'20 under 40' 2012 - Brad Nye

Brad Nye, 34
General manager
Mountain Alarm
Ogden, Utah

How did you get into the security industry?

In high school, I worked part time for a car audio place. I loved wiring car stereos, alarms, building speaker boxes, and putting car alarms in. Then two days out of high school, my dad said, “If you're not going to college, go get a job.” So I applied at a company called Peak Alarm in Salt Lake City, and I worked there about a year, and then moved to Mountain Alarm because I live in Ogden, where it's based. That was more than 15 years ago. I started out installing fire alarms in high rises, then moved into the security service department and did service work, and then I did security installs. Then I started specializing in access control and CCTV, and then started managing commercial security, and then commercial security and fire. I became a project manager, and then, seven years ago, general manager. I really didn't know anything about security when I started … but once I got into it, I loved it. I enjoy it every day.

What can be done to attract more young people to the industry?

I do all the hiring and you get a lot of the 20-somethings. They want to understand how things are built and work, so if you can get them in front of the technology they get a passion for it and enjoy it, but they're also very impatient. We do go to a lot of the community colleges and try to establish classes, offering a class teaching low voltage and security to get the interest out there.

Who in the industry has helped you most in your security career?

My boss, Scott Sessions, VP of sales. He's a very motivational, positive influence on my life, at work and at home.