Josh Kayser

For those that don’t know I started a bail bond company my junior year of college. A lot of times I tell people that and I can instantaneously see stereotypes running through their minds as their opinion of me almost immediately changes. Maybe they think I’m some hoosier, maybe they think I’m some thug, or maybe they think I am some clever guy capitalizing on college students learning the ropes of life and will occasionally slip a bit one drunken night. Whatever the popular opinion of bail bondsman may be I wouldn’t trade it for the world and still to this day have not been able to give it up completely.

Running a bail bond company seems pretty juvenile compared to some of the things I want to accomplish throughout my working career but being a bail bondsman in Columbia, Missouri has taught me a few valuable lessons in life I wouldn’t trade for $1mm…. unless it was cash.

1.) How to read people

I get a phone call at 3:00am for a possession of controlled substance and a possession of paraphernalia. In Boone County this is a $5,000 bond. The person on the other line could be the worried sister of someone who just made a honest mistake tossing a loose Adderall in their purse out of the prescription bottle or the person could be a crack head trying to get their crack head friend out of jail before they start feigning again.

I can ask all the questions I want but no says they have to tell me the truth. When I ask questions I am not looking for an answer as much as I am looking for a reaction. Are you lying to me or are you being truthful? Making the wrong assumption could cost me $5,000 in this case. I can’t read their facial expressions, I can’t see what they look like, I can’t run a credit check. I essentially have to make a decision on a $5,000 loan from a 5-minute phone call.

No one ever taught me how to determine if someone is a crack head or a good human being I just learned it being a bail bondsman.

2.) How to relate to people

I get to talk to a lot of unique people. I may not bond everyone out that calls me but the weirdos and yahoos do occasionally call my phone. Not everyone I meet is bad either. I just get a very diverse group of callers. Everyone from your typical thug, to his baby moma, to the scared 18 year old student who just got a DWI, to that scared 18 year old’s parent who wants to be sure I am not some weirdo bondsman like they see on TV whom they looked up online and are about to give their credit card information to.

Relating and talking to each one of these people all require a different tone, a different personality, and a different script. All want to hear something different. Some want you to curse the police while others want you to calm them down and tell them how it’s really not that big of a deal. I read people quickly and if the bond is one I want to write I will bring myself to their level to relate to them and tell them what they want to hear. I don’t lie to them. I just relate to them; however unique they may be.

No one ever taught me how to relate to different people and talk to them on their level I just learned it being a bail bondsman.

3.) How to deal with bureaucracy

Anyone that has dealt with our countries criminal court system knows how big of a headache it can be. Not only is it slow and inefficient but its not a perfect system. It is not even close to a perfect system.

I have had to deal with a judge who did not know the law and as a result entered a final forfeiture and handed me a $15,000 bill. Dealing with judges is a difficult thing. Since they are there to interpret the law many of them feel as though they can essentially write the law. Do I shove statues in their face and prove them wrong? Damaging their ego and inevitably risking mistreatment until the day they resign. Or do I just pay the $15,000 bill and write it off as a business expense?

There really is no right answer to this. The confines of bureaucracy aren’t meant to confine the ones who actually make the rules. Its only meant to confine the lowly bail bondsman who has to play by the judges rules. However incorrect they may be.

No one ever taught me how to deal with egotistical judges and their asinine rulings I just learned it being a bail bondsman.

4.) How to deal with people

If you are around me on a daily basis you have seen and heard the different ways I deal with different people. This is not entirely the same as relating to people but more so getting your point across to people and also getting them to do what you want.

Some people go to court because they will always go to court, some people go to court because they don’t want you to call their parents and some people only go to court because you threatened to kick their door down during a Thanksgiving meal with their entire family as witnesses. Whatever their motivation is I have to first read people quickly and find out what I need to say or do ensure that they go to court. Some people I just need to write the date down on a business card and others I have to pull out all the tricks. There is no magic trick or secret formula. It is different for everyone.

No one ever taught me how to influence people to get them to do what I want I just learned it being a bail bondsman.

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All of these valuable lessons and skills I learned being a bail bondsman have made me into who I am today.

Some people may look down upon on the bail bond profession but the lessons learned answering 3:00am phone calls from crack heads prepared me far better for life and the working world than my $80k textbook university education.

**Shout out to my father for successfully getting through his first year as a new St. Louis bail bonds company with zero forfeitures.

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