We keep our Best Advice Q&A series going with Tim Garrett, president of AURA US. He shares the best advice he’s ever heard, gives pointers to young security industry pros and names the person to whom all others in the security industry should always listen.
Security Sales & Integration: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Tim Garrett: The best piece of advice I’ve ever received is something that stayed with me from my time in the Navy: “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”
In the submarine force, there was very little tolerance for doing something halfway. The details mattered because small mistakes could quickly become much bigger problems. That experience taught me the importance of discipline, preparation, and maintaining high standards, even when no one is watching.
I’ve carried that mindset with me throughout my career and it’s especially relevant in the security industry. Security is not a field where “mostly right” is good enough. Customers trust you with their people, their property and some of the most critical moments they’ll ever face.
Whether it’s implementing a new integration, refining an alarm response process, rolling out a solution for a customer or improving an internal operating procedure, the goal should always be to do the job properly. You can’t cut corners simply because something is difficult, repetitive or happens behind the scenes. The work that people don’t see is often what makes the biggest difference when it matters most.
SSI: What advice would you give to those looking to achieve success in the security industry?
Garrett: My biggest piece of advice would be to spend as much time as possible close to the actual work. It’s easy to talk about technology, artificial intelligence, platforms, analytics and automation but security ultimately comes down to what happens in the real world when something goes wrong.
Take the time to understand what happens when an alarm is triggered, how a monitoring center handles it, what a dealer or integrator has promised the customer, what information a responder actually receives and what the end user expects.
The people who tend to succeed in this industry are those who understand how operations work in practice, not just the theory.
I’d also add a simple principle: do what you say you’re going to do. Security is a trust-based industry and credibility is earned over time. Every commitment you keep strengthens your reputation and every shortcut or missed promise weakens it. In the long run, trust is one of the most valuable assets you can build.
SSI: If you could point to one person in the security industry and tell up-and-comers, “Make sure to listen to what they have to say,” whom would you pick and why?
Garrett: One person who comes to mind is Morgan Hertel. He has spent significant time across different parts of the security ecosystem, particularly in monitoring, but also seems to have a broader perspective on where the industry is heading.
What I appreciate is that he doesn’t view security through a single lens. The future of the industry will depend on much better coordination between detection, verification, monitoring and response so I think people who understand that entire chain have valuable insights to offer.
More broadly, though, I’d encourage people to listen to the operators. The people who are closest to the customer and closest to the alarm event usually have the clearest understanding of where the gaps are. They see the real pain points, they know what actually works in practice and they’re often the most candid voices in the industry because they’re dealing with operational reality every day.
Those are the perspectives that can teach you the most.
Click here to check out all entries in SSI’s Best Advice series!
