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Launching the 'Built by People' Podcast: A New Industry Voice · Built by People

• speaker-0: Hello Rich! What's going on here then? speaker-1: Hello Ryan. What is going on here? We are, I think, at the start of podcast series. Wow. Yeah. I don't know how, well I say I don't know how we got here. I do know how we got here. ⁓ Without going on too much, a couple of our great lamp Academy guys said, why don't DFL have a podcast? And here we are delivering. speaker-0: That's incredible. speaker-1: What is the start of a podcast, speaker-0: That's really exciting. speaker-1: Is it? Would our industry cope with this? I think... speaker-0: I think this is what the industry really needs. speaker-1: Down inside, I feel it's something the industry needs. But maybe I'm getting old and just feel change doesn't happen. But then on the flip side of it, I do also sit there and think, be the change. Yeah. I guess here we are doing the podcast. Yeah. speaker-0: Here we are. So how do you see it working? speaker-1: That is a good question. Like all great ideas, it's in here somewhere in my mind. But I think, well, I guess the start is we've got to name the podcast and the whole thought around the podcast was how we get the voices of the industry out to the industry and not just the lighting or highway electrical industry, the wider infrastructure industry. Coupled with that, we've got an AI boom, know, innovation, the next gen if we can call them that, always talk about works, what is it, works smarter, not harder. But that led me to think that actually when you think about it, we don't talk enough about what we do and everything that is led through AI, innovation, tech, starts with human interface. So for me, I thought we needed to get that point across. Everything is built by people. Funny enough, I'm going to actually name check Kelly Smith on this because she packed me in a LinkedIn post the other day and it's a really great image and it talks about we design everything, we build everything, everything we do starts with a human interaction and I guess that's where I'm at with this, that this is a built by people podcast where we talk to the people that build things ultimately in the infrastructure. speaker-0: Yeah, that's super exciting. That is really exciting. So in terms of, are you going to be the next Jonathan Ross? Is it going to be a Graham Norton style type thing? What's the format? What's the format? speaker-1: That is a good question. Do you not know the format? What I do know is that I want it to be conversational. I want it to be fun. I want people to learn from it, but not necessarily the typical learning, technical details and stuff like that. There's so many great people in our industry. When you think about, you know, like sales directors, chief executives, charities that work within our industry, you've got the LIA, speaker-0: No, don't know anything about the full right. speaker-1: ILP, the HA, their CEOs, something to be fair, I would suggest that all three of them CEOs are relatively new CEOs in our universe of lighting and highway electrical. Previous CEOs have done what, seven, eight, nine, 10 years, stuff like that. So yeah, you know, get to know them, talk to them. But I think a real passion for me on it is bringing the next gen on as well. People that maybe don't have a platform or don't have a voice. To get them on. talk to them to see what the older generation can learn from them. But equally transitions to the younger generation, learn from the older generation, podcast and stuff like that. But definitely 100 % is to have a bit of fun. And where it goes, I guess time will tell. speaker-0: When's it all happening? What's the timescales launching? speaker-1: That's a good question. This is it. This is the launch. think you know, Ryan, when we talk about business, you can plan perfection forever and never make any progress. a couple of things happened in the last couple of weeks that some people listening, say some people listening, if anyone's listening, first episode, prompted us to move quicker on it. So as I say, a week on here, we are recording this intro element to it so we get to know the podcast. I think we will record and release maybe monthly, bi-weekly, but it all depends on the appetite of what people want from this and the traction it gains. But I guess that leads on to a different area. So if you think about now, where we're talking about launching a podcast and kind of having an idea where we want it to go. You know, I've previously had my role as president of the HTA and we spoke about Next Gen. I've seen all the great YLP things that are being done. Everyone's doing great things for the next generation. I'm happy to hand this over. This is, yes, this is DFL delivering a podcast, but this is not for DFL exclusive. This is an industry podcast. So I just want to grow something with team, get the rest of the team on, know, so people can meet the team. Engineering historically has been a very, engineers don't show their colors a lot of the time if that's a. fair thing to say and I just want to get them personalities across. and I both know we look after the sales and marketing within the FL and when you we work with these great people day in day out, but they don't often get enough opportunity to get out and about or our clients to meet them and stuff like that. yeah, yeah. It's a springboard, I guess the direction it goes. I want it to be around people and topics of discussion for, you know, industry and stuff like that. I don't want people to see that as closed industry lighting or highway electrical, it's infrastructure industry. It'd be great to reach out into other skills and