 back to the Think Tech Hawaii studio for another Tuesday episode of Security Matters. Sarah Muzz-Quiz is with us today. She is the channel sales manager for Alcatraz with just an exciting new technology you've bound to have heard of by now, but we'll definitely get into that a little bit. Sarah's a channel sales manager over there and you may have also seen her on Innovation Nation. So she's quite the podcaster herself and today she gets to be on the other side of the microphone, which will be fun for me and hopefully fun for her. Sarah, thanks for taking the time to join us today. I know a lot of work goes into these things and I know you know about that. So I appreciate you taking some time to jump out and help us out. Thank you for having me. I'm excited. No worries. Well, I know you've been introduced in the industry. You sort of already built a name, but in case someone hasn't caught up with you yet, that's in maybe in my audience. Go ahead and give us sort of like your history as much of background as you care to share. We don't all put everything out there on social media these days, but kind of lead us how you know your sort of introduction to the industry and how you ended up at Alcatraz. Sure, no problem. First of all, thank you. It's been a crazy year now because with coronavirus and everything happening, that's also how my podcast started. I needed to do something with my time, right? So it's been really fun. And I went to Cal Poly over, I guess it's now seven or eight years ago. I was an industrial technology major, which is more like an applied engineering degree. I focused on business operations, kind of like a less math oriented industrial engineering type of study. And so I actually interned with Johnson Controls. As I was, I had a fifth year of school. So before that I went and interned. I learned in the field with JCI mechanical and electrical systems. And then I would say, security was the first thing I was exposed to by them, which I always thought was the most interesting. I loved it. I thought it was so innovative. I felt like it was just the area also I had the most opportunity to innovate in general, just with what we could do with it. And so, I naturally went back to school, then I graduated and then took a full-time position with JCI. So then Johnson Controls really, I have a lot to thank them for because everything I know today, everything I learned, everything I've been exposed to is really, because of them I ended up in the smart building space. So after a couple of years of doing work with owners and working on mechanical electrical systems and going through all their training programs at JCI, I then went into the connected technology space where we worked on really large projects that had a big low-voltage packages. So the technologies we were talking about and designing and selling were all across the board and obviously security was one of those. So then I met Alcatraz, I guess it was last May, or sorry, April-May timeframe in 2020. And we were looking at them for a frictionless and touchless solution with one of our large clients in Los Angeles. And so I met Alcatraz by chance and truly just fell in love with what they did and where they were going. I kind of always would tell my vendors to give me something that was similar to like the iPhone or just smart device, easy to understand, easy to sell and to solve problems with. And that's kind of what I felt when I met the rock, which is our product. So hopefully that's a good overview of my background. Nice. And I think, was it the rock or was Alcatraz software that won? I know it was like a product of the year. I'm thinking it's the last time we all got together for as is in person. Was that maybe in 18 or 19, I guess, in the fall of 2019? Yeah, the award I think was, yeah, it was around that timeframe. I obviously wasn't with Alcatraz at the time, but we were, I would say that's actually, I'd say one of the first times our company really became noticed, to be honest. I think people really started understanding or hearing about us and trying to understand what we do. But that was a huge award for us, of course, because that really put us at the frontline of access control. Nice. I know some folks on the judging sort of team, and they were like, you've got to go see Alcatraz, dude, blah, blah, blah. So it was definitely a hit from there on out. Talk to me about industrial technology degree. We have a talent competition that we're in with all the younger tech folks out there in the United States, and they don't always know about our industry and all the great things that we do. Tell me about how industrial technology background, I saw how it sort of got here, but what were the components of that that you learned that you feel like brought forward with you into the security realm today? Because you obviously saw that light clicked when you saw Alcatraz, like, whoa, here's a good merger of hardware and software. So was it from that background in education as well that you could see the future right there? The answer is yes. And I actually love that question because I haven't actually been asked that before. And when I think back on, yeah, well, when I think back to my educational experience, as we all know in our industry, there isn't a major for security, right? There