Today we’d like to introduce you to Mohammed Ali.
Mohammed, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In the mid-’90s, my parents immigrated to the United States from Cairo, Egypt, and landed in the San Fernando Valley. To be more specific, Northridge is where I’ve lived and did all my schooling starting with Pre-K all the way up to University level. Upon moving to the U.S., my parents worked extremely hard. My father worked as a security guard, and my mother as a dispatch operator within the same security company. After just a few years of working in the security industry, my mom encouraged my dad to open his own security company. Starting from nothing, they turned their business into a multi-million-dollar revenue company by 2003; everything was built from the ground up in my family. I could only imagine the happiness that dawned upon my immigrant parents having had nothing moving to the U.S. and within only a few years generating millions of dollars in their company. Unfortunately, 2008 came around with many losses. My parents were going through a divorce, and the security company began to collapse. My father abandoned the company and moved to Arizona. My mother was left with no choice, being a single mom with three children, so she took the licensing exam to become a Private Patrol Operator (PPO) and opened her very own security company.
When I was about 18 years old, I started to get involved in the company. This, on its own, sparked my true passion for business. I was inspired by my mother’s diligence and dedication for which I found myself immersed in her journey. I started off in the company slowly. First, as a security guard and before I knew it, I was moving up the ladder. My experience had varied within many departments; I was an office administrator, a supervisor, an account manager, a sales representative, and within five years, I learned the business inside out. During this time, I was also pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at California State University Northridge. Those educational years of learning human behavior really helped contribute to dealing with and understanding my employees today and building my social awareness. Psychology inspired me to better understand myself as a person, and through this self-discovery, I found my passion. I became more and more exposed to the security industry, and I knew that I wanted to continue my family’s legacy to become a CEO and the youngest person in my family to start his own company at only 22 years old. My mother has always been a deep source of my motivation. She provided me with her PPO license and all the necessary training I needed to operate my own business.
About a year ago was when I officially began my journey as the owner of Strategic Security Inc. As a millennial, being a CEO has taught me so much. I began to understand the true meaning of what it means to be dependable, responsible, and a leader. I had a constant obligation to ensure my employees are being paid on time, meanwhile still providing for myself and actively growing the company. I continued to branch out the foundation of the company by promoting and marketing myself in a new and innovative way, much differently than my parents did. I created contacts through personal networking, which led me to working with clientele I could only dream of. I have provided bodyguard services for rapper G-Eazy and singer Halsey while also transporting 300 USC students to venues for private events. Today, my team currently consists of 20 security officers on staff and one sales executive. It has been an honor to be a part of an experience where I can create job opportunities for others and grow within that realm. I am in love with the idea of exponentially growing this entity that started with just a name and logo to a large, strong, and name-recognizable security company.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to today has truly impacted the destiny of my future endeavors. Between my father losing his company that was profiting $2M per year for five years consecutively, to my mother starting a company from scratch, this turmoil definitely resulted in years of distress and dysfunction within my family. Those transitional years were deeply traumatic but nonetheless contributed to my resilience and survival. My mother grew her company substantially over the years and will continue to until her very last breath. She prepared my older brother and I to open our very own companies, to which I am forever grateful. Today, we look back and reflect at the heart-breaking experiences that affected our family unit and all the stress that came with attempting to revive our family income.
Strategic Security Services – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
At Strategic Security Services, we are proud to provide armed and unarmed security officers for all types of businesses, facilities, or persons in need of security. I have successfully developed the infrastructure to handle any account that comes to my direction. Recently, as the Cannabis industry continues to grow, Strategic Security Services is dedicated to servicing and protecting Marijuana Dispensaries where many people continue to find healing and recreational use. My company services various Marijuana Dispensaries across Los Angeles County. Being involved with my current clients is more than just managing, it means covering shifts when I need to, conversing with staff to ensure quality of care, picking up payments personally from my vendors, and establishing real friendships with managers and owners; all to eagerly foresee my business expand rapidly and successfully.
As the owner of the company, I have worked within various circumstances. Some of which have been both physically and mentally exhausting. There have been times at the wee hours of the night where I throw on a uniform and work 14+ hour shifts to ensure my clients’ are not without protection should any staffing issues arise and with 20 guards on staff today if need be I continue to cover emergency posts as a guard if none are available to ensure I do not lose the contract. Growing trust and respect with my clients is at the foundation of the company. I can go to sleep happy knowing that I have done everything that I can to fulfill my clients’ needs. This, in turn, is only helping me grow and establish a great rapport as a company.
Being 23 years old, 100% owner and sole operator of a security company, I feel makes me different. The average age of a security company owner is typically 30-50, so I know that I also have an advantage in a way by being innovative and proposing my services in a new more millennial strategic way as opposed to the old fashioned model majority of companies still follow today.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The day I signed my first contract for my company is the moment I feel most proud of. At the time, I didn’t have the luxuries that I have today, i.e., an office, staff, and necessary technology. It was just me and the motivation of one day having the things I will need to operate properly. I was an active user of an application called Thumbtack. I responded to as many requests for security that I came across until one day I had a breakthrough. I came in contact with a famous plastic surgeon who was seeking extra protection for his home due to burglary activity in his neighborhood in Encino Hills. I set up an appointment with him, and it was all uphill from there. I was more than happy; I was ecstatic after just getting off of the phone with him. I will never forget the feeling that came upon me as I was signing that contract. This being my first client means so much to me because it means someone trusted in me and believed that I could do it, and I knew that I wouldn’t let him down. I worked the account personally to ensure that his property was secure. Once I felt like I had created a relationship with this client, and my company continued growing with more accounts, I was able to delegate the guard work and continue branching. Here I am today, working from my office Monday-Friday with my sales team continuing to oversee the entire business 24/7 and watching it grow day by day and I am forever grateful to be where I am today.
Pricing:
- Event Security Rate – $30/hr
- Unarmed Security Guard Rate – $20/hr (negotiable)
- Armed Security Guard Rate – $25/hr (negotiable)
Contact Info:
- Address: 21350 Nordhoff St. Suite 104 Chatsworth, CA 91311
- Website: www.strategicguards.com
- Phone: 8183855915
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @strategic.security
- Facebook: @sssinc.guards
- Twitter: @strategicguards
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