The Lighting Trade School Podcast

In today’s episode, we break down how we secured a multi–six-figure municipal bistro/festival lighting project , 15,000 feet of cross-street lines over Main Street, and why passion, preparation, and your crew beat “just raise your prices” every single time. Inside you’ll hear: The 100-hour prep that made city officials say yes (presentation strategy, pre-qual questions, binders, and what we’d stre...

The mindset killing your creativity and your jobs is simple: designing like a technician instead of a designer. Too many guys hold back, skip the peak, avoid the island, and limit the portrait because they’re already worried about ladders, sidewalks, or wire runs. That thinking kills creativity and costs you work. I break down why you need to switch hats and collect all the photos and site info du...

Too many guys wait until September to think about Christmas and then wonder why their goals crash. I call out the September scramble and lay out the systems that make Christmas lighting profitable: planning in takedown season, scripts that collect full client data (name, email, phone, address) before qualifying, a real CRM with next-interaction dates, multi-channel lead flow (yard signs, GMB, IG,...

Contractors keep hearing the whisper: “24V DC burns down houses.” In this episode, we rip that rumor out by the roots. Captain Matt, Shane “Glow Daddy” Duffy, and Nate “The Illuminator” Mullen go deep on the real electrical science, why DC at 24V is safer and more efficient for LEDs, and how a past competitor literally weaponized a fake “white paper” until Nate took them to court, and won. We also...

In just 3 days with the 3 Lighting Amigos, you’ll walk away with the exact roadmap to build a 7-figure landscape lighting business and this is the only time we’re offering it in 2026 . No fluff, no filler. Design, sales, installs, scaling, hands-on and real-world. If you’ve wanted to start a landscape lighting business (or finally make it serious ), this is your moment. In February 2026 , Captain...

Hiring, training, and retaining the right people can make or break a lighting company. In this episode of The Lighting Trade School Podcast , Shane “Glow Daddy” Duffy, Nate “The Illuminator” Mullen, and Captain Matt dive deep into the realities of building strong crews and keeping talent long-term. What you’ll learn: The 1-hour test to know if a new hire is worth keeping Why “hire slow, fire fast”...

Everyone wants the big Christmas lighting payday. Few build the machine that earns it. In this episode, Captain Matt breaks down the “Impossible Game” framework: Reasonable goals (if everything stays the same) Radical goals (stretch targets that make you uncomfortable) Impossible goals (so big they force you to become a new operator) We walk through the real math of trying to pocket $150K when you...

What happens when the guy who’s been window cleaning since he was 10 finally says, “I’m done smelling like a pool guy” ? Meet Toby Blair , co-owner of Absolutely Clean Services and the founder of Ox Lighting Concepts in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class , Captain Matt sits down with Toby to talk about what it really takes to start over, pivot industries, and...

You think you're ready for big commercial jobs? Think again. In this episode, Captain Matt, Nate "The Illuminator" Mullen, and Shane Duffy break down a real $80,000 HOA install that almost went nuclear. No scope of work. No decision maker at the demo. No progress billing. A lighting contractor nearly lost everything including Nate's $40K in fixtures. What went wrong? What saved t...

Still waiting for leads to magically appear? Stop. This episode is your 20-minute battle plan to earn $100K before summer ends no excuses, no fluff. Captain Matt, Shane “Glow Daddy” Duffy, and Nate “The Illuminator” Mullen break down exactly what separates the six-figure earners from the guys still stuck spinning their wheels. You'll learn: Why most lighting contractors fail to scale (and how...

From pushing mowers and dodging debt to building a 7-figure hardscape brand, Chris and Rich Vazzana, aka The Patio Bros , did what most won’t. In this raw episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, we dive deep into how these twin brothers: Started with 19 lawn accounts and no clue about numbers Hit rock bottom and almost quit (more than once) Systemized their business to scale out of the field Bu...

Today we kick off the first-ever guest interview on Captain’s Quarters First Class , and I couldn’t think of a better person to launch this with than my friend and fellow lighting savage Shane “Glow Daddy” Duffy . Shane’s not just another entrepreneur. He’s a guy who: Started with vending machines in schools. Built Glass Geeks into a seven-figure window cleaning empire. Transformed GloGeeks into o...

