Being A Lighting Production Company Owner

My world is a constant balancing act.  I started my business about 6 years ago while working for an entertainment agency.  There was a benefit to running my business that way but there were also major drawbacks.  I was constantly torn between growing my business and making a living as an entertainment agent.  Today I focus most of my energy on growing my business, with the hope of creating solid and consistent work for both myself and the people I hire.

The balance:

I must be knowledgeable, creative, aggressive, humble, and professional.  Constant research is the key to staying current and, hopefully, ahead of the curve.  Once I know what can be done, I must create new ways to apply those technologies.  Then, I must aggressively pursue new bookings to put this knowledge to work.  Once I have the job, I have to be humble and listen to my clients needs, making their goals for the event a priority when applying the design to the production.  All the while, my professionalism must be evident to everyone involved in the event.

I think my biggest hurdle is getting consistent work.  I am an artist who must be a businessman.  For years I was just an artist and thought that would be enough.  I guess it would be if I wanted to live in an artists’ commune.  I have split my focus in many different directions, almost given up several times, and failed on multiple occasions.  The one thing that I have always been able to fall back on is my work.  It is always unique, no cookie-cutter shows, no wholesale designs.  Always simple and elegant, clean and complete (at least that’s what the client sees).  I believe the client should never know how hard you worked.  It should all seem effortless.  A ballet of design with a little bit of jitterbug and break dancing thrown in at the right moments.

In the end it boils down to this common theme.  Always, Always, Always, be aggressive in getting the work, be creative and humble while doing the work, run every event in a professional well-conceived way, and, finally, be thankful you have the work.