Motivational Speaker Kevin Brown brought the energy and inspiration when he took the stage as the opening keynote speaker for NRF PROTECT 2025. Here, he shared stories about the heroes who have transformed his life by using their gifts and abilities to make a positive difference. Read his thoughts in the moments immediately following his powerful speech at NRF PROTECT in this LPM exclusive.
LPM: Loss prevention professionals are facing unprecedented challenges at this point in time. How can they become a hero to their teams through these challenges?
Kevin Brown: The funny thing about heroes is that most people have an aversion to it because they say ‘I’m no hero,’ but really it’s the everyday things that we do with great care. So often they think it’s going to be the big things, and It’s really the little things. It’s the creative thinking, it’s the engagement with people, it’s problem solving—it’s all of those little things that stack up. And we do live in unprecedented times; we live in a world of uncertainty where people need to feel safe, where people need to feel secure, where people need to know that somebody’s got their back, which is exactly what heroes do. They’ve got our back and we don’t even know they’re there half the time—heroes who hide in plain sight.
LPM: Can you explain how leaders can create strong connections with their team members that reach beyond the ordinary, as you mentioned in your speech?
Brown: The definition of a hero is extraordinary people choosing not to be ordinary, and making that choice. When Oprah retired from her show to start a network, they asked her one question: You’ve interviewed 35,000 people—what did you learn? Was there a through line, a common thread? And without blinking, she said, ‘Everybody I have ever known was seeking validation. It didn’t matter if it was the best of the best in sports, entertainment, or politics, it didn’t matter. When the lights went off and the cameras quit rolling, they all leaned over and asked how did I do?’ They wanted to know that they had shined in Oprah’s moment. Here’s the important part for leaders to take from this: First, who is it in your life that wants to know that they’ve shined in your moment? The people on your team, your children, your spouse, your friends—who needs validation from you? She also said that everybody she’s ever known, they’re silently asking three questions: Do you see me? Do you hear me? Does what I say even matter to you at all? Imagine every teammate, every partner, every vendor, they’re all asking the same questions. They don’t want to be a number. They don’t want to be a statistic. And in an industry that’s loaded with statistics—shrinkage and everything else you’re looking at—we have to humanize a business that’s built around numbers because ultimately it is the people business.
LPM: One of the things you say is that before you can lead anyone else, you must first be able to lead yourself. What is some solid advice or first steps to becoming an efficient leader of yourself? I feel like that’s such a difficult task.
Brown: So my mentor, the guy who helped me get off the streets, he used to say that you’re a leader of one or a leader of none. People don’t do what we tell them to do, they do what they see us do, whether it’s our kids, colleagues, or whoever, if we give them permission by doing what we do, then we have no right to complain about them doing it. I heard a guy one time say, ‘never complain about what you permit. Never complain about what you allow.’ And the worst thing as leaders that we can do is tolerate somebody who’s not performing because our top performers look at that and ask, then why am I trying so hard? And so it is that self-mastery in doing the work to read the books, to show up for sessions, to watch the videos, to do the training, to continue to get better. We can’t give what we do not have.
LPM: That’s amazing advice, thank you. You also stress the importance of living and working with optimism. What advice do you have for retaining optimism in such a challenging time?
Brown: I’m not a naturally positive person. I grew up in a negative environment and I have to work really, really hard. But what my mentor taught me was the difference between positive thinking and optimism. Positive thinking can sometimes be that pie in the sky, sticking your head in the sand and denying reality. We deny that we even have a problem. Optimists don’t deny reality. They just deny the finality of the situation. They look at the situation and they say, ‘There’s got to be a solution to this. We’re going to go around it, through it, over it—somehow together we are going to solve this problem.’ So optimism is really a skillset. It’s a conscious choice how we see the world. And regardless of whether it’s a diagnosis, a work problem, a home problem, whatever, it’s knowing that we can solve the problem—it’s not insurmountable. And again, I’m blessed. I have some people around me that helped me with that because I contend I have a lot of demons, I have a lot of darkness in my past, and it’s easy for me to go down a slippery slope. And I think mental health is a big part of optimism. The mental health today of leaders and employees and teams is something that we don’t talk enough about. And you want to talk about asset protection, you want to talk about safety and security and doing the work, that’s back to that leader of one idea. How do I help myself and not feel like I’m less than? What gives me the right to stand on stage with the path that I’ve lived? I’m a ninth grade dropout. My son’s the first in my family to go to college. What gives me the right to stand on stage? And I heard a guy the other day say that the very things that you think disqualify you are the things that actually qualify you because you’ve been through the fire. Everybody who was in that room today, everybody that’s in this industry, they’ve been through the fire. They’ve been through the challenges, they’ve been through the change. They’ve been to that point probably where they want to throw their hands up and say, ‘I’m done with this. I don’t want to do this anymore.’ But the truth is, we suffer in silence. We think we’re the only ones going through it. That’s why these conferences are so important. That’s why community is so important—so we can come together and go, oh, you’re dealing with the same thing I’m dealing with. I feel the exact same way you do. And now we have this brother and sisterhood where we can come together and maybe get a little bit more whole as a human. Because if we get better at being a human, we’ll by default be better leaders and better parents and better spouses and all of those things.
LPM: Absolutely. Something else you said during your speech was that nobody notices normal. How can retailers go above and beyond satisfaction?
Brown: Our standards, our expectations as consumers have gone so low. We’re just happy if somebody looks at us, let alone if somebody can help us. The truth is, it is that experience in that moment. It’s the difference of asking somebody, where can I find this? And instead of pointing, you take them to what they’re looking for. It’s creating that moment. It’s engaging and saying, I see you, I hear you, you matter. The extra mile is not even a mile. It’s just one more step than everyone else is willing to take.