isn't, I think what I learned as being an integrator is you have to kind of own your own business and you have to do what you can to make of it the best it can be without really someone teaching you exactly how to do that, right? So I think what I find most common between our business today and what I was learning in college is, as part of my major, we had a heavy focus on sales engineering, technical selling, we learned a lot about business operations, we learned a lot about manufacturing and packaging and I think what it really gave me was the full 360 to how to kind of own your own business. And so I would say what was interesting was when I did meet Alcatraz given that we are a startup, for a long time being in our industry, I thought, I had a lot of friends from Cal Poly that went to startups, they're living the start-up life and I wasn't, I was in construction of course and it wasn't the same as what a lot of my friends were doing and I thought to myself, like when am I going to ever get to work for a startup? And I think what was kind of cool is that when I did meet Alcatraz, of course that's what they were. And just the ability to kind of 360 round out your own business and like wear so many different hats I think is what directly correlates to what I was taught in school because we got that experience to learn how to make a business work and how to make something great. And so I think that entrepreneurship that I was able to kind of learn and figure out what to do with, I then got to now apply to Alcatraz, which I think is really, really fun. So hopefully that's a good question. Yeah, it's so important. I mean, it, especially being at Johnson Controls and I won't call them like a dinosaur or anything. I mean, Johnson Controls is a lot of amazing work, right? But to have worked there and that construct, I read that you were kind of handling the implementations end to end, right? And driving the team. So from that construction sort of trade, you know, we have the women in security, National NAWIC, the National Women in Security, National Women in Construction out here, I'm sorry, the Christine's a part of. So I know that that community, but that construction community, they are in my experience fairly slow adopters. So did you get an opportunity to bring new solutions to that group? Or was it like sort of where it was specced out by a consultant and Johnson just delivered it? Or were you guys part of the consultative process in the projects that you were in? Yeah, great question. So the specific unit that I was a part of often covered the end user and the consultant. So we really involved early on in the SD DD phase of a job, which is like the schematic design, you know, where, and then they putting the actual design together for the project, you know, a job would typically get built. We'd actually see things going into the ground three to five years out. So the group I was in was called Connected Technologies, which they still exist today and we're focused on, you know, they were focused on or we were focused on the smart building. So what that means is bringing all the different low voltage technologies together. And the only way we really would have success is if we had that buy-in very early on where we can help, you know, kind of influence the budget and the vision and then put all the pieces together because we did actually go build it, right? So we are the ones at the end of the day start to finish, you know, we go from design all the way to installation. And so it was a very specific group within JCI that I think there was about 50 of us. I didn't start there. It was always my goal, joining JCI, knowing who they were and the type of projects they worked on. It was always kind of like my dream to be a part of that team. And I had mentors that, you know, very close mentors of mine who were part of that team as well. And so, you know, it's a big strategy play. It's not easy, right? Cause often we didn't really like our best spot to sit wasn't once you're already bidding on a job when it was fully specified, right? We would want to be creating that relationship early on to really help make the technology vision become the reality. And when you just go bid and to your point, a lot of the construction folks in this world, you know, they follow the traditional method, right? Of building buildings for a reason cause it works. So it's hard to take risks at times as the contractor when you're kind of on the line to, you know, meet a budget, meet a timeline. So yeah, we would sit really early on in the opportunity and we would kind of help the owner and the architect and engineer day one put that technology plan together. That's awesome. I know the folks up at Microsoft, you know, Brian Tusken and his group. He's a Hawaii guy that I know. Did you get a chance to work with them on any of the new campus development? Cause they've been really closely tied to John's controls and working together on kind of pushing the envelope with technology. I don't know if that's something you got to touch on or not. Personally, I wasn't, you know, my, my territory focus was at the time more like the Bay area actually I was living in the Bay for five years, but our group and, you know, a lot of the technology experts at JCI did work closely with them. I