Integrators '20 under 40' 2017—Alexandra Curtiss

Alexandra Curtiss, 34

VP, Alarm New England

Boston

Alexandra Curtiss pointed out that when it comes to finding good, young professionals, some of the best talent at Alarm New England did not start out in security. “My entire team comes from outside the security industry,” she noted. “We really look for people who are super motivated, have new ideas, and for us it is a real plus to bring people from outside the industry, and bring those skills and fresh ideas to the company.”

With a thriving tech scene in Boston, “a lot of the cultural values from the start-up tech community here are infused into our organization,” she said. “So we go out and actively recruit from industries other than our own.”

Although she started out working in the family business out of college, she left the business to work outside the industry before returning in November of 2015 to build out a new division in Boston.

“I worked for a couple of really cool companies, learning about a data-driven, metrics-orientated sales organization and what a world-class software tech support organization looks like as well as how to do marketing,” she explained. “So I brought some of those ideas back to the family security business. I came back specifically to integrate smart home automation, build an inside sales organization, an inbound marketing funnel and digital marketing program, a DIY installation process and a stellar tech support organization.”

Curtiss said she really loves her job. “I love the financial stability of a reoccurring monthly revenue model, but, more importantly, I love that we are dealing with people's homes and businesses and people's safety and their families.”

She continued, “I really love going into that process of custom designing to really match the end user's needs with a solution, and it really is exciting to leverage some of these modern business practices around digital marketing.”