't know, unique, like almost like the big leagues, you know what I mean? Is it kind of like that? Is that kind of how you would view it? Like, all right, we're in the big leagues now, we're doing less, the alarms are the day-to-day and paying the bills, but the big leagues are these big clients where I'm getting to go out and do what I really like doing in personal security. Is that kind of how it is?
Yeah, that's exactly how I think about it. As the big leagues, like, it's a very close knit community. And so you've got to do other, I call them side quests, really, you've got to do other side quests, you know, to level up get that experience and that exposure. Before one of those individuals who are connected decides to take a chance on because I mean, it's It's the little stuff that will get you in trouble in the big leagues, right? That's the make or break of a, of a touchdown in the NFL, you know, a small holding call. And that was a touchdown winning pass right there. And it's the little things type of thing like that. So, um, much more of a, less margin for error. At the same time, it's just common sense. Like you said, to be honest, treat the individual like they're supposed to be treated. Make sure you're doing your job. Have a smile on your face. Don't look like a slob and keep her going. That's it. Don't crash. Don't unnecessarily slap somebody if you don't got to. Other than that, just enjoy. it's a presence thing. I don't mind being a fly on the wall. So it's okay. Right. My goal is to make sure that I'm the fly on the wall in the room, but instantly transform into the line to protect the pride at the same time. Right. So it's a bit more different for me because I'm okay with during the day, selling the home security, making sure that my overall impact to the community is heard. And then during the night, changing uniforms, putting on the suit, and just having a presence with that individual. Sometimes it may not be that serious. Somebody will might want personal protection just for a night out. They're in town for a couple of days. Not they're not familiar with the area. I'll show you around the area. You got your protection there. And it's as simple as that.
So it really varies. You get a lot of that. Is that like, is that like, you know, a rapper or I don't know, I'm just using I don't know, whoever would be able to afford that. I mean, I'm certainly not just like, some normal person calling him like, hey, or I guess that could be the case, but I feel like it's going to be like a celebrity comes in and it's like, all right, I want to go out tonight. Like, that's who I imagine is going to call out like private security.
Is that agreed? Agreed. And that's what we imagine, right? At the same time, there's so many, there's so much more money that's in plain clothes that it's not even funny. And so it's not necessarily that this pit, this person's super influential, super high profile, and they got to know it could just be freaking loaded.
And then, right.
And so there are bigger companies that are deal with those super guys. That's fine. I get in where I could fit it. Uh, and again, like I said, doing those one-on-ones going out and meeting people is how you find those individuals, uh, who are interested in that and have, uh, the budget to do so. And so it's literally just taking care of the individual while they enjoy their night out and you make sure they get home safely. That's it.
Do you have a team if you needed to, like, All right, because I'm thinking of the scene in Taken. I don't know, my imagination is going with this. Thinking of the scene in Taken when it starts. And he was, of course, Liam Neeson. He plays the same freaking guy in every movie. He's a badass ex-military guy with his ex-military buddies. And they're like, oh, we got. And one of them has their own security company. And they're like, bring him in. Like, oh, come on. We're bringing you in on our ex-military. This is what we do, private security stuff now. Remember? And then the singer, there's an issue and he ends up being the one that saves her. And so he gets her to come out and like give singing lessons to his daughter in the end. But do you have that like team with some of your ex buddies or whatever? Like, do you live that out? Do you play that out? Or is that just all made up shit? Or since you own the company, do you bring in some of your old buddies? If you have a big job, like, Hey man, I got a big job. I need to bring you in. It's anything like that or no, that's all just movies.
