Integrity matters for business success, not gender, says Chicago-based integrator

Wong was the first Asian woman to obtain the Alarm Contractor License

Mun C. Wong, PSP and president of VinTech Systems Inc. in Chicago, is a successful entrepreneur who has brought new technologies and a knack for superior service to her integration business.  In fact, at the age of 29, she was the first Asian woman to obtain the Alarm Contractor License from the State of Illinois and its Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

But she doesn't focus on gender, or what it’s like to be a woman in the male-dominated physical security business, although those pressures have certainly lessened as the industry has become more diverse.

Wong says she’s frequently asked whether she faces more or equal challenges as a woman president.

Integrity matters, not gender

“Right at the beginning of managing the company, I vowed not to think about gender in terms of running the business,” Wong says.  “I am as competent as others. As a matter of fact, I was really young when I started. I had to tell myself that age and gender do not matter at all to the success of our business. It worked out very well.  Most of the challenges come from outsiders who do not know me. So the answer is ‘no,’ in my perspective, gender doesn’t really make a difference. Challenges are the same, and it depends on how you react to them.”

Wong received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. She decided to take a year off before going to graduate school. “During that time, I came upon an opportunity to assist a start-up technology company here in Chicago. I told myself I had nothing to lose and gave it a shot. Amazingly, I did very well and enjoyed what I learned, so I decided to stay and grow the company with my business partner.”

She’s been at the helm of VinTech Systems since 2008. Several of her greatest challenges have been growing the company, managing development, and keeping up with ever-changing technologies. VinTech Systems is a member of the Electronic Security Association and Illinois Electronic Security Association and the company has an A+ Better Business Bureau Rating. The company tailors each solution to the customer and the vertical market, specialising in video verification and surveillance.

Wong's top-down philosophy of engaging employees and enabling them to succeed is a good formula as well. “Our team works really well together. Our employee retention rate is high. We work together to find the best talent for our company. Here’s a good example of something that happened just last week: I was ready to hire a new team member whom I thought would be a good fit for the company. During the second meeting, I invited the staff member who would be working with the new team member to join the interview; afterwards, she gave me good insights and observations for the hire. That helped a great deal!”

VinTech Systems has received many accolades and has also been recognised as one of the country’s fastest-growing systems integrators. Again, Wong attributes that to teamwork.

“I can’t do it all myself. I am grateful to have dedicated team members working beside me,” she says.