Hey Folks,

Back at the beginning of May 2008 when we were opening our facility in San Diego, there was a lot of work that needed to get done in the office spaces.

My desk and computer were out in the warehouse. My dad had just flown in all the way from Tennessee and he just finished scraping up all the old carpet glue that was left on the floor after ripping up TWO layers of filthy blue carpet. The walls were all patched and sanded and somewhere in the middle of putting up a fresh coat of paint I received the following phone call:

“Hi, yes, I have 5,000 boxes that I need to get shredded.”

There is nothing that will get me down off a ladder in mid paint stroke quicker than a phone call asking about 5,000 boxes needing to get shredded!

But I’ll never forget this caller’s next question:

“But my employer requires that the shredding company I select must be NAID (National Association for Information Destruction) Certified: Are you NAID Certified?”

As my mind raced to come up with a satisfactory answer, my stomach sank as my only response was a half-hearted “no”.

The caller quickly and politely said “Thank You” and hung up.

Disappointment is hardly the word for what I felt.

No matter how big the shredding company, 5,000 boxes is a big job – Nobody will ever be able to tell me otherwise.

And for a small shredding company only a year and a half old – That’s an incredibly huge awesome job!

But as huge of a job that would have been, it was an even more massive disappointment.

It was at that point I decided that NAID Certification Wasn’t an Option; It Was a Requirement.

Since that day, for two long years, I’ve been torturing myself trying to get everything perfect for a NAID Certification Audit.

For the longest time I was misreading the Plant Based requirements and thought my facility was incapable of becoming NAID Certified.

Once I finally got passed that Mental Misfire (for some reason that took almost a year), I had to commit to putting in a Closed Circuit Camera system that would not only monitor the facility, but would also record at least 90 days of footage!

Quick Lesson Learned: Don’t ever assume you can’t do something! Press forward. Keep taking action. And keep asking questions (ask people who know) until you know for sure it can’t be done. And then push some more!

The delay in putting in the camera system was a little more grounded in reality since it was a fairly costly investment.

Another Quick Lesson: Smartly investing in your business/life is rarely a bad investment. Do your homework, research, ask questions, then go for it!

The camera system finally went in last October.

Then came the painful 90 day wait so that we had 90 days of video footage on file. You think watching water boil can take forever, try waiting 90 days of video footage.

I literally haven’t been so impatient and excited for time to pass by since I was just a kid waiting for Christmas morning to come.

That brings me to Last Wednesday when our successful NAID Certification Audit took place and then finally to today where I can, with great relief and excitement, say that Total Secure Shredding is

AAA NAID Certified for both Plant Based and Mobile Based Document Destruction.

Now this is where the rubber hits the road for Total Secure Shredding.

If there was ever any question or equivocation about our security and professionalism – it is now gone – PERIOD.

We now meet any other shredding company at every turn and still pull away at every straight away.

We are now:

• NAID AAA Certified for Mobile Document Destruction
• NAID AAA Certified for Plant Based Document Destruction
• Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Certified by the State of California

Just those three items alone put Total Secure Shredding in a league of its own.

And, we offer walk in shredding six days a week where you can walk in during regular business hours and watch one box of documents get shredded while you wait and only be charged for one box.

Affordability, Security, Convenience, Service & Professionalism – Not only for Large Businesses & Government Agencies, but also for Small Businesses, Non-Profits and Residents.

Total Secure Shredding is now positioned at the pinnacle of the shredding industry.

The best part, I’ve got more to come…

So thank you to all our loyal customers who showed faith and gave us an incredible opportunity. Without your support non of this would have been possible.

I truly look forward to continuing to service your document destruction needs.

To everyone else who may be looking for a document destruction company…

Why look further?

Until next time…

Keep Totally Secure,

Mike