UP CLOSE WITH KYLE LANDIG
By Shirley Coyle, LC
During that inevitable grade school class, when students are asked to draw a picture of what they want to be when they grow up, Kyle Landig’s choice was a little atypical. He didn’t draw a teacher, doctor, or fireman. Instead, he drew “a picture of myself holding a briefcase, knowing someday I’m going to take over my dad’s business.” The business, Sunset Lighting, based in Irvine, California, was founded in 1990, offers services in lighting, electrical and signage repair with a focus on clients operating a national network of facilities. Kyle graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2008, having already interned at Sunset Lighting for a couple of summers. He joined the company full time at what quickly became a “brutal” time in the Great Recession. He noted, “There were layoffs within the first eight months of my career. I took a pay cut my first year. It was rough ... My dad originally wanted me to go into sales, but I wanted to do operations. I am a natural problem solver and saw opportunity to create standard operating procedures, create an operations manual, and overall become more efficient. The changes led to a lot of growth, seriously improving our service. Now, we are fundamentally a customer service company that happens to provide lighting and electrical services. That commitment to service has led us to become seven times bigger than when I joined the company.” The 2020 pandemic was Kyle’s biggest challenge. He called it “a more formative experience than the 2008 recession,” explaining, “I was much more mature in my career in 2020. I was a Vice President, and my dad was President. He was not keen to embrace a remote work environment at that stage in his career. With my mom battling terminal cancer, he retired in 2020.” Stepping up to run the business as President, Kyle was already responsible for sales, operations and marketing, and now added accounting and finance. “Our sales were down 50% for the year 2020. It was a crucible for 18 months ... I was able to avoid layoffs and retain the staff. It built my confidence as a business owner as we crawled out of that hole, and then having
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year-over-year growth going on six years. I feel like I’m in the right job.”
He continued, “We’re a service first organization. That’s expressed in a lot of ways: our company mission and values, our KPIs that we track for our client services team—things like frequency of proactive outbound communication, the number of days that any work order remains in a single status, and overall days to completion for a work order.” “We are so incredibly grateful to have so many long-term clients: our biggest, as well as our third- or fourth-biggest customers have both been with us for just over 20 years!” As part of the facilities maintenance industry, Kyle stresses the importance of specializing in lighting—and having excellent training. “Tapping into NALMCO’s offering of certification and formal technical training sets us apart in the facility management world. We are often competing with companies where lighting and electrical repair and maintenance is not their bread and butter. They are jacksof-all-trades, and masters of none ... we stay on top of the latest in technology. Our commitment to service breaks the mold of a traditional contractor.” Sunset Lighting requires that new hires earn their NALMO CALT™ certification within ninety days of hire. Asked about his success, Kyle offered, “Growing a sound leadership team has been a major key. I tell our leaders that their job is very simple—two responsibilities: retain clients and retain talent.” Respecting and retaining team members includes things like alternative work schedules for hourly staff that gets them a three-day weekend every other week. “We’re flexible when life happens.” Kyle offered advice to those coming into this industry, saying, “Get into the field. We feel very strongly about new team members, especially those in a project management path. Their job is highly administrative—they’re not electricians. Getting into the field makes the abstract concepts that they’re managing in a work order more real.”
“This takes the form of ride-alongs with our electricians, site visits to see the light fixtures and the client space, hearing from clients about frustrations when the lights aren’t operating correctly. I’ve observed there’s a greater sense of ownership when they return to their desk to project coordination, particularly when they meet a client!” When he’s not building his business, Kyle is out building other communities. He has founded and led two different fitness clubs over the past seven years—a running club and a cycling club. “It’s been a great outlet for me, creatively. It’s fun to plan the events we’re doing as a community here in Orange County. We have about sixty people who are showing up to our runs and rides.” Not to mention the five marathons Kyle ran last year, including an ultra-marathon as well as the New York Marathon and the Chicago Marathon. A builder in both his business and private life, Kyle Landig clearly thrives on challenges. ■