Every now and then it’s important to reflect on why we do what we do. “Jon, what are you trying to say? You’re out here to make money.” 

Yes. 

I am. 

But I could make money doing anything, and frankly, I could make a lot more money faster doing something else. So why Landscape Lighting? Well, let me start by sharing why I decided NOT to do something else.

In the early day of my business, I wanted to do something else. Home Theatre. I love a good movie, but even more than that, I love to EXPERIENCE a good movie. I put a few Home Theatres together, however, I noticed something I wasn’t a fan of…

Anywhere I put a home theatre together, people tended to use it, and quite often. Makes sense right? You buy something expensive, you use it, you get your money’s worth out of it.

But real life doesn’t take place sitting in front of a screen. Real life is on the other side of the screen, where everyone actually did the thing you’re watching. We watch TV as a way to escape life by vicariously living through the characters and actors we see on screen. But on the other side of that screen, those actors spent hours, days, weeks, months, and even years LIVING their life. Acting, sure, but doing things we WANT to do. Having conversations, spending quality time, going on adventures, balling out in business, conquering sports, nations, competitions, and championships.

I found myself watching EVERYONE ELSE living their lives, while I was wasting mine away on a couch.

And I was building a business around selling a product that was nudging families towards a couch potato lifestyle, where the ultimate bonding experience was spent NOT talking, but sitting silent next to each other, while an adventure that could have been lived plays out on screen.

I had to make a change.

I went to lunch with a remodeling contractor and he hit with some blunt truth.

“Jon, I think you’re barking up the wrong tree. I don’t know a d*** person who needs home theatre, and frankly, I don’t know many people who can afford it that also really want it. 

Take a neighborhood, 100 homes, all million dollar homes. They have the money, they have the space. Maybe 5 of those homes will ever get a home theatre. That’s still a good market, problem is 2-3 of them probably already have one. You just lost 40-60% of the opportunities in that neighborhood. 

But guess what they all need? Lights. You take your same technical expertise, and install luxury grade lights instead of luxury grade speakers. 100 out of 100 houses in that neighborhood need lights, and it doesn’t matter how many of them already have them, because most contractors are slapping down China’s finest, and they’re gonna need a repair sometime in the next year.”

I wasn’t quite sold. The numbers made sense, but I’ve been in lucrative businesses before, I was looking for a mission that would keep me going when the money wasn’t.

Because that’s just inevitable. You’re either going to make too little, or you’re gonna make too much, or you’re gonna stay even so long, you need to make a change. Money can’t motivate you forever.

I wanted my business to be something I would want my name on forever.

Then I looked into what lighting does.

Yes, it makes everything look great, but it also creates atmosphere.

Not to state the obvious, but it literally brings light to the darkness.

It allows families to gather outside after dark. It denies intruders the cover of darkness. It draws the eye away from the shadows. It focuses attention where you want it to be.

Metaphorically, practically, functionally, aesthetically, lighting does everything that I want my business to do.

That’s why I chose to do Landscape Lighting. It’s and overlap between my skills and passions, but it’s also in line with the values I want in my company, and the values I want to contribute to in the home.

I light up landscapes so that you and your family can enjoy them whenever you want.

Our Mission is to turn more homes into a Light in the Darkness.

So, when you’re ready, give us a call. We’ll Light Up the Night like the Northern Lights.