Get A Grip On Lighting Podcast

From billionaires’ butler to very successful owner of 3 hair salons with 77 employees (which also meant 77 headaches) to lighting designer and decorative lighting store retailer. William has always had a knack for what looks good and that has served him well as a lighting designer. When he’s not out designing the interior and exterior lighting of a home, he’s minding the store in Santa Barbara (lightandhome.com). William George has been a photographer, interior designer, art historian, theatrical set and lighting designer, and successful entrepreneur in the beauty industry. He has always loved lighting and design and brings his fresh perspective and design sensibility to Light + Home

Two interesting perspectives on the lighting distribution industry: Sean Valliere who knew nothing about the lighting industry when he became an owner of Lamp Sales Unlimited, and Miranda Shepherd, who worked at Lamp Sales Unlimited for 23 years and also became an owner. Sean and Miranda discuss how they keep customers coming back by carefully choosing the right stock and having better customer service than the other guys. Sean Valliere moved from Pennsylvania at the age of 19 to Jacksonville FL where he worked in Supply Chain and Logistics management for 20 years. He spent 9 years at UPS, 4 years at Grainger and 7 years in Medical Logistics. In November of 2021, Sean’s family along with Miranda Shepherd acquired Lamp Sales Unlimited Inc. A 40-year-old Lighting Distributor with locations in Jacksonville FL and Orlando FL. Sean serves alongside Miranda as a VP to oversee operations and day to day business functions in both Jacksonville and Orlando FL. Miranda Shepherd, a Jacksonville, FL native, has 37 years of experience in the wholesale lighting industry, 23 of those years with Lamp Sales Unlimited. Her lighting career began with a 22-branch multi-state firm in inside sales selling residential lighting, and after 3 years was promoted to outsides sales and later to Branch Manager. Miranda started at Lamp Sales Unlimited in 2001 in outside sales and over the years served in multiple roles including Sales and General Manager. Miranda became one of the managing partners in 2021 and currently serves as Lamp Sales Vice President and General Manager.

Omar is so knowledgeable about the Internet of Things that he’s written a book about it. He talks to Michael and Greg about the future of smart sensors and cloud data. Imagine a smart sensor that can see where, when and why people gather in a particular spot in a retail establishment. But, as Michael points out, a downside of collecting all this data is that it has to be stored on physical drives that take enormous amounts of energy and cover acres and acres of land around the planet. Omar A. Rivera is an industry-leading product development professional with more than 30 years of experience working with Osram/Sylvania, General Electric, and Orion Energy System. He has expertise in advanced energy-efficient lighting systems, where he led a product development team to launch the most efficient industrial light fixture in the world in 2017. This record-breaking efficacy still stands today. Omar A. Rivera has authored numerous articles and white papers on energy efficiency that have been published in various magazines and blogs. Omar is also an expert in the application of the Internet of Things “IoT technologies.” He was an early adaptor of this technology and led the effort to integrate advanced sensor technology into lighting systems. These sensors collect data to help organizations run more efficiently, save energy, and increase asset security. Omar served in the United States Air Force with distinction for 13 years. He has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from California Coast University, MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Business Executive Programs.

Michael and Greg continue their conversation in Frankfurt Germany. This time Michael is the “guest.” Greg asks Michael what he thinks about the organizers of Light + Building taking over LightFair. Is this a trojan horse? Is this a way for European companies to worm their way into the North American market?

Entschuldigung! Greg is Michael's "guest" on this one, reporting from Light + Building in Germany. But mostly they talk about LightFair in America. It seems Light + Building will be organizing the next LightFair. Greg is a little more ambivalent than Michael about it. But they both agree LightFair needs to be shaken up. Maybe some Europeans can do that.

