The Spring Forward Podcast
The Lifesaving Power of Being Observant
In this episode, Michelle Cummings, CEO of Hedge Security Solutions and former military personnel, emphasizes the critical importance of situational awareness. Drawing from her personal experiences with near-miss mass shootings, Michelle illustrates how everyday distractions can pose significant risks. We explore real-life scenarios, from an avoided incident at a private school to the Oxford High School shooting, underscoring the lifesaving benefits of vigilance. The discussion concludes with actionable steps through a situational awareness training course, highlighting stories of security lapses and attempted abductions to stress the urgency of staying alert in public and private spaces. Tune in for a discussion that's not just about fear, but about arming ourselves with the knowledge and alertness to protect what we hold dear.
In this episode, Michelle Cummings, CEO of Hedge Security Solutions and former military personnel, emphasizes the critical importance of situational awareness. Drawing from her personal experiences with near-miss mass shootings, Michelle illustrates how everyday distractions can pose significant risks. We explore real-life scenarios, from an avoided incident at a private school to the Oxford High School shooting, underscoring the lifesaving benefits of vigilance. The discussion concludes with actionable steps through a situational awareness training course, highlighting stories of security lapses and attempted abductions to stress the urgency of staying alert in public and private spaces. Tune in for a discussion that's not just about fear, but about arming ourselves with the knowledge and alertness to protect what we hold dear.
Welcome to the Spring Forward podcast. I'm your host, spring Richardson Perry, the organizational change agent that is going to help your business achieve the excellence you desire. If you're a business leader looking to take your business to the next level or simply looking for new ways to spring your business forward, then this is the podcast for you. So let's get down to business and spring forward into excellence. Welcome, welcome, guys, to another episode of the Spring Forward podcast. I'm your host, spring Richardson Perry, and today we have a very special guest with us, michelle Cummings. She is the CEO and Managing Director of Hedge Security Solutions, and she works side by side with retired military and police officers to help schools, houses of worship and other soft target organizations protect themselves against active shooter events, and so this is a super important topic, guys, that we're going to dive into today, so I am very excited to welcome Michelle Cummings.
Speaker 2:Hello Michelle. Hi, how are you? I am well. How are you? I'm good. I appreciate you having me on today.
Speaker 1:I'm excited to talk about this. We're going to be talking about situational awareness, and this is something that is extremely important, especially when it comes to the safety of our babies in the school system and just in general, even in airports at times where there can be threats and those sorts of things, and so I'm eager to really jump right in.
Speaker 2:So I really kind of want to start with your journey and just how you came about to this line of work. So I have done a lot of things in my life, but I really started out, you know, very young and going into the army, and so I'm really thankful for the experience that I had and the training that I received there and then went on to the Army National Guard in Tennessee, where I went to Officers Academy and then, while I was there, the Columbine shooting happened, and that was the first time I'd really experienced a school shooting, a mass shooting event, and it really touched me deeply because I had just become a mother, you know. So you remember those moments. And then, after I graduated college, I moved to Huntsville, alabama, where I got a job with the Arsenal, and while I was there, then the next shooting that I remember happened, and it was at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, where Amy Bishop, one of the professors, she shot her colleagues and she shot six people and three of them passed away. And so by this time I'm thinking this is too close to home for me. I saw more and more violence and these innocent people being killed.
Speaker 2:You know, I felt compelled to take action, and that's when I began talking with retired police officers and retired military about what needs, what the conversation needs to be, what needs to be talked about, and they agreed with me that the message needs to be awareness and prevention at the forefront. And so that created the journey that I went on, with the retired police officers on my side, to bring forth that message of proactively preventing these events. And so then we opened up our doors to provide those services that are going to address the increasing need for security, crime prevention assessments and training for staff at different organizations, because we believe that the best defense is a great offense. And so we focus on those services that are going to keep a facility from being a soft target for intruders, and then we provide ongoing training for organizations to make sure that they maintain that level of security.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so I like this, because you're helping organizations to be preventative and proactive as opposed to being reactive, exactly.
Speaker 2:And that's what really you know all of these organizations need to think about and you exponentially create a larger security team by getting everybody involved in the whole security picture.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's so true.
