EE464 - The Hidden Industry Powering the World’s Biggest Events

In this episode of The Entrepreneur Experiment, Gary sits down with Mark Breen, co-founder of Safe Events Global, the Irish team behind some of the world’s most ambitious events - from Dublin Zoo’s Wild Lights to Formula 1 in Qatar and mega-city festival sites across the Middle East.

Mark shares the real, behind-the-scenes story of how a student “helping people up at a Frames gig” turned into running safety for shows with half a million attendees, expanding internationally, and building a 25-person specialist team that’s redefining how event safety is done.

He reveals why the best events feel effortless, how the industry changed post-Covid, why “no lazy no’s” is the company philosophy, and how one email from Saudi Arabia transformed their entire trajectory.

If you’re an entrepreneur who loves hearing how niche expertise becomes a global business — and how culture, clarity, and instinct can build a category-leading company — this episode is for you.

Show Notes

In this episode, we cover:
🔥 Mark’s unexpected journey from student security team to global event specialist
🚀 How Safe Events grew from 4 people to a 25-strong team
🔑 The game-changing first hire that accelerated their growth
🌍 The email that opened the Middle East market — and what happened next
🎪 The “invisible hand” behind the world’s best events
🦺 Why great safety is all about design, not control
🧠 The philosophy of “no lazy no’s” — and how it wins clients
💡 Why instincts matter, but structure matters more as you scale
📈 How to build long-term client relationships in a project-based industry
💻 Why Safe Events built a digital operations department and a design team
❤️ Mark’s refreshing view on success, leadership, and building a life you enjoy

Links & Resources

• Safe Events Global: https://safeevents.ie/

• Mark Breen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breenm/

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Music Credit: “Nobody Knows” by Andrew Applepie — used under royalty-free license.