Captain Matt is coming in hot with one simple truth: the words you use shape your client's perception—and your paycheck. If you're still saying "pots" instead of "urns," "pergola" instead of "pool cabana," or calling it "landscape lighting" instead of an "illumination portrait"... you're leaving money—and authority—on the table. In this episode: Why verbiage is value in the lighting game How to re...

On Episode 20, we’re switching things up. For the first time ever, we brought on one of our own Lighting Trade School students—David Andrew Flores , founder of Holiday Light Installations in Southern California at https://www.holidaylightinstallationsco.com/   Andrew was already a seven-figure Christmas lighting pro working massive projects like the Ritz Carlton and the Mission Inn. But when he de...

Captain Matt sold lights at $240 a fixture...and still walked away with over $1,000 in profit on a single job. This episode isn't about bragging—it's about breaking the industry's worst habit: pricing by fixture and comparing your rates like you're swinging for ego points. Inside this raw breakdown: Why per-fixture pricing is killing your business How to calculate your daily operat...

Truth bomb: Most lighting contractors will never sell a 60+ fixture job— not because the clients can’t afford it, but because the contractor’s scared to even design it. In this episode of The Lighting Trade School Podcast , Captain Matt and Glow Daddy Shane Duffy show love to the real ones inside our system who are dropping bombs on their market with massive jobs, high-end clients, and elite-level...

Still sending line-item quotes in Jobber or Joist? You’re losing deals you should be closing—because you’re not building value. In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class , Captain Matt breaks down his evolved proposal process that closes more jobs, faster , often without stepping foot on the property. Inside this masterclass in client experience and sales psychology: 💥 Why “just sending t...

Oceanfront estates. Lakefront cabins. Snow-covered boardwalks. You might think they all need different fixtures—but most lighting guys are still screwing it up the same way. In this episode of The Lighting Trade School Podcast , Captain Matt, Shane "Glow Daddy" Duffy, and Nate “The Illuminator” Mullen break down what really happens to fixtures in harsh environments—and how most “coastal...

Most lighting guys are addicted to the chase—new leads, new clients, new installs. But what if the real money is sitting untouched in your own CRM? In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class , Captain Matt breaks down one of the most overlooked strategies in any outdoor lighting business: re-engaging the people who told you "no." Learn how he uses the “No for Now” mindset to pull...

What do you do when a client asks you to hang Costco bistro lights… on a $70,000 outdoor kitchen? If you're like most lighting guys—you say yes and cash a small check. But if you're Glow Daddy Shane Duffy ? You say, “That’s lame.” Then you quote a 40-fixture , multi-zone, high-end lighting portrait complete with downlit succulents in custom pots, fire-flickering sconces, and a switched system that...

In this episode of The Lighting Trade School Podcast, Captain Matt and Shane Duffy go deep on one of the most overlooked success skills in landscape lighting: staying calm in the chaos. From blown fiber optics to totaled trucks and irate clients mid-demo, they've both been through hell and back — and learned that not every fire needs to be put out immediately. Instead of playing firefighter al...

If your installs feel smooth…but stuff keeps slipping through the cracks…this episode is your wake-up call. Captain Matt and Shane “Glow Daddy” Duffy go deep into the real backbone of a scalable lighting company: process. From daily install checklists to marketing rituals that pay off months later, this episode reveals how the pros keep quality consistent, even when they’re not on site. Inside thi...

If you're calling your crew ‘1099’ but treating them like employees… you're playing with fire. In this episode, Captain Matt tackles one of the most misunderstood (and most dangerous) topics in the lighting industry: the difference between true 1099 subcontractors and W-2 employees. If you’ve ever: Paid a guy under the table and called it a “1099” Let someone clock in at 8 a.m. and drive y...

Captain Matt is back with a raw, unfiltered look at what it really takes to start, and restart, in this business. This episode dives deep into what it looked like when he launched The Christmas Guys in 2009 with nothing but printer paper, mailbox flags, and relentless grit. No ad budget. No training programs. Just hustle. But this one goes beyond the glory stories... It’s about being wrong and why...

You want to know what separates real lighting pros from the weekend warriors? It's not the gear. It's not the budget. It’s the hard-won knowledge and the willingness to admit when your early installs sucked. In this unfiltered episode of the Lighting Trade School Podcast, Captain Matt, Shane Duffy, and Nate Mullen go deep into: The dangerous myth of resettable circuit breakers (yes, your t...