Speaker 1:I just I remember, you know, just something as simple as a fire drill, right, and making sure that when you're in the schools, in the school building, having a fire drill ensures that if something happens in the school, you know how to get out safely.
Speaker 1:And so it's unfortunate that now in this time, we have to think about active shooter scenes, but the kids are now having these sorts of drills in their schools as well, and so you know it's unfortunate that we have gotten to that point. I remember Columbine as well. I was very young at the time when it happened, but I vividly remember this because this was the first time in the media that we had ever heard in this country of such a tragedy of that magnitude of someone you know shooting up a school with kids, and so it just brought so much awareness to those types of situations, and it shed a big light at that time on mental health awareness also. So I want to jump into the what situational awareness is. Can you elaborate on what that means and why it's crucial for everyone to be well versed in it?
Speaker 2:So situational awareness it applies to everyone, everywhere, in all situations. That's what's really great about it. Really great about it it's something that is going to keep everyone safe. So, whether you're going to the grocery store, or whether you're walking out of your workplace, or whether you're at the gas station, this applies to everyday life, not just in your workplace, but basically we need to be aware of what's going on around us at all times.
Speaker 2:It is extremely important and especially nowadays, our distraction is our phone. Right, we're in our phone all the time, and there's been research done that when you're walking and texting, you lose 48% of the visual cues around you, and so ladies need to be aware. If you're walking down the street and you're looking at your phone, you know you don't notice the guy that's lingering behind you and walking and following you. And I actually just recently had that moment that actually happened to me in a grocery store and it was to the point where I noticed that everywhere I was he was. He had come up and talked to me a little bit. You know, sometimes men will come up to you like they're approaching you.
Speaker 2:You know, and wanted to chat with you, and then I noticed that he was everywhere and I was with my son. I wasn't trying to make a big deal about it, but then I noticed then that he was at the front of the store and it appeared that he was, you know, through the checkouts. He was on the other side of the checkouts but then when I got in the line, he got in the line behind me and so that threw red flags. So then when I got done with, you know, my purchase, I acted like I wasn't paying attention to him and as I was walking out with my son, I said do you see that man behind us? Without like really looking at him, I said I do believe that he is following us through the store. We are going to push our groceries to the car, we're going to get in the car and we're going to leave. And so then, right after I said that and got in the car, I noticed the man coming out and really paying attention to you know where we were and everything else. But luckily I got out of the parking lot quickly, you know, in in traffic where he would not notice. You know where I was, or, you know, trying to follow me home.
Speaker 2:But we really have to pay attention. These things are happening every single day. This is in our everyday lives. This isn't just in our workplace, but if you in the workplace, um, we have to follow these steps. We have to have a perception of the situation, and that is simply paying attention to what is going on around you. If you get a bad feeling, that is something you need to pay attention to. That's your intuition. That's your intuition saying you know something is not right, but you know what we do. We ignore that. We ignore it and say you know what, I'm just being, you know too much here. I'm going to. You know it's not really what I'm thinking, so I don't want to, you know, go overboard and be dramatic.
Speaker 1:So we just brush it off Right.
Speaker 2:But then we have to assess the situation, so we have to take that information in, like, what do I really believe the situation is? And, in trying to process that situation, the knowledge of what's going on, so that then, finally, you have to make a decision, do to protect myself in this situation. Now, did I make a scene? Did I, you know, point at the person? Or did I yell at him? Did I tell him you need to leave me alone, you need to stop following me, I'm not interested in you? I didn't do any of that. What I did was I removed myself from the situation. So it didn't happen, and so I recognized that it could be a threat, and it really did appear to be. And especially, you know, everywhere I look, that's where you are and that's weird. You know when you're in a large location and then somebody is just always there and kind of lingering behind you. Ladies, pay attention.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's very strange. And I even ran the scenario by some other ladies and I said would this, you know? Would you think that this is strange? Would you think that behavior is strange? And they said, absolutely, you know. I mean, he followed you all the way through the store. The store is very large and he's not down that aisle, he's right behind you all the time, you know, you know. And so, um, and then, like I said, when I reached the front of the store, that was what did it for me, because he was not checking out. It looked like he had already checked out, but then when I got in line, then he got in behind me, that's when he finally did it for me.
