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Simplifying Life Through Technology
SoundVision LLC is a lifestyle technology company located in Mooresville, North Carolina. We interview vendors, clients and staff with the purpose of demystifying the capabilties of new technologies for your home or business and sometimes highlighting local content that is important to our community.
Simplifying Life Through Technology
15 Year Anniversary
On this episode of “SoundVision Tech Talks,” Mark and Andrew sit down to discuss SoundVision's 15 Year Anniversary.
In this milestone episode, we celebrate 15 years of SoundVision. What began at a kitchen table and grew into a team-driven company built on one clear mission: simplifying life through technology. We reflect on the evolution of our work, the people who shaped our path, and the vision that’s steering us into the next decade.
We unpack the turning points that defined who we are today: transitioning sales and operations to dedicated experts, formalizing a culture rooted in the Golden Rule and core values, and embracing the slow, steady discipline of getting just 1% better every day.
From 2010 to now, the technology, and the expectations, have transformed. Early projects centered around 5.1 surround systems, basic whole-home audio, and simple automation. Today, we design around robust networks, tunable architectural lighting, automated shades in nearly every project, micro-LED displays, and theaters where engineering, design, and reliability finally align. Remote service has also become a signature strength—what started as a necessity grew into one of the most thoughtful, efficient ways we support our clients.
But at the center of our story is the people. We highlight the team members who elevated our trajectory, the clients and builders who trusted us with their homes, and the vendor partners who showed up to celebrate with us. We extend special gratitude to our wider community, including a heartfelt thank-you to the veterans whose service protects the freedoms we enjoy. And for the first time, we share a behind-the-scenes look at our “vivid vision” process—how writing down a ten-year plan helped us achieve most of it in six, and why the next chapter is all about legacy, sustainable growth, and creating spaces that bring ease, security, and joy.
As we look back on 15 years of growth, challenges, breakthroughs, and the people who made each year possible, this episode offers a true behind-the-scenes look at what shaped SoundVision, and what will define our next chapter. Whether you’ve followed our journey from the beginning or you’re just discovering who we are, this conversation captures the heart of where we’ve been and the clarity of where we’re headed.
To learn more about SoundVision:
https://www.svavnc.com/
Check out our Instagram to see our recent projects:
https://www.instagram.com/soundvisionllc/
To listen to more “Simplifying Life Through Technology” podcasts:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7fIkJuLZ7lZ8xbafz62muQ
Contact Us Today: (704) 696-2792 Ext. 1 | Info@svavnc.com | soundvisionlkn.com
Welcome to Sound Vision's Tech Talks, where we dive into trending topics and expert advice to help you make informed decisions about your home entertainment, automation, and more. Whether you're planning a new project or just curious about the possibilities, Tech Twilks is your go-to source for staying updated on all things technology. 15 years of Sound Vision. What an accomplishment. So 15 years ago, Soundvision started with a simple mission to simplify life through technology.
SPEAKER_00:Actually, you know, that's the thing that we would tell people. 15 years ago, it started because I was broke and I needed to pay rent.
SPEAKER_01:How did Sound Vision come to me?
SPEAKER_00:Actually, it's really ironic because I started Soundvision. The name was actually taken from Soundvision from the West Coast, and it was my eBay selling name. And I had gone through a really bad divorce. I think we talked about this in the the whole history of Soundvision previous podcast. The Origin Story podcast. The Origin Story, yeah. But I was broke at the time and needed to sell stuff. And so because I knew electronics, I was selling electronics. So I liked the name Soundvision. So that was my eBay name to sell stuff. That's where the name came from. But yes, that started. And then why it's so ironic is because we are actually finishing a job today, right now, of a customer who is the customer that I was sitting at their table who wrote a checkout for a collidescape system. And at the time they said, who should we write the checkout to? And I had been working for another company that I was gonna leave. It's a long story. But I I said, Well, if they write the checkout to this other company, I'll make a little commission and I'll make a certain amount of money. Yeah. And then if they write it out to Sound Vision, I'll make like a lot more money. I'll have like about three months to basically not have to sell anything else and figure it out. Right. And so, like at the second at that table, I made the decision for her to write the checkout to Soundvision. And it's so ironic because literally today, we're finishing a house for that same customer right now. Are you we really? We really are. That is the God's honest truth. Talk about a full circle moment. Full circle moment. So there's the 15 years. Well, that's kind of incredible. So I've always been passionate about the simplifying life through technology. That's always been our tagline. And the golden rule is very, very important to me. And I try to keep that at the forefront here, along with our five core values. But yes, that's 15 years.
