MY STORY AND EXPERIENCE

John Rodriguez is the founder of Empathic Security Cultures, LLC, based in Austin, TX.

John brings 43+ years of pure corporate security experience working for major corporations including General Motors, Kimberly-Clark, Levi Strauss & Co., and Cardinal Health. He previously was the Chief Security Officer for Temple-Inland in Austin, TX. He also owned a consulting firm for 10 years with over 100 Fortune 500 ® clients from 1995-2004. John’s career started in 1982 as a third shift proprietary security officer with General Motors, progressing to positions of higher responsibility up to CSO. He has also worked in Latin America and the Caribbean for 33 years.

While with Kimberly-Clark Corporation, security director for Latin American Operations, the company was ranked #1 of 1,900 companies from 2009-2011 by the Great Place to Work Institute ® John’s innovative security strategies were recognized by senior leadership as critical contributions to those years of #1 rankings. Business sales ranked 1 st or 2 nd place in every country of operation.

John is a security generalist with a passion for security culture development, coaching, and mental health for a psychologically safe workplace and mitigating hostile environment risks. He also developed the Security Culture Professional’s Attributes Model™ (SCPA Model) for the human connection and security culture journey.

He holds a Master’s of Liberal Arts (Humanities), Texas Christian University and a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice, North Texas State University. He also completed the Chief Security Officer Executive  Development Program, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

He has lectured for the largest security association - ASIS International (member), the U.S. State Dept. Overseas Advisory Council (OSAC) (member), the International Security Management Association (ISMA) (former member), Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP), (member), as well as other groups.

John is a Certified Family Support Group Facilitator with NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Health, and gives back to the community by leading support group discussions as well as training at law enforcement academies as part of their Crisis Intervention Team curriculum in the Greater Austin, TX area.

John earned his facilitator certificate from the Center for Building a Culture of Empathy, and as a student of psychology, social psychology, and neuroscience, earned a Certification in the Foundations of NeuroLeadership program with the NeuroLeadership Institute.

MY MENTAL HEALTH JOURNEY

There are three types of people. 

Group 1: Those of us who have a mental health condition.

Group 2: Those of us who have friends, colleagues, or loved ones with mental health conditions that we strive to support, care for, and love.

Group 3: Those that will join groups 1 and/or 2... sooner or later.

Our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being have a direct impact on how we perform as corporate security professionals.

— John Rodriguez

About 8 years ago, a family member was diagnosed with a mental health condition and was the start of our family journey in support of their recovery which has been challenging at times. I found the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the wide range of services it provides both people with a mental health diagnosis and family members of loved ones with a condition.  

One of the most helpful NAMI resources was their support group discussions.  In 2020, I decided I wanted to help co-worker in Cardinal Health and in my community who are in either of those two groups, and I was especially driven to breaking through the stigma barrier at work by sharing my story with co-workers in a fearless and shameless way.  I shared by story with Sonexus VP Tara Herington, and she invited me to lead small group support discussions in their program called Community Conversations.  Craig Pavey, a former 20-year Crisis Intervention trained police officer who is also part of the Global Security Department teamed with me to focus on breaking through stigma and within the first year, we conducted 15 sessions with over 150 attendees sharing our stories with each other…we've learned from each other, cried together, and bonded in our special way with empathy and compassionate support. 

In October 2020, I earned my NAMI certification as a Family Support Group Facilitator and I'm leading family support group sessions several times a month in the Greater Austin area.  So, I wanted to share my story and encourage all of you to join in and be part of the solution to eliminate the stigma barrier so colleagues will feel safe sharing their stories and collectively supporting each other in our journeys.  It truly will "take a village" to have any meaningful success.

Experts say 1 in 5 folks have or will have a mental health diagnosis in their lives, but the unknown number is how many of us are in the second group - a family member or friend of loved ones with conditions that worry us and drives us to learn how to support them while bringing our complete selves and focus to work every day.  Craig and I also supported the Mind Matters initiative (a company mental health program) and have started mental health conversations in the company and we're helping to train peer facilitators to hopefully expand these helpful group conversations. We even launch this with our India and Philippines teams.

Lastly, I'll end with this… a speaker at a recent NAMI event focused on cultivating joy as a way for us to feel good and nurture our own mental health.  Acts of kindness and acts of generosity are good for our brains as the brain releases dopamine and serotonin along with other positive physical and mental reactions. Thanks for listening and please contact me if you'd like to chat further.