“When one door closes”
Well, the holiday season is always a time for me to reflect.
Losing someone you once saw as a “mentor” can feel like a personal setback. It can shake your confidence and make you question your own instincts. In the world of security and executive protection, where trust and loyalty are everything, discovering that someone you believed in was allegedly motivated by greed, entitlement or just plain angry stubbornness can hit hard. I have been there, and it took time to understand that the loss was not a failure. It was a turning point.
Know that endings are not always losses Sometimes a chapter closes because it was meant to. What I once thought was guidance turned out to be something else entirely. The disappointment was real, but so was the lesson. Not every person who claims to lead is a leader. Not every person you invest in is worthy of your investment. Once that door shut, I realized it had been blocking the view of something much better that was waiting for me on the other side.
Pay attention to the doors that open Every time I lost something in this career, something bigger found its way in. New mentors. New partners. New relationships. New vendors. New employees who stepped up in ways I never expected. People who showed that leadership can be honest, ethical, professional, and inspiring. People who give back without taking first. The kind of people who remind you why you do what you do. Those have been the real gifts.
Remember that this industry has incredible people Yes, this field can be cutthroat. It can test you. It can expose the worst in some. But it also attracts some of the smartest, sharpest, most honorable professionals I have ever met. There are people who want to help. People who want to teach. People who care about raising standards and doing things the right way. That is refreshing and it deserves recognition.
Do not let one bad apple change how you see the orchard One person’s behavior does not define the entire community. One person’s greed does not erase the integrity of the countless others who work with pride. A rotten apple is just that. The rest are still perfectly good. Some are even exceptional. Losing that mentor figure created space for individuals who filled that gap tenfold. And every single one of them proved that I had not lost anything at all. I had gained clarity.
When one door closes another one really does open. And in my experience that next door always opens wider than the one before it. Wider to opportunity. Wider to growth. Wider to better people and better paths. If you ever feel let down by someone you trusted know that it does not have to define you. It can be the moment that sets you free to find something extraordinary.
And... thank you, you all know who you are.