Amanda Wildman’s career arc is one she would’ve never predicted. Custom integration wasn’t even a term she was familiar with before leaving the jewelry business and getting into the channel with her husband over two decades ago. Now, she’s getting set to serve as the first-ever female Chair of CEDIA’s Global Board of Directors.
Rob: Alright, we are back on the Connected Design Podcast and excited to be diving out, flying, snow sledding out to—let’s make it more appropriate—out there to Michigan to talk to Ms. Amanda Wildman. Appreciate you taking the time. Is it still safe to say Happy New Year? I don’t know. What’s the, what’s the like the cutoff?
Amanda: Let’s celebrate the whole month. Let’s back month-long celebrations. Yes, January is always gonna be happy New Year.
Rob: That’s fine by me. Well, happy new year. Happy new ventures to the both of us. I know, lots of exciting things going on and just, hey, appreciate you taking the time and wanting to chat with us.
Amanda: Yeah, no, of course. I’m so excited. Was super excited to hear that you guys are, you know, kind of relaunching this or I don’t know, is it considered a relaunch or is it considered a brand-new venture?
Rob: Little bit of both.
Amanda: You know, I think anything that we can do to try to, you know, connect as in your title, connect technology with design—Connected Design. I mean, anything that we can do to kind of like merge those two worlds is fantastic. So, I’m so excited. And to hear about you guys doing this and I cannot wait to help support and encourage and share all of this kind of stuff you guys are doing.
Rob: Thank you. That means a lot. Thank you, Ton, for saying that. It means a lot to us. And I know that just as excited as we are for what we have coming, I know we got a lot to talk about, and we’re excited to dive into some new ventures and new opportunities and things that are going on in your world. But to be the good storyteller that we are, we’re going to bury the lead a little bit. Keep those listeners around.
Amanda: Right, yeah, yeah. Make sure that they aren’t totally sick of hearing you.
Rob: So, before we get to all that exciting stuff, and I am excited to get to it, you know, tell us a little bit about TruMedia Home and you know what you guys are doing and what the how business is out there.
Amanda: Yeah, no, absolutely. TruMedia is an integration design firm that I own with my husband. This August actually will be 23 years that we’ve owned it. As I affectionately like to call it a mom-and-pop shop started with a husband and wife. And it’s been a journey. We’ve been through a lot of different things. I mean, we started in the satellite world. That’s what kind of originally got us in. Moved into the integration sector when we got involved in CEDIA in 2014. So that’s been a while. And about, I think five years ago now, we started venturing into adding electrical into our company. And so, I’m actually doing my electrical journeyman license. I’ve got my hours in just starting to do some of my test review and my class review and trying to prove that you can still teach an old dog new tricks. Because when I first came in, I was probably young in the industry. And I look now and I’m like, my gosh, like now I’m starting to turn into one of the old ones. I’m seeing my kids kind of like come to shows and stuff with me and they’re like, Mom, you’re just the old person. Like, that’s not cool.
So don’t worry, I mean, if you ever want to be humble yourself…
Rob: Bring your kids somewhere with you, haha. I get that for sure. Goodness. That’s awesome. Now, a husband-and-wife venture. Is that something that you ever thought was in the cards, let alone one in the custom integration space?
Amanda: Heavens to Betsy, and I will tell you, no, that was not the case. Did not see it in the cards. I will tell you it’s not for the weak. Family-owned businesses are not for the weak. And that goes for, I’ve spoken with lots of people that have, you know, been where they maybe dad or somebody owned it. And now like, you think of Heather Sidorowitz, who I think she just celebrated like 25 years now with her company and, you know, she took it over—she was actually on the board when I first came on the board. She was one of the first early females that we have had a few females on the CEDIA board, but she is phenomenal. And she always shares great stories too of some of the hiccups along the way, some of the challenges that you have. And then Jamie Briesmeister and her husband, Jeff, I mean, good friends of mine and they are doing phenomenal. They just opened up a brand-new showroom I think like last year, which has been awesome.
But I mean, everyone has their challenges. I think the biggest difference with a family-owned or relative-owned businesses is you also have that desire to–our family is going to succeed no matter what. So, some things that might break other people, if you have like other partnerships or things like that, generally, I think they don’t break as much, with family-owned businesses. spend a lot of time together, but you also have a—there’s a different level of a bond where you’re going to do whatever it takes. Even, like I said, all the way down to my kids, my kids will tell you stories of growing up where, you know, mom and dad had to get a job done and we’ve owned this business their whole lives. So, it wasn’t uncommon to take them out into the field with us. And, you know, my, son’s favorite story is, we worked on a particular, I’ll say pretty famous person’s house.
