Ep # 186 - Home Automation-One Remote For The Whole Home

Your house can have the best TV, the fanciest speakers, and every smart gadget under the sun and still feel like a daily struggle if nothing works together. Doug Drohan sits down with Michael Restrepo of Restrepo Innovations to unpack what “smart home” should actually mean: fewer buttons, fewer apps, cleaner control, and a system that feels almost magical because it’s engineered to be reliable.

We talk about the real building blocks behind great home automation and AV installation, including rack infrastructure, networking discipline borrowed from IT, and why power management is suddenly a front-and-center conversation. Michael shares how his team approaches everything from everyday living rooms to ultra-high-end estates, and why service matters as much as gear when you want technology to disappear into the background.

Then we get into what’s next. Wellness technology is exploding, with homeowners paying attention to indoor air quality, particulates, VOCs, and even solutions designed to improve sleep. Lighting design is evolving too, moving beyond basic switches into smart fixtures that can be tuned for mood, health, and the kind of museum-like presentation that makes artwork and finishes pop. We also dig into commercial AV and how integrators can act as the bridge between architects, electricians, builders, and owners, plus Michael’s advice for anyone trying to break into the field: stay curious, lean into AI, and bet on yourself when things feel uncertain.

If you enjoy conversations about smart home integration, home theater design, lighting, and the future of home wellness tech, subscribe, share this with a neighbor, and leave a review so more local listeners can find us.

Restrepo Innovations
Michael Restrepo
599 Franklin Ave
Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
201.405.2022 Book
office@restrepoinnovations.com
restrepoinnovations.com

Service Area
New Jersey · New York · Connecticut
Las Vegas · San Francisco · Montana · Florida
Cabo San Lucas · Portugal · Spain · Colombia · Puerto Rico

Transcript

Welcome To The Show

Intro/Close 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Doug Drohan.

Doug Drohan 0:11

Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. I am your host, Doug Drohan. I am the owner of the Good Uh the Good Bergen Neighbors Media Group. And today we are joined by a great innovator, I guess you could say, in the field of home innovation, home uh audio um automation, I should say. It's Michael Restrepo of Restrepo Innovations. Welcome to the show.

Michael Restrepo 0:33

Thank you for having me. Uh excited to be here and uh talk about all the cool things we do.

Michael’s Path Into AV Tech

Doug Drohan 0:38

Yeah, so I um, you know, when it comes to like audio video, I uh I kind of a bit of a geek in high school. I belong to the A V club. Um we're going back a ways when we had projectors and uh we had a radio station, but you know, I was the guy I worked on the stage crew of the uh high school, you know, plays and things like that. Um but fast forward 40 years or so, and I am not really much of an A V guy, though you know, I I can plug in some, you know, chords and stuff, but I don't know much about uh the technical side of it. All I know is that I like it and I really respect the kind of home automation and home theaters that you see kind of uh exploding in homes across uh certainly our area in Burton County. So, you know, a little bit of my background, you know, I'm talking the 1980s when I when I got into it. What what's your background? How did you, you know, how did restripo innovations come to be?

Michael Restrepo 1:37

Uh you've got to start with, I love the analogy that uh, you know, being part of the AV, uh, there's not a single person I've ever talked to that was like not excited when they rolled in the TV into the room. Right. You knew something cool was about to happen, right?

Doug Drohan 1:55

Right.

Michael Restrepo 1:55

And isn't that funny?

Doug Drohan 1:57

You rolled the TV in. I remember that we rolled the TV in. Yeah.