disciplines and bring them on and talk to them so that our industry can learn from other industry of what their headaches or challenges are or what they come up against. speaker-0: Thought leadership, thought provoking conversation, that sort of thing. speaker-1: Yeah, a bit of fun. It always amazes me when we we do our day to day, we price the works, we deliver the works, we're talking to doing this. Only a certain events here when you're like the Highway Electrical annual conference, we do a lot of the ILP summits that we do. You see this great cluster of people come together, but then you go for a month or two with maybe not seeing speaking or under, you know, I just want to try and build something that shares experience and gets people to know people before just turning up to an event. I genuinely believe, and I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent now, and I feel a bit silly because I'm self promoting myself, but it was a really poignant moment at the HTA conference last year where I have no doubt people have the bonkers stuff I put on social media. People come up to you and it's a bar. It breaks a barrier. They talk to you. So I saw your post. Yeah. That's what I want this to do on a bigger scale. You know, I'm quite comfortable posting rubbish on social media. Yes, I'm doing it for interaction, but I'm also trying to break down barriers when I'm out and about and someone comments on something. Yeah, it's building a lead or an opportunity for me to engage in. But on a, you know, a personal development perspective, particularly for the younger generation. that they can build their personal brands and social presence just to create an opportunity for people to get to know people, create opportunity, and I'll keep coming back to have a bit of fun. I love it. speaker-0: I'm on board. ⁓ I guess there's only one thing to say then, isn't it? It's a case of ⁓ watch this space. DFL built by people. speaker-1: Yeah, let's we could yeah, yeah, I can't even get it right the FL built by people What would say is tables turned we've now got a first guest on the podcast Ryan. How does it feel to be the first guest on the podcast? speaker-0: ⁓ I'm honored to be the first guest on the podcast. Thank you for having me on. It's very strange when you sit in the chair and the microphones in front of you and the cameras are there and you go, ⁓ don't be a robot, don't be a robot. speaker-1: And that's one of the things I want to break down is that it just goes into conversation now. One of the things I really want to talk to you about is Banner Bulkhead, but we're not going to talk about that today because I think that's a whole episode in its own right. speaker-0: don't think we've got enough time today for that, have we? speaker-1: But just quickly, I say quickly, know, take as much time as you want, but I can't deliver a six hour podcast. They obviously not listen to me. Tell us about your route into the industry and what led you to the FL so people can understand. Yeah. Okay. And I'm going to be really cliche now why the light bulb came on your head. speaker-0: So from a really early age, I'm going to go all out here and really spill the beans because there's not many people that know this. did you ever know the Matthew Kelly TV show on a Saturday night, Stars in Their Eyes? You might have caught So I was about six or seven at the time and we used to watch that on a Saturday night, me and my sister, my mum and dad. And I would be sat in the corner of the living room pretending to do the lights on stage. speaker-1: This is a speaker-0: And from there, just sort of, it just skyrocketed to be honest. I sort of got into doing like mini discos and things like that. When I was like school age, I did the school discos, bought my own lights set up and sound desk and like, I had all the music and everything. then I was like, 10 year old doing the school disco for? But I absolutely loved it. And it was, it was great banter in the playground and it was ⁓ it's DJ RC, DJ RC. speaker-1: This nickname's coming out now. speaker-0: Yeah, completely. It's something about this chair. just unleashes some truth serum in it. So from then, all through school I was involved in like the stage crew and stuff like that for the Pantomimes. I never really wanted to be in front of camera. I always wanted to be behind camera, behind the scenes, making stuff happen. So I know, I know some things you just got to I'm ready. I'm ready. speaker-1: You know you're in front of I know. speaker-0: But no, I did a lot of the lighting design for lot of school plays and shows and then got involved in the Theatre Royal down in Plymouth. Got involved in lighting young company productions and stuff that they would put on. So I went to a set design group on a Wednesday night after school. And it was great because everybody in there wanted to like do all the scenic painting and wanted to build steps and all the rest of it and like build the actual what it looked like on stage. And I was like, yeah, no, I'm cool doing the lighting. And they were like... We've never had anybody before that wanted to do the lighting crack on. So we did that. ⁓ and then I went and studied lighting design and technology at uni for three years. And that, that really set me off on a, on a path of initially wanting to be, ⁓ touring with Lady Gaga, but that that's not as, ⁓ it's not as exciting as it's cracked up. speaker-1: I'm trying to think of how we've equally offered you opportunities like that, I don't think we can stretch that. speaker-0: it's all right, Rich, it's okay. I don't mind being your roadie. But now during that second year of uni, we got into environmental lighting design and I could really see how you could