And so, we went back to school the next day and he goes, I worked on that person’s, or I slept at that person’s house because it was, he fell asleep because it was a really late night that we were pulling wire. Of course, that person wasn’t there or anything like that, but mom and dad had to get the job done. And so, you know, of course that gave him like some street cred with, you know, the third graders at school that he knew this cool person’s house, you know, kind of a thing. So, it’s a different level, you know, there’s pros and cons for sure.
Rob: Well, even beyond like to dive deeper into it, I know I ask about, the husband-wife venture. I mean, pulling wire like, is that something you thought you’d be doing in your career?
Amanda: No, well, one, I don’t even know that schoolteachers, advisors know that pulling wires is even an option.
Rob: That’s why CEDIA’s doing all the work you’re doing at right?
Amanda: We’re trying to make people aware that that’s a career option. But no, did not think that I was doing that. I worked in jewelry for Pete’s sake. I was telling my parents the other day, I was like, I used to have nice hands with like really pretty nails, and I would like wear jewelry and like. Now I’m debating, I’m going to ISE in a couple of weeks. And of course, you know, I’m going to do the cords termination challenge because like, you got to do it. Like everybody’s got to do it. I want to see everyone’s name on the board. But one year, I think two years ago, I made a, made a huge mistake and I made sure that I had nails on when I went there. Right. Cause I wanted to have like pretty nails. And then I was like, you cannot terminate cables.
Like I said, this is terrible. These are the decisions that I make before I go to ISE is can I my nails done or not?
Rob: That’s amazing. It just flashed in my head to the Seinfeld with George Costanza wearing the gloves as the hand model.
Amanda: What is it now on TikTok? Have you seen, there’s this crazy guy out there and he tapes like finishing nails to his nails because he goes, I’m gonna do like an unboxing of my, know, visit to Home Depot. And so, he tapes these like nails and he does like this. These new light bulbs that I got. It’s just hilarious. But truthfully, I mean, the chords challenge is pretty awesome and pretty amazing to do, and I’ve seen some super, super fast people do it. But I will tell you, it takes it to a whole nother level if you have acrylic nails. Like, so I’m not gonna lie because I’m competitive. I want my name to be at least towards the top of the list. I think that if you see me, I won’t have nails on because I’m just, too competitive. Because I don’t wanna have to rip them off.
Rob: I was going to say you can almost work them into like if they had specialized ones for terminating cables, use them as a tool—that’s awesome.
Amanda: You’ve got to have fun and laugh about work. Because let’s face it, everyone that’s been out there and pulled wire, like pulling wire is not the funnest job. So, I mean, if you can laugh, you know, in a day while you’re out there doing it and, know, you got to have fun with it.
Rob: That’s too good. Well, now, you know, again, even aside from just that not being in the cards for you, to educate yourself on it, talk about what that’s been like to understand. I mean, I have to imagine, zero industry knowledge as far as like what you were getting into.
Amanda: Absolutely. No institutional knowledge whatsoever. And I will tell you, my husband and I, joke, we say we’ve probably paid more than our fair share of stupid tax. And I think a lot of businesses do that. That’s what we call, you when you don’t know what you don’t know and you do something and you learn, you know, from it, but sometimes it can cost you. So, we call it stupid tax. We’ve definitely done our fair share of that as I’m sure most integrators out there have done it.
But no, that’s where CEDIA just became so instrumental. When I first, I think I came to my first expo in 2013, and I just wanted to be able to know how to talk about the industry. Cause I didn’t necessarily see it in the cards for me that I would be out in the field. I was maybe more in the office, figured I’d talk to designers and stuff. So, the first course that I took was the, at the time it was called the CEDIA Outreach Instructor Program. And now it’s called the CEDIA Design Build Outreach Program.
And I figured, well, if I could go there and I could learn how to speak about the industry to other people, maybe I would also learn along the way. And so that was like back in, oh gosh, 2014 and Peggy Ward, who’s no longer with CEDIA, but she was there for a great number of years. She was awesome. She pulled me aside after class and she just, she said, hey, you seem to like really wanna learn and have a good attitude about it.