Speaker 2:I'm like no, this guy really is following me around and so you have to pay attention. And then you have to make a decision of what you're going to do. You know, I didn't confront him. I removed myself, and that's the safest thing for females to do is to remove themselves. But when you go into a crowded place, you need to position yourself, like in a restaurant. You need to know where the exits and the entrances are. You need to know how to to get out are. You need to know how to get out. If you need to get out, you need to spot danger areas. Where can somebody you know hide or ambush you? You need to get a baseline for the environment. You know what kind of activity is going on in that location. What are people wearing, what is the conversation going on, what is the mood, and that way, once you have deemed what's normal for that environment, you can determine what would be abnormal Somebody that's acting out of place or wearing unusual clothing. It's 80 degrees outside and this guy's got a trench coat on.
Speaker 2:You can identify those things, somebody that is sweating or has dilated pupils or you know something like that. They're acting kind of strange. So if you see those things, then you can watch them and you can identify if I really need to remove myself from this situation. And we actually had one of our girls on the hedge team she actually had that happen at a mall. She saw a man with a trench coat on and walking. Funny, you know, if you have a shotgun in your trench coat, you're going to walk like you have a shotgun in your trench coat. And so she noticed it and she was pushing her grandchild away from the situation and so, in not verbalizing it, you know, like trying to bring the attention to herself, she was just removing herself, but it really did happen. Then the guy brought the shotgun out and started shooting at people. So she was involved directly with a shooting.
Speaker 2:And so that's the way that we can keep ourselves safe. We have to first remove ourselves, because that is the best way. And, of course, if there are situations where you are not able to remove yourself, then there are, you know, additional steps to that. Then you have to be able to, you know, react, and this is where the active shooter training comes in. So situational awareness is like the before it happens. Like I've identified the situation, I'm going to do something about it. I'm either going to report this person, remove myself, I'm going to make a decision.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So the next step is going to be into the actual active shooter type training where you have to do something during that event.
Speaker 1:Well, so I want to get into um one of those types of situations. I believe you guys um did an analysis of the investigative report on the Oxford high school mass shooting right? That was back in October of last year, is that correct?
Speaker 2:It was so that one happened November 30th of 2023.
Speaker 1:Okay, and so what did you guys learn? Like what key insights or lessons?
Speaker 2:guys learn like what key insights or lessons? No, I'm sorry, I forgive me. Um. The report came out in 2023. The um the actual event was um november 2021. Okay, yeah, so the report, the report that you're referring to, um guidepost solutions, put it out just last year okay, and as you guys went through that, because it was, it was pretty thick, um, you know what?
Speaker 1:what? What key insights did you guys find? Like, did it what? What happened?
Speaker 2:talk to us about that so, the school, there was a lot of things that, um, the school did right, um, but there was there was a number of things that they did wrong. So they um there was paul, there were policies in place, but it wasn't communicated to to everyone. So they had, um, the threat assessments and those types of things, but they didn't, you know, widely communicated it to everyone and and so they didn't know what to do in each of those moments. So the shooter started exhibiting, you know, concerning behavior. You know, on it was November 29th of 2021. You know they noticed that you know he was drawing pictures of, you know, ammunition and shooters and things like that. So there was, there was a number of times where he was reported and he was brought in. So there was counselors that actually did speak to him.
Speaker 2:And he was very credible. So he talked about how he was very sad that he had a death in the family and that his dog had just recently died, and so he sounded credible and they did release him back to his classes. And, you know, and then even later on in the day he was seen shopping for ammunition or looking at ammunition on his phone, and so again a teacher noticed it and reported it. So all of these things were reported, so the drawings that he did the, you know, looking at ammunition. And he was caught by another teacher, you know, the next day looking at violent videos, and so he was looking at violent shootings that have happened in the past. He was looking at them on YouTube or whatever.
