This week's episode of Automation Unplugged features Kat Wheeler in celebration of International Women’s Day.

Our guests in this episode:

Amanda Wildman, Owner of TruMedia

Maryellen Oswald, Business Development Manager - Partnerships at Somfy

Jody Larsen, Director of Business Development and Sales at CEDIA, and

Erica Carroll, Director of Product Marketing & Training at Mersive Technologies

Interview Recap

• The value of holding in-person, education-first events to drive our industry forward
• How to recruit & retain talent in the industry
• Bringing STEM education to girls across the U.S. through the Rosie Riveters program
• And CEDIA’s fight on Capitol Hill to get “integrator” recognized as an official term in the labor workforce

SEE ALSO: Show #261 features Ryan Lee

Transcript

Kat:

Hi, everybody. Welcome to this special episode of Automation Unplugged for International Women's Day. It is March 8th, 2024. And you may have noticed that I am not Ron Callis. I am Katharine Wheeler and I'm stepping in today to host on this special occasion. Today, we're not just acknowledging International Women's Day. We're going to embody it by showcasing the insights and the leadership of women who helped define the future of AV.

Kat:

So I want to give a big thank you before we start to One Firefly for embracing this initiative and proving that when we all talk about AV, the voices of women are not just necessary, they're instrumental in driving our industry forward. So having said that, let me dive in and we'll bring in our panelists. And there we go. Welcome, everybody. So welcome to this. Hi. Welcome to this special episode of Automation Unplugged for International Women's Day.

Kat:

Someone asked Ruth Bader Ginsburg, when will there be enough women on the Supreme Court? And her answer was, when there are nine. People are shocked, but there's been nine men and nobody ever questioned that. So today, with four women panelists and a woman hosting, we're embodying the spirit of change, proving that it's totally normal and essential for women to lead the conversation in our industry. So with that said, I'll let our panelists introduce themselves. Erica, let's start with you. Tell the people about yourself.

Erica:

Oh, boy. Thank you, Kat. So I entered the industry over a decade ago. And I've built my career with AV manufacturers, and it's led to my current position as Director of Product Marketing and Training at Mersive Technologies. I've also recently taken on more of a product management role as well, so expanding on all of that. I've always been passionate and an advocate for the AV industry. I served as the chair of the AVIXA Content and Learning Committee for three years. I was also a co-leader of the AVIXA Women's Council Local Chapter, and I'm also the co-host of the Women in AV Podcast. And finally, my biggest passion is actually our annual fundraiser for Rosie Riveters Explorers Pro AV. And we aim to close the gender gap in AV and introduce more girls interested in STEM to careers in our industry.

Kat:

So you're not busy at all?

Erica:

Yeah, no.

Kat:

All the time. Maryellen, tell the people about yourself.

Maryellen:

Happy to. So, my name is Maryellen Oswald, and I work for Somfy. I am the Partnerships Business Manager, and I also manage the CEDIA Channel. In my role, I work with a lot of our control company, our control partners to ensure that we have all the drivers needed so that the integrators today can integrate and control our motors. So I've been with Somfy almost two years. I can't believe it's been almost two years, but it's been fun and challenging, you know, to work for a manufacturer because as you know, prior to working for Somfy, I was in media, and I was in media for a very long time. I was the publisher and founder of Connected Design magazine, an opportunity that, gosh, basically put me at the forefront of representing our industry to architects, builders, interior designers, sharing integrated voices, projects. So it's been fun. I grew up in the CEDIA channel. I always tell everybody that, and I wouldn't change it for the world. And thank you for having me.

Kat:

Oh, well, thanks for being here. And thank you. I mean, for so long, you've been such a big voice in our industry, introducing us to other verticals and disciplines and kind of really prompting that expansion to work with architects and designers for so long. So thank you for your contributions. Maybe no one says it, but it's much appreciated. Amanda, tell the people what you're up to today. You're sitting in your car. Where are you at?

Amanda:

Well, I thought it would only apropos that as being the integrator on the call and also an integrator that's out in the field that I would join you from the job site. So here you get me from the field. My name is Amanda Wildman. I'm the owner of TruMedia. We are an integration and now electrical design firm out of Ada, Michigan. I actually started in the industry about 20 years ago with my husband when we started our business. And I started predominantly in the office, taking care of the paperwork, doing all the contracts, all of that kind of stuff. And being a family business, my husband and myself, I found that if I could learn to help him originally on the jobs, we could get the jobs done quicker and faster and get back home to the family things. So I started learning things out in the field. I found that I really, really enjoyed that. And so if given the opportunity, my happy place is being out in the field and doing all of that. So I'm currently CIT and IST Subject Matter Expert. I helped develop those certifications for CEDIA. I am in the middle of my Electrical Journeyman Apprenticeship Program. I'll call it a Journey Woman Apprenticeship Program after I'm finished with it. But yeah, hopefully soon I will be a licensed electrician. And I also serve as a CEDIA Board of Directors member. So I am currently the vice chair this year and love representing integrators to the industry and to the boardroom.

Kat:

Well, thanks, Amanda. Thanks for taking the time on the job site to hang out with us today. And speaking of CEDIA, Jody, tell the people who you are.