You might have caught Buddy on Restoring Darkness ep. 92. We had him on Restoring Darkness because he’s at the front lines of manufacturing responsible outdoor lighting. You might even say, he’s cornered the market. When Sedona Arizona put out a tender for dark sky friendly lighting, his company, Crossroads LED was the only bidder. And this gels with what Michael has been saying - there’s money to be made in the relighting (or darkening?) of America. Buddy Stefanoff is an entrepreneur, small business owner and the Vice President of Engineering for Crossroads LED. With over 20 plus years of experience and expertise in the development of advanced, LED based luminaires and dark-sky certified lighting platforms, Mr. Stefanoff is the driving force behind the company’s product line which has received numerous patents and awards, including the International Dark-Sky Association’s prestigious “Best Design and Technical Innovation Award”. Under Mr. Stefanoff’s direction and leadership, Crossroads LED has become the undisputed worldwide leader in the design and production of LED luminaires that reduce light pollution and sky glow.

You can’t help getting swept up in Dirk’s enthusiasm and energy. And that’s over the internet. Dirk insists that distribution is a noble calling. It’s a 7 Trillion dollar economic engine and it supports over 6 million jobs. In the middle of the pandemic, Dirk decided he wanted to support that calling, so he went on the road with his We Supply America Tour. Go to https://wesupplyamerica.net/ and maybe you can get him to come to your distribution business. Dirk Beveridge is a visionary entrepreneur and the founder of UnleashWD, an innovative firm that creates transformative learning experiences and connections for growth oriented distributors. With his one-of-a-kind perspective on the future of wholesale distribution, Dirk has been leading major change for over 35 years to advance growth, relevance, and transformation. Over the last three years Dirk produced the We Supply America tour including a twenty-four film docuseries highlighting and championing the noble calling of distribution. Dirk has authored four books including the best selling INNOVATE! How Successful Distributors Lead Change In Disruptive Times. And on May 1st, Dirk is producing Force For Good Virtual - Live, a transformative event to fuel personal and professional growth for all 6 million employees of distribution.

Avi doesn’t give a damn who makes the lights or what kind of lights they are as long as the feeling and emotion is achieved in a space. And of course, that feeling has to be maintained. So if you’ve buried a light fixture in concrete, that “feeling” is going away in about 5 years when the light burns out and you can’t get at it. If you want to keep the feeling, call on Morlights to design your lighting. Founding Principal, Avraham “Avi” M. Mor has been practicing lighting design for over 20 years. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a BFA in Theater Design with an emphasis in Architectural and Theatrical Lighting Design, he moved back to his hometown of Chicago to further his craft. Avi has grown his business from a small operation with only a handful of clients to a bustling firm with projects of all sizes located around the nation.

Returning guest Melvin Newman tells us what’s been going on with Patabid since we last saw him. There’s a new partnership with City Electric Supply, improved estimating software and AI, and even more time savings for contractors. Melvin is the President/CTO of PataBid. Prior to co-founding PataBid in 2018, Melvin worked in the construction industry for 15+ years as an estimator and project manager. As an entrepreneur, Melvin co-founded PataBid and is the full stack developer on the platform, specializing in the development of the internal ML/AI systems. In addition to developing the platform, Melvin is responsible for building the deployment systems and developing key business partnerships.

Another short one with Michael and Greg. In this episode, our hosts discuss the phases of a career in lighting distribution. The first phase had Greg going everywhere looking for dead light bulbs or broken lenses just to get a supply business going. Michael’s story is similar except he did it on Rollerblades. Buy some inline skates and get your business going! Michael Colligan is President of Atlas Lighting in Toronto, Canada. Greg Ehrich is President of Premier Lighting in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Watch for Brian and his team on the cover of the Spring 2024 edition of Today’s Lighting Distributor. Brian tells Michael and Greg about how he started in the business and about how he continues to be successful and what the future holds for his company, Pacific Lamp. And for all you Restoring Darkness fans out there, Brian is a big advocate for responsible outdoor lighting at night. Brian began his career in the lighting industry with Pacific Lamp Wholesale, in 2009. Before Pacific Lamp he sold radiant floor heating, solar electric, and solar water systems. That is how he got started working with utility rebates and tax credit programs. Pacific Lamp founder Dave Junkin, a founding member of NAILD, came out of retirement, and Brian was the first person he hired after his son decided to do another line of work. Dave took him under my wing and taught him everything he knows about the business. Brian purchased the company from him in 2019. Brian would like to see more sustainable lighting and better standards of uniformity and would like to contribute to making the industry a better place with more collaboration between manufacturers and distributors to give end users better quality fixtures. He would love to see higher end lines manufactured in the US again! He is a huge advocate for dark sky friendly and animal friendly lighting that has purpose with the correct color and distribution based on the application.

