From supporting industry networking to giving back to the community, the ALA Women in Lighting Committee is changing the face of the lighting industry.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Raelle Bell sits down with Laura Van Zeyl of Dallas Market Center and Karyn Hayes of Hinkley to discuss their work over the past five years building and growing the ALA Women in Lighting (WIL) Committee. Learn how you can get involved in WIL and ALA. Plus, they dive into the trends impacting the industry and what they might mean for the coming years.

Show notes

Laura Van Zeyl has been a leading figure in the lighting, home, and design industries since 1993, initially as an editor with Residential Lighting, Accessory Merchandising and Home Fashion Forecast magazines for more than two decades. Since 2016, Van Zeyl has worked on lighting events for Dallas Market Center, including Lightovation and ArchLIGHT Summit. Van Zeyl co-founded and chaired the Women in Lighting Committee for the American Lighting Association and currently leads the Committee’s Marketing Subcommittee. She also serves on the Advisory Board for ART - The Creative Home Furnishings Network, the Advisory Board for The H Foundation and the Allied Roundtable for AIA Dallas. She is a member of Women in Lighting + Design (WILD), an Affiliate member of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) and an Associate Member of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES).

Karyn Hayes is the Director of Sales – Showroom for Hinkley. Karyn began her career in the lighting industry in 1993 as the National Business Manager for Lighting at Ferguson Enterprises, Corporate. She began her career in 2012 with Hinkley as East Regional Sales Manager, moving to showroom sales manager for North America in 2016. In 2023, she took over as director of sales for showrooms. In this role, she manages regional sales managers, independent sales representatives and oversees approximately 500 customers for the showroom channel. As an active member of Women in Lighting since its inception, Karyn has been involved in guiding the committee and leading program development. In her current role, she serves on the mentoring subcommittee.

Connect with the ALA Women in Lighting Committee online:

Website: https://alamembers.com/About/Women-in-Lighting

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alawomeninlighting/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/172917563271464

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12461288/

Join ALA and the ALA Women in Lighting Committee in Palm Beach, Sept. 22-24, 2024, at the ALA Conference. Register here: https://www.alaconference.com

Host: Raelle Bell

Producer: Association Briefings