Jody:

Hi there. Thanks for having me on this, by the way. I appreciate it. My name is Jody Larsen. I am the Director of Business Development and Sales at CEDIA. I've been with CEDIA just over 20 years. I started off with CEDIA in the events department with Director of Events and moved on from there to Director of Membership and then on to Director of Business Development and Sales. I started when Raybourn Group managed CEDIA, but I got the privilege of working under Billie Lynn Keller, who kind of put CEDIA on the map with some amazing founding members. I learned a lot from her, and I keep that with me today. And I would say the common theme with all my jobs at CEDIA is I get to work with our members. And whether that's an integrator or manufacturer, I love having that interaction with them. But if you ask me if I'm new with CEDIA, I'm going to definitely say yes, I'm new, because I'd like to hear what you have to say.

Kat:

I love it. Thanks, Jody. And I'm Kat. So if anybody doesn't know me, I am as well an AV lifer. This is the only industry that I have ever worked in. I have been doing this for 20 years now. And I love it because it has been such an opportunity for me and my life to get to do so many different things from working in this industry. I've gotten to live all over the country from California to New York City. I've gotten to work for integrators, manufacturers, rep firms, and distributors, and I love every part of it. So I'm so glad we have such an amazing, really involved, really talented group of women here today, and we're going to talk about a lot of issues facing our industry today. So without any further ado, I thought we would kick it off with something a little light, something a little funny. And we do happen to have some very entertaining women on the call today. So Amanda, I know you have a billion stories, but I would love to hear one of your funniest AV stories.

Amanda:

Oh gosh, there's so many to pick from. Being on the job site, you get some really fun bloopers and things like that. I would say, gosh, probably one of my funniest was probably a technical one. And it actually involved my grandma. And you know when you're the techie in the family, you're the one that gets the phone calls all of the time. And you know she called me up one day and she's like, Amanda, Amanda, my TV won't work. And I'm like, okay, so you know you're going through all of the questions, you know, well, you know what doesn't work about it? Well, I push the button on the remote. Nothing's working. Okay, well, what are you trying to do? Trying to go through the entire thing. And I finally, after these questions, I'm like, well, what does it show on your TV? Like, maybe it's the wrong input. This is what I'm trying to figure out. I'm thinking it's a super technical thing. And she goes, "Nothing." And I'm like, "Nothing." And I'm running through my brain, nothing. What does that mean? And I'm like, I pause for a second and I'm like, "Grandma, have you turned the TV on?" And she's like, "Oh my gosh, no, I knew there was something I forgot to do." And I'm like, "So here I had gone down this whole rabbit hole of thinking that something was gonna be super, super technical, and I missed the very first basic step of, did you actually turn it on? And it was one of those that just made me totally laugh, of course. But it also kind of serves to me now as a reminder that sometimes when we get those calls from people, we so wanna go to the very, very technical and jump very, very far deep in and we overlook some of the basic things. And so that's always kind of like just my reminder. And of course, she's now since passed away. So that's one of my favorite memories of just a chuckle every time I think about it. It just kind of brings a smile to my face 'cause my grandma's still giving me life lessons about how to work with people and work with clients, you know, even after she's gone.

Kat:

Oh, I love that. And I think it also serves as a reminder that when we all joke about turning it off and turning it back on again, there is some truth to that.

Amanda:

Very much so.

Kat:

Erica, I think you have a good one from your first job in the industry.

Erica:

Yes, but I want to touch on this real quick, because I saw this meme the other day to Amanda's point, because we do get all those phone calls. And you know for all I know, my family thinks I sell TVs. But we get these calls, and I saw a meme the other day that said, we cannot be the generation that teaches both our parents and our children how to use a printer.

Maryellen:

Perfect.

Kat:

Facts.

Erica:

So yeah, so if I go back about 20 years and Wi-Fi was still fairly new, you know, going into the 2000s, and this was actually roughly about 2005. And I worked at Best Buy at the time in computers and in Geek Squad. And you know I'm a problem solver. I like to help people solve their problems. I'm also a people pleaser. So I don't want to offend anybody at any time. And this lady comes in just absolutely irate that her "wiffy" wasn't working. And my brain just started going like, what in the world, I wanted this "wiffy" to be a thing. She's like, no, my "wiffy" doesn't work. And I'm like, so what kind of problems are you experiencing? What does this mean to you? You know, trying to get some more digging questions. And she's like, it won't get to the internet. And finally, I was like, oh, your Wi-Fi. She's like, no, it's my "wiffy." I was like, oh, OK, well, you know, we can go into some network settings and, you know, start to resolve your issue. But I really, in my brain and my heart of hearts, I wanted "wiffy" to be a thing that I needed to learn about to help her fix her problems. But anyways, that was the early days of, you know, the internet and Wi-Fi.

Kat:

I love it. I also like the "wiffy.".

Erica:

Yeah.

Kat:

Maryellen, get to Somfy, let them know we all need to come up with something called a "wiffy." We all need it.

Maryellen:

Hey, if anybody can do it, it's Somfy. You had a funny story, Kat.

Kat:

I do. I have the best story. And it's funny because I actually, I put it in my first book because I've died every time I tell this story to people. When I worked, when I lived in New York and I worked as the Crestron rep, they used to put the angry customer service calls to the sales rep. I don't know if they still do, but it was a treat. And one day I was driving down the LIE and I got a call from this woman who, to Erica's point, was also irate. She was extremely upset. She had purchased the Crestron app on her iPhone. And she was really angry because it wouldn't take her shades up and down. And so, you know, we go through the whole thing. Who was your dealer? Where's your equipment? When did you have it installed? What do you have? None of these questions did she have an answer to. Not a single one. I spent an hour on the phone with this woman, an hour of getting yelled at and whatever, until we finally get to the place where we realize she doesn't have motorized shades. She has whatever blinds came into her apartment. And she thought downloading the app would magically give her power to raise and lower these shades with no motor.