Speaker 2:But the teacher caught him looking at that type of material and so that was reported as well and he was called up to the office again, but it along with his drawings, and he had scratched out his pictures and wrote. You know, I love my life so much, I love my high school, this school rocks and all this kind of stuff. I'm trying to give the impression that it was just he was having a mental health moment. So at this point they did contact the parents, the parents in, and the one of the um one of the coordinators did go and pick up his backpack as well went to the classroom, picked up the backpack, and so what they didn't know at the time was the ammunition the gun was. They were all in the backpack, so they were holding the weapon oh wow in his backpack.
Speaker 2:And so parents come, and so the counselors are saying we really feel like your son needs some mental health care. And so the parents are like, ok, we understand, but we can't do it right now. You know, we have to go back to work and everything else. You know he really is OK. And so somehow they convinced the school that he's OK. The school somehow said, okay, they did not search his bag, they did not, they didn't do any of that.
Speaker 2:They said okay, we'll go ahead and give him another chance, we'll send him back to class. So parents leave and the child goes back to class. So right after that happened so it wasn't until, you know, about around 1251 pm the shooter pulled that gun out and started shooting, and so the result was that four students were murdered and then seven other people were injured, and so it could have been prevented. They did not search his bag, they did not send him home. This school, like I said, had a, they had a threat assessment policy that was introduced to the schools, but it wasn't widely disseminated and people didn't really understand it. But it you know, his behaviors should have triggered that thorough threat assessment and like a suicide assessment, and this is what the schools need to be aware of. And so the mistakes that they, they really made there was that the shooter should not have been sent back to class, um, the parents would not have had the option to leave the child at school.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:The backpack would have been searched. Um at school Right, the backpack would have been searched and the schools have a different burden you know they, like police, have to have probable cause before they can search you.
Speaker 2:Well, schools, you know that that threshold is is lower, so all they have to have is a reasonable suspicion. So if they have a reasonable suspicion that you are going to commit an act of violence or do something against the school, then they can search you. And just to give you an example, the security officer there, he was testifying that he conducted at least 10 searches per year for vapes and drugs, and so if he can conduct searches for those things, of course he can conduct a search for weapons, and so that should have been done. And so the statements that he had made on his math worksheet, you know, in those pictures that he was drawing on, you know his, his homework that right there would have triggered the suicide threat assessment, and so they failed in the implementation of their policies.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and it sounds like. It sounds kind of like you said, like they didn't. They maybe weren't even aware of the policy itself, or that they didn't know, like, exactly all the things that this policy entailed, because it just seemed like the parents should not have had an option at that moment you know, in hindsight, it's 2020, right, as you're going through it, you're trying to figure out how to navigate this and, yes, we want to make sure that this student gets the learning that he or she needs and we want to make them, make sure that they feel supported and whatever it is that they're going through. But at what point do you cut it off and say I don't want to put anybody else at risk in terms of what could possibly happen? And so there were some legal ramifications that were talked about in terms of legal action against the school system, I believe. After this, how could this situational awareness prevent this tragedy and mitigate the legal risk, possibly for the organization? Talk to us about that.
Speaker 2:So I think that, as far as identifying that he was a threat, I think that the teachers were on top of that. I think that they saw those behaviors, which that's what situational awareness is about. So in this case, they really did well. They were identifying those things, and that's what every organization needs to do. They identified it. What they didn't implement was their overall threat assessment policy and their suicide policies to make sure that they got him the mental health that they needed. To make sure that they got him the mental health that they needed. They didn't return him to class, that they searched his, his belongings to so that he didn't continue to be a threat.
Speaker 2:So those, those are the failures that the school had. They did show that the situational awareness that they had, actually it could have stopped it if they made the right decisions on the back end. So identifying that this person had concerning behaviors, that he was drawing pictures that were concerning, that he was looking at videos that was concerning and that he was shopping for ammunition so all of those things triggered the teachers getting involved, reporting it. They did the right thing, they reported. Those things triggered the the teachers getting involved, reporting it. They did the right thing, they reported. And so it was the decisions on the back end that were not correct, so they didn't stop it, they didn't stop and so
Speaker 2:um, you know, that is where you know everybody has to to get involved. But this shows the importance of this situational awareness that when you rely just on your security team, so if teachers are teaching and they just feel 100% secure that their one security officer right, the one security officer on the campus is going to keep you safe and he's going to understand and know who the bad guy is. Okay, so think about this problem if the teachers had not reported his behavior, does the security officer really know who the bad guy is?