I’m looking to bring some more women in, and I’d like to introduce you to some of the ladies, you know, in the industry and we’ve got some volunteer groups. Would you be interested? And I mean, I always think, you know, everyone’s always like, thank you, you know, for volunteering. And I’m like, no, thank you for creating the opportunities for me to volunteer because I’ve learned so much more, know, through my volunteering.
When you can sit down and like you look at some of the volunteers and I’ve been so blessed to have so many great like volunteers and mentors and people that I’ve worked alongside that have poured that knowledge, you know, into me. I definitely don’t ever profess that I will ever be the smartest person in the room in this industry. We have way too many super, super smart people. But what I will tell people is I know the smartest people in the room.
And so, you get that way through volunteering and spending, you know, your time. And, and I think that that’s what makes CEDIA so unique and makes it so special is, you know, I joke, but, you know, people, people that really get into this and get involved in this, you know, it’s like we either drank the Kool-Aid or like, you know, we bleed the CEDIA orange, but we do. When you have a group of people that are exceptionally knowledgeable, that are willing to share that knowledge—I can honestly say have gone from being a teacher to a mentor to now being some of my best friends, like that’s transformational. And I don’t care what organization, what group is out there, you don’t get that anywhere else. And that’s what I think is so cool about it.
Rob: Gives you the good feels. Just listening to you talk about it. You get that like warm and fuzzy. It’s pretty cool to hear that. Right? It’s the cool thing about it too is that for those that know me, you know, kind of my background, I right out of school, one of the first publications I ever worked for was called Associations Now, which it’s the American Society of Association Executives. So, when they say there’s an association for everything, there is one for association people. Hearing you talk that way is exactly what like the heart of any association is, right? Is that collection of professionals or, know, people in an industry or, or for some cause that come together to help make not only just that profession or that space, whatever it is better, but like the people within it. Right. And that’s, I mean, to hear that, you’re like a, a perfect example of CEDIA having been successful at that over the last decade plus. And it’s just really cool to hear that.
Amanda:Â Yeah, no, I feel blessed every single day, you know, to, like I said, these people are my friends and it’s almost like, you know, if you’re a video gamer and everybody’s looking for like the cheat code, like, I feel like if you volunteer, like it’s the cheat code for like learning how to do stuff, right? Because I can’t begin to tell you how much faster and how much better you learn the things and, you know, and the people that you’re around. And like I said, being able to say like, well, I don’t know the answer, but I certainly know the person who does know the answer or like to be able to have like three or four people that you can call on to like ask, you know, so that hopefully over time you pay less than the stupid tax. I mean, everyone’s willing to share their stupid tax story of where they messed up and, people genuinely, you know, I think this industry is unique. We get to do really fun stuff. I mean, we’re not accountants.
We don’t do boring stuff. We aren’t bogged down with paperwork every day. We make people’s lives better. Really, this should be the job that every guidance counselor or whatever is telling students about. Really, you get to do really, really cool stuff. How fun is that? And CEDIA is the heartbeat, hopefully, of all of that for people. Certainly, for me it has been the heartbeat.
Rob: So, and what I love too is thinking about just your, personal growth within the channel, but then like CEDIA specifically too, to where I, before we even get to the title, you just added to your resume. Like you, played a big part for someone that, I mean, we just talked about it, right? Came in with no institutional knowledge of custom integration. And I think back to this past fall and a little bit earlier into the summer, I mean, you played a big role in the education track for CEDIA Expo and building that out for the association. I mean, you talk about a testament of that’s the association doing its job of making sure that you had access to the things you needed to train, but also kind of your want to dive in headfirst into this industry as well, right? And learn it and soak up the knowledge and become an expert at.
Amanda: Well, you know, I mean, we were in the boardroom, and you know, it came up, we had that position open and I had had experience working with, you know, workforce development. I’ve worked with the business working group. I’ve worked in certifications. I was, prior to being on the board, I was the chair of the professional development advisory council just after Mitch Klein. Gosh, I learned so much from Mitch, you know, and I mean, there’s so many names. I couldn’t even name all of the names of the people that I learned from.