Maryellen:

Nonexistent blinds.

Kat:

And then she yelled at me for not being able to refund her app fee. And I told her she had to do it through the App Store. So needless to say, I did not win a fan that day, but got a story for life. It was amazing.

Amanda:

That's awesome. If it only was that easy, you could just download an app and like magically.....oh my gosh, there'd be no need for me. I mean, maybe I don't want that.

Kat:

Well, thank you guys for sharing some funny stories. I like to reflect sometimes. I know we get a little stressed out and jobs are hard, but there's some good stuff that happens around us.

Kat:

And speaking of good stuff, last week, I saw a few of you out at Lightapalooza in Arizona, which was a treat. It is clear after being there that trade shows, I think, are back in our industry. So I wanted to touch on this with Jody, who has a little experience with events. How do you see these gatherings evolving? What value do they continue to bring to our industry?

Jody:

Well, I think they prove that there's no substitute for face-to-face interaction. I think the CI channel probably more than most, we work better when we collaborate together in person. And I think the conversations when we are together are just more purposeful and we accomplish more. And then let's face it, we are the technology industry. So experiencing, engaging, and utilizing the technology just makes a big difference. So I think, you know, the face-to-face is something that we can't do without in our channel.

Kat:

And Jody, do you think, are we finally past COVID? It seemed like at Lightapalooza, the attendance was up. I mean, they had over 1,300 registrants, which was, I think, double the year before. So I mean, is this a sign of what's to come? Are we going to see this at the Tech Summits and CEDIA this year? And if you can, can we get a little secret score of what's coming up this year?

Jody:

Sure. So I hope we are past COVID. I think '22 was a little bumpy, but '23 was definitely promising, so I'm excited to see what '24 holds. I think at the Tech Summits this year, just like Lightapalooza, the enthusiasm is what we're looking for. The people wanting to get there and network and engage, that's just such a huge part of our industry. So looking forward to that, working with our local reps to drive some traffic to these events. And this year we have 11 in the U.S. and two in Canada, so excited about all those Tech Summit events. So if we're not coming to your area, let us know that you want to support an event. Give us a call, and we'll do our best to come to your region in the future. With regards to Expo this year, I think that you'll see that we're a little bit on a course - what you see at the Tech Summits is a little bit of a teaser of what you'll experience at Expo. So we've worked to improve the education tracks and the overall program structure. The goal is to have the tracks have a chair, so they will kind of create a bridge between the sessions and help the flow of these sessions. And we have different tracks. We have control systems and distributed AV, home theater and immersive audio, lighting and ambiance, surveillance, IT networking, business strategies, and power management. So there's a little bit of something for everybody at Expo this year. And then I don't want to forget to mention we will also be introducing at Expo this year two new, separate, one ticketed day conference events. So as part of this launch, CEDIA is excited to welcome one founding partner per event to join us bringing these programs to the smart home industry. One of them will be the CEDIA Executive Leadership Summit, and the other one will be the Consumer Insight Forum. So excited to have those things at Expo this year and excited for registration to launch so people can take part.

Kat:

Oh, that is cool.

Erica:

I want to say real quick, CEDIA Expo last year was phenomenal. So I come from more of the pro-AV side. But what y'all are doing with the CI as well, you know, resi-mercial, and pulling all of that together into a single audience, I thought was phenomenal.

Jody:

Oh, great. Well, thank you for that. Thank you. I know, again, a lot of what we do is driven by our amazing board. So Amanda, if you have anything you want to add to that, we're excited with some of the changes we have coming at Tech Summits as well as Expo.

Amanda:

Yeah, I would just say the biggest thing is adding in the business side of things this year. You know, giving something for the owners. So I know that with the Tech and Business Summits now, you know historically it's been about seeing a lot of product, which is great, of course, for the owners and to be able to see what new product lines they might want to carry. But they're going to be having some more technical training for the technicians, which I really love, plus they get to see new products, but they also are going to have business education training. I think 2024, to me, is the year that we really as an industry get to grow up. Like, you know, we've been around, we've done this for 30 years, and this is great. A lot of us have started as a hobby. We stumbled in. We didn't necessarily make the career choice to come into this. And I think this is the year that we really, I mean, we've got the Next Gen Initiative where we're actively going to schools to tell students that you can make this as a career choice. We're doing things like growing up our businesses, taking, you know, a better look at the numbers. You're hearing about, you know, mergers or acquisitions. I mean, just this morning, Cyber Manor was just acquired by Daisy, I think. So, you know, that doesn't happen by accident. You used to just hear people would kind of go out of business or they would close their doors, but you're starting to see if you take good care of your business, what can that mean for future generations, like someone buying it, acquiring it, or in my case, I know we'll talk about this a little bit later, but my kids are now starting to get into it 'cause it's a viable business. But you have to grow up your business to do that. And I think that those business courses are really gonna help out. I know Matt Bernath for the United States ones has been working really hard to have some really, really important, key, home hitting, you know, things that you can take home and work immediately on your business right away. And then we have Leslie Shriner in the UK Tech Summits, really helping you look at the books, helping you look at the numbers, get those things in order so that you can start making decisions as a business owner instead of having decisions happen to you because you understand your books and you understand the business a little bit better. So I'm super excited. I think 2024 is the year our industry really is like, "Okay, let's grow up. Let's do this. Let's get certified. Let's take it to the next level. Let's build out our businesses and get smart about it." So I'm excited for that.

