SECURITY is often understood through what can be seen: cameras, access controls, guards, barriers and gates. For Renee Watkis, however, the deeper lessons have always been about people  human behaviour, leadership, judgement, accountability and service.

Those ideas sit at the centre of Beyond the Gate: Human Behaviour, Leadership, and the Future of Security, which examines security beyond equipment and technology, looking instead at how behaviour, leadership, organisational culture and decision-making affect whether systems work as intended.

But Watkis also recognised there was another story to tell. A more personal one.

Standing at the Gate: A Woman’s Journey in Security, Leadership, and Service turns the focus inward. It reflects on the experiences behind the professional  entering the workforce early, building a career, returning to university later in life, developing as a leader and learning what service means along the way.

Together, the books reflect two sides of one story. One examines the profession. The other examines the woman growing within it.

Watkis brings more than 15 years of experience across security operations, human resource management, organisational leadership, risk management, policy development and professional training. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management, a postgraduate qualification in Financial Management and Accounting, and a Bachelor of Science (honours) in Security Administration and Management.

Her professional journey has reinforced a belief that runs through much of her writing: effective security depends not only on systems and technology, but also on the people expected to make them work.

A journey that did not begin in the classroom

For Watkis, higher education did not begin immediately after high school.

Growing up, her family could not afford to send her to university, and at 16 she entered the workforce. She remained with her first employer for 19 years, learning through experience and building a professional life long before university became an option.

Years later, family circumstances changed the way she thought about her own possibilities.

After the death of her stepfather, her younger brother, who had completed his CXC examinations, was preparing to enter university. Watkis decided to help finance his education.

Not long afterwards, her own son was also preparing to enter university.

For a period, she was helping to support two young men through higher education while still not having had the opportunity to complete a degree herself.

Then came a simple realisation. “If I can send two people to university, then I can send myself too.”

At 42, Watkis began pursuing her first degree.

By then, she had already spent approximately 11 years working in the security industry. She entered university with practical knowledge and years of experience, but wanted to understand the theory behind much of what she had been doing.

Her Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Security Administration and Management gave her that foundation.

As she moved through the four-year programme, she began taking what she learned in the classroom directly back into the workplace. She reviewed processes differently, strengthened systems, reconsidered procedures and shared new knowledge with colleagues and members of her team.

For Watkis, education was never simply something to complete and place on a résumé. It was something to use.

The classroom deepened her understanding of security, while the workplace allowed her to apply that knowledge in real situations.

The experience would later inform Standing at the Gate. Security was the profession she was learning to understand more deeply. Leadership was reflected in how she used that knowledge to improve the work around her. Service was evident in helping others move forward and sharing what she learned along the way.

Beginning university at 42 also challenged the idea that professional growth must follow a particular timetable.

For years, responsibility had meant helping other people move forward. Going to university meant recognising that her own development deserved investment too.

From experience to leadership

Another important shift came when Watkis was offered an operations management position with a security company.

The move broadened her understanding of the industry and gave her an opportunity to help strengthen policies, processes and organisational structure.

Security was no longer only about carrying out responsibilities. It was also about how organisations were led, how systems were built and how people responded to expectations.

During this period, Watkis became involved in training security officers preparing for their Private Security Regulation Authority licensing requirements.

She quickly recognised that people learned differently.

A definition in a manual could be correct, but this did not necessarily mean the person hearing it understood how to apply it.

Security concepts often became clearer when connected to realistic situations, practical examples and straightforward language.

“You have to meet people where they are,” became an important part of her approach.

Training, for Watkis, was not simply about delivering information. It was about helping people understand why the information mattered and how to use it.

A policy could be well written and a procedure technically sound. But if the people expected to follow them did not understand them, weaknesses could remain.

That lesson would become part of the thinking behind Beyond the Gate.

Understanding the human side of security

After completing her first degree, Watkis moved directly into a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management.

The decision followed naturally from what she had already begun to observe.

Improving security was not only about strengthening systems. It was also about understanding people.

Her studies helped her make stronger connections between behaviour, communication, leadership and change management. She had already seen that introducing a new process did not automatically mean people would accept or follow it. Staff needed to understand why the change was necessary, what was expected of them and how it related to their work.

Change was not always easy or immediate. But when people could connect a process to realistic experiences, it often became easier to understand and apply.

Those observations helped give Beyond the Gate its direction.

The book explores why human behaviour deserves greater attention in security, how leadership influences security culture and why technology alone cannot solve every security problem. It also considers a profession being reshaped by artificial intelligence and increasingly sophisticated surveillance and security technologies.

For Watkis, those advances make the human element no less important.

A camera may record an incident, but someone must recognise its significance. An access-control system may restrict entry, but procedures still have to be followed. Technology can assist with detection, recording and analysis, but people still have to decide what happens next.

Security, in her view, is not simply something an organisation installs. It is something people have to understand, support and practise.

The woman behind the professional

If Beyond the Gate grew from what Watkis learned about the profession, Standing at the Gate grew from what those years taught her about herself.

The book reaches back into the experiences that came before the qualifications and titles beginning work at 16, building a career through experience, supporting family, entering university at 42 and continuing to grow professionally while helping others develop.

It does not present the journey as a straight path or suggest that Watkis always had the answers.

That is part of its purpose.

For many women, professional confidence develops gradually  through doing the work, accepting correction, taking responsibility, learning, helping others and stepping into unfamiliar spaces.

Standing at the Gate speaks particularly to women whose lives have not followed the timetable they once imagined.

There is always more to learn, Watkis believes, but there also comes a time to recognise the value of the work already done.

More than being in the room

Women are increasingly visible across security, risk management, law enforcement and other professions traditionally dominated by men.

Watkis welcomes that progress but believes representation should not be the end of the conversation.

Women should also have opportunities to develop expertise, influence decisions, lead teams, shape policy and help determine where their professions go next.

Representation matters, but contribution matters too.

For Watkis, competence remains one of the strongest foundations for confidence.

Learn the work. Ask questions. Accept feedback. Understand the environment. Keep developing.

The objective is not simply to be noticed because you are the only woman in the room. It is to be respected because of what you bring to it.

Her view of leadership follows a similar principle. A title can provide authority, but it does not automatically create leadership.

Leadership can mean taking responsibility, helping another person improve, raising a concern others have overlooked, strengthening a process or sharing knowledge.

A more meaningful question, she believes, is what changed because you were there.

What improved? Who developed? What became stronger?

The meaning of the gate

The gate is more than a title connecting Watkis’ two books. In security, a gate represents access, protection, boundaries and control.

In life, it can represent a decision. There are moments when women find themselves standing between what is familiar and what comes next.

Applying for the position. Returning to school. Changing direction. Accepting greater responsibility. Writing the first page. Taking an idea seriously enough to pursue it.

Those moments rarely arrive with complete certainty. Sometimes there is hesitation.

Sometimes there is doubt. Sometimes there is a feeling that more preparation is needed.

But being ready does not always mean being free of doubt. Sometimes it means having enough courage to move while doubt is still present.

This is ultimately what connects Watkis’ two books.

Beyond the Gate asks security professionals to look beyond equipment and consider the people, behaviour and leadership behind the system.

Standing at the Gate asks women to consider the experiences, barriers, responsibilities and possibilities that shape their own journeys.

One examines the profession. The other examines the woman becoming more fully herself within it.

Together, they carry a message that reaches far beyond security.

You do not have to know everything before you begin. You do not have to hold the highest title before your contribution has value. You do not have to wait for someone else to validate every step you have taken.

And you do not have to wait until every doubt disappears before moving forward.

Sometimes the most important decision is simply to walk through the gate.