FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #97 Own Your Safety: Training That Travels To You
A single grabbed wrist changed the course of a life—and launched a mission to make practical safety skills accessible to everyone. We sit down with Courtland Divine, a veteran and the founder of Compass Protection Solutions, to explore how real-world self-defense and active shooter response training can turn uncertainty into decisive action without fear or fluff.
Courtland breaks down a clear framework for personal protection: spot pre-attack behaviors early, use de-escalation to avoid fights, set boundaries that stick, and build a ready mindset that activates when it matters. We talk through hands-on practice with pads and suited training so techniques work under pressure, not just on paper. Then we zoom into critical incident response: understanding life-threatening bleeding, applying direct pressure, packing wounds, and using a tourniquet with confidence. We also cover delaying or denying entry, improvising barricades, and what to do after an incident when adrenaline fades.
What makes this conversation different is the focus on accessibility and relevance. Compass Protection Solutions is fully mobile, bringing equipment, scenarios, and certification options to homes, schools, and businesses. That means custom sessions for homeschool groups, high-traffic workplaces, or teams that handle tense interactions with the public. Courtland shares a personal story that anchors the why behind the work and offers grounded advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: stay persistent, network with intention, and be true to your product and values. If you’ve ever wondered whether pepper spray alone is enough, or how to prepare your staff for the worst day without scaring them, you’ll walk away with practical steps you can use immediately.
Ready to learn skills that stick and protect the people who depend on you? Listen now, subscribe for more local stories with real impact, and leave a review to tell us what training topic you want next.
Courtland Divine
Compass Protection Solutions
compassprotectionsolutions.com
compassprotectionsolutions@gmail.com
703-568-3811
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker:Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I'm excited to introduce you to my guest today. We've got Courtland Divine joining us, and he is with Compass Protection Solutions. Courtland, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you. Thank you, Dori. Appreciate it very much.
Speaker:Well, I'm excited to have you as my guest, and I'd love to start off by sharing with the listeners, tell us all about Compass Protection Solutions.
Speaker 2:Sure, absolutely. So Compass Protection Solutions is a recently formed company, a veteran-owned, that specializes in personal protection through self-defense workshops, and it also offers the overt training that is offered through HSI. It is certified. So you do your certificate at the end of training. We have our self-defense workshops, which are tailor-made for individuals, groups, or businesses. They cover uh things such as uh identifying the behaviors that are threatening, de-escalation tactics, uh setting boundaries, getting the proper mindset, preparation, and preparedness. Uh, we also approach it with a go button. So when you do have to act, you immediately do it without hesitation to go with all those physical skills that you'll learn. With a vert, uh, it is an active shooter uh response training, but it also tells you what life-threatening bleeding is, how to respond to life-threatening bleeding. Uh, that's direct pressure, packing the wound, applying a tourniquet. You also learn how to delay andor deny uh entry to a room. And if someone does get in, how to handle that situation and make sure that you are safe and then what to do following that incident. So there's a lot involved in it. It's part done by computer, the other part is done with hands-on, so you actually get to participate within the class.
Speaker:Interesting. So that does cover a lot. Uh, you're teaching a lot, and so who is your ideal client? Is it a business that has you come in and train their employees? Is that um what you do as you go into the business?
Speaker 2:Uh well, we are very we are a mobile entity. So we come to you, we bring all the equipment, we bring the videos, uh, we bring the uh tonicates and uh practice wounds uh when we do the overt training. I bring the kick shields and I dress up actually when I do the self-defense. So you don't just practice techniques in the air when you do the self-defense, you actually get to put those into application on an actual person trying to attack you. Uh but the self-defense, that's for everybody. Uh, anybody can use self-defense. If you get nothing more than uh better awareness and a little more self-confident to make yourself less of a prey, then you've gotten a world of good from it. Uh for the active shooter, it can be for local school systems, especially like homeschools. Uh, it can be for businesses as well, uh, especially those that deal in high traffic areas or lots of money or uh things where tensions are created between the the workers and who they're dealing with on a day-to-day basis.
Speaker:Such important work. And you mentioned that you're a veteran. Thank you for your service.
Speaker 3:Yes, thank you.