Jody:

Both Leslie and Matt will be at all the U.S. Tech Summits. So they'll alternate which ones they go to, but we do have that at all the US Tech Summits this year, so we're excited about that.

Kat:

I love it. I'm excited. And we're so far from September already, and we've got the Tech Summits lining us up to get there. Maryellen, building on that, how can these events fuel professional growth for individuals?

Maryellen:

Well, I mean, just having the opportunity to be face-to-face, the network that you can build, the network that you have, the network that you can share. There's a lot of components that, you know, Jody knows, creating events. I remember in my days when we had created events as well. But I think the most important carrot that brings the people in is the education, is the training. And being able to offer training and education, not just to your employees, but to the business owner. What the Vital Group is doing is so critical. And I can't, you know, thank them enough for really taking the time to coach a business. Because at the end of the day, I mean, even, you know, I work for a manufacturer. You know, many factors want to do business with good business people, right? So, and we want them to succeed. So having the education, having the training, having the opportunity for me to speak with integrators. I mean, hear about, you know, what upcoming projects do you have? What's so exciting? What's not working? What's this? And let me tell you, we all know integrators, Amanda, you know this better than anybody else. If there's a problem with your product, or if there's a problem with somebody else's product, or if they want you to integrate with someone else's product, they're gonna tell you about it. And it's great to have that criticism or the, you know, suggestions in person, because that's really where you can take that back and start to work on how you can, you know, how you can bring those solutions forward and how you can work together. So that's my take.

Kat:

I love it. And I love you guys bringing up the Vital team. We love them. Sorry, they were next to us at Lightapalooza. Go ahead, Amanda.

Amanda:

And I wanna say, I don't know if this is where it started, but I know you guys just started a thing. Am I allowed to talk about your thing with Lutron that you guys are doing with One Firefly? Okay, cool. Yeah. 'Cause like I love this as an integrator, and I don't know how much it's gotten out there and I don't even know where it came from, but I would love to imagine that it came from overlapping or being by a booth together. Because Lutron, for example, is doing a partnership right now with One Firefly to say, look, you're gonna get some of your, and I don't know all the details, so I'll probably mess this up, but you're gonna get some of your money depending on what level you're at. And you can use that with One Firefly to help you with your marketing. And so, to me, that's a great collaboration of two businesses that may have been like, well, we don't necessarily overlap per se, but for the good of helping out the integrator and in the effort of all ships rising, if integrators are able to market their businesses better, then therefore we can sell more product. It kind of seems like one of those no-brainers. And while it might not have happened at a face-to-face Expo meeting or at a Tech Summit or whatever, in my imagination, that's how it happened, is that someone had a perfect booth next to each other and someone just kind of brainstormed during downtime. So that's the story that's gonna stay in my head. But those things don't happen truthfully without having live events where people can come out and talk about: what are my challenges, what are my successes, and get those collaborations start. So you can correct me, Kat. I might be wrong on how that came about.

Kat:

I will tell you the true story and then I'll tell you the real deal on the thing, but it's actually very cool. We have a Corporate Programs team at One Firefly, JW and JT, Jessica Weiss and Jessica Telles, which makes it easy for everybody. JW is the most caffeinated person I've ever seen in a trade show. 'Cause Lightapalooza, she was bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang around to all the trade shows. But this Lutron partnership comes from many, many years of working with them and working with their dealers to market. We do a number of corporate programs for a lot of different vendors that sponsor or pay for limited marketing campaigns to be run on their behalf in different parts of the region. And it's wonderful because to your point, Amanda, it gives free marketing to the dealer, it gets them leads, it gets the brand's name out there. And so what Lutron has done is they've added us into their dealer program this year. So it's actually in addition to the regular DMC funds that you get. It is a straight up credit with One Firefly for anything you want to use it for as far as marketing goes. Lighting and shade specific. But that's what it is. And it's amazing. It's such a great opportunity for dealers and it's such a great opportunity for us to meet some new people. So happy to do it. But to your point, yes, the business part of it, that we're very tight with Vital. We were right next to them at Lightapalooza and we love what they're doing for people as well. OK, let's wrap up this trade show segment. We'll let Erica close it out. Erica, you've been to a lot of trade shows, both on the commercial and residential side. If you were giving someone advice, if it was their first event for show, what advice would you give them?

Erica:

Build a schedule.

Maryellen:

Great advice.

Erica:

So yes, absolutely. Go to all of the education and all of the training stuff. That is absolutely there for you and the reason that you should be there. But I think the biggest part is making time for the networking portion of things as well, and actually attend them. Don't discredit them because it's not education. Because when you get to build all those relationships, you meet so many more people and you get all of these random encounter introductions. That's how these women come together. That's how this whole industry has come together. So definitely make time for all of, or not all of the networking events. Some of them are crazy in the evenings. Definitely the daytime ones.

Kat:

As my mom says, nothing good happens at the bar past midnight.

Maryellen:

Amen, sister.

Kat:

Okay, well, Amanda, you touched on this a little bit. So let's dive into this one. I think we're all, as we've demonstrated with our longevity in this industry, also very passionate about it. So I know one of the biggest challenges, and One Firefly is trying to work on some stuff around this as well, is recruitment and keeping good talent here. So Jody, I know that this is something that you guys do a lot of. How do we attract new talent to our industry and showcase it as a place you want to be as a rewarding career path?