mean, we, we hosted a lot of our cloud solutions on Azure. That was one of our and even our internal corporate, you know, solutions that we would use internally, you know, was with that. And yeah, I would say, you know, of course we all know Brian, he's amazing. And he has, he's such an amazing leader for our industry. And I think, I think his vision, I think what he does and how he thinks and I think how he finds the right partners to execute is something that we all, you know, can learn from, right? Like they're the execution strategy and that partnership that JCI and Microsoft has formed in my mind just from being at JCI, you know, back in the day, I think is top notch. So. Yeah, yeah. I keep expecting to see a lot of things like that. And maybe it'll be more branded type solutions that have come from startups like your own, you know, that Johnson Controls adopts into their offerings, but yeah, I haven't been back up to the campus since they got started with the build. So it'll be, it'll be interesting to get us all back up there. I know we had a as is women in security event up there. Ooh, that in 19 also, was it, you know, Microsoft hosted us on the campus, which was nice. I saw that you're involved with the as is women in security community as well. Can you tell me a little bit how you got involved and what sort of support you see either giving or getting from that group? Yeah, first of all, I would say as is in general has been an amazing, amazing experience. The women in security component of course and just the whole organization, you know, so back when I was interning, one of my coaches at JCI had had shared with me, you know, a really good way to get out there and learn is to go get involved in the right organization. So with that, I went and joined in as is and stayed involved. So even as that intern and then coming back full time, I continued my involvement with the Bay Area chapter. And there are some amazing people I met. I participated in the mentorship program that they had for a year. I, you know, found my own mentors within David Gibbs. If you're hearing this, listen to David Gibbs. I know Dave, yeah, yeah. He is phenomenal and has truly day one. I mean, taking an interest and help me grow and has been the best sounding board each step of the way of my career. And I think that as this is a whole of course, women in security is extremely important as a female, right? But I think that organization and what they're doing and how they're enabling a lot of the youth and creating these teaching programs. And I know David also was very involved in that in starting some of those up. I mean, we say in our industry, a lot of us don't really know how we got here. We didn't have that like straight path, you know? And I think what is so cool about us is they really care. They really go out of their way to create a training program because we know college doesn't have that. So I would say, do I think the support is there? Do I think, you know, have I enjoyed it? Absolutely. And I think it's something that we need to continuously, you know, make better and better every day. So. Yeah, love, I love as is. I love, we have a lot of great orgs. Sarah, we will be right back. We're gonna pay some bills. I gotta take a one minute break, stick around and we'll be right back folks. Hang on, Aloha. And welcome back to Security Matters. We're talking with Sarah. Of course, she is the channel sales director over at Alcatraz. And we haven't talked about Alcatraz a lot other than her excitement when she found something that was amazing and probably industry changing. I'm gonna go there a little bit. So, how, can you tell us about, well, what could you tell us about sort of the courtship? Was it like, hey, you should come work for us. You said, yeah, I jumped in the cabin, ran off. Yeah, well, I mean, I could totally share the story. It's kind of, I mean, even when I tell the story today, I feel, I still feel that feeling I felt and I like to call it like an epiphany almost, just quick backstory on kind of like who I am. I'm weirdly obsessed with like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs. I don't know why I'd always happen. Maybe it's the engineer and me or that I love, you know, the way they've disrupted. There's just a lot about them I find is very interesting individuals. And I think what was, you know, I'm not the biggest super user when it comes to any of the smart tech out there necessarily, but sitting in the connected technology space at JCI and learning the value of how we can use technology as a tool rather than stumbling over it is something I think that I saw firsthand, the stumble. And I think being a problem solver I am, I always wanted to find the thing that was gonna just make people happier and make it easier and make just things like better for everyone involved, you know, whether it's the installer, the end user who's using it, the person in interacting with it. And I think what, you know, just between the blend of JCI and then, you know, my personal interest in general, you know, when I met Alcatraz, it was really for a customer. It was, we were vetting technology. I was taught early on, you know, you got to do your homework before you just go and buy something new or push something new to a customer or introduce