I think it's a bit more of a hybrid, a little bit of both. Having a standby team for Texas and a standby team for Arizona. And if we do anything else out of state, then pull from those teams if there's nothing active for there and just fill in. So I mean, you keep a running roster of individuals to use. And there's a plethora of other, again, it's a close-knit community. So you can ask for help. And they're not afraid of, you know, helping you out for doing it. So you oftentimes may get another owner of another security company who's used to doing more high profile stuff than you, but he's got the time to help out. And so he's like, yeah, I got time, let's come through. Again, back to the networking portion of it. It's about who you know. I've had to learn that the hard way. Jumping into the game just like fresh like so this has been, you know, my college for me. Absolutely awesome hands on experience, you know, better than sitting in a classroom and learning this stuff, but we don't totally disregard the classroom, it's just your feedback can be actively get something out with some feedback on it. And so having support inside of the community is partial. I'm sorry, not partial, crucial to that aspect. Again, like I said, I had to learn that the hard way, because I'll be like, I'll do it myself. I can do that. No, you won't. You need help. Everybody needs help. So it's been great.
I'm blessed. So what are your plans? I guess I I don't know, I guess short answer to that. So you don't have any, any old military buddies that you, you, you sometimes keep on standby or bring them in for jobs or might, or.
Oh yeah. The entire roster is prior military and law enforcement. So they're either active or a veteran still in security, um, or they're a law enforcement, um, professional public security, maybe doing off duty. Um, but. it's all verified and through. I try to maintain as much as possible, either through a veteran of police or military. I love seeing our military boys coming out here. That's kind of our brotherhood. When you talk about a brotherhood, that's our brotherhood kind of aspect of it. But that's pretty much it.
I love seeing the military get to come back and make some bread, dude, and do like Like, all right, you busted your ass now, like make some good money. You know what I mean? Like real good money and see that entrepreneur angle play out well, man. I love it. I'd much rather support somebody who's wasn't in the military and went out there and earned it than not. You know what I mean? If I've got my pick, I'm picking that one every time. So what branch were you in? Army. And my dad was Navy, so.
Uh, that's okay. My brother was Navy too.
Yeah, I know. He wouldn't appreciate me saying it like that. As far as football goes though.
Navy's got a solid squad for football. I can't lie about that.
He, uh, but I mean, you know, with our current company, uh, we're not technically veteran owned because he doesn't own it. I do, but Even before when he was still here, he was like, well, I'm not a wartime veteran or I don't know, man. He was so caught up in that shit. I'm like, Ted. Okay, whatever, man. You know what I mean? But we give back. The company we're at now, we have a partnership with Owens Corning, with Potomac, actually, the shirt I'm wearing right now, where we do the veteran roof deployment, where we give a roof to a veteran in need every year, that basically just somebody fell on hard times and can't afford it. And we go through and hook them up with a roof, a literal roof over their head. The last one was an Air Force guy. Hopefully we'll be able to take care of an army guy here. It doesn't matter, man. Military is military. Anything we can do to help out, we'd be happy to, but take us through, man. What are your, you know, you've come around since the last, how long have you been in business, first of all? Like how long have you been doing this?
Three years, three years on my own company. And otherwise it was freelance consultants to work for two years prior to that.
Yeah. So all in all, it's still very much in a sense in its infancy, you've made it past the second year. Uh, most companies don't most entrepreneurs don't even do that. Now, here we are going into, it's been a year since I've seen you. So you were real new when I saw you, you were just two years in, we saw you in, uh, December. Um, you're at the Elliott group spending money. be out there at a network to do and I get dude, I get it. That's that was that was that whole prior year before. For me, I was at every month I was traveling, I was shaking hands. I mean, networking is just such an underrated, underutilized And I think a lot of entrepreneurs are people, and especially nowadays with social media, like, oh yeah, networking, it's not what you know, or it's who you know, and your network is your net worth. But I still think it's underutilized. I still don't think people truly grasp how valuable networking is. It isn't art. It's a strategy. Before I ever even joined any of these groups or paid to be in any group, I spent time locally piecing together my own local mentorship group. And you mentioned mentor. My guess is, I mean, do you pay this person or he's just a mentor of yours? There you go. Just to me, you went, Hey man, will you teach me the ropes body out of yada? I'm sure something like that.
