Contributed by Robert Young, an EO Nashville member, who is the founder and CEO of Covert Results, a private investigation and security firm. He’s also the founder of Operation Rose, a non-profit focused on solutions to prevent and combat human trafficking. Robert’s sister, Angela Proffitt, is an EO Nashville member who encouraged him to start his own company.

Tell us about your entrepreneurial journey.

I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee watching my late father conduct investigations as a federal police officer with the railroad. He had a cool job, and I wanted to do the same thing! After obtaining a bachelor’s degree at Middle Tennessee State University, I entered the Metro Nashville Police academy in 2007. After six months of training, I earned the Top Gun award and hit the streets.

Five years of hard work later, I landed my dream job on the 20th Judicial District Drug Task Force. The small unit of six officers produced unbelievable cases—something straight out of a movie. In 2014, I started working a cocaine trafficking case, which eventually led to the largest cocaine haul and most complex wiretap case in Nashville history. (I documented the ups and downs I experienced in my true-crime thriller, The Good Line.)

Soon after this record case, our unit was dismantled due to politics. Nashville citizens were left vulnerable. Crime skyrocketed.

I loved the job and tried to stay on course. But, after going through my Dad’s death while being mandated to work uniformed assignments and subtracting my overtime pay due to bereavement leave—I became salty. It was time to retire and start a new venture.