make much more of a difference through lighting within the environment and making sure that that's done responsibly and environmentally responsibly, that it's considerate of nature and also creates It creates an evening space and ambience where people feel like they want to be there and enjoy it and kind of promotes that. We say feeling a safety perception, safety, all that kind of thing. It's everything that goes into into lighting the night time environment. And that's where I found my passion. Did my sort of dissertation actually in LED street lighting and the rollouts of LED and things to look out for and bits and pieces like that. ⁓ which is kind of a fairly hot topic in the industry now really, of fast forwarding on nearly 14 years, I think it is. So yeah, I graduated from uni and was really fortunate enough to walk straight into a role at DFL. I was offered a role ⁓ as a lighting engineer, sort of straight out of uni and the rest is history really. I would say I want to look back. That's me. That's how I ended up where I... speaker-1: And you've been at DFL, I should know, I do know this, 10 years. Yeah, 10 and years. Do you know why I should know this? ⁓ speaker-0: I because you got married the week that I started. speaker-1: That is correct. Yeah. So I was panicking, my wife ever hears this and I can't remember I'm in trouble. And you know, it's great that you've been at one business for that period of time. And I think that's testament to your hard work, everything you do. You're now out on the road, shall we say with me in terms of the sales marketing and BD of what we're looking at. What's been the absolute highlight across the 10 years? Best project or best moment in or out of work with work? Like what have you enjoyed the most? speaker-0: mean, it's been an incredible 10 years to be completely honest with you. think Highlight is probably winning the sort good lighting award from the commission of the Dark Skies for Dorothy House. So was a really, really tough project quite early on in my sort of career, to be honest, and kind of going up against residents with pitchforks and stuff and sort of trying to get the message across that it won't be like Wembley at the end of the speaker-1: It speaker-0: end of your driveway. And then ⁓ when it was all commissioned, eventually being granted planning. And those same residents came up and went, ⁓ sorry about that. That looks all right. And then, getting the Darts Guys Award for that was, I think, I'd say a really good project highlight for me. Because it's been dear to my heart for years, that environmentally responsible. approach to lighting. speaker-1: It has been a great project for DFL, hasn't it? And I guess the flip side, what's been the hardest or toughest thing at DFL? Do you want me to help you with that? speaker-0: ⁓ I would say a lot of the sort of the moments that you would class as tough at DFL have been more on that journey of self-discovery and kind of working out, ⁓ kind of got that wrong or kind of got this wrong. Probably the way that I think I'm quite an emotional person, to be honest, and a lot of what I do carries a lot of emotion behind it. And I think the one thing that I probably wish I got a little bit better in my earlier days was to be less emotively involved in things. But ⁓ I think that's all part of the journey that everybody goes on. speaker-1: And I think one of the things I would say to you on that is, we've all been there. And one of the things I've learned, particularly in recent years, I, you know, everything last year in terms of me losing weight, that, the other journeys of self discovery that you talk about. The one thing I would say is never change. Like if you are an emotional person, that's fine. Obviously take on board feedback. I'm not just talking to you now. I'm just any new people in industry. You know how we speak to the lamp Academy. The personalities are what make us, I guess that brings us back to this podcast and what we're doing and trying to get them personality out of people and stuff like that. But I did chuckle because sitting there going, what is the biggest, like the toughest moments in DFL? I think one, you and I both share as toughest moments are when we don't hit targets. We've had a good few months recently, again, I think industry can resonate that whilst you can have the fun and you're developing business, we're doing crazy podcasts and stuff like this. speaker-0: Yeah, there is that, yeah. speaker-1: Business needs, you know, sales numbers, product delivered and stuff like that. And there's always a serious side to it. But I think, yeah, like it's how you pick yourself up from the moment. So again, it's, it's hard, but I think you will see as we've gone through the business with DFL and where we're at and stuff, nothing's ever the same where we have a bad month. You know, we can pull levers and change things and good months come. As long as you stick to your principles, know we've got our visions and quality is a massive one with that. When you hit that right, distance plays key. So guess the flip side of that and the trick for us is that this is value to our audience of one at the minute or whoever subscribed. Yeah. We keep the consistency because I do hope this is something that can add value to. speaker-0: Yeah, exactly. It really is. And if I may just ask a question back to you. speaker-1: Does that make me the second guest? I know. speaker-0: Anyway, we'll work that out. But obviously you transitioned from being sort of a project engineer, worked right through sort of the project management side and are now, you know, one of the owners of the business. What does that look like for you sort of as an owner for the business and how