Michael Restrepo 2:01

Um everybody remembers that. Are you kidding? That that was like part of uh part of an error. Now people have smarts everywhere, and it's become so symbiotic, it's in every everywhere of our lives, and it's a and honestly, I think it's just beginning. And kind of getting into the little reverse little to like where did I start? Um, really, I always had a passion for technology and business. Uh, I started studying international business and I had a professor challenge me. He's like, Mike, uh, either you become smart enough to be the product, or you're gonna hire others to be the product. Now, growing up, poor kid, can't lie, that um I was like, Well, I better be really good at what I want to do. And um, started with computer school, and computers aren't everything, and found myself reading Information Week, and it said A V plus IT equals dollar signs. And my mind was like, Wow, that that sounds so interesting, and that was kind of when um dot com everything was blowing up, kind of burning, and really wanted to go into something cool. And A V had this pizzazz that really kind of moved me, so really jumped into it, and honestly, it was like cheating. Having that IT background really, really showed me the the future right away, you know, building our infrastructure, making sure things run, the consistency, the things that you would see in an IT environment, excuse me, that needed to work. We were able to produce that at a high level, and it just made sense. And then kind of understanding and that business background gave me that understanding of like, who's my customer? Who do I really want to talk to? Where do I, where do I truly want to be? And it it all kind of made sense. Crestron being the brand that they are, the ultra-high-end, they're uh, at least in my mind, I don't think there's a better brand. And they serve, you know, uh, they serve military, hospitality, residential, commercial. They have this breath that they got their hands kind of in everything. Never mind the 1% of the 1% are having it in their homes. It just it just really made sense that uh I wanted to be there. And we ended up there, you know, we ended up playing with it and putting it in cool things and creating software, really, you know, really exciting time.

Doug Drohan 4:43

Wow. So how long has Restrepo Innovation has been in business?

Michael Restrepo 4:47

Wow. Now I've been in business, personally been doing business for around 23 years. Okay. I had my own business since I was 19, but Restrepo Innovation, I think, is going on year seven now, I believe, maybe seven eighths. So we have like we have seven employees, everybody full-time, and um very business that I have to share. And the more I share the company with all the employees and really give everybody that the win with me, not just the anger when things don't work, but the win and the happiness when things do, the more I share it, the more they give back, the more time they give me, the more freedom, and the more they give me ability to go for those bigger, those the higher echelon projects that you know we all dream of.

Doug Drohan 5:44

Nice. So, what are the, you know, when I obviously I'm thinking of the uh residential use of what you guys do with home automation, home theater. Uh, like what are the growth um sectors in your business? Is it home automation? I mean, certainly we we've got you know the ring technology and we've got other things that we've seen kind of become more ubiquitous in in homes these days, the the nest and things like that. What like you guys aren't just into you know the residential sector, but why don't we walk through that? Why don't we walk through the different things that you offer to residents, since that's kind of like my field where I I work with residents in in Bergen County, and then let's talk about the commercial um applications as well.

Michael Restrepo 6:27

So, you know, just starting off easy. So your TV. People have a single TV, they may have multiple TVs, and they need sources. A lot of times, you know, they need more than just an Apple TV, they need a cable box, maybe a Blu-ray, and there's still Blu-ray players out there actually coming on strong more than ever before. You see, really okay, even record players, let me tell you. So, these sources, these things, camera systems, and making them easy to use. Plus, people don't want to see this stuff. It has to be almost magical. Like, how are we getting all this? That's where this rack infrastructure, and as we're seeing more, this power. Power is such a huge conversation, bigger than ever before. We're managing power in such new ways, every way from like power walls to UPS battery backups, solar, and that's the thing is our business is more in line with bringing all these silo components and making them more as a unified system for your home instead of all these individual things, and that right, right? That's where that complexity, because a lot of people have these individual parts and it it turns into a nightmare. Like, how many apps do I really need on my phone? Right how am I supposed to control all this stuff? We give you one easy, coherent way to manage everything with the least amount of buttons.

Doug Drohan 7:55

No how does it take a lot to convince somebody who has all these independent systems to say, hey, let's get it all under one roof, so to speak. It's gonna cost this much, it's gonna be a bit of a learning curve, I guess. Uh, and you're gonna have to be able to cut the cord of the things you're used to doing on all these different remotes and all these different apps to have it all under one. Or do people just say, Yeah, I'm so frustrated, let's do it.