SPEAKER_01:Again, we do have another podcast, The Origin Story. If you want to hear more about the whole birth of the company, but why don't we get into just a little bit maybe of some of the key highlights over the years, notable moments, and then we'll get into the 15-year celebration that we had.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so the evolution part, my previous company, I've said this before, I felt like I had to be involved in everything. And I was kind of the center of the wheel, the hub kind of thing, and everything had to go through me. And I was very naive at the time about how business worked and how inefficient that is and how fraught with challenges that is. So I would say that the evolution really came when we started Soundvision. I say we because my wife Kristen is very integral in this as well. We grew by strategically saying, hey, what am I not as good in, or what would I not like to do as much? And I had reached out to a good friend of mine, Zach Simpson, who's our CSO and has been here for quite some time now. Not all 15 years, but he's probably about 12 or something like that. He's been there for the journey. He's been there for the journey. And I said, you know, I really need a salesperson. I had had a friend who was helping me and then got his dream job and he left. I asked Zach, do you know anybody? And Zach said, Oh, it's me for lunch. And it turned out to be Zach. And then when we went on our first sales call, I've said this many times. I said like one sentence and he took it from there. Anybody that knows Zach can believe that. Yes, the gift of gap. He definitely has the gift of gap. And you know, from there, he basically has run sales. And the same thing happened with Michelle when we did operations, and that was maybe a couple of years later. And so we've done that over time. We've really decided, hey, we're gonna hire these all-star people. And there's Andrew, you are one.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, thank you.
SPEAKER_00:There's a number of folks here that are exceptionally gifted and passionate and have a great attitude and all that. And in this case, what we did is we said, all right, we're gonna give you the playbook and then get the heck out of your way and let you spread your wings and do your thing. Yeah. And that has been so much more freeing and whatnot. And it is, I think, what really has helped us achieve whatever modicum of success that we're at now is really just on the wings of everybody that's here.
SPEAKER_01:And I think how you said passion, how everyone here has passion. Going back to our culture, which you can listen to our previous podcast. That is something why I think our culture is so strong, because everyone here does have a passion for what they do, and that really does make a difference on a daily basis.
SPEAKER_00:I agree. Putting people in the right seat on the bus somewhere that they excel, that they really love. You know, we have Callie, works in our accounting department, and when we interviewed Callie, we like to ask folks in our interviews what their passion is. And she said her passion was inventory management. Now, for anybody out there that has a small business, there's no one out there that goes, oh, somebody's passionate about inventory control. Inventory management. What? Like, but you know what? People are uh and shame on you for not asking the question. You shame on me for not doing that. But yes, you're right. The passion is what makes us so I want to say successful, but it's people just that enjoy what they're doing. And it's really fun. Like you come in and for the most part, we have days, of course, but yeah, for the most part, like everybody's in a good mood and you goof around and everybody just has fun. And so that shows, I think, with our customers.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:The other thing is when you do that, or what I've found is we have advanced like so much. My dad always had this saying, you know, be 1% better every day. You don't have to grow like enormously, but just be 1% better every day. And if you are, you're 365% better at the end of the year, which is you know, incredible, yeah. And so we never like rest, we're always working on something and something in each little area. We're working on something in the warehouse, and we're working on something in engineering and in marketing and in finance and in sales and in project management and in service and in like it just goes on and on and on. And each little thing, not everything works, but when you do that, like a lot of it does, right? And it just gets better and better. Or you learn from your failures.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Over the years, obviously, the industry has changed kind of what we're selling, what people are focused on buying. Why don't we go over from like start to finish?
