About

You might think I would be very comfortable writing my own biography, having done so for several decades.

My first biographies were written for theater programs, and I dutifully inflated my own ego by listing out as many theatrical productions as I could. The name of the game was…names. Drop as many as you can. So I made sure to feature “Carnegie Hall” and “St. Louis Black Rep” alongside the words “world premiere” as often as possible.

When I began speaking and presenting at conferences and industry events, I gradually built up another set of biographies with “former chair of the lighting design graduate program at the University of Illinois” and as many conferences as I could stuff in, from AASHE to USITT to LDI to LightFair and beyond.

As my portfolio of writing grew, I wrote another series of biographies that listed out magazines like Fine Homebuilding and Technology Designer alongside Houzz and various online outlets. The biographies started getting long.

Then my design company, Light Can Help You, grew into an industry powerhouse and I could add in fancy things like “founder” and “entrepreneur” and maybe even “industry leader,” and all that made me sound even more impressive.

But here’s the thing. I’m just a guy that loves light and wants to share it with as many people as possible. I am not the best theatrical lighting designer, nor the best conference speaker, nor the best writer, nor the best business leader. I am more of a lighting generalist, I suppose, and someone who loves learning and exploring and creating.

And yes, all that stuff is true. I have designed projects from Royal Caribbean cruise ships to local fro-yo shops, written dozens of articles, and started a successful design business. But the only relevance of my past is that it informs my present and my future.

I draw on my theatrical experience to add drama and magic to projects.

I stand up in front of crowds with courage learned as a teacher.

I write articles that simply share from my own mistakes and discoveries.

And this blog? It is simply a place for me to explore, to practice, to try out ideas. If you find something useful here, all of my biographies fade away and I accomplish my life’s mission: helping others.