And we were in the boardroom, and I told Daryl, you know, they were hiring a new position and we’re so lucky we’ve got that position filled now. Evan West, which all of you guys are going to, you know, meet him. You’re going to get to know him. He is a great guy who is literally been like an amazing sponge, you know, trying to suck up knowledge. And, I said to Daryl, look, I go, we, you know, we can, we’ll bring a new person in and that’s, that’s awesome. And that’s great. But like, Expo was coming up so quickly and I said, can I pitch to the board of helping to curate it this year and working alongside him? And the board was gracious enough to let me pitch it. And so, I went in and I said, look, it wasn’t about could I do it? It was that I knew the people that I knew could do it. And that’s what it is.
If there’s anything that I’d ever want to be known for is that I would like to be known as like a connector. I would like to be known as like, know the people and can I connect people? And through that whole work, if you haven’t met Rachel Nash yet, who’s on CEDIA staff, she is phenomenal. She and I talked daily. If it wasn’t for her and her amazing organizational skills, I mean, it was truly a team effort.
As soon as Evan got hired on, he jumped right in, you know, feet first and like soaking stuff up and, truthfully, like, you know, I mentioned, you know, these people that I’ve volunteered with over the years, it was amazing how many people, like I had a vision for what it could be, but like every person that I called and I said, ‘Hey, could you do this? Would you be willing to teach this? Would you be willing to share your knowledge in that?’ Like everyone overwhelmingly was like, of course, where do I sign? How do I do it? And like, people were phenomenal.
And to me, that’s what the community is about. It wasn’t about just like, you know, doing the job. It was pulling the people together and just maybe kind of getting a little bit of that framework, but it was exceptionally rewarding. And, you know, we had really great classes. We had a lot of new classes, great instructors. I think that a lot of people, the sentiment was, you know, education,
After COVID, we had maybe a little bit of a low. People were starting to be excited and say, know what, education and stuff is coming back. ISE coming up in a couple of weeks is gonna be awesome. I’ve heard that numbers are even already up for education on that. I’ll be helping out at a couple of classes. I’ll be on a couple of classes and on a couple of stage talks. And again, it’s pulling together the best people. And that’s what it’s all about. When you’ve got the best people with the best knowledge and they’re willing to share.
Like why wouldn’t you? I mean, everybody every year should be going to expo, should be getting the education pass, the all-access pass. mean, that’s the other cheat code that’s out there in the world. When you get the all-access pass, you got to go to every class, duh. Like that’s the best investment money that you can make. I mean, for years, that’s all that I did. And I just, went to every single class that I could. That’s the, otherwise there’s no way to do what I’ve done and like learn the amount that I’ve learned, you know?
Rob: Just a testament to a path in this channel where, you it doesn’t matter the level of experience you’re coming in with it. You could, there’s ways to find the cheat code, if you will. Absolutely. To buy that. But I said not necessarily the cheat codes. I was more the kid that would buy the guidebooks and like I’d have it there. And if I, tried not, I tried to have it be a waste of money, right? Yeah. Go through Zelda and like, I don’t want to open the book, but it’s there. It’s there. I should use it. So no, that’s awesome.
Well, I fast forward to just recently and I know I think we’ve sufficiently buried the lead here. To be officially announced as the of the CEDIA Global Board of Directors. And beyond just that, and I know it’s something I didn’t know. You’re one that doesn’t like to have the total spotlight, right? But the first female to hold that position as well. That is a major deal. Like that is awesome. So, I want to give you a chance to just, you hear that news, you’ve been elected, it’s a membership election. You find out how do you feel about it?
Amanda: First of all, it’s like super humbling. it’s literally, is such an honor to like, you know, there’s been amazing, you know, board members, there’s been amazing chairpeople, you know, prior to me, I talk with a lot of them. I can’t tell you how many of them have already like reached out via email and given me, you know, a tip or a word of advice or given me a phone call. And I think that that’s important, you know, is that, you know,
One, yes, it’s very important that we do have a female. And I think that that’s great. And I would be remiss if we obviously didn’t mention that. But we’ve had a lot of really great females. I’m not certainly the first. I might be the first in the chair position, but there have been so many females before me that have helped to blaze a trail. I mean, you know Maryellen very well. She started in this industry even before I was. Carol Campbell, you’ve got Helen Hunnefeld. I mean, she was one of the very first like OG female technicians, you know, like out in the field, which love her to pieces, you know, and there’s so many amazing women, Melissa Andresko, I mean, she started in this industry right out, fresh out of college, you know, and, and so while yes, I’m the first maybe in this particular role, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a ton of phenomenal, you know, women that, you know, have been in this industry and are expanding even more.
