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Top 10 Under 40: Josh Garr, President, a.p.i. Alarm, 39

What does your typical day look like? Tell us more about your security roles and responsibilities.
After an espresso or two, I’m typically on the phone or reviewing emails with the company’s management and helping plan our next moves. We are becoming more and more a technology and software driven business and I spend a good deal of time learning what’s coming next and how we can take advantage of it. Then I’m meeting with any mixture of clients, vendors or suppliers, which is usually the balance of my day. I started my career in a sales role and I enjoy that aspect of business the most which is why I still deal directly with clients I brought into the company over 10 years ago.

What do you enjoy most about working in the security industry?
Not only do I enjoy the aspect of helping to save people and property, but it’s also a great business. It has its challenges that come with running a 24/7 operation, but the pros have always outweighed the cons. The industry is constantly changing and the advantages coming with AI, machine learning and a wide range of tools that we are implementing are going to be huge for us. That gets me excited as we become more and more of a technology-driven company.

What are your career goals for the future and how do you plan to achieve them?
[My goals are] to focus on continuing to expand and grow the company. We have been very successful in Canada and have a great company that has seen significant growth over the years. We are very aggressive in the M&A space as we continue to win deals. We are also continuing our expansion south of the border and that should drive a lot of our growth in the years to come.

What have you learned about the security industry during your career and what advice would you pass on to newcomers?
I had a great mentor who taught me a lot about the business, the industry at large and the concept of hard work. Once you take out anything specific to this industry that is unique to security itself, it is no different than any other. It all comes down to the basics of hard work and sacrifice — never take no for an answer when trying to win. My advice to newcomers is to work hard, put in the hours needed to get your job done, and never let a no discourage you from keeping your head up and moving forward.