It was the longest year of my life. My first year out of college, working for a moderately sized local newspaper. The hours were hell. My social life was nonexistent. “But this is what you studied to be,” the voice in my head told me. I didn’t care. I needed a change.

That change came in the form of a little security industry publication called Access Control & Security Systems. It offered normal hours, and I could use my dual English/journalism degree. So I took it.

I thought that was a big change, but the big change came three months later. Imagine it, a recovering newspaper guy, driving to work in a beat-up old Honda Civic, boss on vacation. A bulletin comes on the radio: A plane hit a building in New York…

I look back on that day for so many reasons. First of all, being a newspaper guy, it was truly my one and only “stop the presses” moment. Not even exaggerating. But as the events of that awful day unfolded, I realized that a random choice to flee the world of high school sports journalism had placed me in a job and an industry that mattered.

So began a quarter century of covering one of the most interesting and dynamically changing industries of our time. Being firmly in Gen X, I lived the rise of the computer age. I had a Commodore 64. I had an Atari 2600 too. I have lived and witnessed a very similar rise in technology in security. From multiplexers to DVRs to the software revolution to the rise of artificial intelligence, I – as most of you – have lived and breathed this for decades now.

But as this technology revolution ensued (and continues), I realized there was more to it. For every time someone asked me, “what’s cool and interesting that you are seeing out there” (boy, if I had a nickel), I began to understand that technology isn’t the force powering this industry; business is. I learned that a fancy gadget on the wall means nothing if it doesn’t solve a real problem while somehow improving the business that is providing it.

I radically changed this magazine to reflect that realization. It remains a crowning achievement in my journalism career.

Many security business owners and executives have been where I find myself on this day. Technology is the beginning. The personal experiences and relationships you build are the journey. Then comes the crossroads – the moment when you realize it is time to hand something off to capable hands, impart all the wisdom you can, and start the next chapter.

This will be my final column as a journalist, and one thing I’ve learned in 25 years covering and analyzing such an evolving industry is to embrace change. Like so many of you, change might mean a new business card, but it doesn’t mean a new industry.

We’ve all heard the joke that once you are in the security industry, you can never leave. It all comes back to that moment – three months in, 25 years ago. We all want to be part of something that truly matters. And I am.