LEADER: Retailer – Lucy Dearborn, Lucia Lighting & Design, Lynn, Mass.
How did you get started in the industry?
Lighting was my first job out of college. I worked in a local lighting store and fell in love with the creativity, constant change, and technical challenges that lighting offers. Clients really appreciate special guidance and are looking for an expert to help them with their home.
What are the biggest changes you’ve seen?
Not much changed in residential lighting from a technology standpoint for most of my career in lighting. Sure, new trends in decorative lighting would pop up, but they were simply new or recycled looks.
The emergence of LED and what it offers in architectural lighting makes lighting design almost limitless now! I also love the use of recycled products and very much appreciate that there are still some manufacturers here in the States that create beautiful glass and metal fixtures.
What do you think is the greatest challenge?
Mixing the technology of LED sources with the category of lighting controls comes to mind immediately. For instance, we love that LEDs are dimmable, but when we’re designing lighting and then introducing a lighting control system, there must be expertise, team efforts, and testing.
Team Lucia will keep pushing the envelope in design and technology ? that’s what our clients expect. We overcome challenges by paying attention to the details, doing lots of research, and partnering with manufacturers who understand our needs. Big challenges bring big solutions ? and we’re really in the solutions business!
What has been the key to your success?
I think it’s the people who surround us. Lucia is eight years old and most of my co-workers have been with us the entire time. We’ve added enthusiastic and experienced people along the way, so we have a very strong core group of people. As Confucius said: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
I wish I knew how hard it would be to be good at everything. You don’t know what you don’t know until it’s sitting in your lap, but you figure it out and do your best.
What do you think the future holds?
Lighting showrooms will have to continue to offer a level of expert service and experience. Technology will continue to play a larger part in our lives. We have to be ready to serve the next generation with that technology and work hard to get people away from their computers and into our stores. What will no longer exist is waiting for customers to come to us ? we’ll have to go and get them. Potential customers have lots of choices, so we’ll have to work hard to give them good reasons to choose us. And we will!
