Meet Sean Gorman of Safety NetAccess

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Gorman.

Sean, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My story starts with the end of a professional hockey career which took me all the way to the Boston Bruins development camp and to a career in the minors.  Drafted by the Boston Bruins in the last round of the 1987 NHL Draft, it seemed that all my hard work on the ice had begun to pay off.  While the opportunity to play professional hockey was always a dream of mine, I knew that it would have to wait.  My four years at Matignon High School, becoming the team captain in my senior year, and a desire to plan for a life after hockey, led me to Princeton University.  There, as a varsity captain in my senior year, I earned a spot on one of the United States national development teams.

After Princeton, and still under the rights of the Boston Bruins, I planned on attending their camp prior to the 1991-92 season.  An early injury limited me that year and led me to signing a professional contract with the San Jose Sharks where I had a minor league hockey career.  This was an amazing time in my life.  The experience was exhilarating and while at times grueling, it had a lot to do with preparing me for what was to come.

The one certainty with being a professional athlete is that you always know it will end.  You know when it’s time to move on. For me that came when I left professional hockey for a brokerage position at Dain Rauscher.  During that time, I quickly found my passion for entrepreneurship and set out to start my own company.  Like many others, there wasn’t one idea, there were a few and I tried them all.  From a  trucking company, to being a roller hockey rink operator, to operating a bus company, my partner (a college friend) and I meandered through opportunities and ideas.  The one idea that had the most teeth was Wi-Fi.  Back in 2001, wireless laptops were becoming more popular and it was obvious that hospitality would need to provide secure and stable wireless access to their guests.  So, we started installing these networks in hotels and supporting them.  We also developed software to authenticate guests when they wanted to log in to the hotel’s network. That technology has become a key component of our company.  This was the beginning of Safety NetAccess.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not always been a smooth road. This is mostly because I have funded the growth on my own and have not accepted any outside investment. This strategy created some difficult circumstances along the way, especially early on. Like many entrepreneurs, there were times I would sacrifice paying myself, or use personal debt to fund payroll. This was especially tough because as my business was in its infancy, I also had infants and toddlers at home. Needless to say, providing for my family required a lot of creativity by me and my wife. These were challenging times, but ultimately made me a stronger person. My wife and I became more careful with our finances and developed strong practices in our money management, our time, and our relationship. These experiences created strong foundations at home that we benefit from today. As for, my company, I believe we are unique in the sense that many of our key employees today are the same ones that were there through the tough times in the beginning. That dynamic helps to create an atmosphere of people that truly appreciate what it took to get here. As a result, we have a strong core group of people that we have built the company around. My company is the result of great people.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Safety NetAccess – what should we know?
Safety NetAccess provides Wired and Wireless networks for the hospitality industry. Customers include just about every major hotel brand and consist of hotels, resorts, restaurants, coffee shops, military bases, high schools, universities, and assisted living centers. In hospitality we are an approved vendor for Best Western, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Wyndham.

Integrity First. That is our tag line, but to me it is much more than that. It is our core tenet. While we use it on our cards, our letter head and our website, we believe that if you lead with this attitude, you will automatically provide your customers with the best solution and the best service. We take this principle very seriously and try to always abide by the concept.

I think what sets us apart from others is that we are not beholden to a group of outside investors that don’t share our core values. This allows us to grow the business the right way, and our way, by providing our customers the time they need so our solutions are designed correctly for each individual. I often remind our teams to build and service the networks as if you were doing it for your own mother. I believe that while this may have cost us in terms of building the bottom line, the success we have had growing the business and our standing in the marketplace as one of the premier providers speaks for itself.

What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
I’m not sure that there is one moment in particular. I think my proudest moment is the culmination of where we have come from and where we are today. We have gone from a few employees to managing over 100 salaries a month. We have grown our reputation to the point where we are now in an elite group of providers and are approved to work with all of the leading hotel brands. I get to call great companies like Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Best Western as clients, and I am extremely proud of that. Most importantly to me, I can drive by hotels and proudly tell my boys “that property or that flag is a client of mine.”

Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.