Speaker:I'd love to dive deeper into your background. Tell me, tell me about your journey. What led you to starting this business?
Speaker 2:So I've always been interested uh with the martial arts. My brother, I think, introduced me to Bruce Lee many, many years ago and just loved watching the movies and started training in it uh when I was in high school. Uh went to college and continued my training. In fact, got my black belt while I was still in college. Uh, my girlfriend at the time was training in class with us. She also wound up getting her black belt later on. But what really hit the self-defense home for me was we were out training for some matches coming up, and she was on the road too, doing some work where she had was behind us while we were running, and I looked back and didn't see her. When we all got back together, she told me a very concerning story about how as she was passing the car wash, which is on the campus, so it's not like we were anywhere in a what we thought was a very dangerous location, but on campus in Kentucky, and a couple of guys sitting on the back of a tailgate, one of them got up and approached her while she was doing her route and ran up to her, catcalling, whistling the whole nine yards, and grabbed her by the wrist. Having trained, she just immediately responded into how we always uh work on our wrist escapes and follow-throughs. So she twisted her wrist, broke the grip. Before he could respond, she took out his knee and took off running to us, making sure she would look to make sure nobody else was following her. Uh, what made that really, really important and stick with me is because in 1995 that same lady became my wife. And we had four amazing daughters together. So it's very important to me.
Speaker:Yeah. Wow, it's so fortunate that she had that training and she was able to get away. And it definitely explains your deep why. And so, what message do you have for women listening?
Speaker 2:Uh, I know that a lot of times they either think, well, I've got somebody with me, so I'll be protected. Uh, I have these tools, pepper spray, stun gun, but if you don't train with it every day and learn how to deploy it and practice deploying it and using it, you're probably not going to. Or if you leave it at home, what good does it do you? Uh, or it's just I don't have time for that. Always understand that you are important to someone. Someone is depending on you for day-to-day things, and that makes you very important. And you're worth the little bit of time it takes to go out and learn how to better prepare yourself for a bad situation.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah. Really great advice. Thank you for that. What is something that you wish the listeners knew about Compass Protection Solutions?
Speaker 2:Uh, that we are, like I said, that mobile entity. You don't necessarily have to go somewhere else to get the training. We'll bring that training to you and we'll do it on your schedule. Uh, we will set up a free consultation. That way we can talk about what your needs are, how to best accommodate anyone who might need accommodations within your group, uh, and what your goals are and how you would like to approach it and what you're trying to get out of that particular set of training. If you want this as a one-time or a multiple ongoing recurring session to happen, these are all things we can line up and plan out in that free consultation.
Speaker:Amazing. Amazing. And so if there are any listeners who are inspired by uh your entrepreneurism and are thinking about starting a business, what advice would you give them?
Speaker 2:Uh well, I've just started, so uh my advice would be to uh stick with it, uh, you know, and don't let uh any lack of I guess uh people coming to you in the beginning uh deter you from what you're doing. Uh it takes time to build clients, and we're still trying to build clients, you know, and that that will be an ongoing thing. Uh I would say if you can do like I'm doing and what other people have done, you know, ask to see if they could be on your podcast and get some of that uh exposure out. I think that's very important. Networking is is very key to getting your name out there and just be true to yourself. You know, don't change who you are to try and fit, because that's not gonna help. You you're not gonna be successful if you try and change who you are. You have a product, you believe in your product, put your product out the way that you feel it's best put out.
Speaker:Really good advice. Thank you for that. I love it. So if the listeners want to learn more from you, if they want to connect with you, what's the best way to reach you?
Speaker 2:Sure, there's a couple of ways. You can uh send us an email at compass protection solutions at gmail.com. Uh, you can give me a call at my cell phone at 703-568-3811. You're always welcome to go look at the website as compass protection solutions.com. If anybody is interested, we are doing in conjunction with uh Empire Martial Arts, we are doing an active shooter uh training and a uh weapons disarming um seminar this uh coming Saturday starting at 8 o'clock. So if anybody's interested and wants more information, they can contact me uh at that uh either email or number that I gave you.
Speaker:Amazing. Courtland, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing compass protection solutions with us.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBGneighborspodcast.com.