Karen Baker, SVP of The Protection Bureau, is one of the most important cogs in a family business that was started by her father more than four decades ago, writes Paul Ragusa for Security Systems News.

The Exton company was started by Keith Ladd in 1975, and was passed on to his children after he died seven years ago. The Protection Bureau is now led by Baker and her brother J. Matthew Ladd, the company’s president and CEO.

Today, the family business has around 95 employees and provides security for more than 5,000 customers across the country. The company did not start big, though, Baker said in an interview with Security Systems News.

“My dad started the company, and it was very small — just him and a technician,” she said.

Being in the security business for three-plus decades, Baker has also seen the changes for women in the industry.

“You actually do see women at functions and events and trade shows, and talk to them in the industry, whereas when I started out there just weren’t many women in the industry at all,” she said.

Read the entire interview with Security Systems News here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of The Protection Bureau here.