Speaker 1:how would he know? You know, the teachers are the ones, the teachers are the ones in the classroom, right?
Speaker 2:so, yeah, right the bad guy is sitting in front of you in the classroom, and so if the teachers don't report, then nobody will know and so your, your staff, your teachers everyone that is involved in that organization needs to have situational awareness they need to identify that so they know the baseline behavior, what is normal for the situation and what is abnormal.
Speaker 2:And so in this case, they identified the abnormal behavior. Kids shouldn't be acting like this. You know something's wrong, you know. So the teachers did the right thing and they reported up and they did bring him in. They brought him in twice.
Speaker 1:So how did the?
Speaker 2:shooting happen. Okay, Well, they released him back to class. Now that goes to again that we're a society that's afraid to offend, or? You know, we don't want to make the parents mad. We think there might be a lawsuit on that side, Right, Because we did something to their kid, or you know, no, you go through the motions that you know to be right.
Speaker 2:You look in his bag. If they would have looked in his backpack they would have immediately seen that he had a weapon on and at some point you have to stand your ground right, you have to say enough is enough.
Speaker 1:And you know I'm really doing this because I want to protect all the other kids that are here and we need to see what's going on. And so just something as simple as even because I remember when, when I was in the school building, when I was teaching, there was a student where they thought had drugs in their school bag drugs in their school bag so the principal called me in there because it was a female student and they needed to search her, they needed to search the school bag, and so, you know, he called me in there to make sure that there was another female in there with her, so that there would be no issue in terms of, well, he did this. And then then, you know, she could say some things, maybe that were amplified or not necessarily true or anything, but then also, he had her to remove her things Out of her bag. So the principal Didn't touch any of her things, but he made her remove All of the things, and the security guard was in there as well.
Speaker 1:And so you know, this is how you again make sure that everyone remains safe. You know, there's a strict rule on all campuses that no drugs are allowed, you know, no matter what they are, and so any prescribed drugs have to be checked in with the office, with the nurse. So you know illegal drugs, especially if they're found, then you know there's consequences for that, and so, again, they could have done the same thing in this situation, like you're saying. And what I'm wondering, though, is we've heard examples here of two situations where this problem could have been mitigated had they done, you know, one certain thing a different way, but do you have an example of where situational awareness actually prevailed?
Speaker 2:Oh sure. So there's been a number of different situations where you know this type of training has been very successful, and especially in the school environment. So you know there was a private school that has a, you know, a big security perimeter fence around it and of course they keep their kids safe, you know, when they're on the playground and stuff like that. And so it's concerning if you have, you know, a random adult come up and standing near the fence, especially if the fence is in a place where it's off the highway and through some woods and things like that, like you have to actually, you know, walk to get to the fence. So alert teachers said he shouldn't be in that area.
Speaker 2:You know this is a concern, he's in an area that he should not be, and so we need to look at this, and so what they did was they brought all the kids back into the to the school to make sure that they were safe, locked in the school, you know, not alerting everyone you know, because they don't know what the situation is, and then getting somebody over there to talk to him.
Speaker 2:And it could be just as easy as getting your security officer to go talk to them, or getting you know, if you really feel that it's a threat, getting the police department to go talk to them and say hey, why are you over here, why are you standing here?
Speaker 1:This is where the kids play, so it could be, as simple as that that's awesome, that they took notice of that and then they got the kids to safety. Because, again, sometimes you're going against your gut feeling and you're like, oh, that's not really what it is and I'm just, you know, doing too much or just overthinking it or what have you. And so I'm glad that they recognize the situation. They say, hey, this doesn't look right, this doesn't feel right, let's get the kids inside, let's report this and let's get this taken care of. And so did it turn out that this person was trying to do some harm, or do you know what happened?
