Security Sales & Integration March 2022 - 72

On the RISE
In Partnership With
Marquis Chester Champions
Diligent, Deliberate Approach
▶ What first got you interested in security
and safety as a career choice?
I wanted a job that allowed me to play a significant
role in people's lives. Securitas had an open
position as a business development coordinator
for marketing and communications, and I applied
because I felt a global security firm would
be an avenue where I could foster that sense of
influence. Security touches the lives of countless
people and businesses, and I enjoy knowing I
play a role in that.
Marquis Chester, Business
Development Coordinator,
Marketing and Communications,
Securitas Security
Services USA
On the RISE is a bi-monthly
column by the Security
Industry Association (SIA)
in partnership with Security
Sales & Integration profiling
the next generation of
security industry leaders.
This column is part of
SIA's RISE initiative, a
community that fosters
the careers of young
professionals in the security
through networking and
career growth events,
education and professional
development offerings and
scholarship opportunities.
▶ What are some challenges and advantages
of being a young professional in security?
Many challenges and advantages both stem
from the same reality. Young people, in large
part, don't have the same loyalty to any brand or
company that our parents and their parents had.
There was a time when you could spend decades
working for the same firm, climb the corporate
ladder and retire comfortably as a " company
man. " Young people don't see that as a realistic
option like prior generations did. This mentality
presents a challenge because companies are
aware of this and might be hesitant to invest in a
skilled candidate because they know they might
not stay long. However, this can also be a great
advantage for young professionals who have no
inhibitions when accepting the best offer available
whenever it presents itself.
▶ What advice do you have for young professionals
just starting out in the industry?
I would love for young people to understand
to take their time and not rush success. There's
nothing wrong with moving quickly to get
where you want to be, but in all likelihood you
don't have to be there tomorrow. Young professionals
should be more patient with themselves
and offer themselves more grace. They are already
under a tremendous amount of pressure
from every direction. It is acceptable, perhaps
even necessary, to take life one month, one
day, one moment at a time to not hurt yourself
in the process.
▶ How do you define success?
It's hard to see success as anything other than a
game of numbers at work, but I love the feeling
of a job well done. At a base level, achieving a
goal that is both realistic and ambitious gives me
deep satisfaction. I've worked on a project basis
for most of my career, so I operate in a mindset
built on the cycle of beginning, middle and end.
Going through each step with efficiency is always
the objective. Coming out the other side with new
lessons learned is a bonus.
▶ What are some key components of your
marketing and business development role
with Securitas?
My core responsibility is to be a storyteller. Securitas
has a message it wants to share with the world,
and I must deliver it. When the people have heard
that message and want to learn more, I help guide
them toward the people and resources that provide
them with the services they need.
▶ What are some ways in which you think
the security industry could foster more
diversity, equity and inclusion?
Inclusivity sustains diversity. The industry could
build that diversity by redefining the almost paramilitaristic
image of security officers. There are
countless ways to project strength without the
overdone brutalist themes that plague most firms.
▶ How is the shifting technological landscape
presenting both challenges and
opportunities for the security industry?
Advancing technologies make cybersecurity an
issue not just of tomorrow, but today. Firms have
a golden opportunity to pivot from only officers
on the ground to investments in digital security
apparatuses that could provide an entirely new
subscription-based revenue stream.
SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION (USPS 511-590) (ISSN 1539-0071), Vol. 44, No. 3, is published monthly by Emerald X, LLC., 100 Broadway, 14th Floor,
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