Five Questions: Frank Guido

Frank Guido, who recently joined Monitronics as chief marketing officer, has more than 25 years of leadership experience in branding, agency management, digital marketing, advertising, and sales and operations at a number of Fortune 500 companies, including most recently with Windstream and Alltel. Security Systems News recently asked Guido five questions.

Are you married and do you have children? I just celebrated my 30^th anniversary and we have three children—two daughters and a son. One daughter is an aspiring lawyer, one is an art teacher and my son is a senior at Wake Forest. We also have three dogs and three cats, which keep us busy.

What's something your coworkers might not know about you?

Probably my diverse taste in music, as I mentioned what is on my playlist to a couple of folks here and they seemed pretty surprised. I have everything from Radiohead to Waylon Jennings to Drake to Blink, so I listen to a wide variety of music. My kids, who are now adults, keep me in tune on what is really the music I should be listening to, and I tend to agree with them.

Where are you from originally and where are you based now? Any preferences?

I grew up in Chicago, went to school at Michigan State, so Chicago is home, but I am loving Dallas. After living in North Carolina, Arkansas and Virginia—south of the Mason Dixon—it would be hard to go back to Chicago with those winters. Dallas is a big city with some vibrancy, and lots of things to do and traffic is not nearly as bad as what I have experienced in Chicago. Plus, it is a big sports town, and the Bears are coming to play the Cowboys in September, and I already have tickets lined up for that.

What do you like to do in your free time? Any hobbies?

I was once an avid runner and I have completed seven marathons. I have calculated that I have run over 30,000 miles. I don't run anymore, but I love to cycle now, as it is a little easier on the knees. I am originally from Chicago, and I follow all of the Chicago sports teams. It is interesting when people ask me if I am a Cubs or Sox fan, because I grew up a Sox fan but always liked the Cubs, so it is not a love-hate relationship. And this year it is nice to be a fan of both teams because they are both leading their divisions. I moved to Dallas back in November, and was able to catch the Chicago Blackhawks when they came to town to play the Stars, which was really fun to see.

Do you have a favorite author? I really like Erik Larson, a nonfiction author who has written a number of good books, including Dead Wake, which is about the sinking of the Lusitania, and Devil in the White City, which is one of my all-time favorites. It takes place in Chicago in 1892 when they were awarded the World's Fair, but they weren't supposed to get it. So the city had to scramble with architects to really put a façade on the city lakefront property, which was largely marshland back then. So that story parallels with a serial killer that is on the loose in Chicago during this time period when so many people were traveling to the city for the fair. It is just a great read.