SPEAKER_00:Oh my gosh. Or start to present. Not only is the industry changed, the jobs that we do have changed. Back in 2010, when we started, we did a lot of you know 5.1 surround sound, Dolby surround, Dolby AC3 surround sound systems, and we did, you know, some whole house speakers with really big, like six and eight inch speakers in the ceiling. We did lighting control a little bit, but it was very archaic at the time, very rudimentary, very unpolished. We did security systems, and the system in the beginning didn't talk either. You had a bunch of separate systems. There were things like fast out there and early on stuff, which kind of would make all this work, but it was difficult. Yeah, nothing like today. Today, oh my goodness, the stuff, the fit and finish of things, the quality, the options, you know, shades. Like who thought we would sell automated shades? And now there's very few jobs we do that don't include shades. Oh, absolutely. The automation, the level of automation, whether it's you know, we have TVs coming out of granite, you know, at pools, we've got them coming out of the floors, we've got them coming out of the ceilings, we've got micro LED walls, we've got all kinds of cool theaters. Uh, we had one where a guy came from California and painted a black light ceiling. So, like on the day when you turn it on, it was just like a white ceiling, but when at night when you turn it on, it was like the whole starlight and so cool. It was, yeah, it was incredible. It was incredible. By the way, that guy, he was an artist and he's from California, and he didn't rent a car when he came here. Oh, no, no. So he walked through drive-throughs. He was here for like two weeks. Yeah. He was here for like two weeks and he walked through drive-throughs. And I heard, I did not see this. This is third party. I heard he did one like barefoot. Like he just walked out barefoot.
SPEAKER_01:Oh god, no. Uh if walking through it wasn't bad enough.
SPEAKER_00:So that was interesting. I mean, we've certainly had our share of interesting projects and the homes now, the businesses that we do, the networks. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01:You need a robust network nowadays.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, how did I even not start with that? In 2010, I'm trying to think if we even did any. I don't think we did. Well, because like everyone kind of just they went and bought a router and hooked up their Wi-Fi and there was commercial stuff out there in the world, but not in homes. Right. But none of that. Right. In fact, in 2010, man, I probably need to fact check this. When did dial up end? When was it that you had high-speed internet? Because I remember it was 14.4 and then 28.8, and then you had ISDN, which was 128 kilobytes. Back then, when we started, there were three main contractors providing services in a home. There was a plumber, there was a heating and air contractor, and there was an electrician. You had those in every home. You had those everywhere. Yeah. We are now the fourth. Now it's not necessarily the audio video, but network, you have to have it. In any of these modern homes, you see.
SPEAKER_01:You have to have it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. That was definitely not the case in 2010.
SPEAKER_01:Definitely not. And how you were saying back then lighting was you did a little bit of lighting. Now, again, lighting is so huge of what we do.
SPEAKER_00:It is. Network has been the biggest change. We can go into cameras too, because that's a whole nother thing. But lighting is the biggest moment by moment change that we've had over the 15 years. We didn't install any fixtures. We didn't install any can lights. We didn't install any tape lighting or linear lighting. Sorry, tape's old, it was tape back then. We didn't install, you know, any fancy track lighting or color change or color temperature. None of that. That doesn't even, I mean, it existed, but it was not in our rarity, yeah. Yeah, not in our world.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Now, again, we almost don't do a job that we don't have some of it in. Oh, yeah. It's really incredible. We've talked so many times on the podcast about all the benefits, so I won't go into that here. But if you want to talk about massive change in our industry, network is one, lighting is two, shades is probably three, followed by just automation, the quality of theaters or whether it's man caves or she sheds or whatever, just out of this world stuff that's available now.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's incredible. Through the years, are there any moments that really jump out at you that you feel were key success moments? Tell us some highlights.
SPEAKER_00:I would say that all the folks that have come in here, especially the the ones that have been here a long time. We have some that aren't necessarily with us anymore, still some really good folks, but the contributions from the folks here. Andrew, the way you have elevated our marketing presence, you know, maybe we're not the best, but we are way in the top 20%, like for sure. And we're trying to get to be the best. We are. And Mike O'Dowd on service side, and you know, I've already mentioned Zach and Marshall and sales. You know, I go down to talk about everybody, but that's really been kind of the most what's the word I'm looking for? Not proud sounds like a dad thing. I mean, it it just makes me feel the best to know that we have like so many good folks here that are so much better than I am at that position. And I think you know, I was doing all those positions for a while. Yeah. And now every once in a while we have a rack from many years ago that I may have wired and people laugh. Yes, eh? Yes, we do. But so we we have much better technical skill now. But you know, that's really been the highlight has been the people. You know, right behind that is a lot of the customers. Like we have so many cool customers that we have great relationships with, and that we've been so fortunate to do multiple projects with, or folks that have brought us multiple projects, some of the builders we work with. Oh my gosh. So many cool, so many cool guys that we and girls, you know, that we've worked with over the years. It's really been fun. Like I read on somebody's Instagram the other day, create a life that you don't need a vacation from. I'm big into quotes, and I thought that was a really good one. Yeah. And I am very, very, very fortunate. I feel very blessed, and I'm humbled by I've had the ability to basically quote unquote work in the things that I love so much. I've always been into technology and automation and just being able to play with this stuff every day. I love that. I got to coach soccer for eight years, which is a huge, huge passion of mine. And just being able to do that the way I wanted to do it, it's really a blessing. I hope that we are providing that for the folks that are here. And I hope that we are providing to our customers escapes from their lives, you know, with entertainment, security, you know, a sense of safety, uh, work or school environment, you know, whatever it is. Like we laugh sometimes. We say, We, you know, we're not ditch diggers here. Like we're selling, you know, and we're and and we're not curing cancer and we're not saving people's lives. Like, but the people that are doing that need an escape too. Exactly. Well, that's what we have.