Yeah. Teach me the ropes, but it's more so what are you doing on your plate that you can't do effectively right now? So can there's a trade, right? So You need me to train guys. We have a training school for security officers. Okay, cool. You got new guys coming in. We're getting whipped up. That's fine. Let me get a shot at the big leagues with you. Done. Say no more. All right, cool. That's it. You know, little stuff like that and keeping abreast of what's going on. I try to provide value as much as possible. So, um, if there's any way that you think of one and, you know, coming up after the podcast and whatnot, then let me know. I try to be a resource as much as possible.
It's smart, man. And I was just getting ready to say, I hope you all caught that. Right. So like, I was going to say, as far as like how I got mine and I got mine by just flat out asking, I mean, I, I suppose the point to point out is I was actively looking. Right. And like, I knew who the players were. So first of all, I was already, who are the companies that are doing things? Right. How do I know why I look them up? I make it my business to know who my competitors are, who's doing well, who isn't, who's doing shit the right way. You know, there's a company here locally that I think currently is kind of expanding and doing well, just by perception. Uh, I can see they're spending money, but I've also heard horrible, horrible, horrible things. about them for years. So like, that's not somebody who I would approach. Hey, what are you doing? Like, I don't want to know what you're doing because I've heard really, really bad things about whatever you guys got going on over there. But so making it your business to know who's who in your industry and then putting it out there that like, okay, I'm looking for someone to kind of take me under their wing. But moreover what TJ said, Dude, I didn't even come into it from like, uh, I just offered to buy the guys some coffee, anything I could do. Uh, he asked me to pay it forward to the next person. TJ's approach is a very smart one. You want to get into the big leagues or whatever your business is. That reciprocity approach. Like, Hey, how can I help you? Like he said, providing value, providing value, providing value. And he's right, Hormozy. Hormozy and a lot of others talk about all the time, like give it away for free until you can charge for it. And in this case, you want to find a mentor. Hey man, I can provide you value for free. Just get me in, give me a shot in the big leagues. Help me out on this. Give me a bid on this commercial project. Teach me how to get a bid on a commercial project. Cut me in on the next time you needed a sub for this business. whatever, it's going to be a lot more likely that that person's going to even listen to what you have to say. If you're like, I can help train your canvassers. I can help train your salespeople. I can run this call. You don't want to run like whatever it is. That's smart TJ. And that's thinking like an entrepreneur, man. So it's no wonder you're in the seat that you're in, man. Like that's impressive. So I'd say that's a smart, I call it strategic. I call it strategic relationships, right? Like strategic communication, strategic relationships. You know, I was literally like writing a book on relationships. I just, I got like three book ideas right now, man, where I'm like, I'm gonna start this one, then I'm gonna do this one, then I'm gonna do this one. And they've just been sitting there. But the one on relationships is just like the strategic relationship. Like I could use like, It truly is so valuable in who you know and who you keep around you. You know, they say you're the sum of the five people you're around the most, right? Like you are show me your friends. I'll show you your future, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's that stuff is just so true. And I mean, getting the right mentor is just so powerful, man. So anyhow, kudos to you, dude, seriously. Uh, and I hope that if you're listening to this, you take anything away from that. That was a really good little tidbit. Like that's a great tip. You want to get a mentor? You want to get somebody? When you get in with someone, provide value, offer value. No catch, just offer value. What's the catch? I just want to learn from you, man. I just, can I call you my mentor? Can I, can I call you sometime? Can I learn from you? Give me a shot at the big leagues. That's real, really, really smart. Really smart. So what's the next year? We're, we're kind of running up on the end here. And I don't want anybody to miss out on what you have planned for kind of the back end of this year. What's the future look like for you and for the company, TJ?
I can tell you that we're going to have a nice last quarter, right? You mentioned something about writing as much value free up front, give it all the way for free up front. So that's my goal. I'm creating a ultimate home security handbook for new homeowners. That goes to second time homeowners and whatnot, but it's just a resource library of knowledge for you to go through, make sure that you can go from not knowing how to secure your home to having that peace of mind and be feeling comfortable inside of your newly purchased house. And then also knowing that you can protect your family and make sure that you can last until the cops are actually able to get there. And that's it. Those are the main things that I feel that most people are looking for. So I'm giving that away for free. It's something that I love to do. And there'll be chances to train in person, to do some live firearms training and whatnot to come down later on the line. But that's it. I'm just trying to build a community where I can give it all away for free. So I can go play in the big leagues too.