Jody:

Absolutely. I think that is one thing I hear over and over when I go to any event is that we need more talent in our pipeline. And I know our CEO after he started, he kind of went on a road trip globally and heard the exact same thing. So in 2023, we launched Next Gen, and this is a Smart Home Career Toolkit. And it's designed to help integrators forge connections with their local talent, local pipelines. And the kit is ready-to-use resources for employers that they can present to colleges, to trade show schools, government agencies, community centers. And it's an avenue that you can help, we support explaining what we do, why we do it, and how you can have a career in this field. So there's everything from a promotional video that they can use to viable career pathways to a job seeker brochure, print-ready promotional materials, and posters, and a classroom presentation for integrators. So if you haven't downloaded the kit, I highly recommend it. It's a great resource for the CEDIA channel and to bring exposure to what we do. And to explain that you're just not, it's not just home theater anymore as well. So we're hoping that this helps the integrators become a resource in their community.

Kat:

I love it. That's amazing. I haven't seen it yet.

Amanda:

I have to say something about the video. You have to, like you guys have to watch that video. I mean, I went and I did it actually at a school, talking to counselors. I got invited to go and there's me and I have like 12 employees, right? So small little me. I was there with the electrical union from my area representing the electrical unions all over the state, the carpenter union. So they had big money backing both of these people, and then a manufacturing company that had over 300 employees. So there's little old Amanda. And I'm the last one. And all these, all the guidance counselors and all the teachers that were there, they knew all of these people and these careers and stuff like that. And then so I get up, I'm last, and I'm like, oh, my name's Amanda, and I'm an integrator. And of course, we all get the blank look. And I'm like, so how many of you know what an integrator is or would tell your students about having a career in integration? And they all kind of......crickets, right? I'm like, well, you just watch this video with me for three minutes, and then I'm going to ask you that question again. And you play the video, and it is such a cool and such a compelling video that after that, I was like, okay, now, which one of you can think of a student that you'd want to tell about a career in integration? And every hand shot up because they still didn't fully grasp what it was, but that video made it look so cool and so appealing. They're like, I can sell that to my kids. And I was like, that's the coolest factor, right? We're not accountants. We don't have the most boring jobs in the whole wide world. We make magic. For the vast majority of the population, we create magical experiences in people's homes. It's not the George Jetson's House of the Future. It's your house today and we create that. And that's what we're asking people to do. Like how much cooler of a job or a career that you could have? I mean, I guess maybe an NBA player or whatever, if you like playing basketball or something like that might be better, but we are height challenged in my family. So basketball was never gonna be a thing. So this might be the next best thing. You know, if you sit there and you say, hey, I can make magic happen. And I'm a magician, why not? It's very, very cool. So that tool kit, if you haven't seen it, if you haven't downloaded it, download it for a boss, or you know an employer, when you go to look for jobs, it gives you job descriptions. You don't have to mess with writing this stuff up. It has it all set for you. And it's free to anybody, not even just CEDIA members. Anybody can get it and download the tool kit, which is awesome.

Jody:

Another thing we're doing, there's a lot of outreach for the Tech Summits to bring in a lot of these vocational schools into the Tech Summits as well. So if you attend one, you're going to see some students walking around. They're going to be talking to the manufacturers, to the reps, and to the integrators there. So we're trying to bring them to an event to expose them to everything at those events as well. So come see me if you're at a Tech Summit, and maybe I can point some of them out to you.

Kat:

Thanks, guys. We're going to find that video and that tool kit, and we'll drop the link in the show notes for the podcast so everybody can find it. That's great.

Jody:

Perfect.

Kat:

Maryellen, I know mentorship has been a big part of your journey in the industry. How does that play into keeping talent around and how that is?

Maryellen:

Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for mentorship. And it's twofold for me. You know, when you're first coming into the industry, when I first came into the industry, you couldn't even count five of us women here. It was that sparse. But you know being in tech, and obviously tech changes as we go year after year after year, it can be it can be downright scary. And to have people who take the time and explain to you, I know we were talking about this earlier in the back studio about you know the unique skill sets like Erica has to be able to explain something incredibly technical to you in regular terms in such a way that I can understand it, not just myself, but everybody. So when you find people like that, you tend to want to learn more and you want to soak it up. And attracting young talent into the industry is something so huge. It's much needed. And I get to work with a lot of younger people at Somfy. And so you know for me to be able to give back and mentor or you know explain more or invite them to various networking events, you know the Women in Consumer Technology, you know they have circles. I'm always encouraging women to join because being able to meet other women and other men that you can learn from, it's only going to propel you. And you never know when you're going to cross that bridge or when an opportunity is going to come up where you can collaborate or even work for somebody. You know, just making those steps. So mentorship is huge. I'm proud to mentor a lot of different people. I was mentored. I had several different mentors, women and men, and I encourage it 100%.

Kat:

Thanks, Maryellen. I agree. I was like you. I didn't realize we were at the mentorship age until I was drinking out of a coffee cup at work that said, I'm right on top of that, Rose. And then I had to spend the next five minutes explaining the plot of Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead to everyone I worked with because no one had seen it. Or Amanda's reference to the Jetsons, I'm like, ooh, I know what the Jetsons are. But Amanda, your daughter works with you, which I think we can all say is fairly unique in this industry. It might be the only mother-daughter team out there. Did you ever think as she was kind of getting into that family business, maybe not, maybe steer her in the direction of something like more accessible to women, you know, politics, sports.

