Hiring, training, and retaining the right people can make or break a lighting company. In this episode of The Lighting Trade School Podcast, Shane “Glow Daddy” Duffy, Nate “The Illuminator” Mullen, and Captain Matt dive deep into the realities of building strong crews and keeping talent long-term.

What you’ll learn:

• The 1-hour test to know if a new hire is worth keeping

• Why “hire slow, fire fast” isn’t always practical, and what to do instead

• Role-specific A-players: finding trench diggers, connectors, and foremen without misplacing talent

• The “working interview” day that filters pretenders from producers

• Video prompts and call-in lines that instantly eliminate 90% of bad applicants

• Background checks, social checks, and real stories that prove why they matter

• Retention over poaching: culture and pay

• When to use 1099 specialists vs. W-2 employees and the legal pitfalls to avoid

• Why a 3-man crew is often the most efficient setup in landscape lighting
  

Plus: The big announcement an advanced three-day training in San Diego, February 25–27. Hands-on installs, night demos, design, sales, and scaling strategies. Limited spots available at lightingtradeschool.com.

Ready to Start or Grow Your Landscape Lighting Business?

🔹 Learn design, sales, and installation at: https://www.lightingtradeschool.com/

🔹 Buy elite fixtures from: https://lifetimelightingsystems.com/ 🔹 Join The Illuminati Lounge Club — $47/mo weekly group calls with the 3 Lighting Amigos: https://www.lightingtradeschool.com/illuminati-lounge-club

🔹 Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2196456184072265

🔹 Apply for 1-on-1 mentoring with Captain Matt: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/captains-crew

🔹 Start your own lighting biz as a GloGeek: https://glogeeksgang.com/

🔥 50 lighting assassins. That’s it. The elite rise, everyone else is background noise. You can chase jobs…or become the one others chase. Which are you?