We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lauren Wilcox a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

Candon Murphy – she’s the epitome of a good boss. Even as a lowly intern, she proudly dragged me around to corporate events, hyping me up to her long list of network connections that ultimately landed me my first job in lighting. To this day, she’s someone I reference regularly from a leadership standpoint!

Lauren, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I still have a hard time defining what I do in blanket terms – it’s not super linear. I’m ok with that. It leaves room for interpretation and unexpected opportunities! If I need to, I summarize myself as a designer and illustrator. That title feels like the best umbrella description for my collage and painting work but also speaks to my career in commercial lighting design.

I was born and raised in the Midwest, Michigan specifically. My dad is a furniture designer and both my parents encouraged my creative endeavors for as long as I can remember. I definitely don’t take that for granted. I spent a lot of my high school years taking figure drawing and oil painting courses during the summers at Kendall College of Art and Design; my Dad’s alma mater and where he now teaches. I’ve always gravitated towards the fine arts; it was a safe space for me. I felt incredibly connected to the physicality of it all and bounced between painting and mixed-media collage work. In hindsight, I wasn’t quite brave enough at the time to pursue a wholesale fine art career. Later on, I moved to Seattle and achieved a BFA in Interior Architecture from Cornish College of the Arts. It felt like a creative career that I could be passionate about while also being marketable, with consistent income. Little did I know how quickly I’d fall in love with the built environment and the idea of bettering it for the future. With the help of incredible colleagues and mentors, I found my way from decorative interiors to the niche of lighting design. I’m heading into my 5th year at LUMA, a Pacific Northwest-based lighting design firm and there’s so much to learn.

Understanding the language of light has been a fun process. It’s something that everyone needs but is often undervalued. Being able to manipulate a space with light as my medium is a valuable skill that I’m still mastering.

In the past, my lighting work felt far removed from my fine art practices. In more recent years, the overlap of skill sets, professional relationships, and end goals are more aligned than they’ve ever been. Each informs the other and I’m working on projects that incorporate all skillsets. Most recently, Myself and a small team of designers won grant funding to pursue research relating to sustainability in the lighting industry. I’m experiencing the intersection of my lighting design and analog artwork in a new and exciting way. 

Beyond the lighting industry, I work with publications on editorial illustrations, host community events, and help other creatives tell their stories. Not fitting perfectly into a creative category or silo used to make me uncomfortable, or maybe feel less valid as an artist but how silly is that. I’m just along for the ride!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Being “right”  is hindering your creativity! As a plagued perfectionist, I still struggle with this mindset but it’s wildly freeing when you’re able to look past the idea of right vs. wrong. I sometimes wish I could go back and redo design school with this mentality. I put so much money and effort into my education that I didn’t want to “waste” time or fuck around with silly concepts. Knowing the rules, why things exist, and how they play a role in your work is crucial but experimenting and failing are equally important.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Oh, so many.

First of all, just because you CAN do it doesn’t mean it’s the best use of your time and resources. Hiring someone to build your website or manage your taxes might feel irresponsible but if we’re doing it all, we aren’t doing anything very well. If your goal is to create, then something has to give!  

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.laurenrwilcox.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenraewilcox/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-wilcox-she-her-800845124/
• Other: Light on Waste: https://www.pae-engineers.com/content/luma-light-on-waste

Image Credits
Sophie Griot Leah Wilcox