something, right? And, you know, I was burned a few times in the past, like with new technologies or new versions of products that maybe hadn't been, you know, fully deployed before or whatever it may be. And so naturally I was just like a skeptic, I guess you could say, when I would meet a new technology. So, I mean, the truth of it is that I did a technology review and it was truly in the essence of introducing this to a customer. And I had a bunch of my, what I call personal YODAs that are like professional, you know, coaches and mentors and friends, whether you're a technician that I work with or you're a manager or another salesperson. We all jumped on a call together. I kind of orchestrated the whole thing for everyone. I had us all put together the challenging questions ahead of time and had everyone kind of do their own level of research, gave me their input. And then we basically just brought them to the table and we were like, okay, present. Here's the questions ahead of time that you should expect to answer that will come up. And we gave them 60 minutes. And in those 60 minutes, I think what was very interesting is at the end of it, I have to be honest, I did walk away a little confused. And it wasn't confusion, it wasn't confusion. Yeah, it wasn't confusion. I know it's probably surprising to hear it. It wasn't confusion around if I thought the product worked or it wasn't like skepticism around, does this make sense? And is this right for us as an industry? It was confusion around what category of our technology offerings and security it fit in. And I'm being honest, I couldn't figure out what it was. And not in a bad way. I think that what I'm trying to get at is, with how many problems I learned that this one device was able to solve, it put me into such an uncomfortable position because I wasn't used to that. I was used to having to take all these different technologies, put them together, figure out how they were gonna work. And that was kind of what got me excited about my job. I loved having to fit parts and pieces together. So I almost was kind of just like, what is this? How does this do so many different things? And like, I'll believe it when I see it. So I just, after that, I did a little bit more vetting. I talked to the individuals at the company on a one-on-one basis. And it was really still in the context of bringing it to my customer. I wanted to be the SME before I went to my customer and said, hey, I think you guys should look at this. And I looked at six other touchless and frictionless technologies that's all in the light of COVID. This was right in March, or sorry, April, May, right after, you know, March, God for our world, right? March was a big, big deal for a lot of us in the US. So, you know, at that moment, I didn't wanna just go too quick and like, you know, recommend something that just out of nowhere popped up cause I think we can all agree there were some technologies popping up out of the woodwork, like one COVID. And I was, you know, and I was just doing my due diligence, right? Cause I didn't wanna give my customer something that wasn't gonna last. So then I ended up talking to a few more folks and now, you know, the real truth to it is within 36 hours, I ended up joining the team. It was- Oh, wow. Yeah, it was absolutely not planned. There was no courtship even needed. Like I think what it was was just this technology was something that I had never seen before. And with my obsession with Elon and Steve Jobs and just meetings, the CEO Vince, who's our founder, there was just too many things that I loved about it without even being there. Like I hadn't even touched a rock before. I didn't even know, I'm not kidding. Like if they actually existed, like I just, the idea, the concept was insane to me. And then I think what ended up happening is once I joined, it was so cool because it only got better and better every day. I mean, the product I joined right when we were ready to hit market. And it was so cool cause, you know, we had one other, you know, individual who was working with and we, and it was the two of us to just be this superstar team to just take this to the industry. And really no one had actually had the exposure to it in that way yet. So it was, it was just, it was cool. I mean, yeah. So that's the story, 36 hours and totally unintentional. Well, what an opportunity. I mean, I think sometimes you, when you can sense it and you knew enough about all the other technologies to say, ah, this is, this is a play, you know, it's going to be fun. So did you get, did you get to pitch SpaceX yet or Tesla? We're working on it. I'm kidding. No, we've taken it as far, we, we, we like, you know, we have these fun, you know, dreams as a company or like imagine just when, you know, you walk up to your Tesla and the door opens and it knows who you are. And then you start the car with your face. I mean, you know, we, you know, cause the, you know, I think that it's just, it's so fun to us. Cause I think like there's no better place than a rock to be than a Tesla. I mean, it just only makes sense. Yeah. That's what I was saying when you said to your big fan of Elon, make sure you get that. And if you'll probably have to give him one or two and he might want to pay you in Bitcoin now. I don't know if you saw his big