have you sort of changed yourself over time to kind of change from that role of being involved in the projects and that'd be effectively ensuring that the company's able to pay everybody tomorrow. speaker-1: Yeah, that is a massive question. And again, I reckon I could do a good hour on that. But I think in terms of the journey, a couple of the key takeaways I would take from it is that know what you're good at and know what you might not be as great at. And the reason I say that I remember from my days when I worked at a large multidisciplinary consultancy, massive PDR processes. And one of my mentors there said to me, said, You're a good engineer, Richard, but you're also really good at communicating with people and talking to people. And he said, that's hard to find in engineers, like great engineers often. I don't mean to be harsh to engineers, but struggle to communicate or articulate in the, you know, with their clients and stuff like that. And that's part of why I want this podcast because all engineers are great. It's about understanding. It's about working out how you interact with different people in different ways to get. the best outcomes from them. I was in it from an early age, like in my career, it was pointed out to me that I'm good, you know, articulating and communicating with clients and, know, bringing people on board in terms of what we're trying to achieve. And then I guess I joined DFL and I was on the technical side as an engineer and I was given a client, ⁓ we energies and services back then that are now at Kwan's. I developed business with them. I'm assuming I'd like to think Alistair and Ian were then there saw how much I was developing that side of the business off the back of what they'd done with the FI work. And it just kind of snowballed from there. And obviously Andy, the side is our MD and I work closely with him, you know, it's me and him that run the business a lot of day to day. And he really knows how to look after the technical side of the business. And I say this, bit lighthearted, but I think the team went, you know what, let's push Richard the door. He goes sales marketing. And I'll be honest with you. I've probably been doing this role seven years from the sales BD perspective. And now I'm learning marketing elements of it, but I'm no expert. But it's about learning. There's a lot for academic learning, which we do need, but also again, to the next generation, I'd say suck in. give it go. That's what I did. You know, it might be another episode. I left college after my first year. didn't complete college, got an apprenticeship and that was my route through, you know, that was, you know, that had loads of different directions that it went in. But the biggest value I got from learning as I went, I wasn't a written learner, know, an academic learner. learned from experience and stuff like that. to summarize that, I always chuckle. Because I bring it back to this point when you say, do you, how do you feel about like having to pay the wages next week, this, that, the other. It doesn't matter whether you're talking to me, you're talking to the CEO of Red Row Home or the Prime Minister. They are all pretty much just, I don't want to say crisis management, but they're dealing with what's in front of them. They're on the go. They're seeing what the issue is of today and how they can fix that for tomorrow. And it comes back to kind of our slogan. slogan that we work within DFL in so much as it's solutions to problems. Like one of the biggest things I struggle with and you know, I talk about this a lot in business when we're talking with clients. If a client comes to us and says, this is my problem, we need to turn around and go here is an option or a solution. It's no good if we come back and say, senior problem and we see this, this, this, and this risk and we could do this, but we think this, but we're not sure. They've still got that pain on their plate. So. One of the guiding things for me when we're going through and what any problem that's put in front of me, the podcast or anything is what is the solution? The problem, the problem here, I think, is that we're not vocal enough within our industry and externally in the industry. Solution is let's put two mics in front of us, kick off a podcast, see where it goes. So I guess that's it really. I know that goes everywhere. ⁓ speaker-0: That's great. It's really nice to hear that insight from you, Richard. speaker-1: I think wrap it up there. think I don't know where this is going to go. What's going to happen. Please give us feedback. I think technical people tell me that you can get it on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram. You'll see snippets on LinkedIn. We'll put it on the Spotify platforms and stuff like that. So you can listen to it. I thought is people who listen to it on the car to and from appointments, maybe lunch breaks and stuff like that. But This is something and it's exactly what it says is built by people. You are them people. If there's things that people want to see or hear on this, just drop a comment. that cliche thing I've got, click on the subscribe button below or whatever it is, but all of that stuff, like it requires interaction. If you think you want to be a guest on the show, it gives a shout. A couple of people that we've got lined up already that we think added real value to the industry and should be good fun on sofas, the chairs. Yeah. We need to. tidy it up a little bit, I don't dispute that, but like I say, with anything, we could wait for perfection and go nowhere, or we can make progress and crack on. So I guess that is the end of episode one. speaker-0: Let's go and prepare some cue cards. speaker-1: Good work, buddy.