Al, Michael, and Greg look back at some of their predictions and try to guess who said what, and assess how accurate they were. But you can’t look back without looking ahead. The guys give their predictions on artificial intelligence, lighting controls, and Al even has a prediction for Acuity. Al Uszynski is an experienced executive with over 25 years of experience in the lighting industry. He is Principal of inside.lighting, an online media company that provides valuable insights and information to lighting industry professionals. Throughout his career, Al has held leadership positions with major lighting companies in roles that have encompassed full P&L responsibility, as well as sales, marketing and brand management. Al also serves as a business advisor and consultant to select lighting and electrical industry clients.

It’s always fun, informative, and educational to have such experienced people like Richard on the podcast. He also brings his incredible energy and positive attitude with him, not only to the podcast, but wherever he goes. With an incredible 60 years in the business, he’s got a lot of knowledge to pass on. This podcast is one of our favorites this year. Richard has devoted his entire career to the lighting industry that has spanned some 60 years. Starting in the UK with the General Electric Company, in London, then on assignment for this company in Toronto and then Chicago. Declining to return to the UK, Richard elected to stay in America and went on to work for such companies as Halo Lighting, Devine Lighting, Steiner Electric and others. Richard claims to have no retirement skills and so continues to work full time, working for Louvers International as their Director of Business Development. Richard has many accomplishments but is most proud of his 55 years of continuous service with the IES.

LEDucation will be here before you know it (March 19-20, 2024) so Jamie Eck, Co-Chair of the LEDucation Committee, gives us a preview of what to expect. As Jamie says, “LEDucation is geared towards the design community,” but there will be plenty there for everyone else too. And watch for some live streaming podcasts from Get A Grip On Lighting, Restoring Darkness, and The Lighting Controls Podcast. Jamie has been in the lighting industry for more than 30 years and brings experience and understanding of all parts of the design, sales and implementation process, to the customer. He has worked in various markets and verticals in multiple sales and management positions. Starting in lighting distribution in 1989, he moved over to the manufacturer side in 2006, where he worked for Philips, GE Lighting (as a rep for Brazill Brothers) and also as a Regional Sales Manager for Satco Products Nuvo Lighting. He currently holds the position of Business Development Manager at O’Blaney Rinker & Associates in NY and NJ.

Do you have an enthusiasm for old light bulbs? Then contact Chad and you can geek out about an 1880 Edison Bristol Board Filament prototype lamp, or an 1886 Luminoid Incandescent Lamp. In fact Chad probably has the greatest collection of antique lamps and related electrical artifacts in existence. But this episode isn’t all about antique light bulbs. Chad also has some pretty astute things to say about the good, the bad, and the ugly of LEDs. Chad Shapiro has had a fascination with lighting since the age of 13 when his interests in Thomas Edison shifted from the Phonograph to the invention of the first successful incandescent lamp. Mentored by historic light bulb and Edisonia veterans like the late Dr. Hugh F Hicks and later the late Charley Hummel, Chad went on the search the world for the earliest examples of electric lighting history. Alongside this near lifetime fascination with electric lighting, Chad's father had been a lifelong electronics technician. Chad grew up installing electronic gadgets alongside his father much of his childhood. After working for his father for about 10 years Chad founded Sterling Sound & Vision in 2012 to focus on the luxury home automation market. Connect with Chad: www.sterlingsv.com Collection (a small but growing catalog of entries out of several thousand pieces in the collection): https://hub.catalogit.app/1834 Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/chad.shapiro.9 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-shapiro-42584797/

The King of Lighting Ellis Yan is one our favorite guests on Get a Grip on Lighting. His company TCP has been a supporter of the show for years. Today we honor some of his greatest moments with our "Best of Ellis Yan".