Amanda:

Yeah, yeah, right, those are great for that. You know, actually, she very much said that she wanted nothing to do with the business. You know, I think when kids are young, they want nothing to do with it, because you have to remember, our business has been her whole life. She's 22. We started the business over 20 years ago. So she was a year and a half old. So she, whether she's liked it or not, she's actually been in this business her whole life. You know, from the days when we would do booths at events and selling satellite, and she'd be our best little mini cute super salesperson. She knew the script, she knew the line, she knew the stuff. So she's always been in it. But as they got older, my children, you know their dad and I said, look, we're building this business to potentially sell someday. Like we will sell it to you if you want, but we didn't want them to have to feel burdened that they had to do it. 'Cause I think that's when businesses, like next generation businesses or family businesses, become unsuccessful when someone does it because they feel like they have to fulfill that role. She just had a really weird year with COVID. She graduated during COVID. She had every intention of going into special education. That's something that's still near and dear to her heart, working with differently abled people and you know helping them to be successful in life. And she did the college thing, but she's like, "I'm going to college and I'm literally just watching professors on a Zoom call. I hate this." It wasn't really great for her mental well-being. And so I'm super proud of her in the fact that she said, you know, I for my mental health, I need to take a break from this. I can't be sitting in a dorm room isolated and just watching Zoom calls. And so we said, you know, well, you have to have a job or you have to have some sort of work. And she wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to do yet. And I said, you know, we've got this big project coming up and I could use some extra hands. Why don't you help project manage on it and help with some of our shade and some of our lighting stuff. And I also took her along to a few events, you know, as we started coming out of COVID. And by the way, that's my best piece of advice, Erica, about events. Instead of just having a schedule, having a wrangler, like it was the best thing. She had my schedule and she kept me on schedule because I have a tendency, no shock to anybody, I like to talk probably too much. She would remind me, oh, we have this meeting coming up. Oh, you have this thing you have to be at. So that was my best thing. And through this project management and doing some of the lighting and some of the shades, she's like, you know, I really like this, but I don't know if I could do what you do, mom, every day. I don't want to be out in the field the same way or, you know, these other things. And she really wants to be a mom at home with kids. And I said, you know, what if you started looking at this lighting design thing? Like this is, I know a new concept in the CI channel, but I said, you know it would be a way to be part of the business. You could leverage some of the connections that mom and dad have to be able to talk to people and get in front of the right people. But we don't have a lot of lighting designers in our particular market and area. And she's really skilled and really talented at it. So I took her to Lightapalooza for the first time this year. And I mean, everybody was fantastic. I think I've already been replaced. Everybody's like, oh, Amanda, we'll just take your daughter, which was awesome. But you know even the lighting designers like Peter Romaniello, I'm totally probably saying his last name wrong, Glenn Johnson, David Warfel, they actually spent time talking to her when she said, you know this is what it is that I want to do. And they were very inspirational to her. First, they loved seeing a young person want to get into it at only 22, then to see a woman wanting to get into it. And I was so proud as a mom to see how she was in the industry. But also, more importantly than that, I was proud of our industry. Like I was really proud of, I got to see firsthand how our industry embraced and offered to help my daughter out and help her up. And, I mean, Maryellen is one of her best friends forever. Maryellen is my best friend and in turn becomes my daughter's. But it's so interesting to hear my daughter come back and she has these conversations with people that are my friends, you know? And I'm like, oh, but it's a totally different relationship. Maryellen has mentored her in certain situations and how to handle things. And it's like, I have her around all these people that I trust. And so it's like when you're a parent and you hand off your kids, you don't know what world you're handing them off to. But I know that if I'm handing my kids off and they have anything to do with this community, and these people have anything to do with inputting into my kid, I'm the luckiest parent in the whole wide world. So I think all of our kids should at least be around our industry and around us because we've got a lot of really, really great people.

Maryellen:

Yeah, she's sharp. She's a sharp girl and she gets it. So kudos.

Kat:

Yeah, thank you for bringing her at the show. I loved meeting her. We've all heard a lot about her. So it was really cool to see her in action. I told her to put on earmuffs. I didn't realize she was 20. She looks very young to me.

Amanda:

Oh yeah, no. But she stands on her own. You know, she will definitely, she has an opinion. She will stand on her own. She and I do not always agree. So it's been interesting, you know, to see having her come in. Like, yeah, it's been fun. There's challenges, but it's been a lot of fun, ultimately.

Kat:

Erica, I know you do some interesting work in this field. How do we make the industry a place where people don't just come and leave, where they stay, where they want to be here, long-term passions? You're on mute.

Maryellen:

I haven't heard that since 2020.

