CE Pro December 2022 - 31

solely on their love of music.
Right out of college,
Klosek got her first job
writing for a boating trade
magazine (1977-1981) where
she was fortunate enough
to meet several journalists
who would eventually
help her segue into the
CE industry, in particular,
tech writers Paul Gluckman
and Steve Booth.
When Gluckman moved to
a Japanese-owned trade
magazine, AudioVideo International
(AVI), and Booth
moved to Audio Times,
Klosek began freelancing
for both magazines until a
full-time gig opened up at
AVI, where, for the next 21
years, Klosek worked first
as a columnist and then as
managing editor. In fact, her
very first writing assignment
there was covering Philips'
U.S. introduction of its
compact disc player.
It was also during this
time that her love affair with
all things Japanese began.
Back in those days there
were countless junkets for
reporters to tour factories
and report on product
introductions in Japan. Recalls
Klosek, " From my first
trip in 1985, I must have
visited Japan 30-40 times,
covering C-Tech, making so
many friends and touring all
around. I also loved helping
the Japanese AVI executives
and their families acclimate
to life in NYC. Many of
these families remain some
of my closest friends today. "
When AVI closed up shop
in 2004, Bruce Jacobs, who
had been head of sales
at AVI for all those years,
subsequently recommended
Klosek to North American
Publishing Co. (NAPCO)
where he had become
publisher of Custom Retailer
- which is how she
segued from covering retail
to reporting on custom
installation.
Adds Klosek, " I would
also be remiss if I didn't
mention Maureen Jenson
(CE Pro Masters class of
2019), my supervising editor
when I first started at
Custom Retailer. She was a
terrific guide and mentor,
and she is so well respected
in the industry. I was very
grateful for her advice about
how to work effectively
within this CI world.
" As a writer. I think my
greatest lessons learned
were to always approach
an interview with an open
mind, to always be sufficiently
prepared, to be a
student and let the experts
speak - and to make sure
to listen. "
She is currently a contributing
editor for CT
Lab Global Media, which
publishes DealerScope and
Connected Design magazines.
" By
far the best parts
of my career, have been
meeting all the fascinating
people I've encountered -
and the travel. I got to visit
(and come to love) places
I would never in a million
years have been to, and
made many enduring friendships
that I would never
have made were it not for
this great industry! "
Brad Smith, Principal, Simple Home
FOR SOME PEOPLE, the
entrepreneurial spirit is a
fundamental component of
their daily MO as exemplified
by Brad Smith's lifelong propensity
to start and expand
companies, try new things,
innovate and roll the dice...
all the while standing by his
people and doing right by his
customers at every bend in
the road.
" My biggest takeaway from
this business is that you
must always walk a fine line
- indeed, it's a balancing
act between 'minding your
cepro.com
knitting' (staying focused
on your core business) and
re-imagining your business
every morning when you
wake up, preparing for something
new, " Smith says.
" For example, " he adds,
" I had a very good alarm
business in the mid-80s
when suddenly ADT started
massive telemarketing,
beating us to the customers.
Then they started selling
systems for $999, then $911
and eventually $99. We had
to confront these challenges
head on which led to my
opening our AV Division,
and then evolving that
business every few years as
new products emerged and
control technologies became
network-based. "
Naturally unfocused in high
school, he spent the lion's
share of his Lincoln, Mass.,
youth hiking, kayaking and
skiing. At UMass, he studied
environmental policy and
social theory and graduated
with a BA in Independent
Study. He spent a year after
college touring around Peru,
then spent a summer at NYU
studying book publishing
(only to be totally dismayed
by how little money he could
make hauling books around),
and finally found himself in
Washington D.C. for a 2.5year
stint as PR Officer and
Chief Writer for the Saudi
Arabian Embassy. His job was
writing propaganda, reading
25 newspapers a day and
then sending a daily analysis
of how U.S. journalists were
covering SA to the King of
Saudi Arabia himself. Who's
to say where that line of
work may have led, but
instead, Smith's father fell
ill and he took a leave of
absence, returned to Boston
and started running his
father's alarm business as his
health declined.
Smith's father died when
Brad was 25 and he did his
best to dig in and try to
get the company through
the recession. Also during
that time, he fell in love
with a woman who had a
young child, got married and
ultimately decided to settle
down in New England, keep
the alarm company going
- and start to expand the
December 2022 CE Pro | 31
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CE Pro December 2022

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