Tony is back with an update on the progress of his Quantum LIFI. If you fully understand what he’s talking about in this episode, then you’re probably Tony Lawrence, or you should call him up and get a job at Light Rider. Seriously, this stuff is mind blowing. No more description necessary. Just listen. Tony Lawrence is an entrepreneur, technologist, and prophet of quantum possibilities through his current role as CEO of Light Rider. Tony is a service-disabled veteran of the U.S. Army, who began his career being recruited into the intelligence field by the National Security Agency. Serving in multiple high-profile roles, Tony gained invaluable experience in counterterrorism and threat analysis as well as tracking high-value targets and tactical intelligence collection. His target geo-location efforts produced intelligence reports directly leading to the capture or elimination of terrorists worldwide. Tony went on to develop unique cyber intelligence collections techniques, many of which are still being used by the nation’s Cyber Mission Forces today.

Billy talks to us from his car (don’t worry, he’s not driving) which is apropos as he is moving on in his career. Billy is winding down his agency, Digital Filaments. He considered driving a bus - nothing was off the table - but he is far too valuable in this business to be anywhere else. He’s going to continue to head up AAILA, and if you’re in the Philly area, you’ll still see him around. Interested in the magic of lighting since the theater in high school, Billy founded Architectural Engineering at Penn State, became passionate about lighting design, and embarked upon a career in Architectural Lighting.

Check out episode 246 from March of 2022. Forest and Zach were on the verge of launching Parspec. Well now they’ve been at it for a year-and-a-half and it sounds like it’s going pretty well. With AI, customer feedback and a host of talented employees, Parspec is ready to provide you better access to data and to make your product search faster and easier. They’re dangerously good at this and they’re getting better and better. Forest Flager pursued a PhD and spent some time on the research and teaching team at Stanford University, followed by a stint at the technology driven off-site construction company Katerra, where he led the company’s software and design automation efforts. Forest founded Parspec Inc. in 2020 with the mission of simplifying the process of discovering and sourcing the best available construction products and materials. Zach Mix leads Sales and Business Development for Parspec. After spending the past decade working for lighting & electrical companies including Green Creative, WattStopper, & ElectroRep, Zach is energized by providing top-tier software technology to help lighting & electrical companies perform their best. When he’s not working, Zach switches to Dad-mode and enjoys time with his family.

Mike Johnson and the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) is here to define what “good” looks like in the world, as far as the built environment goes. ILFI has a Living Product Certification which requires independent scientific validation that a product has left the world in better condition than had it not been made - a net positive effect. And ILFI lists more than 50 products so far. Listen to this episode and get on board! Mike Johnson is a net positive visionary and sustainability professional, whose decades-long career path has led him from environmental restoration fieldwork and social entrepreneurship to corporate executive leadership. As Director of Materials at the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), he focuses on creating global-scale market transformation towards the manufacturing of goods that will build an equitable, healthy and regenerative future. Mike’s understanding of how commerce is a powerful force in the balance of planet, people and economy has enabled his sustainability initiatives to grow from start-up level to industry-recognized and leading edge in various organizations. He brings an ability to offer real world context and practical solutions to individuals and organizations seeking to create net positive benefits. He is a founding member of the Living Product 50, a frequent presenter in the AD&C and educational communities, a volunteer in sustainability groups, a full-time dog dad, and an advocate for wilderness.