Page 50 - Lighting Magazine March 2019

HALL OF
FEMME
Born in Kansas into a military family and spending her formative years in Arizona and Upper New York State, Karyn Hayes always remembers being driven in her pursuits. Not only was she a competitive athlete – in volley-
ball, soccer, and basketball – but she was an honors student who earned an academic scholarship. Her pragmatic mindset is the result of pitching in on the family farm, where she would literally whistle for the cows to come home and pull milk containers out of the barn. She inherited her retired Air Force Colonel father’s love of travel, sense of adventure (he ew B29 bombers during World War II) and rugged determination in ge ing the job done.
enLIGHTenment Magazine will be shining the spotlight on some of the most inspiring female leaders in the lighting industry. Receiving special recognition this year is Karyn Hayes of Hinkley Lighting.
“My dad was a War hero, and he was also my personal hero,” she admits. “He always taught me to think ahead [before taking action] and look down the road to see where [that action] would take you,” Hayes recalls, whether the topic was personal or a career decision. “He’d tell me, ‘You have to be way ahead of it,’” she explains. “I taught that way of thinking things through to my kids as well.”
Having lived in several places across the country at a young age helped bolster Hayes’ con dence in multiple ways. “I feel like I was exposed to di er- ent things – like travel – early on,” she notes. While classmates might have dreamed of becoming teach- ers or astronauts, Hayes says she wanted to “be my own boss and have my own business.”
46 enLIGHTenment Magazine | March 2019
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