Michael Restrepo 8:22

It's uh it's weird. It all, it's uh, it's a there's a lot of different demographics on the older side, uh, very stuck in their ways. Um, used to doing it this way, and uh, and also not wanting to ask for help and not wanting to hear about something new. So, but we can also conform to that. You know, it's not about it's about letting people be themselves and literally giving them what they ask for, not trying to reinvent anyone's wheel. And that's one of the things that we pride in. I think the the glue that holds it all together is the service. What does the service look like? We're a 24-7 365 concierge, and that's the warm and fuzzy it gives customers. So even when they are the older or they're you know gun shy on doing electronics, we can make it very simple. But in reality, we have this whole middle of the road where they got so much going on, they don't want to think about it, they want it to be very simple, and they just want it to work. And that's what we need to lean in.

From Everyday Homes To Estates

Doug Drohan 9:25

So you're talking to a guy like if you um look above my TV here, I've got an autograph James Brown album, his brother Doug from James Brown, and then Philip Bailey, who is in um I hope you know who Philip Bailey is, but Earth Went in Fire. And if I turn this around, if I turn this around, you'd see rock and roll posters, my gold records, and other things when I worked in the music industry. And then if I look to the left, I have my DVDs when I worked in the home uh video division of Viacom, which is now called Paramount. So you're talking to a guy, and I have my guitar and my amplifier over here. And I'm like, boy, I don't have a turntable. I have vinyl. I have like a thousand CDs, I don't have a CD player anymore. I do have a Blu-ray, which you know, I always say to people, hey, listen, when your network goes down and Netflix isn't working or there's you know an outage, you can always plug in your DVD player and still pull up some DVDs. I don't think a lot of people appreciate that as much as I do, uh, because maybe it happens once a year. Um, but I guess you know, you somebody like me, I would love to get all of that back, you know, CD player turntable, the right speakers, uh, have it in this small basement where my studio office is right now, which I'll also uh doubles as our gym. So, you know, where you're talking to guys like dreaming as you're talking to me, and I'm looking on your on your website. Um what types of clients do you like, you know, when I look at the the neighborhoods that you feature, right? You're talking uh high-end neighborhoods, right? You're talking like you mentioned the 1% of the 1%. What types of um customers, and and you just did allude to you know, have older customers that were kind of stuck in their ways. Are are you like somebody for almost anyone, or is it really more for the high-end homes?

Michael Restrepo 11:13

No, we're we um we're kind of there for everyone. And that's the beauty about the Resheppe way is that we have uh we have what's called Reshua Group, where we have a lot of different integrators, different companies, everything for builders, electricians, plumbers, everything, and even you know, other people kind of in what we do. And we're able to manage everyone, keep everybody focused on the things that they're good at and the things that are meaningful to them. Now, I can't lie, I love the ultra-high-end, you know, the high-performance home, the the customer that has it all literally. If you uh Google the most expensive taxes in Bergen County, I've been uh managing that home for 14 years now, and um no whole bar. I mean, that house eats people alive. But uh, but again, you know, we also do his private fund, we do all his all his things, all his homes all over the world. And for someone like that, again, discretion is key, same faces, and um not getting it done right the first time is not an option, right? So we pride ourselves, and that I really do love that realm. Um, flying out tonight a few hours to Franklin, Tennessee for a $60 million estate that we're managing. We play owners rep, we manage all the trades, make sure everybody's working correctly and that things are happening. We'll be building out a theater there, that theater will probably be around 250,000. So, and again, that's a customer that could have easily bought a million plus dollar theater, but we really try to give them what they're looking for, no matter how much finance they have. That's not really the importance, is getting that target of what they actually want.

Doug Drohan 13:02

Yeah, I was in uh on the cover of one of my magazines. I had a realtor who was selling a house in the hohokus, I think it was listed for 5.2 million. It sold in a that weekend when it went on the market. But we did a walkthrough because we did a photo and a video shoot there. And in the basement, I don't know how many square feet the basement was, but there was a a fitness studio and there was the bar, and then there was the living space, but then there was also a home theater. And she said most new builds now in towns like that, that's like standard. Everybody has a theater, everybody has a fitness room, everybody has a bar. But the theater, you know, um, yeah, it wasn't, it didn't look that great. I mean, they just it was sort of just, I guess, built to have the space for then that homeowner to then customize it. So is that what you're seeing? And let's just focus on Bergen County, um, with a lot of the newer renovated homes or newer homes that everybody's or not everybody, but most, if you're looking at that three million plus home that they're gonna have a home theater in the basement.

