At each phase milestone there is a pause, usually, that offers time for reflection, evaluation, examination, review from ownership and implementation team and planning for the next step. It can also be a time of celebration and acknowledgement and a time to develop lessons learned.
Sunday April 3 was one of those days for me. It was the 20th anniversary of the beginning of this company. Even though it was a Sunday, my mind was on the business of lighting, and the many successes and Challenges it took to get to this point. Since it was a Sunday, my mind was also on God and the gratitude I feel to be in this moment in time. When one is truly happy and at peace with your life and it’s progression then gratitude fills your whole being. If one is not truly happy then a lack thereof is prevalent and that negative emotion is signaling a lesson to be learned.
Think about your last twenty years and take stock in the multitude of lessons you have learned both good and bad for these are the elements that have made you who your and put you where you are. Your beliefs determine your potential and your potential becomes inspires your actions. Your actions creates your results which changes your beliefs and the belief to rules cycle continues and repeats. We are only limited by our beliefs, not others or outside forces.
Your happiness is between you and God.
This 20 year milestone has made me look at my happiness see that it is based on many things that include the longevity of the company, my team, our customer relationships, the work we are doing and have done and our potential. The team is amazing and has shown authentic and genuine desire for both the art and the craft of lighting, getting it done and making a difference. Not only a difference in what we do but how we do it. They all have their own style but down at their core they all care deeply, take the work seriously but don’t take themselves too seriously.
In 2002 I had many opportunities to join other teams but decided play my own tunes and have The company feel like a rock band. I’m not sure I have totally succeeded in the rock band part but there is still time. What that means to me is that it feels more familial and we are all working toward one goal, a quality and moving show.
Andrew Gauld is our resident Scotsman and we share a common life transformation having gone from engineer in to lighting design. In his case it was aerospace engineering then design school for lighting. I am truly grateful that he met his now wife, a Texas girl, while working in Greece, decided to start a family and moved to Austin,Texas. I have a bit of Scottish heritage and his soft Scottish accent reminds me of that every day, I am grateful for his friendship and the many conversations and beers that we have had together.
As an interior designer turned lighting designer, Francesca Sykes has taken over the role of our resident renderer. Even though most of or required renderings are exterior designs, she is quite skilled at picking the fixtures and rendering what the lighting effect will truly look like. Her tenacity and strength will taker her far.
Jackie Ray has been here the longest, 16 years, and has held almost every role including CAD, bookkeeping, design and programming. And the latter is where he has excelled, understanding not only the software for color programming but also the details about how systems go together and subsequently how to fix them (or tell the contractor to fix them) when they are not working.
Michael Griffin’s history in hospitality interior design before coming on board is notable including several magazine covers where his interior design and our lighting design (with his involvement) collaborated to take the prime spot. His guidance and experience in the process of design and design is a solid anchor for residential and hospitality projects. His charcoal art talent is staggering with what he can get sketched in 45 minutes.
And last but not least Ross Murphy is a force to be reckoned with. From horn player to singer to architect to lighting rep to lighting designer, his varied experience is a comfortable wall to lean against and bounce ideas of off. His varied experience offers a great level of creativity backed by solid technical skill and his personal style fits quite well “in the band”.
I have spent some word collateral here talking about the team members because of how interdependent we are and how valuable each person is. Several years ago, I wound up changing the name of the company from Scott Oldner Lighting Design to Oldner Lighting in this same spirit of collaboration and interdependence. It’s not just me, like it was for the first 5 months in 2002 in an extra room in my house. The addition of each one of the above peeps are a significant milestones for me and this company and we are all looking forward to the next milestone of adding another person and another person and so on. One band member after another and maybe in the next 20 years we will have a small orchestra.
My gratitude for this moment is truly beyond words. I could expound on my feelings for customers and lighting industry “team” members but I would be typing for years. We are grateful, creative and hungry. See you soon.