Profile: Mike May
President & CEO
My career in the security and loss-prevention industries actually started in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, where I was a sergeant with the Shrewsbury Police Department. Following a 9-year tour with the Department, I joined my dad in a family-owned security business. What started out as a desire to help my father became a life-long passion for protecting people and building successful security companies.
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about the security industry?
People are buying burglar alarms and installing video cameras because they believe these devices will help prevent crime from happening on their property. But it’s a false sense of security. There are millions of alarms and video systems out there today but they are only used post event – they let you know something has already happened. To be successful, security must be interactive in order to actively deter negative events.
What are your goals at Iverify?
Except for the use of cost-prohibitive physical barriers, such as bullet-proof cashier stations, and expensive guard services, robbery, burglary and shrink have never been solved cost effectively. Iverify is taking on this very difficult problem and driving a change in the mindset of the industry that you don’t have to do it the same old way. We are pushing to change people’s expectations of security by creating a different solution. You can feel it from the time you pull up to a location protected by Iverify: the signage, the flat screen monitors showing live imaging, the Voice Commands that greet you when you walk through the entry announcing this location is protected live. When you’re in a store that’s protected by Iverify, you feel a complete security experience.
What’s the most rewarding thing about working in security?
When you stand in our monitoring center listening to a Protection Specialist talk to a store associate who’s just been involved in a negative situation, and you witness their experience and instincts go to work, and you see the compassion they display, you just know that what Iverify’s developed is an effective solution. Even that single female working the night shift alone doesn’t have to feel isolated or afraid – she knows security is right over her shoulder and we are ready any time she needs us.
What’s unique about your role at Iverify?
Iverify has built a team of people who are dedicated to creating more secure businesses, making our communities safer, to delivering a truly different level of security. The whole organization believes in it and lives it every day. As the CEO, my job is to act as the cheerleader for that team, encouraging them to dig deeper in their search to deliver a positive result, to recognize each and every one of them for the unique qualities they bring to this company. You can’t help but believe in what we do. It’s infectious.
