You can’t help getting swept up in Dirk’s enthusiasm and energy. And that’s over the internet. Dirk insists that distribution is a noble calling. It’s a 7 Trillion dollar economic engine and it supports over 6 million jobs. In the middle of the pandemic, Dirk decided he wanted to support that calling, so he went on the road with his We Supply America Tour. Go to https://wesupplyamerica.net/ and maybe you can get him to come to your distribution business. Dirk Beveridge is a visionary entrepreneur and the founder of UnleashWD, an innovative firm that creates transformative learning experiences and connections for growth oriented distributors. With his one-of-a-kind perspective on the future of wholesale distribution, Dirk has been leading major change for over 35 years to advance growth, relevance, and transformation. Over the last three years Dirk produced the We Supply America tour including a twenty-four film docuseries highlighting and championing the noble calling of distribution. Dirk has authored four books including the best selling INNOVATE! How Successful Distributors Lead Change In Disruptive Times. And on May 1st, Dirk is producing Force For Good Virtual - Live, a transformative event to fuel personal and professional growth for all 6 million employees of distribution. 

Avi doesn’t give a damn who makes the lights or what kind of lights they are as long as the feeling and emotion is achieved in a space. And of course, that feeling has to be maintained. So if you’ve buried a light fixture in concrete, that “feeling” is going away in about 5 years when the light burns out and you can’t get at it. If you want to keep the feeling, call on Morlights to design your lighting. Founding Principal, Avraham “Avi” M. Mor has been practicing lighting design for over 20 years. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a BFA in Theater Design with an emphasis in Architectural and Theatrical Lighting Design, he moved back to his hometown of Chicago to further his craft. Avi has grown his business from a small operation with only a handful of clients to a bustling firm with projects of all sizes located around the nation. 

Returning guest Melvin Newman tells us what’s been going on with Patabid since we last saw him. There’s a new partnership with City Electric Supply, improved estimating software and AI, and even more time savings for contractors. Melvin is the President/CTO of PataBid. Prior to co-founding PataBid in 2018, Melvin worked in the construction industry for 15+ years as an estimator and project manager. As an entrepreneur, Melvin co-founded PataBid and is the full stack developer on the platform, specializing in the development of the internal ML/AI systems. In addition to developing the platform, Melvin is responsible for building the deployment systems and developing key business partnerships.

Another short one with Michael and Greg. In this episode, our hosts discuss the phases of a career in lighting distribution. The first phase had Greg going everywhere looking for dead light bulbs or broken lenses just to get a supply business going. Michael’s story is similar except he did it on Rollerblades. Buy some inline skates and get your business going!

Michael Colligan is President of Atlas Lighting in Toronto, Canada. 

Greg Ehrich is President of Premier Lighting in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Watch for Brian and his team on the cover of the Spring 2024 edition of Today’s Lighting Distributor. Brian tells Michael and Greg about how he started in the business and about how he continues to be successful and what the future holds for his company, Pacific Lamp. And for all you Restoring Darkness fans out there, Brian is a big advocate for responsible outdoor lighting at night. Brian began his career in the lighting industry with Pacific Lamp Wholesale, in 2009. Before Pacific Lamp he sold radiant floor heating, solar electric, and solar water systems. That is how he got started working with utility rebates and tax credit programs. Pacific Lamp founder Dave Junkin, a founding member of NAILD, came out of retirement, and Brian was the first person he hired after his son decided to do another line of work. Dave took him under my wing and taught him everything he knows about the business. Brian purchased the company from him in 2019. Brian would like to see more sustainable lighting and better standards of uniformity and would like to contribute to making the industry a better place with more collaboration between manufacturers and distributors to give end users better quality fixtures. He would love to see higher end lines manufactured in the US again! He is a huge advocate for dark sky friendly and animal friendly lighting that has purpose with the correct color and distribution based on the application. 

Al, Michael, and Greg look back at some of their predictions and try to guess who said what, and assess how accurate they were. But you can’t look back without looking ahead. The guys give their predictions on artificial intelligence, lighting controls, and Al even has a prediction for Acuity. Al Uszynski is an experienced executive with over 25 years of experience in the lighting industry. He is Principal of inside.lighting, an online media company that provides valuable insights and information to lighting industry professionals. Throughout his career, Al has held leadership positions with major lighting companies in roles that have encompassed full P&L responsibility, as well as sales, marketing and brand management. Al also serves as a business advisor and consultant to select lighting and electrical industry clients. 

It’s always fun, informative, and educational to have such experienced people like Richard on the podcast. He also brings his incredible energy and positive attitude with him, not only to the podcast, but wherever he goes. With an incredible 60 years in the business, he’s got a lot of knowledge to pass on. This podcast is one of our favorites this year. Richard has devoted his entire career to the lighting industry that has spanned some 60 years. Starting in the UK with the General Electric Company, in London, then on assignment for this company in Toronto and then Chicago. Declining to return to the UK, Richard elected to stay in America and went on to work for such companies as Halo Lighting, Devine Lighting, Steiner Electric and others. Richard claims to have no retirement skills and so continues to work full time, working for Louvers International as their Director of Business Development. Richard has many accomplishments but is most proud of his 55 years of continuous service with the IES. 

LEDucation will be here before you know it (March 19-20, 2024) so Jamie Eck, Co-Chair of the LEDucation Committee, gives us a preview of what to expect. As Jamie says, “LEDucation is geared towards the design community,” but there will be plenty there for everyone else too. And watch for some live streaming podcasts from Get A Grip On Lighting, Restoring Darkness, and The Lighting Controls Podcast.

Jamie has been in the lighting industry for more than 30 years and brings experience and understanding of all parts of the design, sales and implementation process, to the customer. He has worked in various markets and verticals in multiple sales and management positions. Starting in lighting distribution in 1989, he moved over to the manufacturer side in 2006, where he worked for Philips, GE Lighting (as a rep for Brazill Brothers) and also as a Regional Sales Manager for Satco Products Nuvo Lighting. He currently holds the position of Business Development Manager at O’Blaney Rinker & Associates in NY and NJ. 

Do you have an enthusiasm for old light bulbs? Then contact Chad and you can geek out about an 1880 Edison Bristol Board Filament prototype lamp, or an 1886 Luminoid Incandescent Lamp. In fact Chad probably has the greatest collection of antique lamps and related electrical artifacts in existence. But this episode isn’t all about antique light bulbs. Chad also has some pretty astute things to say about the good, the bad, and the ugly of LEDs.

Chad Shapiro has had a fascination with lighting since the age of 13 when his interests in Thomas Edison shifted from the Phonograph to the invention of the first successful incandescent lamp. Mentored by historic light bulb and Edisonia veterans like the late Dr. Hugh F Hicks and later the late Charley Hummel, Chad went on the search the world for the earliest examples of electric lighting history.

Alongside this near lifetime fascination with electric lighting, Chad's father had been a lifelong electronics technician. Chad grew up installing electronic gadgets alongside his father much of his childhood. After working for his father for about 10 years Chad founded Sterling Sound & Vision in 2012 to focus on the luxury home automation market.

Connect with Chad:

www.sterlingsv.com

Collection (a small but growing catalog of entries out of several thousand pieces in the collection): https://hub.catalogit.app/1834

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/chad.shapiro.9

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-shapiro-42584797/

The King of Lighting Ellis Yan is one our favorite guests on Get a Grip on Lighting. His company TCP has been a supporter of the show for years. Today we honor some of his greatest moments with our "Best of Ellis Yan".