That is, uh, it's actually super dope. And I want to get my hands on that. When, when do they, when can we expect to see that?
It's dropping in the next 30 days.
So in the next 30 days, so yeah, I was going to say, man, let us know as soon as you do, we'll make sure by the time you're listening to this, it'll probably be a couple of weeks, uh, away from coming out. So we'll make sure that we, you know, we do, uh, we'll have to run a new ad or something. I mean, like when it comes out, we'll have to like repurpose a reel from this and make sure to put the link in there. Cause I want to make sure people get that. Cause that's dope, dude. I think people right now, Let's just be real, man. With kind of everything, where everything's at, people are scared, I think, right? Like, they're afraid to spend money. People are really unsure. It's been a crazy freaking year. Honestly, I feel like that's a lot of job security for you, which is weird, because in most cases, this has been like the worst year for anybody. But I guess in your line of work, it's kind of like, well, fear does kind of help. So it's unfortunate, but I mean, it does, it's good for you. Hey man, I'm happy for you. I mean, it's, uh, um, you know what I mean? Let's be real. It helps. It helps, you know, people like, Hey, I want to know how, I don't know what's going to happen. Just teach me how to, how to, and that's what I wanted to just, just, you don't have to go into very big detail here, but if somebody wanted to, And they were like, man, I'm a little worried. I don't know what's going on. And you mentioned securing your home. Do you also do training on like securing your home for a few weeks, for a few months? for, you know what I mean? You get what I'm, you smell what I'm stepping in here. Like, would you help somebody who's like, Hey, I want to know what, what to do. What if power goes out? I'm stuck with my family for a couple of weeks or a month. Who knows? Do you get a lot of that? Cause I feel like right now that's a thing, you know what I mean? And that might be something worth exploring if you're not, but I'm just saying I pay for it. I pay for it, but come on over, man. Show me what's up, dude. Lights go out. What's up? How do I turn? How do I give me some night vision goggles, something.
Absolutely. And that's much appreciated. Yeah, I got what you're stepping in. That's one of the things that you're going to learn inside of the ultimate home security handbook. It's not just home security systems. It's not just how you pick them. It's Okay, I got them. Now, how do I utilize them inside of my overall home security scheme, right? How do I incorporate that with the dog, my firearm, my med kit, my fire escape for the family? You know, having to utilize the med kit, and then what's the continuity look like for hurricanes? blizzards, earthquakes, and all of that. So it's really unfortunate that Florida gets a lot of what it gets, but those are some of the most strongest people that I can point out. If I had to point out anyone, brave through the elements, like they brave through the elements. And so some of us are as prepared as they are, but that hope that the home security handbook gives you everything you need to get that peace of mind, knowing that you're that much more, you know, ready to make it through whatever life throws at you.
That's super cool, man. So the home security handbook is actually going to already mentioned some of that stuff. And I'd imagine like, down to the point where it's like, all right, well, what if? And like you said, Florida, that's exactly how it was. They don't have power. They don't have gas. They don't have like, they might need a life straw or boil water. You might need that shit. You don't know. They just got smacked by two monster hurricanes back to back. What are the odds? Really weird odds. You know, what are the odds? He knows what I'm going out with this. What are the odds that a hurricane forms in the Gulf and goes east, just pummels Florida and picks up and gets to a category five in like 30 seconds? But, you know, it's almost like somebody is like manipulating it or something. But I don't know.
Weird odds. Fairly interesting that you just hit U-turn.