I think that was a testament the last, you know, couple years I mean who knew that we could keep doing, you know 40 women in the industry and highlighting 40 every year and we aren’t repeating the same 40 I mean a couple years ago you might have been pressed to get 40, you know, and now we’re getting more and so I think that that’s really great what I also think is really unique is I think for probably the first time maybe in a minute that we’ve had someone in the chair role that has actually been out in the field, you know, as well. And that’s one thing that I kind of like really pride myself on is when I go into that room, I wanna not only represent, you the mom and pop business owner, I not only wanna represent, you know, the women, you know, because I’ve got some great, you know, examples of leaders before me, but I also wanna really represent, you know, like you could start off and you can be a technician and you can work your way up and like.
You know, my, my favorite funny story is when I first got on the board, I, when I found out about it, right, because it was a slightly different process or whatever for voting in. And that year, lot of people were running and I kid you not, I was out in Holland, Michigan. It was summer. So, it wasn’t snow, but don’t worry. It wasn’t great either. I was literally in a crawl space under a house, like in a basement and out in Holland. Yeah, they have a lot of sand.
So, it was like a crawl space with like a sandy like bottom. So here I am and like I drew the short end of the strokes. We were pulling wire and I was the shortest person that could get into the space. Right. So, that’s how it works. Sometimes you get you get the hat that you wear because you know you can fit the thing. I was the shortest. So, I’m under there and we’re pulling wire and I have my phone in my pocket and its very short space. And all of a sudden like my phone is like—ding, ding, ding, ding….
Rob: So perfect.
Amanda: I will tell you that I’ve had the most fun kind of on this journey, right? And I’ve learned from so many people. mean, we, my whole time of being on the board, like we’ve had so many amazing board members. I mean, you know, Jamie, Joe, Bill Scare, like all of these people and even, you know, new people, you know, that are coming in now we’ve got Rich Green is new coming back. He’s been on the board in the past. Maryellen, (yay!), I’m so excited. She’s here. And, you know, so we’ve got some really, really great leaders and they really have, you know, a heart for the industry. And so, it’s like, let’s have some fun with this. Like, you know, I’m just, yeah, I’m just, I’m excited about it. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned, what the knowledge is, but also just to share a unique perspective. I’m not a manufacturer. I’m not just in marketing, you know, I kind of feel like I’ve done the gamut and. It’s a different perspective.
Rob: For sure and an exciting one I know. I think a lot of people and I’m sure they’ve already told you they’re excited to see kind of what you do and what your vision is for you know the next couple of years. Two-year term, is that right?
Amanda: It is. Yeah, hold on tight buddy. They sent me a congratulations. I’m like, awesome. I’m so glad you’re congratulating me. Hang on tight because I have a master list of everybody that congratulates. And I’m like, just so you know, I’m coming back for you. You’re going to be part of this awesome news. It’s a team effort folks, it’s a team sport.
Rob: Alright, let’s go to work, haha!
So, to that point and exactly that is kind of lead me down the right path. Obviously, now that you have the opportunity to kind of envision what these next couple of years look like, you know, it’s not something, you know, I know anyone going into the role is probably not like all these massive changes need to happen, things like that. But like you want to leave an impact. Right. So, what do you hope that, you know, two years from now, looking back that that impact was?
Amanda: Yeah, no, that’s a really great question. And sometimes I look at the calendar, and I think, my gosh, two years is a really long time. And then there’s another piece of me that is like panicking because I’m like two years to do all the things that I would love to do, isn’t necessarily going to happen, but what can we do?
A couple of the big things. And I think that CEDIA is like on the right track is like I said, education for me is of utmost importance. I think that that’s part of the reason that, you know, that the board felt strongly enough about putting me in this position is because I think that they, understand that, you know, I might have a unique perspective because of how much volunteering that I’ve done in education, but also of seeing what my journey is, right?
Like how can we do—I shouldn’t be the only story where you can take someone in 10 years that doesn’t have any of the knowledge and get them to my level. How do we do it faster and how do we do it for more people? And so, I think education is going to be a huge thing. Paul, I think I’m super excited working with Paul. You guys are going to get to see some new announcements coming up. We’re doing a little bit of restructure in there. There’s going to be tons of opportunity for volunteers to come in and be, you know, same as how I was in the pathway. So, I think that is going to be one. And then two, I’m super excited about what it is that we’re doing with the design build community. You know, we’ve started doing some research. We started doing some stuff with KBIS. We’re doing some research, you know, in some other areas.