Wellness Tech Meets Lighting Design

Michael Restrepo 14:03

I love how you put it. You you hit it so spot on that you saw a room, it didn't wow you, it looked like just some stuff put together, right? It wasn't, and that's kind of where we differentiate is that we give you that space that you actually want to be in. It's just not another me to room that is just there because at that point, don't even do it. You know, I tell customers all the time if it's not going to be meaningful, it's not if it's not done purposeful, just like a kitchen or any other space, why even bother? You're just wasting money at that point. So we make sure the theaters that we build are extremely meaningful. Everything from the acoustics, we do stretch fabric, where the the room has this element that you want to be in it, it brings you in, it really fits the value of the rest of the home and it turns into this symbi. Again, I know I love it that where everything is together and it looks like part of the space, it doesn't look just thrown in. Now, if you want to talk about things that are brand new that people are just starting to see, wellness. Wellness is a sector that is blowing up. That's where we're seeing the most, the most increases, new new technology that we're seeing. Hyperball chambers, uh, a brand new product that you're gonna you're just gonna see, probably just hearing it now, uh, oxygen. We are pumping oxygen into the into the bedrooms. So when you're sleeping, you have increased oxygen because usually you have decreased that's helping with people's wellness, uh, maintaining uh the air in there so that we are scrubbing for small and large particulates. Again, this wellness thing where people are VOCs, like understanding what kind of uh chemicals are actually in the air.

Doug Drohan 15:49

Yeah, yeah.

Michael Restrepo 15:50

And these are the systems that we are seeing where people in the past were like, oh, I don't really need this, but homes are being becoming are being built tighter and tighter, and these things are staying more in the room. Where and I think those are the biggest things that we're seeing in tomorrow, because agreed theaters. I don't want to say they pass it because I love them, I love building them, and they're meaningful and everything, but wellness, wellness is really and to kind of segue back to the theater, that's where I make the theater, and I become more of this wellness thing where the family comes in, you don't feel like, oh no, I'm gonna get something dirty. Like uh in my theater in my home, my kids play in there, they do exercise in there, they do all kinds of stuff. And I I love when they bring their friends over where the space is meaningful, and there's different tones, different things people are presenting that are in a wellness at the upper restaurants. You'd be like, Wow, I didn't even realize that was a thing, it really is.

Doug Drohan 16:48

Like I know infrared saunas in homes are kind of popular as well, or the saunas, yeah. Huge, yeah, yeah. So, one of the things that you mentioned about setting the mood, so lighting is part lighting design is part of your kind of portfolio of services, correct?

Michael Restrepo 17:05

Oh, huge, huge. We love lighting design, and it's crazy because lighting has gone through such a big change. Your conventional switches on the wall, then people saw panelized lighting, where like you have like a fancy, a single fancy low voltage switch and a bunch of panels somewhere in your house. Now we have gone even a new step where the lights themselves are smart, no more panels. They wire through, and the lights even intercommunicate, making design and changes even easier. So, what do I mean? So you build out the room, you put a couple of lights above. Someone walks in out of nowhere, they'd say, Hey, I got this artwork I want to put here. Do I have to rewire all my lights? Do I need to do? No, the light itself is smart. We can just change a quick trim on it, turn it into a spot, and then pull it out through software and say, you are now running all by yourself, and now you're spot for this particular light. And it doesn't even stop there. Now, with lights such as ketchup lighting from Neutron, we can introduce fibers, different colors, really bringing out that element of the artwork like never before. But you really see that color, you really feel the difference of what it looks like, almost like that museum feel, like diamonds in the jewelry store, right? The diamonds always look better, the best thing. Like, what happened? Why did it look like that at home? Right. But now it looks like that when you're in your house, and now it's everything. And people don't realize your countertops, your flooring, you spend all this money like the desk I'm at. I spent all kinds of money on this desk. I can see the wood grain, I can see those elements that you couldn't see before. They really pop, they show off, and it brings out everything now.

Doug Drohan 18:48

That's great. Yeah, you know, outdoor lighting is a big thing, and the way the bottom of the house is illuminated. I never thought about interior lighting and illuminating the walk space. Maybe you see it in hotels or restaurants, but in a home, it's actually quite striking.