Erica:

Yeah, sorry. I think that it starts with getting them purposefully into the industry in the first place. I think it's too easy for somebody to fall in and go, ah, you know, this one thing was a challenge, or, you know, I don't see enough women or whatever, and they go, you know, maybe I can just go back to doing this other thing. So I think that it starts with intentionally getting into the industry. And we're doing a lot of work with Rosie Riveters Explorers AV building STEM kits, because STEM is so readily available and known amongst children and curriculum in general. They just don't know that AV is an option within STEM. And getting into classrooms at an earlier age, there's a lot of STEM programming that's available in middle school and high school. But by that time, there's these unconscious biases that have happened in kids' minds where they think, "Oh, I don't belong there," or "Maybe that group's not for me." So if we can get in earlier, elementary age, and show them, there are some really cool stuff out there and you too can be one of us, then we want to invite those kids in. So there's a lot of work that's going into that. It's an annual fundraiser. And over the course of the last three years, we've deployed over 10,000 kits across the U.S., and that is in every single kit. So like this is a binary coding kit. In every single one of these, there's a pamphlet, a one page that literally shows, these are some job options. This is how much you could make. And there's photos of women in our industry doing those jobs. So we're not excluding boys from these kits, but we are trying to trigger that unconscious notion of, oh, these are women doing these jobs, and we belong, and we want to invite you in.

Amanda:

Bravo, that's awesome.

Maryellen:

Good job.

Amanda:

I didn't know you had that many kits that had already gone out. That's so cool.

Erica:

Yeah, it's been pretty incredible.

Kat:

10,000?

Erica:

Yeah, yeah, it's been pretty awesome. So the last one that we did, that was our largest deployment, actually, was a little over 2,000 kits just in one centralized location in Denver, where a local women's group, Colorado Wave It, created a relationship with Aurora County Public Schools, the entire school system. And they said, yes, we have 11 schools that are interested in this. And so it was just up to us to build a bunch of kits, get them deployed, and then scheduling time for us as AV professionals to go into the school and either help build the kits, or do career days, or host an assembly and allow the kids to ask questions. And I mean, it's been an awesome success doing the kits. But what's cool is the re-engagement. We're not there to just do it once, and then that's it. We want to keep re-engaging year after year, so that it gets ingrained in the kids' brains, that there is something that keeps coming up. Oh, maybe I should take a look at that.

Kat:

I love it. Erica, thank you. That's amazing. Maryellen, we got a light down.

Maryellen:

I know. I'm having technical issues over here.

Kat:

If only you knew somebody to call for that. I'm just kidding. I knew this would happen. We were going to run out of time because whenever we all get together, we are chatty Cathy's. But great stuff from everybody today. There is one thing I want us to do before we wrap up today. Amanda, are you changing jobs? Is there something you want to tell us? Are you running for office? 'Cause if you do, what's going on? Where were you this week? What's happening?

Amanda:

Yeah, well, I am super excited to say that for the first time ever, CEDIA went to the Hill in the United States. So yay! We did some really, really important work. We tied this in with the CEDIA board meeting. And that's what I said, coming forth this year, you're gonna start seeing CEDIA board meetings in different locations, around more people, doing some more to spread the word about the industry. And last week, or sorry, it wasn't even last week, I just got back, didn't I?

Jody:

Yeah, yesterday.

Amanda:

Yeah, yeah. Yesterday. I don't even know. It's all blended together. I did Lightapalooza, K-Biz International Builder Show, then I took on D.C. and now I'm here. So sorry, my time schedule's a little off. Yeah, so we just went to the Capitol this week and we went for three very, very specific purposes. The first was to introduce representatives to our industry because shock-a-roo, although most of them have probably used an integrator, they never knew what an integrator really was. So we wanted to introduce them to what integrators are and what we actually do. The second thing is, we are actually working to petition and put together a letter to get a, it's called the SOC. I forget what that exactly stands for. Standard Organizational Career, something like that. I'll get exactly what it is for you. But basically, we want integrator to be identified as a term with the United States government in the labor workforce. So right now, integrators fall under electrician other, and that's a lot of ramifications with that. So like if you fill out a classification code of who we are, we're under electrician other, which is essentially similar to like a telephone repair person. But being under the electrician other also can have some negative effects for us when it comes to getting our businesses insured and things like that. Because if you're a straight integrator, you're only dealing with low voltage, you don't have to be insured for high voltage. And basically, we need to have a classification because once we have a classification, all of a sudden that's the first kind of stepping stone for people being able to recognize us as a viable career. Like I said earlier, everybody knows an electrician, everybody knows what a plumber is, people even know what an architect is, what a designer is. Part of the reason that they don't know what an integrator is, is because it doesn't have a job classification with even the U.S. So that was our second thing. We were really looking for, we wrote, drafted up a letter, we're working to get some representatives to sign that letter so that we can get that put before the Board of Labor and Statistics to get a classification for our industry. And then the third thing that we were looking for is representatives to support. In the U.S. government right now, there's a bill going around that's HR 1477. And that bill allows the 529 education plans to be used for more than just a four-year or two-year junior college degree. It currently now is starting to allow trade schools to be used. We are asking, one, for support for that, but also part of that trade schools initiative is we want our CEDIA certifications to be recognized as actual education or education that you can use that for as well. And so that's really cool because we got to go to the Hill for two very nonpartisan type things. So it was a really easy ask. Everybody didn't matter what side of the aisle they were on, of course, wants to support anything with workforce development. Very, very easy for us to go in. And we had some really, really great conversations. So it was not only the CEDIA Board of Directors, there were a lot of members of the ELT, the executive leadership team at CEDIA. And then also they have an executive club at CEDIA, which is a leadership club, which is CEOs from a lot of companies. So it was really great. We had Nick from Origin Acoustics, Colorbeam was there, Savant, Crestron. If I forget one, I'm gonna get in so much trouble. Who am I forgetting?

Maryellen:

Snap.

