EE519: Mentor Moment: Mark Breen - Opportunities Rarely Arrive Planned

Welcome to this week's Mentor Moment. Some careers are meticulously planned. Others start by simply saying yes. This week, your mentor is Mark Breen, the founder of Safe Events Global. This is a masterclass at spotting opportunity, going for it, and turning small moments into a career you could have never predicted. Here is your mentor this week, Mark. So how'd you get, uh, into events?

How did I get into events? UL is probably the answer. That, uh, and we didn't plan this, but UL is the answer, I guess. Um, went there in 1999. Uh, had been doing security work in a nightclub at home. Uh, I was a lifeguard as well. I was reasonably big guy. Um, so got into security at home, and then we went to UL, and it was a freshers week... It was Ragweek. Ragweek, there was a Frames gig. Remember the Frames gi- when they used to play?

Mm-hmm.

Oh. I've no great time for Glen himself, but Frames as a band were amazing. So there was a Frames gig. That's a different story. There was a Frames gig, and, um, it was just really busy. It was packed, and some people started falling down, and myself and some mates were close by just helping them back up and whatever, and that was the vibe of the gig. It was, people kept falling over. It was that kind of thing. Great gig. So we were helping people up, and then there was some of the people working security spotted us and kind of thanked us or whatever. And then at the end of the night, a guy who, a great guy, Keith Piggott, who I know very well now, um, he was running the events at the time, came out and said, "What's your story?" I'm like, "Oh, we're freshers." Uh, he said, "Right, you're all working now for the week." And I think there was three of us he said it to, and one of the lads went, "No, I'm on the beer for the week. Thanks for... But no thanks." And I kind of went, "I've bought tickets." He goes, "I'll give you your money back." "Okay. And what are you gonna pay me?" He told me. I went, "So you're gonna pay me to be at the gigs?" He goes, "Yeah." I went, "Well, I'm in." And the other guy, Whitney Cormack, said, "Yeah, I'm in." Um, and then that morphed very quickly to, within a year or two, I was kind of running that, that, the ends crew, as it was called-

Mm.

... that kind of safety and security team that worked... It was kind of students minding students was the vibe.

Oh, two mates of mine, Dave Devery and Steve Starr, used to do it.

Oh, God, you're mates with Dave?

Yeah.

I forgot that, yeah. He's my IT-

I love how, I love how you say that.

Yeah, he's my IT guy.

I'm gonna clip that and send it to him. [laughs]

Yeah. Until very recently, he sold out of the business, didn't he?

Yeah, he did.

But yeah, he was, he was our IT support for years-

Yeah

... until he sold out. He was a great guy.

It's a small world, like.

It is a small world.

Yeah.

And we actually didn't know that before we started talking, but... So I ended up, again, involved in the events over the years I was there, and largely running that team and getting more involved in, in safety and security, which probably explains why I am where I am now. But, um, it was around the time licensing for doormen, for bouncers, came in, and we were, if I recall correctly, and