Yeah, immediately. Right. Immediately. Which, like the last time this happens, like 100 plus years ago, I get very conspiratorial and tinfoil. But then what's been tinfoil and isn't is like, well, actually, pretty much all that's pretty much happened or proven to not be tinfoil. I mean, cloud seeding is very real. Anyhow, don't get me started, man, because I mean, like, I don't know my wife. My wife's like, all right, look, I'm usually with you. But as far as like government Producing hurricanes to like I just and I'm like look man. I at the very least for me I am not going to discredit anything anymore. I'm not gonna just be like, all right, that's crazy. It's possible It might be crazy as hell but I mean I'm not just gonna be like there's no way cuz honestly I don't think we know half of what the hell is possible. I know there's patents for it That's what I know. I know there's patents for it and I know in Dubai they cloud seed all the time They make it rain all the time over there. Like they're just Super crazy rich and that's dope but they cloud seed right now They make it rain all the time and they just had a flood So I couldn't help but think maybe that was a little bit of a malfunction But cloud seeding has been around for a long time, dude They can make it rain if they want very simple China did it to clean up for the Olympics, you know that Like this is way cheaper. It's way cheaper to just make it rain. I Mean we can do that. I don't know if we can make category 5 hurricanes or nothing now I'm just saying but I know we can make it rain. I know we can cloud seed and I know there's some patents for it.
So I'm going to get this summer in Arizona.
Right. I was just freaking flooded, man. Like, why couldn't you, like, help us out? You know? Well, that's the thing, man. You aren't in your zones of no interest. They don't give a damn about no Arizona. You know what I mean? You don't have any lithium mines in Arizona. You don't have. They're not building any 15-minute cities in Arizona. Dude, you're not on the map yet. Don't worry. As soon as they have a need for your spot in Arizona, don't be surprised if you get the first ever flood in the mountains, like they did in North Carolina. In the mountains, mind you. Because they didn't talk about that. It rained for like three days before that hit in Carolina. Straight. And that's why a lot of those reservoirs, a lot of those reservoirs busted. So it's like, That's weird, dude. You know what I mean? All these people are up in a mountain, man. Like, what's up with that? And then you find out like, oh, by the way, where it happened is they got all this stuff that they got all this stuff that someone else wants. And that just, to me, always makes me like, huh, you know, things that make you say, hmm, things that make you say, hmm. I don't know. I'm just saying, man, I'm just, I mean, it's just in my nature to be like, I mean, I could be crazy as hell, man, I could be, but I'm at least not afraid, at least here, I'm gonna tell you this much. I'm not so worried about what anyone thinks to not speak my mind, like, well, that's weird, that's odd, that's convenient, you know what I mean? Like, damn, that's convenient, the first ever thing, like, damn, that's really crazy for this place up in the mountains to flood from a hurricane And yet there's all these resources that they've been trying to get and having pushback and blah, blah, blah. And now it looks like, well, it might just be easy peasy for them to make that happen. You know, that's really convenient. So like, just to put like, oh, there's no way, like maybe not, man, but why not have a discussion about what happened to discussion? You know, I don't know. I feel like the powers that I'm going, I'm doing what I thought I wasn't going to do. I'm going in, dude. I'm going in. I'm deep diving down the rabbit hole. It's too late. Yeah. No, no. I'm going to, we're too late and we're too, we're too late in it. We'll have another two parter episode if I keep going. It's not about that. It is about TJ and his security company. And really I want to focus on him really getting out that. I think that's super cool what you're doing as far as the, uh, the, the, well, yeah, we won't mention this, I guess we can, but let's try not to make sure that we don't do any reels on that until it comes out. Just in case, make sure nobody takes that idea and runs with it. But I just think that's such a cool idea to do that handbook for free. I want to see you get a lot more play, man. First of all, you're a very likable guy. What you do, I love. And I just want to see you do well, man. So I cannot wait to see Black Raven Man, I had it down so well. Brigade security? Really? Black Raven Brigade Security. Right? Yeah. All right. The Black Raid, Black Raven Brigade Security. Do well. Crush it. And I want to see you out there, man, in a major way, dude. So listen, if you're in Arizona, or do you have to be in Arizona? Can you go outside of the state?
