During ESX 2025, Mike Keegan, long-time industry professional, accepted ESA’s Sara E. Jackson Award — one of the association’s most prestigious honors. Here’s what he had to say…

[Full Video of Speech Available Below]

I know I look taller on LinkedIn. Hello, everyone. I am truly honored and honestly a bit overwhelmed to be standing here today as the recipient of the Sarah E. Jackson Award. First and foremost, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the ESA Selection Committee and Merlin Gilbo to be chosen for an award that bears the name of someone as impactful and inspiring as Sarah Jackson is humbling beyond words. Thank you to our award sponsor, Telguard, and your ongoing support of ESA. I’ve been in this industry for four decades, and if you’re doubting that, I printed my notes. For those of you that may have been born after 1995, it’s a device that you attach to your computer, and it puts ink on a piece of paper. But we’ll go into that later. But I’ve been in the industry for four decades, and this association has been with me every step of the way. In the mid-1980s, when my future father-in-law, Horton Spitzer, encouraged me to attend a new course in Connecticut called Level One Alarm Technician, I was expecting to come away with a little more technical knowledge, which I did. But more importantly, I left that course with a commitment to this industry and friendships that have lasted for these 40 years.  

Those friendships are with others who, no matter what, carved out their time and their talents for the betterment of our association’s common good. People like Bart Dinn, Jamie Orbis, Dan Budnoff, Carl Spiegel. Those early years in Connecticut, they inspired me to get involved, and more importantly, to give back, all the while we had a lot of fun. I was fortunate to work for an industry leader, Pat Egan. He encouraged me, despite being with this company a short time, to jump into the Pennsylvania Alarm Association headfirst. I’ve had the good fortune to work with people on Security Americas boards through the year that are some of the industry’s greatest, like Marshall Maranace and David Koenig and Dom DeScoli and Cecil Hogan and Angela White and Tom Donaldson, Jamie Voss and John Loud, and I started to realize, wow, how fortunate I was to be with all those Weinstock Award winners. But no one achieves anything meaningful alone. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have met My wife, Louette, two days before I started selling alarm systems for Sonetroll in Stanford, Connecticut. She quickly recognized that I was not going to sell any alarm systems wearing my bad, ill-fitting, brown check suit. 

She took me to a fine men’s clothing store. She bought me two new suits. She listened as I practiced my presentation, and for every day since, she encouraged me to be better and do more, even when it wasn’t convenient, heading all over the country representing Security America when they needed me to. She pushed me when I needed it. Louette, this award, although it’s addressed to me. It’s really a reflection of the work we’ve done together. Thank you for your support, your patience, and your belief in me. Even though the path wasn’t always clear, I feel like I should be giving the award to ESA, and I echo what’s been said earlier.

I’ve gotten so much more from this industry than I could ever have given. If you’re just starting out, I encourage you to jump in, get involved. You’ll get so much more than you give, and it matters more than you’ll ever know. Keep coming, keep showing up. If this award has taught me anything, it’s that quiet persistence and principled actions do get noticed. Thank you again for this incredible honor. I am truly grateful.