The summer of 2001 I decided that I wanted to be a military pilot and the recruiter challenged me to get my private pilot's license to increase my chance of being accepted.

I was finishing college when 9/11 happened. I was offered a navigator's position, but decided that it wasn't for me. When I entered the job market I thought that security would be a growing field and at my first career fair there was ADT. I took a commission-only sales role in their small business division and thus started my career in the industry.

After 10 years of sales and then sales management roles that finished with Tyco Integrated Security, I felt my entrepreneurial spirit telling me to "go for it".

So, I left the safety of a large corporation for the adventure of a small business.

Over the next 10 years I grew two regional integration companies picking up the bruises and blessings that only come from wrestling with market forces, leading teams, competing and doing whatever it takes to win. (if you've run a business for any length of time, you know what I'm talking about!)