Compass Conversations: Signature Peace of Mind Advisors
My first experience with Kenneth was one of profound gratitude. My mother needed some help moving rocks and Kenneth offered his assistance to make sure she got the help she needed. He didn't know either of us, but felt called to offer his personal time to help a stranger.
Kenneth's business is unique to our area, and though my experience isn't related directly to his business, it does show the genuine nature of his character, which is paramount to a business that keeps you and your family safe.
Each month, we'll take you on a journey through the unique stories, passions, and dreams that drive our local entrepreneurs. These are the stories behind the logos and social media posts, the spirited souls enriching our daily lives with their craft and dedication.
What inspired you to start your business?
After spending over 10 years involved investigating data breaches that involved both large enterprise companies and their smaller business partners, I saw so many of the smaller organizations that ultimately had to shut their doors for good as they could not afford to recover.
Understanding that small businesses genuinely are the backbone of our country and not simply a feel-good phrase, I set out to understand the challenges and provide real security strategies that were not only affordable, but designed around each individual small business where they could continue to grow.
Signature Peace of Mind Advisors, is small and will remain a small firm so that we can offer a key component which is relationships. Security strategies will come, but as the owner, I firmly believe relationships matter and genuinely taking the time
to understand how each business is unique and appreciating their offerings to the community.
At the end of the day, we cut through the noise and complexity of the security world and bring solutions that scale to your business as every organization requires a different approach. We have worked with vendors and providers who normally offer services only to large corporations and have arranged unique deals where our clients can pick and choose what they really need whether they have one employee or 500, security and confidence are within reach and have been made affordable.
We also are one of the only cyber security firms in the country that provides services to families and everyday consumers. We have helped many families overcome cyber bullying in schools, sextortion, grooming and trafficking situations.
Our team brings over 30 years of experience between military service, government service and leverage that collective investigative and technical expertise to provide a suite of solutions that can protect your families and kids both in the physical and digital world. Our team has also worked numerous cases where women have been victimized by local IT shops around the country and companies like Best Buy where their information and private photos were taken by techs and
they tried to extort our clients for money and other things.
Our relationship and work with other agencies such as Homeland Security and joint work with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, also highlighted a major gap in technical expertise services for victims of trafficking, sex-based crimes, and also domestic abuse victims. We have developed key service offerings at cost or in many cases for free for those members of our community who need that help but cannot afford it whether it is removing things from the internet or getting a secure phone and laptop and other private services that hides their identity.
How does your business contribute to the local community?
There are many things and organizations we work with around the country and are working on growing our relationships in Virginia as well. I personally chair a national non-profit for victims of abuse and sex-based crimes called 'We Create Warriors', where survivors can get assistance for self-defense training through our partners, workforce training opportunities, interview and resume prep, assistance and mentorship on starting their own business and other wrap-around services we provide.
We also support and provide services for free such as digital forensics for non-profits like Operation Safe Escape and we also created a partnership with a cyber security mentorship program which is nationwide called, WBLA. We have mentored over 50 students since 2023 through that program who range from Freshman in highschool all the way up to college.
Can you share a memorable experience or success story related to your business?
This story is very personal as it involves a former neighbor and very close friend of mine from when I lived in Texas. She and her 3 daughters were going through a horrible domestic abuse situation which was extremely complex as it involved a lot of gun violence, Mexican Gang violence, and issues with police brutality in the Houston area.
We absolutely support and partner with law enforcement where we can but the situation was made more complex by some bad apples involved with the police.
When we first met, despite living in a decent neighborhood, I learned this woman and her daughters were sleeping in their closets at night to protect themselves from the ex-husband and former boyfriend of the mother who was also a violent man. The longer story can be heard on a podcast we have been on called "Slam the Gavel" but through about 2 or 3 years of work with her, and advocating for her family, providing many services ranging from armed security to digital forensics, to providing secure phones and devices for her and her daughters, as of 2024, my client and her family are finally at peace and have been able to really begin their own healing journey and recovery after their multi-year ordeal.
What challenges have you faced in building your business, and how have you overcome them?
We had really great success our first two years of business, however, like any business that relocates operations, it can be difficult to break into new communities and build trust and awareness with the local region.
We have steadily overcome the nuances of relocating through attending the many incredible networking events in the region and having the opportunity to meet one-on-one with some local businesses to start building that trust and relationship we
value.
What makes your business unique?
While there are IT companies that sell cyber as a secondary function, our core is Cyber Security and with our niche and many decades of experience, we bring that value to our fellow small business clients and are one of only a few in the nation that works with families, college students and any that require our services including victims of crime such as domestic violence victims.
What advice would you give to other small business owners who are just starting out?
One piece of advice that I received over time myself is, figure out your niche and what you can do well and do that then build from there. I started my business offering a wide array of privacy and security-related services. That was difficult to scale as I had hoped, so major lesson learned is, know your target audience and craft your offerings to cater to them and do not give up.
In the security world I work in, it does take a bit of extra effort to educate the market on the value of the services we offer but it is absolutely worth the time and effort when your business takes off.
How do you see your business evolving in the future?
Our goal is to ensure businesses and families of all sizes across Central Virginia, have the tools, knowledge and resources to continue to grow and thrive knowing that hackers and others who have malicious intent, cannot succeed when they have a team like ours behind them.
Do you have a special message that you'd like to share with the community through this article?
We firmly believe families and small businesses are the backbone and core of our country.
While the ideas of cyber security, physical security, privacy etc can seem overwhelming and unaffordable, we have tailored our business to meet you where you are and ensure you have the right strategies and solutions in place.
Signature Peace of Mind Advisors, brings our many years of experience from the military, government work and enterprise-level consulting and bringing the vendor relationships as well, where your business can have the tools, without long-term commitment and a team to back it up in a subscription model.
Our team helps cut through the noise of IT and the security market and help you navigate to the right path forward, one which can grow as your business continues to grow.
For the families out there, survivors of trafficking and domestic abuse victims and survivors, we have many years of experience as well supporting those experiencing those situations and representing them as expert witnesses in court, providing services such as digital forensics and at-cost solutions to clean up their online digital footprint as well as providing secure and anonymous services including secure phones, email accounts and wrap-around services.
Please do not hesitate to reach out for a free consult. Help is finally here for the area, with the expertise to back up it, and you no longer have to rely on whatever is on the shelf at Best Buy.