You can't go outside of the state. You just have to be able to afford outside, but mainly I've been Arizona and in Texas.
Yeah. So a lot of your home security stuff or whatever, it's going to be Texas or Arizona, but it doesn't mean you can't, if you were willing to pay for TJ services, you can get TJ services. Uh, Yeah. Right. So, um, but if you're in the areas and you're looking for those Texas or Arizona, hit my man up, where can they find you TJ?
Um, you can find me at just email me TJ Russell at B R B S E C.com. That's Bravo, Romeo, Bravo, Sierra, echo, charlie.com. That's black Raven brigade security. Just shorten it to signal. But yeah, you can just give me an email on there or you can Uh, shoot me a text 6, 2, 3, 2 0 6 0 8 0 7. I'll let me down for the conversations. I want to make sure that you're looking for, that you find what you're looking for and the expectation of protecting your family and getting that peace of mind. I provide that. So if that's something you're looking for, then let me know.
What was that phone number one more time, just a little slower.
Oh, 6, 2, 3.
three zero six zero eight zero seven beautiful right on man so text call or email if you're looking for tj services uh i hope and the main premise is providing value that's the whole purpose of this show by the way i don't get paid to do this you know i mean we we just do this because we love the conversation and the networking for me i get the networking So I get to meet really cool people, other entrepreneurs, other business people, other high achievers and high level folks. And my network grows and grows and grows. We've gotten plenty of benefits from it. Don't get me wrong. I mean, we've gotten marketing sources. We've gotten all kinds of cool stuff. We've gotten board members. I mean, we've gotten a lot of stuff, but my point is if you're listening to this show, the whole premise is to provide value to the listeners. So I sincerely hope you as a fellow salesperson, high achiever, entrepreneur, and life enthusiast, person who is in the pursuit of their highest and best self. Like that's our target demo. You know what I mean? So I feel like you fit right in, man. And I really truly hope that you got some value from this. And I just want to point out again, like what TJ said about like, I really think a couple of the things that he said that were really highlights. I love I just want to make sure it doesn't go unnoticed that whole, like the pursuit of mentorship and how important your network and your mentor group is. And he said something that even like I haven't been pushing, but just offering that value. And that goes across the board, not just trying to get mentors or networking groups, but just you're trying to get going. You're trying to build a brand for yourself. Well, the easiest way is just to give it away for free. No, don't give away the whole house, I suppose. Um, but. Frankly, I mean, if you give a lot of this stuff away for free, and then it adds to your credibility, and like Hermosi would say, give it away until you can afford to charge or until you're credible enough to charge for it. But that's just such a smart idea to get a mentor or a great networking group. So I love it. Um, make sure that you, uh, check out my guy, TJ uses services if you're in need of them. And we will be back guys. If you like this episode, if you got value out of it, let us know in the comments, please like subscribe, leave a review. It's how people know that the show exists. If you like TJ. and you want to ask him any questions, tag him in the comments. Let us know what you want to see, what you like, what you don't like. We'd love to hear from you. And listen, if you think that we can help your business grow, we, as in me and my guys over at Baden Consulting, we're taking clients again. Now, I don't normally say this at the end of the show because we weren't doing that. We're going to take on about one client a quarter. So if you do, go to thekitchentable.net and I think it is .net, right? Yeah, .net, thekitchentable.net. Click on the consultation. There's a spot for you to click on and let's just see if we're a good fit. Let's start there. See if we're a good fit. A lot of you solar guys and gals that are looking to maybe learn how the roofing industry works or how the home remodeling industry works, if you're looking to get into that, we can help. That's kind of where we'd really like to kind of stay, but we can certainly entertain other things and see. I mean, hell, we've been contracted by doctor friends of mine to find space to do COVID shots. So we've done a lot of things, but if you think we could help click on the link and let's have a conversation, see if we can help grow your business. TJ, thank you so much. Make sure you check my guy out guys. We'll see you next time.
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