Michael Restrepo 19:03

Oh, yeah. And you're seeing linear lighting, up lighting, all kinds of new lighting elements, and that conventional light in the room. The the I love it. We all grew up with like that single light, and that's it. It was like a one light in the middle of the room, and now what? And we're in reality, so much linear. We've got all these cool fixtures and all these beautiful things that are out now, and you know, warm day, and all these cool terms are out. In reality, they're even healthier than before because now we can reduce red light, blue light, all these different things that we can do that are even healthier to the body.

Doug Drohan 19:39

Right. To your point about wellness, it's not just um not just about the air you breathe, but it's the lighting as well. Yeah.

Michael Restrepo 19:46

And you have glasses, like I have glasses, right? And I I'm telling you, this I look at my screen all the time, I'm doing all this stuff, and and as I was learning, I and I wish I had learned this sooner, may have not needed glasses, but like now we're reducing blue light on screens, the blue light between the LEDs we all have, and presenting this light that's so much cleaner and healthier for you.

Commercial Builds And Trade Collaboration

Doug Drohan 20:09

Yeah, that's that's amazing. So now what you guys also do commercial applications, and you and you have um, you know, a section on your website that's about partners and for pros. So, how do you work like if I'm an electrician or if I'm a builder or an architect, like I would work with you as well, and and that's part of your like service, I guess.

Careers, AI Curiosity, And Resilience

Michael Restrepo 20:32

Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. We're um just saying kind of we'll we'll talk about a project, it'll make more sense. Okay. So we're doing a church right now in the city, beautiful church. Now the architect brought us in because they needed help engineering. We helped engineer it out, and they had brought in an electrician, but some of these elements they didn't understand. So we literally gave the electrician a brain wiring schematic of how to wire everything up. And you know, so now the electrician is leaning on us for engineering and how-to. The architect is also leaning on us, we're developing plans with them, understanding like the MEP, all those trying to make sense of all these little details, and we even do lunch and learns for them so they they can get provided credits so that they can do continuing education. Then the builder brings us in, the GC or CM who's there, they're they're as well engaging with us. Hey Mike, where do I put this? How do I make this fit? You know, how do we make it so that we don't, if upgrades happen that we're not taking it apart, we're engaging with them, explaining how to do it, and again, going through the elements. And then when the customer is like, you know what, Mike, I don't have a million dollars. Like, how am I supposed to afford this? Can you please value engineer this? And and we're conscious of that. And then we can work directly with the customer, and you know, the plumber comes to us, he's like, Mike, you know, they have this fancy toilet, like the chat. It's electrical. It's like I just know a toilet. What is this thing? And I'm like, don't worry, buddy, I got you. We're explaining the outlet, the control, how to do it. And again, that's where we can be that bridge. And the beauty is we've been doing this for so long with so many different trades and being the concierge, and that's kind of where we really focus. We're the conciers, we're not just a technology company, we're like the in-between, you know, we're the air in the room. So we connect all the pieces and we make sure there and our attitude, like any concierge, we we don't get frazzled, we don't get, we're not angry, we're not anything, we're just happy to be there, and we're here to help everybody.

Doug Drohan 22:39

Yeah. So what if you're uh a college student, you're listening to this, and you say, I want to get into this field. Like when you say engineering, do you are you looking for uh electrical engineers? Are you looking for mechanical engineers? Like, how does somebody, you know, we hear so many stories now of kids graduating and can't find jobs? Uh, what would they study to get into the field that you're in? Would you recommend?

Michael Restrepo 23:05

Everything.

Doug Drohan 23:06

Okay, okay.

