Taking security to another level

Brent Eastan, managing director of Eastman Executive Protection Services (EEPS) Ltd.
Brent Eastan, managing director of Eastman Executive Protection Services (EEPS) Ltd.

In this life, don’t be afraid if you are like a stone in a slingshot with many hands holding you and pulling you back. At some point in time, the very hands that hold you back will get tired and you will “sling” much further in life than expected

–Brent Eastman.

BRENT EASTMAN’S life has been one of steady progress.

As a student of Scarborough Secondary, Tobago, in the early 1980s, he joined the school’s cadet force – an experience which provided the foundation for the success he enjoys as an internationally-trained and certified bodyguard.

Today, some 32 years after completing high school, Eastman is the managing director of Eastman Executive Protection Services (EEPS) Ltd, a company that continues to blaze a trail in the industry despite being established just five years ago.

He has vowed to build on his achievements by becoming a game-changer in the industry not only in TT but regionally and internationally.

“Our mission is to be the best executive protection company in the industry by pursuing our purpose to provide the highest level of training and service,” he said at the recent launch of his company’s bodyguard firm at Signal Hill Multi-Purpose Centre, Tobago.

“Our mission is pursued with passion and commitment to excellence, all aimed at maintaining client satisfaction with our core values being trust, integrity, teamwork, and professionalism.”

In the meantime, Eastman said his dream is for the company to be the hub in TT for the training of professional bodyguards.

He said: “The difference between EEPS and other companies is that we lead by example and our customer service is second to none.”

But then again, Eastman has never been one for mediocrity.

Born and raised in the fishing village of Castara, the first of three children, Eastman’s morals and spiritual values were shaped by a large, extended family, where education was also a priority.

Brent Eastman, managing director, Eastman Executive Protection Services; Dr Denise Tsoiafatt Angus, presiding officer, Tobago House of Assembly; Claire Davidson-Williams; acting Permanent Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister, Central Administrative Services, Tobago; and Lenny Bogdanos, certified protection specialist, displays copies of Bogdanos’ second book, The Bodyguard Blueprint.

At secondary school, Eastman channelled these teachings into the cadet force, a unit that embodied the discipline to which he was exposed as a child.

After leaving school, Eastman started a career in security at Sentinel Security Services Ltd. He later became an attendant at Scarborough General Hospital before being trained as an emergency medical technician.

On realising he deviated from his career path in 2002, Eastman joined the Defence Force Reserves where he excelled and became an instructor.

During that time, he also pursued a number of courses which led him to take up a career as a bodyguard.

He established EEPS in 2014 and two years later the company became fully registered.

In 2016, Eastman also journeyed to Tampa, Florida, where he was trained as a bodyguard under the guidance of internationally-renowned protection specialist Lenny Bogdanos.

So competent was Eastman in the programme, Bogdanos encouraged him to train as an instructor. Eastman received a Certificate of Excellence in 2017.

Despite its relatively short time in the industry, Eastman said EEPS has experienced several hallmark moments.

“But one of our company’s most memorable missions is when we had the responsibility of providing personal protection for a local client and son of the soil for four days in Chicago, Illinois.

“Proper training and preparation ensured that all our logistics were outstanding and we stood shoulder to shoulder among the best in the international security industry.”

Eastman said apart from executive protection and private investigation services, the company provides background checks for people seeking employment and those desirous of having people rent portions of their home or business place. The company also services and repairs personal and company firearms.

However, Eastman said EEPS is not just about the team but giving back to society. He said the company has already vowed to assist senior citizens in Tobago.

He revealed: “Coming soon from EEPS, once in every three months, we will provide executive transportation to at least two elderly homes that are deemed as having problems with transportation on the island, to have their pension cheques changed and returned home safely.”

Eastman also weighed in on the crime situation in the country, saying the battle will only be won when all hands are on deck.

“Crime is a serious thing. It is everybody’s business and everybody has a part to play. You can’t just sit down and depend on the system to do things.

“If we took the opportunity to do what we ought to do, the relevant authorities will have something else of importance to do for us. I am ensuring that Eastman’s play an integral role in assisting in whatever way that we could in curbing this plague that is affecting Trinidad and Tobago.”

In his remarks, Bogdanos, who flew in from Miami for the event, said Eastman has taken many of his classes in the United States.

“The amount of training we can provide is unprecedented because of the ability to have the freedom to have the guns and weapons to teach the proper people.”

He added: “Brent has taken several level one classes and multiple level two classes to the point where I gave him an instructor’s shirt because I believed in him.

“Brent has been so successful, I had him write his success story in my second book that I wrote called The Bodyguard Blueprint. So, it was important for me to support him and prove to the world that Mr. Eastman and his company will be successful because he was successful enough to be in my book.”

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