EP #131: Southern Landscape Lighting Systems with Lindsey Rodericks
Jan 19, 2024
Stacey Poehler
Have you ever wondered what magic lies behind the enchanting glow of beautifully lit homes and gardens at night? Let's pull back the curtain with Lindsay Rodericks, the co-owner of Southern Landscape Lighting Systems, as she takes us through her incredible transition from being a school teacher to becoming a maestro of outdoor lighting. With a decade and a half of brightening the Metro Atlanta area, Lindsay shares the interplay of art and technology that turns everyday spaces into nightly wonderlands.
In our heartfelt conversation, Lindsay doesn't just shed light on her personal growth within the industry, but also demystifies the process behind creating those perfect outdoor scenes. Understanding the unique needs of each property, Lindsay weaves her background in the arts and stage production with her now-expertise in landscape lighting. From the first inspiration to the intricacies of design, she effortlessly crafts an outdoor ambiance that's tailored to her clients' dreams, debunking misconceptions about the craft and contrasting professional quality with the DIY solutions of big box stores. Join us for this illuminating episode to see your outdoor spaces in a whole new light.
Have you ever wondered what magic lies behind the enchanting glow of beautifully lit homes and gardens at night? Let's pull back the curtain with Lindsay Rodericks, the co-owner of Southern Landscape Lighting Systems, as she takes us through her incredible transition from being a school teacher to becoming a maestro of outdoor lighting. With a decade and a half of brightening the Metro Atlanta area, Lindsay shares the interplay of art and technology that turns everyday spaces into nightly wonderlands.
In our heartfelt conversation, Lindsay doesn't just shed light on her personal growth within the industry, but also demystifies the process behind creating those perfect outdoor scenes. Understanding the unique needs of each property, Lindsay weaves her background in the arts and stage production with her now-expertise in landscape lighting. From the first inspiration to the intricacies of design, she effortlessly crafts an outdoor ambiance that's tailored to her clients' dreams, debunking misconceptions about the craft and contrasting professional quality with the DIY solutions of big box stores. Join us for this illuminating episode to see your outdoor spaces in a whole new light.
Speaker 1:
This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Stacey Polar.
Speaker 2:
Hey everybody, I'm excited to be learning more about Southern landscape lighting systems. Today we're chatting with Lindsay Rodrix, who owns the company with her husband, david. Welcome, lindsay, hello, thanks for having me. Yeah, why don't you start off by telling us a little bit about your business?
Speaker 3:
So we're a small business and we've been in business now it's our 15th year and we specialize in low voltage outdoor lighting and we do lighting for homes, businesses and HOAs here in the Metro Atlanta area.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, awesome, and tell us a little bit about the journey. Is this something that you and David have always been interested in? Were you in another industry before this?
Speaker 3:
That's a good question.
Speaker 3:
So I got into landscape lighting purely through my husband.
Speaker 3:
I used to actually be a school teacher and when I was off during the summers I would go around with him to his projects and I really liked how the lighting would transform those amazing properties and so I kind of got bit by the lighting bug at that time and I really wasn't happy teaching. So, and actually with my arts background, even while I was in college I did stage production, I worked in the performing arts hall, so I was introduced a little bit to lighting at that time. I just didn't understand really the technical aspects of it. So I guess I was kind of bit a little earlier by the lighting bug, but I didn't really do it as a profession until I met my husband and then fast forward to 2009,. We opened up our own company and he taught me a lot of the landscape lighting design specifically and eventually I did quit teaching and came to work for our company and eventually I got my own low voltage certifications to go along with the artistic design abilities that I had. And so, yeah, I've been doing it ever since.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, awesome. Can you talk a little bit about the design process and you know, just, you know what goes through your head and how you kind of figure out what goes where?
Speaker 3:
Well that that takes practice. So when we first started I learned doing the design with nighttime demonstrations. So we bring out lighting kits and actually mock up a lighting system for potential clients, and so when we were doing that you really got a grasp of what worked, what didn't. So after years of doing those nighttime demonstrations you really develop a sense in your head of what will work without even actually having to do those nighttime demonstrations. So now if I go up onto a property, I look at a house, I look at all the architectural features, the landscaping features. I can see in my head, okay, this is what it's going to look like when I put a specific kind of light on it.