Speaker 2:It wasn't that he was trying to do any harm. He was just wandering through there and happened to be in it the wrong place. But there was some businesses that are back behind that fence and so he was in an unusual spot. He would have had to walk back behind those businesses and he probably ended up there somehow. But, um, it was good that they took precautions because it is unusual. You know, they don't ever have anyone walking back there in that area because you have to walk through the woods. Have anyone walking back there in?
Speaker 2:that area because you would have to walk through the woods and so, um, the the police basically told that guy hey, we're paying attention to you, you need to leave, and so it puts him on notice too. So if he came up with a story of why he was back there and it was harmless, you know it put him on notice that everybody's watching you, so don't, don't come back here. Yeah, well, that's good.
Speaker 1:I love to hear stories like that, where you know they prevented something from happening, whether it was going to happen or not. You know you were able to keep the kids safe. And that's our biggest concern these days is like, first of all, you know who would think of harming kids, but it has happened. It has been happening way too often and so now it's like well, we've. You know there's nothing more that we can do but to act in an aggressive way if we feel like you're a threat to these children. And so you know I love what you're doing. Michelle. This is wonderful work. Work is much needed, and it's not just for the schools, like you said, it's in places where For everyone, it's for your life.
Speaker 2:It's to make sure that you really are paying attention in those moments you really need to, and so you know we put together a course just for this purpose. So, especially ladies, when you're, when you're getting gas or when you're at the ATM in the dark or, you know, in these situations that can put yourself at risk, you know you have to pay attention and you have to know exactly what to do in those moments or not put yourself in the situation at all.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember too. We're talking about schools, but I remember a situation where it was in California, I believe where someone was fired from their job and they retaliated, came back and retaliated against the company and put a lot of employees at risk on that day, and so you know, this is something that is much needed just all around, not just in space, that is a part of our course as well, because that's you have to recognize that, you have to understand that someone is going to be angry if they get, they get fired, and they could very well just feel like their their whole life.
Speaker 2:If they, if they feel like they have nothing to lose, that is a very good possibility. If that was their, their entire livelihood, they've spent, you know, 30 years of their life doing it and you just, you know, ruin their life.
Speaker 1:Um, they're going to come back and they're going to take action again yeah, and that's someone's livelihood, I mean their job is is how they provide a lifestyle, a life for themselves and their families. And so you know it's quite natural that they're, that they're angry. You know, as adults were supposed to have some sort of emotional intelligence to understand how to deal with these emotions appropriately, but that's not always the case, and so we have a high rate of mental health problems in the United States that are not deal with things.
Speaker 2:Well, so you know when we were kids and you could handle your business in the back behind the school. Right, you're angry with each other and you just handle your business. Right, we don't do that anymore. Right, we go to the vehicle and go get a pistol and come back and shoot everybody.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's unfortunate and so that's how a lot of these incidents happen, and so we had 40 cases in 2023 of school shootings.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I didn't realize it was that many that is. That's appalling, like that's man.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, it should be shocking to everyone, and so they're not all reported heavily. You know, some are smaller than others, and and so it has to be big news for people to really pay attention to it, like the covenant school shooting so we're working with.
Speaker 2:You know some of those schools in Tennessee, but you know the schools are still. They believe it's the like the elephant in the room. They don't want to talk about it. They, you know it's like a subject that is so it's so tough to deal with. They just don't want to deal with it. They don't want to have that conversation because, I don't know, maybe having that conversation will bring something to pass.
Speaker 1:You know that it will happen to them, and so they don't want to talk about it.
Speaker 2:They just want to do the minimum. They think that cameras will save them. And I say it's great you have cameras, but you know what the cameras do. That's for evidence after the fact. Unfortunately, I mean that, but that's what it's for, unless you have somebody monitoring those cameras all the time and you see the bad guy walking up to your door. You know you're not going to stop him.
Speaker 1:It's unfortunate, and schools have gotten a little better in terms of safety. I know my kids' schools you have to be buzzed in and they have like plexiglass like around almost everything and you can't like go into the school unless you're buzzed in. So you're buzzed into the office but then to get back into the building you also have to be buzzed in as well.