investment, but I know I, I don't, I don't actually use Twitter, but I will say that I do have a Twitter just to follow him, which sounds crazy. But cause that's where he's active. He doesn't have any other, you know, platforms really that he's on. I mean, only place I could really see what he's up to. Good stuff. Don't stop till you meet him on the, on the other side. This channel sales. So you were, you were, I think you signed up PSA. Can you talk about how that's going this year? I mean, it's been, I know it's only been what I'm not even half a year yet maybe, but how have you found our group of integrators there? You know, Christina, I've been involved with them for a long time. She's a first female board member they ever had in 40 years. So that's an organization that's hopefully going to undergoing a bit of change as well. How have you found the receptivity there? And what do you think about those integrators? So there's a couple of things to unpack there. First off, I think, I think we all know PSA has had an extremely amazing, you know, reputation since its inception, right? So I think first off, just to share, it was a huge win for us to be brought in as a managed service product. We had made a company decision very early to when I started that we were not going to go down a distribution path. And I think it's fair to say, obviously PSA really doesn't even truly fit into that category. They are so on their own, they're so in their own area of what they do. And no one really that I've met yet or from an organization perspective from a partner really replicates what they do in the way they do it. Obviously, so I think first off that as a company was a huge win. We wanted to be a part of the network. And I think with Dan and the team and this new managed service group that they were starting and looking for those types of products that were the recurring revenue products that really helped their integrators keep that consistent relationship with the end user, right? Because it wasn't managed services and recurring revenue is not get on and get off a job, right? That's, hey, we're here to have a relationship, right? And so I think like from a product perspective, I think there was just a ton of alignment. I think PSA is amazing. I love all of the events that they put on. I love all of the support that they also give from an educational perspective. I mean, they have training programs, they care and they've thought it through in my opinion, start to finish. And I think they're exactly what every in between partners should be like. I really do. And I think then to answer the other part of your question with partners, I mean, the network of integrators or top notch, I can't even start to tell you, I was so focused on JCI obviously for five and a half years and of course I like knew who my competition was, but I didn't dive in from an integration perspective really unless it was in my territory, right? So I knew all the local players, but now working through PSA and with PSA, the exposure it's given us, the two-way partnership we have, it's amazing. And I think folks like yourselves and all of the partners that we've brought on through them are superstars and I think they get the technology, they get the value. The conversation is very easy to help the teams understand what we're doing. We've gained tons of support and I would say too, I mean, we're now doing some really cool efforts like the emerging tech committee, we're gonna be doing a really cool product review where they're gonna get to, I guess we're like the first one they're doing it with, but they're gonna do really cool review of us and they're gonna, we're gonna support it of course and we're gonna help keep it structured, but it'll be fun because we'll get to do a press release with it, we'll get to do some write-ups on it, they're gonna get to give their raw opinion on what they thought of the product, kind of like how IPVM goes and does their thing with product review, but I think this one's gonna be extra special because we're gonna have so many amazing people involved. So we're excited. That's awesome. Yeah, and PSA Tech's coming up first of May, so that'll be good, a good intro for those who haven't gotten to get around Alcatraz. Well, we've got maybe, I don't know, 30 seconds left. Any last thing you wanna share about yourself or about the industry, some advice or some technology advice like buy Alcatraz, get on out there, give me a call. I think everyone needs to take a check, take a look at our website and we are creating something that we call autonomous access control which did not exist before Alcatraz came about. And so I think it's definitely something that everyone needs to just take a chance to learn about, understand what it means, learn artificial intelligence, learn edge technology and then go check our website out and I think you'll figure out what we're doing. Nice, I think they will too. Sarah, thanks again so much for joining me today. I appreciate it. It was a lot of fun chatting with you and I look forward to seeing you at PSA Tech, I guess. Yeah, we will see you there. I'm gonna be speaking there too, so I'm really excited. All right, take care of yourself. Aloha everybody, be safe, wear a mask, wash your hands, get a vaccine, we'll talk soon. Aloha. Thank you.