Page 47 - enLIGHTenment Magazine - August 2017

ALA CONFERENCE

F

or many who grow up with one or both quips. His parents detailed the pros and cons as

parents in the industry, the idea of making well as the unique challenges lighting represen-
lighting their career is a careful decision; tatives face today. A er a good deal of thought,

it’s not a destiny wri en on their birth cer- Chad took the plunge and joined the agency.

ti cates. There is the weighing of options —
“What I like about lighting is that it’s a big in-
the comfort that familiarity brings versus the dustry, and yet it feels small,” Chad comments.

desire to forge one’s own path.
“I want to be a part of the change going on. I’ve
From a very young age, Chad and his siblings got big shoes to ll, but I’m ready to rise to the

loved playing hide and go seek and other games challenge,” he states. “It was touching at Lighto-

on the oors of the Dallas Market Center as his vation to hear people talk about my grandfather;
father, Todd, performed prep work before each it was so sweet to hear. I’m excited to be a part

market. Never did it occur to Chad that lighting of what I used to [when I was young] refer to as
would be his career path.
my ‘daddy’s daddy’s o ce,’” he says. I’m eager to

A er graduating from Indiana University (where get involved in the industry as well as the ALA.”

he majored in Political Science) and working in His parents are equally thrilled; in fact, Cathy
retail/o ce brokerage for two Dallas-area com- cried in happiness at the news.

mercial real estate rms, Chad found himself at
a career crossroads. “Lighting was always on the

back burner,” he explains. “It’s not that I was ever

opposed to being in the family business; I simply
hadn’t gured out what my calling was. I just knew

that whatever I chose, I would be making a long-
term commitment to it.”
“What I like about lighting is

Some history: Chad’s grandfather, Bill Teiber,
that it’s a big industry, and yet
was a manufacturers’ rep (Bill Teiber Company,
Inc.) and importer (Teiber Lighting Products). it feels small.”
— Chad Teiber
Chad’s father, Todd, tagged along with his dad
(Bill) on the weekends as he called on lighting

showrooms. Todd had plenty of early experience

assembling xtures, taking inventory, and working
on the sales oor for a retailer while in college

before joining his father’s company in 1983. When
Cra made acquired Teiber Lighting Products and

four years later hired Todd as Senior Vice Presi- “I’ve overheard my dad say that my coming into

dent, Todd turned over the Teiber & Company the business has re-energized him,” Chad remarks.
sales agency to his wife, Cathy, who just happened “My parents are really hard workers. My mom

to have grown up in her family’s multi-generational introduced me to all of the manufacturers and
furniture business in Dallas.
customers at Lightovation. My dad is great with

The fact that the lighting industry is in the midst people. He can talk to anyone – even a stranger in

of a revolution in technology further increased its an elevator – and make them laugh and put them
appeal to Chad. In June, he asked trusted family at ease.”

members and friends what they thought he should All three Teibers will be at the ALA Conference
do for a living. “No one said ‘real estate,’” Chad
in Vancouver.
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august 2017 | enLIGHTenment Magazine 45