They’re actually in the process right now of hiring an individual that will work directly on CEDIA staff, working directly with the design build community. So, we’re really doing a year of investment. And you know, CEDIA, we’re in great shape. We have great numbers, great books and things like that. And so, you know, the board felt really comfortable and said, you know what, this is gonna be a year of reinvestment. And what can we do? What do our members need? And ultimately, you know, what is gonna help?
People, business owners like myself, be able to be profitable and be able to have their business and then hire their employees and be able to provide a good life for their employees. And a big piece of that is having the knowledge, right? So, the education and the know-how of how to do it. But also, it is our job to help open up the doors to the people that make the decisions, right? Around having an integrator or not having an integrator.
I think you’re going to see that we’re going to be all in on both of those avenues and focusing on that. Not only making sure that we level up our association and our industry to be professional and what does that mean at a professional level. And then also to like showcase that to the design build community so that we are not just an afterthought, right? Like, do you have somebody who’s doing tech on the project, but really understand that we are a needed asset on every single project.
I tell people all of the time, in Michigan, we have basements, right? Almost every home has a basement. I know that not every area is that way, but in Michigan, we have basements. A lot of times when people build their home, they might not finish out the basement. And what’s interesting to me is even on a project for a homeowner, you could have a different electrician come in and you could have a different electrician finish out the basement. You could have a different designer because your design changes. Sometimes the builder that built your house won’t even do a finish out on the basement, right? They will have a totally separate division of that. But I will tell you is a constant that stays constant is the integrator. If you have technology on your first floor or your second floor or whatever, you’re gonna want that same person to come back and do the technology in the basement, right?
And we are a unique trade in the fact that if we do our job properly, if we get to know the homeowner, if we get to know their expectations of how they want their life to be best lived in their home and space, we stay with them for life. That means like when they first get their first house and they maybe want to have some security cameras or have some cameras, know, or doorbells or whatever. Their first job, their first place, they want a little bit of security, they’re still doing a lot of travel, they come home late at night, that’s one thing. Then they have kids, your technology needs change. What does that mean for a baby in the house? What does that mean for a family member? Your needs change again when you have toddlers, right? Making sure that they can’t get outside, making sure that they can’t get to the pool without somebody knowing. Latchkey kids, as they get older, more and more kids come home on their own.
So, like, if you are a good integrator and you know your homeowners and you build those relationships, we go every single step of the way with our clients. Like, we are that valuable. We just need to let the public know that that’s what it is and that we’re here to partner with them so that they have their best life with technology.
Rob: Couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s a mic drop moment right there. That’s impressive. And it’s, I mean, it’s why, you know, it’s why CEDIA exists is to help share that message. Selfishly, it’s, I feel like it’s why I exist is to help share that message too, is like, we want to get the stories out there of integrators like yourself and like so many others in this space that are doing that work and becoming that trusted advisor, that tech advisor to them, right? And, beyond just tech too. There’s so much more like tech is I guess at the heart of all of what it is right that connects it but I mean there’s so much more to it than just that and I mean I you know that word gets muddled right it has the connotation of like the TV or the VR headset or this and that like the things we saw just a couple weeks ago at CES here. It’s way more than that and some of that stuff was there sure yeah there was that you know the smart home stuff the home automation stuff, but like it goes even beyond that and it’s exciting to kind of see your take on it, your direction and you know, it’s impressive and you know, the kind of just your journey in and of itself is impressive and then the ambition I think is something too that, you know, is exciting, right, for what you have in mind.
Amanda: Yeah. And I couldn’t do it without, you know, being able to have, like I said, an awesome team. We’ve got an awesome group of people in the boardroom. I mean, I would be remiss if I didn’t, you know, mentioned Daryl, you know, like the CEO being a great partner. I mean, that poor man, when they first hired him on, I was not on the search team. I was on the board when they did the search for him, but not on the search team. But when he came in, the first thing that I said to him is I said, look, you don’t have to take me up on this. But I said, the best way for you to learn about our industry and learn about what we do is do a ride along.
And I go, it’s not a, you know, like we’re not going to be doing fancy ride along. Like you need to come in and, know, be ready to work. And he took me up on it.
