Screen printer during day, security guard at night
Starkville MS March 3, 2022 As young adults file in and out of a particular Cotton District restaurant every weekend night, one security guard, a 6’2”, young woman named Kayla Bevill checks ID cards to ensure patrons are of legal drinking age.
After one young man was thrown out of the restaurant for urinating on the indoor stairs a few weeks ago, he tried to reenter by climbing on the venue’s vent pipe and ultimately came crashing down, bringing the pipe with him. People surrounding him picked up the pipe and began cheering. Bevill sent one of her coworkers after the man, while she went to retrieve the pipe.
“Give me back my pipe,” Bevill said to the individuals, to which they immediately replied, “Yes, Ms. Kayla.”
Bevill serves as the operations manager for Watch Dawg Protection, a security service utilized by most of the venues throughout The Cotton District. Bevill was first introduced to the security service company in April 2021 while printing the company’s shirts and uniforms at her day job working at University Screen Prints.
“I made a joke to the owners and said, ‘Hey, do y’all hire females?’” Bevill said. “And they were like, ‘Yeah, c’mon, especially at your size.’”
Bevill quickly learned the ropes of the job, first as a security guard and then becoming a supervisor where she learned to identify real IDs from fake ones.
After quickly excelling in her job, Watch Dawg owners promoted her to lead supervisor, overseeing all other supervisors.
Bevill said the owners endorsed her because of her commitment to the job, causing men, who had worked for the company for a much longer time, a bit of hesitation. Just as the owners did, her fellow coworkers eventually saw why she was chosen for the position, she said.
“It was really hard for them to see a girl come in,” Bevill said. “At first, they were like, ‘Whatever, she’ll be gone soon.’ You just kind of have to earn your respect, especially with a lot of guy patrons that won’t listen to you because they say, ‘Go get your supervisor,’ and I say ‘Okay, I’ll be right back.’ I’ll just walk in the venue and come right back out and say, ‘Hi, I’m Kayla nice to meet you.’”
After becoming lead supervisor, the owners told her she had the skills necessary to grow the company, promoting her to operations manager and making her the face of the business. Through this role, she took on additional responsibilities, such as scheduling and employee location designation.
When Bevill is not working Wednesday through Saturday nights at bars throughout The Cotton District, she continues to work daily at University Screen Prints or finds herself at Strange Brew Coffeehouse creating schedules or doing other work for Watch Dawg. She said serving as operations manager is a nice change of pace because during the day she works with four individuals, but at night, she gets to continuously create new relationships.
“Regardless of what people say, I’m a big teddy bear, and I love people,” Bevill said.
In order to succeed in her role, Bevill said she has learned to have patience because “drunk people are kids.” Individuals at times will be rude, arguing or throwing drinks at her, but she said she embraces the malice because she has their best interest at heart.
Working as a bouncer at a bar is 95 percent customer service and 5 percent actual security, meaning she must be ready to diffuse any situation at any time, Bevill said.
“You have to be watching all of the time because you have to be prepared for something,” Bevill said. “You have to make sure you get there before anything happens. Guys will walk up to your face and pump their chest out, trying to get in another guy’s face. That’s when you have to step in. You don’t want to step in after the fight because then you’ll get hit.”
Bevill said she is proud to be in her position because these roles are typically filled by men. While she was intimidated at first being a woman in a male-dominated field, she said she now feels comfortable as manager because she has gained the respect of all the patrons she serves.
“A lot of people don’t take me seriously, so I feel like I have to prove myself at times and be extra strict,” Bevill said. “I don’t care if people like me, but they’re going to respect me, and they’re going to listen to me.”
While Bevill said her job can be exhausting, she has never felt more rewarded. Along with the love of her coworkers and the entertaining experiences, Bevill said her favorite part of her job has been creating relationships and building connections with all of the patrons she meets every night.
“Through this experience, I try to tell people not to base your life on where you feel you should be,” Bevill said. “You can have a plan for your life, but if God says that ain’t it, that ain’t it. I never saw myself in this line of work, but I love every second of it because when it comes to it, I’m a people person. As long as I’m enjoying it and everyone else is too, happiness rubs off on one another.”
