When I started out in the security industry, I had the good fortune of being hired and subsequently mentored by SDM’s chief editor at the time, Susan Whitehurst. There was nothing unusual about a female working in the publishing industry; however, the test was to cover a market segment — electronic security — that was, as it still is today, primarily male.
Whitehurst recognized that not only did our team of mostly women journalists need to understand the subject matter, but that, as a minority in the industry we needed to fit in and be taken seriously. So, she arranged for all of the editors to go through the National Training School’s Level 1 course, be tested, and become certified alarm technicians. She sent us to seminars and out in the field, so that we could become better educated about business operations, technologies and installation methods.