Well, so here’s, here’s the funny story about him is, I knew the first job we went and we did everything. I picked him up in the morning in one of my work vans. So, like, literally got to pick up in a work van and we grabbed coffee and we went to the shop, and we loaded up the truck with all the stuff. We get to the first job and, I knew that we were not going to need my tool bag, right? But I also know that for any technician that knows out there, like your tool bag, like is your pride and joy and it’s usually pretty fricking heavy. Mine is no exception. I have my own tool bag, my own tools, nobody messes with them, but like it does get pretty heavy. I literally, was like, I knew we weren’t gonna use it, but I wanted him at the end of the night to go home remembering like a little bit of sore. I made him take it in, I made him take it in, I made him take it up the stairs to the second floor.
Rob: Yeah, just a little sore.
Amanda: We didn’t use it, but I’m like, well, we have it here. It’s all prepped, you know, and everything. And then we went back down to the basement of that house and well, we got to take our tool bag with us. like poor Daryl, like here’s Daryl doing the stairs. It was a prewire. So, we had him up in the rafters. I mean, he was pulling wire through rafters. I mean, I got pictures of him like literally, you know, with a whole hog. I mean, like if you can imagine, I mean, poor Daryl probably had no idea what he was getting into. And that’s what I love about him is he was so game, you know, for doing it. And if you ask him still to this day, is he actually walks around with a little Cat-5 connector that we did, you know, like that day. And it was so funny because here we are down in the basement and he goes to terminate the cable and he did a great job. And I was like, actually, I was like, wow, I’m actually really impressed. And he goes, well, how do I know if it works? And like, so this is me. I was kind of being a little bit lazy because like, I didn’t have the wires terminated on the other end to test it, but like he was not gonna let me leave. We were not gonna move on until I could test it and verify if his cable passed. And it did, it passed and no lie, I promise you it did pass. And it was cute because you could just see the excitement on his face and like the pride and like as everybody has, you the first time that you do something and you do it right and you do it properly.
And there was like some extra cable there. So, I looked at him and I was like, you know, I go, if you want, you can keep it. Like we can cut it off and you can keep it and no lie. He still walks around with that, like in his pocket. he goes, every time I got to remember who I’m representing, like he goes, I carry this around. I thought, you know, how cool is that that the CEO of our industry association remembers and tries to learn the perspective of everyone all the way down to even the technician level.
So often it can be like, what level are you at in the industry? And maybe the technician is like, someone would consider lower. Technicians are the heartbeat. They’re the ones that make it happen. I have nothing but respect. I’m like, if you can survive a Michigan winter pulling wire or a Texas heat in an attic, like, you deserve all the accolades in the world. Like you’re the rock, you’re the rock star. You’re like, they’re the backbones. They’re the ones that make it work. We can create the stuff. Manufacturers are awesome. They give us great products, everything like that. But like, let’s be fair. Like if it’s not for the technicians doing what it is that they do, like they really are the core of our industry.
Rob: It’s cliche to say, but those, those cables are, are akin to the veins that run through our bodies. So, it’s like, you know, they make the come to life. But that’s awesome too, because I mean, here’s this guy that comes from the recording industry and thinks like, music and these guys are AV guys. Like it’s going to be, this is probably, he’ll get it right off the bat. And then to like go into having that experience with you. That is awesome, like, welcome to the real world.
Amanda: He was like, when he goes back and sees how many wires he goes, like there’s that much and I’m like, yeah, I’m like, it’s a lot of wire to like make your house function, especially like even a wireless network. That’s always my big thing. I’m like, it takes a lot of wire to be wireless. But he’s like, what if there’s not something easier? There’s not something like shorter. I’m like, no, like this is manual labor, like at its finest, you know. Now imagine doing it with frozen fingertips or like sweating your tail off, you know.
Rob: I want to ask too, while I have you. Hearing kind of your outset and your mindset and your goals is awesome. Are there any, you know, like what are the hurdles you foresee this industry, whether it’s the industry or even just your time on the board? Like what do you foresee being a challenge for this channel or the association kind of over the next bit while you’re in this position?
Amanda: Well, that’s a great question. I think a couple of things is, is time and resource, right? First, right? Like I said, time, two years, it seems like a long time, but it’s going to go by in a blink. Resources, people are busy. They have a lot going on. I mean, this doesn’t happen without people volunteering. It’s not going to just be me. It’s not just going to be Daryl. Like there’s not one person that can champion this and can shoulder this.
