The Next Generation

An article written by Hannah Carroll of EnLightenment Magazine

What was your childhood like?

Growing up in a family business often means that the business becomes an extension of the family. Going to work on a weekend is akin to going to grandma’s house. When we were younger, my father and mother would often take us to the office on the weekend or school holidays. We would race around the warehouse in our fisher-price roller skates jumping on the assembly line intermittently. The various individuals working with my parents were also like family. For instance, our shipping manager, Cindi, would tear the perforated sides off the continuous green bar printing paper, hand us a paper clip and we would make pompoms out of them. Many of those employees from those days at work have continue to work and have even brought in their children to work.

Summer holidays were a mix of a family holiday followed by business trips. We would go and visit new and current vendors. Learn about production, quality and cultural communication differences. We saw and experienced the world in a very unique way. Growing up it never felt like work or learning, but we learned a lot from those experience. Probably the biggest growth benefited from those years was a deep respect for our parents, the business and the people we worked with.

Did you grow up wanting to eventually take over?

Our parents are very hard workers. We grew up seeing them do something that they really cared about every day. Given all the hours we spent throughout our youth playing at the company and working at the company, we too bore a love and passion for this business, the people and the art. It wasn’t about putting in hours in exchange for a paycheck or prestige. You might even say that subconsciously we all always knew that we would one day work at Maxim. However, we each focused our studies on loosely related subjects that eventually helped us become stronger candidates to mitigate problems, foresee changes and look at situations in the greater picture. 

My older sister, Cally ( our Nickname for her stemming from Michal), went to Simmons College majoring in Economics which allows her to look at the business at an analytical level helping assist in new business developments. Naomi, my other sister went to USC and graduated with a degree in International Relations with emphasis on the political economy and Southeast Asia as well as minored in Business. She is the companies Chief Operating Officer. I majored in graphic design with a received a master’s in Marketing, giving me more of that artistic outlook as well as the insight to buying behaviors towards trends, ads and newer ideas of how to Market products. This has allowed us to take the Marketing department to the future. Dahlia, my younger sister went to the Art Institute to study advertising and is key in launching our new hospitality line, Studio?M. Nathan, the only boy, studied at CalPoly San Luis Obispo with interests in Architecture and a degree in construction management. He lives full time in China, speaks fluent mandarin, and focuses his time on managing our oversees operations, working on design, production, quality etc. Our roles are specific and integrated. We would all love together to take the company into the next generation and onward. He also lives full time in China, speaks fluent mandarin, and focuses his time on managing our oversees operations, working on design, production, quality etc. Each one has set up their mark in their area. Even though we might have practiced different fields, none of us could see ourselves doing anything other than working at Maxim. We enjoy it and work that much harder because its more than a job, it’s our family.

How has the industry changed within your lifetime?

Being in a family business you become privy to a history of change that extends beyond the specific time period that you work within the industry. We saw manufacturing move from the US to Mexico and China. We were witness to a change in relationship, however slight, in the design and production when a different manufacturer is executing the production. Given the increase in outlets of production, we also saw a big influx of designs as each of the manufacturers we worked with tried to find their niche and experimented with design and technology. Technology moved quickly, as general rule in my generation. Lighting was no different. We were early adopters of LED technology and learned as much and as quickly as we could all the relates to its technology and design. We continue to study and evolve accordingly. Currently we are also seeing a bursting of aggregate information on sales trends, pricing, etc. We are tapping into that information to apply to new designs, argue on price, promote product and share with our sales representatives and customers (showrooms, electrical distributors, builders, eCommerce and sales reps so that the entire team can benefit.  

Has it been hard expressing your views or implementing changes? Has there been something you’ve fought for that paid off?

When coming into a company that has been around for nearly 50 years there is experience and understanding of the industry the is invaluable. Nonetheless, there are changes that are occurring in a much more rapid pace that requires committed individuals to learn, educate or use as a platform for change. Regardless however of the pace of change, executing a change without first consulting and explaining the reasons for the need would be foolish. There have been many initiatives, small and large, that I have brought to execute over the years. The same is true for my siblings and others within the company. One remarkable characteristic of Maxim is the ability of the ownership to listen with an open heart and value whether it makes sense, now or in the future, and whether the steps to executing the initiative or goal make sense. They then guide or explain why it is not a current priority.

What has been your greatest struggles, relating to Maxim?

I don’t really like the word “struggle” because it has a sense of drowning or failing before you even start. I think of it more like a challenge or puzzle that with the right plan and utilizing all your past experiences and knowledge you have the potential to overcome. Learning how to best organize a thought around a goal and provide what you feel are all the necessary components took time to realize. Additionally, when given clearance to execute, understanding the fine balance between push and pull with those you are working with or need to work with was a normal growing pain.

I believe that also, in the beginning people on the outside look at you us as Daddy’s little girl/boy born with a silver spoon. However, with a short amount of time they realized that this family works hard to make things better not just milk it for what it has. We are the first one’s in, last one’s out. We have an open door policy that allows people to come in and express concerns and ideas freely. Since Maxim is our family, we encourage ideas from any level because the greater good is Maxim them growing is Maxim growing. . I think the openness, the apparent love of the company and its people gave us respect and quickly changed their views.

What are you doing to stay current? What have you brought to the family business?

The good thing about Maxim being a family member is that we put a lot of effort to make sure we know exactly how the environment is and how to “raise her”. All of us stay up-to date on current trends. We go to the interior design, lighting and art shows, we read the latest business, interior design and technology reports. In our spare time we visit open houses to see what is currently trending. The most important is we ask questions and listen to our customers and sales reps. We even appeal to those outside our industry for consultations. With our diverse work backgrounds, characteristics and skills we each understand another aspect of the environment a little better and we come together for a more well-rounded view of the situation and future. I think the new generation has brought a fresh look at everything. With knowledge of the past but experience from the presence our ideas have pushed us into the future.

What are your thoughts on e-commerce, branding, and utilizing social media?

Social media allows you to reach greater numbers of the demographic you are seeking at a higher level of transparency into result and conversation. Social media is also a living advertisement that is continuously growing and very easy to get lost in. When done well it’s the best tool to create brand awareness, advertise events, products and successes. In today’s age, when not used at all its almost inevitable that your brand will disappear. Social media is also a great tool to reach the end user and get a better understanding on who they are and what moves them. Collecting and aggregating this information provides insights previously left absent from the distributor decision making process. This data is essential to production, quality and shaping your brand so it stays relevant.

E-commerce is also medium to grow brand and collect insights into the buying process and incentives of the end user. Through our experience we have grown our content to a very robust multi-faceted program; video, high resolution shots, multi angled shots, lit and unlit, enhanced specification sheets, reviews, etc. Consumers research and comment online in a way that we can collect and understand to continue to enhance the quality of our information. Consumers may buy instore or online. Whether the mode of sale, the consumer is ever the more savvy and providing them with the resources to better assist in the buying cycle is something we aim to achieve.

Where do you see the business/industry in the next 5 to 10 years?

I think that the way the world is going with technology the world itself is becoming greatly smaller and information is in reach from all “corners” . This being said, global design would be the trend; meaning that there will be a more homogenized style that will be the trend around the world. I think this will have the greatest effect of Showrooms, e-commerce and electrical distributors alike. All will have the same objective and would have to fight harder to step out above all. They will all need that something that makes them special, a heightened level of service, something like concierge service, pro-type knowledge of the trend, installation and pricing. It will be the goal of the Sales representatives to feed all the necessary information and regurgitate the comments to the manufactures to insure products, literature, and content is created to facilitate a sale.

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