Michael Restrepo 23:07

Everything. Honestly, uh, and it's not even about what school you went to, what you didn't do, or anything. It's uh how much passion, how much pain can you tolerate, and how how much do you want it? If you really want it, you will learn it, you will push yourself, you will keep yourself, you will be uncomfortable being uncomfortable, like you will be completely okay with being completely uncomfortable with what you're doing. And it's it's gotta be like that. And that's what the where I meet other companies, they're okay being on the bleeding edge, they're okay pushing it, trying new things, and that's what we're really looking for. Does the engineering, does this and that help? Yes, have an electrical background, we'll give you electrical know-how so you can do that. Have an engineering background, do that. So, again, it's all it's not one per se, it's all of them. Whatever you use, get used to using that, leverage that, but you have to learn other things. As we've just gone through a whole breadth of products, and I could have been a specialist in any one of them, but I maintain currious and I keep it. I'm starting to get grays in my hair, but uh I try to maintain that childlike curiosity where I want to learn something new, I I want to see what's out there, and AI is that new big thing, right? And we completely lean into AI and learn it. And and think about it, like I I love when I read that, oh, I'm an AI professional. I'm like, how? It just brand new. How are you a pro so that this is the best? This is actually where I know everybody's so scared about oh, AI is gonna take my job. I'm like, hey, you know what? If the pandemic taught me anything, is that when we have these moments, it's like an equalizer. That means we're all lost. So take that opportunity and go learn it and go be it because now you can level up. And even if people are worried about all but the economy, but this, but that, I'm like, you know what? I have I have a great mentor. People probably remember, remember Monster Cable? Yeah, monsters made speakers, all that stuff. Well, Noel and Kevin Lee, great mentors, they've introduced I love it. You talk brought up Earth, Wind, and Fire. I've actually got to hang out with them. You know, we were Vern was there, like we were all like together. I'm like, where am I? You know, but you see, I got to meet this and sitting with them, they told me, they said, Mike, you know what? The only reason why Monster was so successful is because if you remember, we were in a downturn, everything was bad. People were more interested in hearing on what I had to talk about, and they were more engaging. And we grabbed that opportunity, we ran to the fire, and we were able to grow the company. So don't be scared when things aren't perfect. If anything, that's your moment to strike as hard and believe. Bet on yourself because you know what? I rather lose betting on me than betting on someone else. Yeah, bet on yourself and push and just find your way. And you know what? Nobody, nobody has a guarantee that tomorrow's gonna work. I seen wealthy people go broke, I see broke people stay broke, I see everything in between. So, you know what? You might as well try.

Contact Info, Internship, And Wrap Up

Doug Drohan 26:25

That's that's a great, uh, great way to end our talk. And I have to say that when I was laid off from my corporate job at Paramount and I decided to go off on my own, I told my wife, I'm just gonna bet on myself. You know, I'm gonna hire myself, I'm gonna bet on myself. Instead of worrying about someone else telling me what I'm worth, I'll I'll set the bar, you know, I'll determine what I'm worth. And uh yeah, but you know, it's not for everybody. Like you gotta, like you said, you've gotta grind it out and you've got to live with the uh the ups and downs and sometimes the uncertainty. But you know, if you become comfortable with the uncomfortable, then you can make it. But a lot of people can't. They can't deal with that uncertainty and uncomfortableness. But uh but I I love what you said, and it's a great um segue for happen perhaps for another talk and another time. So I I want to thank you, Michael, Restrepo. Uh, it was amazing. Let's just go over how people would contact you uh from Restrepo Innovations. What's the best way to reach out to you or your company?

Michael Restrepo 27:24

I, you know, I'm front and center. And you know what? Being that um your your audience is so close with you, I'm happy to give everybody my direct cell phone, 201-952-4624. We are on every single social media platform in the world. We're literally everything thread, LinkedIn, whatever. And you can always search by my name or my company for Strep Innovations, check our website. We are everywhere on everything, and we're posting all day long. Also, I would recommend people get on our emailing list. We have a whole mailer going out every month, sometimes twice a month, all kinds of cool stuff on there, new things coming out, AI and everything. And we will be we're we're looking at doing an internship for those new people coming in to see where we can find new stars and always interested in businesses who want to grow, who want to uh do new things and work with an exciting company. I'm here for it and we're here to engage.

Doug Drohan 28:28

That's great. That's great. All right, Michael, hang on for a minute. We're just gonna have Chuck take us out, and you and I will be right back. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Intro/Close 28:36

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpbergen.com. That's gnpbergen.com or call 201 290 8225.