It literally is a team sport. It is a team effort. So that I think is a challenge. The other thing is, is I think that, you know, there’s other things out there in the world. There’s more shows that are coming up. There’s, you know, more groups that are coming up. There’s more, you know, Facebook groups. And it feels a little bit, you know, sometimes like a squirrel, right? You’re like, wait, wait, squirrel. Like what’s going on? Like this person has this going on. That person has that going on. I think that we need to really find a way that all of these groups instead of perceiving it as being competition, we need to perceive a way of how do we all work together? We all have different gifts. All have different talents. There’s things that CEDIA can do that other groups can’t do. There are things that other groups can do that maybe CEDIA can’t do or maybe CEDIA is slower at doing. But ultimately, how do we all work together to make sure that the greater populace of individuals and homeowners know that our industry exists?
That’s, I think, the biggest thing is, how do we all leverage what our gifts are to create the largest impact out there in the world? The largest impact to the design build community, the largest impact to architects, to homeowners, to things like that. That’s the most important. Whether it’s a Facebook group, a buying group, whether it’s another show, whether it’s the commercial side versus residential side.
We all have to leverage what we’re good at. We all have to figure out how to work together and we all have to learn how to like magnify or, you know, I grew up, I was a cheerleader in high school. So, like, you know, be the megaphone, you know, to the greater world out there, let people know that there’s help out there that we exist.
Rob: Well, that’s even it too, right? I mean, I think that’s a great point of it’s not just you. It’s not just Daryl. It’s not just CEDIA. It’s everyone in the space that has to kind of get behind the collective effort to let everyone know what this channel is about and who this channel is and what it’s made up of. And, you know, even beyond like the work we do or the work that the channel does, like how it collaborates with the other professions that are out there and the importance of that.
Again, maybe cliche to say it, that connected design, right? How do we need to work together to just make the space better, make people’s lives and homes better?
Amanda: Absolutely. You know, mean, right after ISE, that’s, you know, going to have residential, right? That’s CEDIA and Avixa. So, you see a lot of commercial, you see a lot of residential. Shortly after that, I mean, Tom Doherty with HTSA doing Lightapalooza, you know, that’s an awesome show. I will be at that show. You know, I think that that’s great. But you know, there’s different things that different groups do. CEDIA right now is the one that’s positioned to do some really stellar stuff with advocacy, you know, and we’re really making some awesome leaps, particularly in the UK and in Australia with some of the apprenticeship programs and things like that.
So, we’re really starting to get some good traction with that. Some of those other groups aren’t necessarily able to do that same thing the way that CEDIA can. So, you know what, those other groups, once those things become available, can lean on and support with CEDIA and vice versa. We all have skills, we all have strengths, we all have weaknesses. But if we don’t figure out how to work really, really well together, that would be the saddest thing to me is that if the populace or the people out there just, they didn’t know that someone in our industry existed.
Rob: Yeah, no, it speaks to the importance of the work you guys are doing the work, that truly everyone in the channel’s doing, whether they know it or not. Exciting to just be a part of it and obviously exciting to kind of, you know, watch you and what you and the rest of the board will be doing. And we look forward to continuing to cover it.
Amanda: Yeah, I’ll challenge you, though. You’re not going to be watching. You’ll be participating. I will circle everyone in. I don’t want I don’t want fans. No offense. I don’t want fans that you’re watching from the stands. I want teammates. So, whoever wants to be a teammate, send me an email. Let me know because, you know, the more teammates, the more people we have, many hands make light work. The more people we can get involved, the better it’s going to be for everybody. And I promise I promise. You will always get more out than what you put in. I promise that.
Rob: I love it and we’ll make sure all the links to support get involved. They’ll be underneath here.
Amanda: CEDIA is awesome. I have the best email address in the world. Just so you know, they always do first initial your name plus your last name at CEDIA dot org. And so, Amanda Wildman is my last name. So, there is officially awildman@CEDIA.org. So, see, you’ll never forget that email. I did tell Daryl I’m keeping that email address forever. Yes, a wild man and it’s spelled exactly how sounds at CEDIA. So, you can never forget.
Rob: That is incredible. Well, I hope that at wild man enjoys their time at the helm of the board and you know, like I said, we look forward to not only watching but actively participating in the work you’re doing. We appreciate it and look forward to continuing to follow the story.
Amanda: Yeah, and thanks for all you guys are doing. I’m excited to see and I’m excited to support what it is that you guys are doing. I think it’s much needed for the channel. So, thank you.