Speaker 2:so they're taking precautions slowly but surely, um, but but with that you need policies, because in my course I'm going to show you that controlled access is great, but you have to have people follow the policy, because I'm going to show you what piggybacking means and you know, in the south we're very polite and hold doors open for people and I'm going to show you how the bad guy can get in anyway, yeah, yeah, I was thinking about that too.
Speaker 2:Um, and that just buzz everybody in. And I will tell you that, um, we were, when we were visiting some daycares that were inside churches, the person that was buzzing you in was like it took her. It took her at least like 30 seconds to get to the front once she buzzed us in. So I was looking at my, um, my lead security guy, and by the time we walked in we were at the point where the hallway splits off into two, to the right and to the left, and I said do you realize that we could have taken this whole building just in the time that we've been here? And he said I know it. I said she's not even up here, so she buzzed us in.
Speaker 2:She didn't know who we were. We have weapons because we're security people and she has no idea, and so we could have, you know, done something to her if she came up. So do you understand you? Can't just buzz someone in and because you don't even know who we are. Right, and so one of these days you're going to buzz in the bad guy.
Speaker 1:Right, oh, that's unfortunate. That makes me nervous too, cause it's just like the you said, a daycare. These are babies that can't, oh, we walked right into.
Speaker 2:we walked into several daycares. So Dan was at another daycare that is supposed to have the locking controlled access door and he opened it and he walked right in and he was right in the middle, of, you know, 25 kids, and so he went looking for someone. He said hello, hello and looking up and down the hallways and then one of the ladies popped out. She goes. I thought I heard a man's voice. Well, you did yeah, and she said how did you get in? I walked right through the door.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God.
Speaker 2:How would that do for your publicity Right, so that this? Figure that is taking care of, you know, army personnel's children, especially people that are very security conscious that their children were in this facility when somebody walked straight in the door.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's scary. That's that's really scary when it comes to the babies, because they can't do anything for themselves, right, especially in the infants where they have to be carried out. So I'm like man, you're giving us a lot to think about, michelle, and I'm excited that you have this course that you can offer to people if they want to check it out. How do they find it, or what do they have to do? How do they get in touch with you?
Speaker 2:So our course is on our website. It is wwwhedgesecuritiesolutionscom, and you go down to the situational awareness area and you can click on courses. Right now we are giving you 10% off to get into the course and you know, and don't use it as an excuse. If you cannot afford this course, reach out to me. Please reach out to me and I will help you. Everyone needs this.
Speaker 2:The point of having this course is to make sure that people prevent these things from happening. That is what we are here for. We want to help you. If you cannot afford this course, you just let me know and we will make sure that you get this course. Course you just let me know and we will make sure that you get this course. But this course needs to be in all organizations, all companies, all schools. Everyone needs this. But you need it in your everyday life. As I stated before, a University of Massachusetts conducted a study that people that are walking and texting at the same time lose 48% of those visual cues. That means you are not paying attention. Somebody can come up behind you and grab you and harm you, throw you into a car and you didn't even know it was coming.
Speaker 1:Yeah, cause you're on your phone, which is probably going to be the demise of all of us at some point and I've actually been in that situation as well.
Speaker 2:This has happened to me.
Speaker 2:I was um, this was years ago when I was in college and I went to a restaurant with my friend who was having a birthday party. It was quite a large birthday party. Her favorite place was Red Lobster. We had a lot of people there. And then, after the event, she said well, let's go over to the Holiday Inn and sing karaoke. So everybody's like, oh, let's go. And so you anticipate, with all of these people moving, there's going to be a large number of cars going to the same location.
Speaker 2:So it didn't dawn on me that when I got there, I saw movement. I saw cars coming in, but I thought it was the people that were coming with us. So when I was started to move out of my vehicle, I opened the door and I said you know what? I'm going to fix my lipstick, I'm going into this party. I pulled down my visor putting on my lipstick and, um, by that time a man had grabbed my door. And not only that, but he had pulled up next to me and he had his passenger side door open. So what was going to happen to me?
Speaker 1:Girl, you were about to be pulled into a vehicle.
