6 minute read
Up Close with Brandon Thrasher
By Shirley Coyle, LC
It’s immediately clear, when talking to Brandon Thrasher about his career, that lighting has always been a passion – even in childhood, growing up in Kansas City, Missouri.
“There was something I always observed about lighting…the pivotal moment was in high school – I had an amazing theater teacher, Kelly McNabb, and her husband – they really inspired me. They gave me a vision that lighting could be a career, not just a hobby! I was fascinated by how lighting could completely transform a space or tell a story,” Brandon noted.
After completing a degree in Theater, Brandon headed to grad school at UW-Madison for Theater Lighting Design. “I had a great professor, Linda Essig, at Madison. We he had a couple of classes in architectural lighting, so I had exposure there.”
It turned out that Linda Essig had gone to NYU with Steven Rosen, respected lighting designer and founder of Available Light in Boston. Brandon’s next move after grad school was an internship at Available Light, which evolved into an offer from Steven to join the firm in Boston, where Brandon would happily spend the following dozen years.
From there Brandon joined Light This!, working with owner and lighting designer Daina Yurkus. Following the tumultuous economic times of the late 2000s, Brandon joined Carrie Hawley as the fourth person in the Boston office of HLB Lighting Design. “I got a great opportunity to work at HLB with Carrie and the team…we really grew the office over the four and a half years I was there,” he remembered.
An intriguing call came from the multi-disciplinary firm Henderson Engineers – they were looking for someone to lead their lighting group in New York City. Brandon recalled, “I had never lived in New York, and I kind of wanted to live there. The company’s headquarters were in Lenexa, Kansas – right near where my parents live, so there was a tie there!”
He was selected for the role, moved to New York City, and, for the next two years, led the lighting design group within the large firm. “It was much different…I missed all the collaboration and all of the resources that I’d had at HLB. Around the time that I was thinking about what I would do next, I received a call from Barbara Horton (at the time, Senior Principal and CEO of HLB, as well as President of IALD). Barbara said we needed to talk about IALD; she asked me to come by to see their new office, and then we would talk over lunch.”
It turned out that HLB was looking for someone to lead their San Francisco office, and, in early 2016, Brandon had his answer on what to do next. He was moving to the West Coast and rejoining HLB Lighting Design to lead their office in San Francisco, where he is now Senior Principal.
Asked to what he attributes his success, Brandon offered, “At a baseline, my drive and passion have shaped part of it, but my success is really, really shaped by the incredible support that I received, early on from Steven Rosen and Daina Yurkis, who were great mentors, and then at HLB from Barbara Horton, Stephen Lees, and Carrie Hawley. I could not be more fortunate! Also, I have to say I’m truly grateful to my parents… they never questioned any decision I made – to pursue a degree in theatrical lighting, or to go to grad school, or to move across the country, however many times I’ve done that! And today, I work with an amazing group of partners at HLB, and their collaboration really continues to inspire and support both my, and our, collective success.”
Did he find the moves challenging? Brandon said, “I never saw my moves as challenges – rather, as amazing opportunities. The biggest challenge was during COVID when the design teams all had to work remotely, so we missed all of the crucial in-person collaboration – not only with our clients but also internally as a team. Even now, the shift to virtual meetings makes it harder to build the same level of connections – so, just getting those faceto-face moments is so important.”
Reflecting on current issues facing the lighting community, it’s clear that Brandon’s leadership role at HLB, as well as his involvement in the IALD Board (as Treasurer and a member of the Executive Committee), have brought focus to several areas of concern. He offered four priority issues:
1. “Workforce development and career longevity – there’s a real concern for the availability of new talent entering the field and retention of experienced lighting designers and professionals. More investment in education programs is needed to sustain the profession.
2. Environmental impact and the circular economy – the challenge of minimizing waste and adopting sustainable practices. Hopefully, we’ll see products with even longer lifetimes, embracing systems that can be repaired, upgraded, or repurposed.
3. Rapid technology progress, especially AI – how is that going to redefine the lighting landscape as AI-driven tools become more prevalent, and how do we adapt and integrate those technologies into projects while paying attention to data privacy and assessment of accuracy in output.
4. Staying relevant and evolving the business model – as in the recent IALD vote to eliminate the requirement to follow a specific business model to be a member of IALD.”
What advice would Brandon give to those coming into lighting design? “Get a business minor at a minimum – whether you are self-employed or working in a company, there are so many things you need to know! Keep building your technical skills throughout your career. Network with industry professionals – go to conferences. Meet people, not just in your field, but in adjacent fields. Stay creative and keep learning.”
And what does Brandon do to restore himself? Brandon immediately landed on his love for “music and musical theater –it’s my theater background, I go to see as much as I can. And I love karaoke – I’ve been known to bust out in song at the office!”.