Amanda:

Snap, yes, thank you. Can't forget anybody, oh my gosh. So yeah, so it was a really, really great to have them there to have those conversations. And you know when you have the CEOs for those large companies in the room with you, you know those representatives take note. And it was funny though. These are all the women that were there. So we had quite a few, quite a great representation of women. The larger group was probably, gosh, I don't know, probably about 30 or so of us altogether. And it was just a really great, very, very positive experience. We were welcomed very well. We determined that in the Capitol that they do need to have some integrators, though, go in and redo their offices. The lighting was terrible. The shades were terrible. All of the things that are terrible. They're under like terrible neon lights, all of that kind of stuff.

Kat:

Oh my gosh. I can see you guys all twisting as you walk in the office, just like, oh.

Amanda:

I could have taken for days. I mean, our capital is beautiful. And don't get me wrong, it's gorgeous. We have the most amazing architecture there. But then we try to modernize it by running wires and there's just wires tacked up everywhere. And it just, as an integrator that you know is all about hidden technology, it makes your skin crawl a little bit. I'm like, oh, just let us come in and help you for a day. But no, they were wonderful. And it was just a great, you know, great opportunity to get the message out. And I would say too, one, this was a member benefit, right? All of us CEDIA members benefited, but also we weren't there just as CEDIA. We were representing the entire industry. And so as an overflow, that helps everybody. That advocacy helps, you know, members that are not members of, or people that are not members of CEDIA, but also AVIXA, all the adjacent industries. And so look to see more and more of that in this next year. I'm very excited.

Kat:

Guys, I knew we were going to do this. We only got through half my questions. I had a whole thing, but I knew it wasn't going to happen. That just means we have to do this again. We have to let Ron let us take over his baby one more time to flesh this out. But guys, I thank you so much for being here today. I know you're all very busy. I know you're all on the road a lot. And I just can't thank you enough for taking the time to share your experience and your knowledge and all the good stuff you did today with us. Thank you.

Jody:

No, thank you for having us.

Erica:

Yes, thank you.

Kat:

And let's shout out to the One Firefly team who did all the work and put all this together. So thanks, guys. I appreciate you doing this on short notice when I had a crazy idea last week and didn't want to forget International Women's Day again. So this podcast will be available for download on all the places you guys get your podcast after this is over. I want to let the audience know where they can find all of you as well. So Erica, if anybody wants to reach out and connect with you, where can they find you?

Erica:

You can find me on all of the socials at The Erica Carroll. And you can learn more about Rosie Riveters and the fundraiser that we're doing with them at avgives.com.

Kat:

Love it. Jody, where can people reach out to you?

Jody:

All the social media, it's Jody Larsen with an E though. If you type in an O, you're probably not going to find me. So it's with an O. So that's the easiest way to locate me. And usually there's a 13 after my name as well. So J Larsen, Jody Larsen.

Kat:

All right, Jody. Maryellen, where can people come find you?

Maryellen:

People can find me everywhere. All the socials, LinkedIn, all the events. It's always my face they see, or you know they can get a hold of you. But anyway, thank you so much for having me and meeting Erica.

Kat:

I love it.

Maryellen:

I try to have a personal goal of trying to meet one woman a month.

Erica:

I like it.

Amanda:

That's a great goal.

Erica:

That is a great goal, actually.

Kat:

Solid strategy. I like it. Did we help you with your goal today?

Maryellen:

Yeah, it's what? March 7th. I've met Erica. I'm done. I can meet another woman next month.

Kat:

Amanda, where can people find you? I know you're everywhere.

Amanda:

Oh, yeah, well, you know, I get the opportunity to represent the industry. So I cherish it and I value it. You can find me with my company anywhere on any social with TruMedia Home, and that's spelled Tru without the E in it. If you add the E, you will not find me. So TruMedia Home on all the socials. Otherwise, Amanda Wildman on LinkedIn. And my favorite is my CEDIA email if you ever want. Officially, it's your first letter of your name, the first initial and your last name. So there is officially an A Wildman at cedia.org. So there's A Wildman at cedia.org for all of you.

Kat:

I love that more than anything else. I also wanna pick your TikTok channel. Your TikToks are fun.

Amanda:

Oh, they are. I've been a little lax, so I will work on those a little bit more, but I love, TikTok is so fun.

Kat:

I love this.

Amanda:

Matt Scott even did one. Matt gives me a hard time and Matt Scott, I think, participated and did one. So shout out to TikTok. You can learn a lot on there and yeah, it's fun.

Kat:

I just like scrolling through my feed, and then every once in a while, Amanda pops up, but I'm like, I know her. All right guys, I will let you drop and I'll say goodbye to all of our guests. Let me figure this out. Okay. All right. So thank you again to everyone for joining us. I want to say again, big thanks to Ron Callis, who let me steal his baby for today. I really enjoyed it. I really had a great time with all of the women we got to meet here. Hopefully we'll get to do this again soon. But in the meantime, happy International Women's Day, everybody. Thanks so much.

Ron Callis is the CEO of One Firefly, LLC, a digital marketing agency based out of South Florida and creator of Automation Unplugged. Founded in 2007, One Firefly has quickly became the leading marketing firm specializing in the integrated technology and security space. The One Firefly team work hard to create innovative solutions to help Integrators boost their online presence, such as the elite website solution, Mercury Pro.

Resources and links from the interview:

• Amanda Wildman LinkedIn Page
• Maryellen Oswald LinkedIn Page
• Jody Larsen LinkedIn Page
• Erica Carroll LinkedIn Page