Speaker 2:I was just about to be pulled into a vehicle and so, and I knew that, okay. So at this point, ladies, you don't panic, because if you panic, he's already got you. Yep.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So he says um, I want you to go on a date with me. So he says I want you to go on a date with me. And so what I needed to do was to stall Okay. So I knew one thing is I had one foot outside the door and I had one foot inside the car. So the first thing I was going to do was I was going to get on my feet so that I could fight back if I needed to. So I got out of the car, so that was completely on my feet and I said you know what? My friend is having a party. Why don't you come in with me? You could be my date. Why don't you come with me? I stalled him just long enough for everybody else to start coming in the parking lot and he went away.
Speaker 1:Michelle, his door was open, I was going, he was ready for you, he was going to take you and do God knows what with you. That is, nuts. You guys, situational awareness, be aware of what is going on around you, what is happening, what you can do, how to get yourself out of the situation. Stay calm, please, because clearly, had Michelle panicked, she would not be having this conversation with me today. So, michelle, thank you so much for all of your insight. Again, one more time, how do they get this course if they want to learn more, or just learn more about, maybe, some of the services that you can provide for their organization?
Speaker 2:So go to our website it's wwwhedgesecuritiesolutionscom, and you can also reach out to me directly. Especially if you have financial issues and you really want to do this, I will help you. It's Michelle at hedgesecuritiesolutionscom.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, michelle. I really appreciate you bringing light to this situation, because this is something that we need to be discussing more about how to prevent these things from happening, not just being reactive once they happen. Exactly, I really appreciate you being here. I appreciate you sharing your stories with us, because they are some pretty scary stories that I can't imagine like having to tell, to relive, because I'm sitting here just like, oh my gosh, like a nervous wreck from you telling this, and so I really appreciate that. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:But you'd be surprised how many ladies have gone through this and they keep it to themselves. They feel like you know they did something and it was their fault and you know. And then some some don't get to tell you the story.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Some don't get to tell you the story. They got thrown in that car and the police find them the next day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's what I mean, like I'm so, I'm so happy that you are able to share this story and that you're bringing it to light to to help other women, especially, be aware of their surroundings, because we are guilty of that, especially as moms. We're doing 10 different things at one time, and so we may not always recognize all the things happening around us, but I know me for sure. I try to be as in the moment, present as possible, especially when I'm with my kids, so I can see what's going on, because there's just so there's just so many things happening that if something happens to one of my kids because I wasn't paying enough attention, I would never be able to forgive myself.
Speaker 2:This is it right here. This is the enemy. We're on it all the time. Right, that's the truth we are and if we're bored. What are we doing? We're on Facebook.
Speaker 1:We're on.
Speaker 2:Instagram, we're on YouTube, we're doing this, and so you have to be conscious of this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you have to be aware, and that's so true. And we have to tell our kids this too, because they need to be aware. Oh, they're the same. So when this too, because they need to be aware, oh, they're the same, you know. So when they're out in public and they're doing the same things, we have to protect our children. Yeah, it's worse, probably. Well, I appreciate you, michelle. Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us guys. I hope you learned a lot today. Um, take a look at Michelle's course and you know, check it out, and she's. She told you from her own mouth. Don't let price be an excuse for you not to go through this training. So make sure, if price is a barrier, that you reach out to her. Michelle at hedge security solutionscom right.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And you let her know hey, I want to take this course, but here's what I can afford, or what have you, and she will work it out for you. So do not let price be a barrier, because this is something that we all need to be going through, we all need to be aware of so that we can keep ourselves and our little ones safe. So thank you so much, michelle. I appreciate you being here. Guys, thank you so much for tuning in today, and until next time on the Spring Forward podcast. Guys, thanks for listening to the Spring Forward podcast.
Speaker 1:I hope you were able to capture some of the gems that were dropped and are excited to start using the information to help your business spring forward into excellence. I would love to hear some of your biggest takeaways from this episode. So connect with me on LinkedIn or Facebook, or tag me on Instagram at springy underscore springtime. And don't forget to subscribe to the show so you don't miss an episode. And if you'd like to learn more about how we can work together, visit the website at time2springforwardorg. That's T-I-M-E-T-O-S-P-R-I-N-G-F-O-R-W-A-R-Dorg. And until next time on the Spring Forward Podcast.