CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN CORPORATE & CELEBRITY PROTECTIONBy Michael Brown Jr., CAS I landed back into Signature FBO in California, clearing customs after a busy couple of days.While reflecting on the assignment just completed, I realize I had traveled to New York, Florida, Mexico, and back to California in just three days’ time. During the Protectees’ visits, we had a product showcase event, business meeting with a multi-national corporation, and a product production visit at a facility in Mexico. Feeling exhausted, I still had to coordinate the pick-up and drop-off of the protectee from FBO to RON. Shortly after the mission was completed, I walked out of the private FBO and headed to my hotel for some much needed rest. Despite all of this, many would still call me just a celebrity protection guy?!Many executive protection (EP) specialists from other niches of close-in protection look down on celebrity focused EP specialists because of the type of clientele they service and the stigma associated with celebrities. The celebrity’s lifestyle often involves long nights in night clubs, short notice travel, and lack of support staff making the EP specialist responsible for a multitude of things outside of their traditional job duties while also, filling in the gap for the lack of support staff. After 12 years of experience protecting high-profile globetrotting celebrities around the world, I have acted as a Personal Assistant, Travel Agent, Tour Manager, Jet Broker, and much more. Although, I would argue that, outside of my normal responsibilities and job title, learning these additional skillsets have made me invaluable asset to any security operation.“ Many executive protection (EP) specialists from other niches of close-in protection look down on celebrity focused EP specialists because of the type of clientele they service and the stigma associated with celebrities.  Oftentimes, celebrity protection operations are solo details, due to tight budgets and additional cost, limiting the type of EP specialists who can perform the role. Generally, many specialists have unique skillsets and backgrounds that they bring to the business, such as knowledge of a foreign language, concierge, event planning, or others. The celebrity protection niche requires someone who is a jack of all trades.In comparison, corporate protection allows for additional resources like protective intelligence, TCSM, protective advance teams, medical staff, and dedicated travel agents. These resources make the job of an EP specialist in corporate a lot smoother, and make it harder for a corporate focused EP specialist to transition into celebrity protection. I have personally hired corporate EP focused specialists before for celebrity protection assignments and found them unable to keep up with the dynamic pace of celebrity protection. The celebrity EP specialist nimbleness and flexibility allows for them to easily transition into different niches within the executive protection platforms.However, the gap between celebrity and corporate protection is closing right before our eyes. Many global security programs are hiring specialists with high-end celebrity protection or tour security backgrounds more and more. Why? It’s simple. These specialists operate in dynamic environments making them experts in adaptability and planning. Most of the high-end celebrity protection specialists have specific training and real-world experience that many corporate focused EP specialist don’t have due to the robust nature of a corporate EP program. I have personally made the transition myself from celebrity protection to now working in a Fortune 10 corporation global security program. I was shocked to see how many other specialists with my background were in the corporate global security world.From my perspective, many corporations are starting to realize the need for someone who understands both the highprofile and corporate protection worlds. Executives now more than ever are becoming more like high-profile celebrities due to social media platforms and general accessibility to them. The days of protecting a CEO that nobody would recognize in the streets are over. Having someone with an array of EP experiences is key to helping mitigate the new inherent risk of the high visibility of corporate executives.Overall, we need to respect all executive protection platforms, and recognize that more platforms can transfer over to corporate EP programs then generally perceived. There is a high value that experienced, high-profile celebrity focused EP specialists, can bring to a corporate program. Offering different perspectives, this type of talent can more rapidly help transition a corporate program into a more multifaceted program that is more adaptable to the times we are in.Michael Brown, CAS, is a certified anti-terrorism specialists and executive protection specialist primarily focused on global protection missions for multi-national corporations and individuals. Prior to entering the corporate space, Michael has spent extensive time operating in the Celebrity Protection segment of the marketplace.