Speaker 3:
So when I go and meet a potential client, we'll talk about their likes, their dislikes, maybe on projects they've seen online or in their neighborhood, and then we'll walk the property and I'll make my recommendations. They will also, of course, give their feedback and it's kind of a collaboration and then I'll take pictures of the property and then I'll go back to my office and I will design it. So I'll overlay on the photos where the fixtures are going to go and what fixture types are going to be used and present that to the client and that is totally free. If a client has a hard time visualizing it or maybe they haven't seen a lot of lighting projects, we also offer nighttime rendering. It's a software rendering of the design that we can provide, so it's actually pretty accurate. We use a third party design firm for that and so it helps visualize for some folks to see their house lit up at night.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that sounds super cool. Can you talk about any of the myths or misconceptions that are out there about landscape lighting?
Speaker 3:
One of the most common myths is competing with some of the big box stores like Home Depot, lowe's, maybe even Amazon. These days, a lot of times, potential clients are comparing our products and our services to what they could get at those do-it-yourself places, and so, while we, as professionals, could make a do-it-yourself system look good, the issue comes with longevity of the product, and so whenever you deal with a professional, more than likely they're going to be using products that are going to last a lifetime, and most of them have lifetime warranties on them, compared to the box store stuff, which might have like a one to two year warranty on the material. So that's a big misconception that what we use is on the same quality level as what you would find there.
Speaker 3:
You want me to go over some more myths? Sure, sure, okay. Another myth is that professional landscape lighting is too expensive. And while this is a little subjective, because what's expensive is different for each one of us, but I will say it's one of the more affordable home improvement projects you can do. If you compare it to a kitchen renovation or a bathroom renovation, our average project cost is around $2,500. So you would have an immediate result in boosting your curb appeal and security as compared to another home improvement project. Another myth, so landscape. A lot of people hear the term landscape lighting and they assume it's literally just lighting up my trees and my plants and maybe a walkway. But now landscape lighting encompasses architectural lighting, which is a huge trend in our industry and actually, I would say, encompasses about 80% of the work that we do. Most people want their homes and the facade and the architecture lit up, more so than the actual landscaping. So that's another myth.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah. Well, it sounds like you guys enjoy what you do, but what do you like to do for fun? What do you and David do when you're not working?
Speaker 3:
Well, so Dave, he's semi-retired at this point. He's 20 years older than me, so he's been working a lot longer, so he likes to spend a lot of his times outdoors. Because I'm outdoors so much with our business, when I have my time off, I don't really like to pee outside much. I like to spend time with my dogs and sit on the hurrick liner and watch a movie or binge watch a series. That's how I unwind, just because I'm out on the road so much during the week, traveling to different appointments, because we service the whole metro area, so I'm on the road a lot, so I like to relax. I also spend time at the church and I have a women's Bible study group that I meet with once a week, and that's good as well. So those are the two ways that I spend my free time these days.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, awesome. Can you think of any challenges or obstacles that you've had to overcome in the 15 years you guys have had this business?
Speaker 3:
Well, in terms of obstacles, staffing can always be a challenge I mean, that's with any industry but we're just really picky about who we have come work with us. They have to take as much pride in their work as what Dave and I would do on a project. You know. Just present themselves well. So staffing and marketing you know it's been a trial and error over 15 years to see what works, what doesn't, and stuff's always changing. Even with that, you know, the last couple of years since COVID's been really interesting with buyer behaviors and things. So yeah, those are a couple of challenges, but it's no different than any. What any small business owner goes through, you know, as they're building their business.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, awesome. Anything else that you haven't had a chance to share, that you want to tell us about your company?
Speaker 3:
Yes, so one thing that the listeners should know about us is that we're not afraid of challenging projects. We do a lot of installation techniques and applications that our competitors just don't do. One thing that comes to mind is something that's called core drilling, so we're not afraid to put lights that are flushed to concrete, flushed to hardscapes. You can drive over it. That's just one example. A couple of weeks ago, we actually did the lighting on a client's helicopter pad. That was something we'd never done before, so we had a research FAA regulations and the lighting requirements with those things and that was a pretty unique project and something that we can add to our ever building resume. But yeah, we're not afraid to push the boundaries and try different things for our clients.
Speaker 2:
Super cool. Where can folks learn more about you? You want to share some of your contact information and sites, sure.
Speaker 3:
So our website is wwwsouthernllscom. Lls stands for Landscape Lighting Systems, and you can find us on social media at Southern LLS that's the same handle on Twitter, instagram and Facebook, and there you can see a lot of the work that we posted, and you can always call us to 678-324-6842,. Old school way. But, yeah, that's our contact information.
Speaker 2:
Great great, all right. Well, thank you so much for joining us today, lindsay. Thank you.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast Milton and More. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPMiltoncom. That's GNPMiltoncom, or call 470-664-4930. And we'll see you next time.