SPEAKER_03:So yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I always find it interesting when uh like anybody walks in, even like delivery guys, they look around and they go, This is awesome. You guys must have fun here. And we do, and that's like kind of the best part is that how you said of being able to go to work and have fun doing a job. Another thing, talking about changes over the years, you mentioned Michael Dowd. Yeah. Could you imagine back in 2010 that you would have your service manager working in Mexico all these years later?
SPEAKER_00:So Michael Dowd got hired in the back of my truck. Uh we were we were driving, uh, me and uh Kevin Newell, who's uh Kevin's a uh nuclear engineer now. But Kevin Newell and Michael Dad, we were driving from here to I can't remember if it was Knoxville or Nashville. We were gonna do a uh uh a conference room, and we were driving all over the East Coast doing these conference rooms, and uh, and we I hired Michael Dad. He'd flown in from Denver and wanted to be around NASCAR, as big into NASCAR at the time. And that's that's where he got an his offer and and acceptance was in the in my truck driving on I-40. Uh Mike has been uh actually the longest if you look at just the time, because there was some there was some couple voids in there of time, but and then uh Mike um through some unfortunate events uh moved to Cozumel. Uh and one of the nice things that happened from the COVID era is you know, we had basically like parted ways with him, and we were working with some other folks who were nice folks, um, but they they weren't Mike. And over COVID, and we started this, you know, he had this whole work from home, and it was like had this kind of epiphany. Well, why can't Mike be the serviceman? Yeah, and he has been for I don't know, five years now. Yeah, it's been a long time. It's crazy, maybe even more than that. So, Mike, sorry if I got the time wrong.
SPEAKER_01:No, but yeah, that is interesting because that was another COVID. It's just how it changed so much for us. And lovely. So uh we recently just had, because of 15 years, our 15-year celebration. And I'm not good.
SPEAKER_00:I I'm I'm not really great with that kind of stuff. Uh I struggle with I I like being I'm like a I'm a really good coach kind of guy. Uh-huh. I like coaching people up. That is definitely part of my persona. Um but I'm not a uh like a get recognition kind of guy. Like I I like to do it and then have all those people be recognized and succeed and all this. Um, you know, we were fortunate when I coached uh that we had a fair amount of success uh at the end. And you know, I would I would get the guys together. I liked being with the guys and like and sharing that in the little private space. Yeah, and hyping them up and uh but then uh when we go out there, so it's the same kind of thing here. Like to it was it was a bit overwhelming uh and it was a bit uh very humbling uh to show up and have so many vendors that that flew in and oh it was incredible because the support that we got from not only our customers, but yes, our vendors was so amazing. Yeah, just to have people come. And yes, you're right, customers. We had uh architects, we had uh uh designers, we had you know builders, we had uh just literally people we've done business with for 15 years. And not only did they come, but they brought these just incredible, thoughtful gifts and it was so sweet, very creative, and uh it was yeah, it was a bit overwhelming. That that's not I don't I I don't know. I feel like I I may have started this. I I'm I'm like the one that put the little snowball together at the top of the mountain and then I pushed it. I stayed at the mountain, the ball did all the work. You know, all the people coming in did all the work. It's it's uh I mean I'd certainly play a part, but but there's just so many people that have made this what it is, and I'm just very thankful. You're the wizard behind the curtain.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I don't know about a wizard. No, but I do again want to thank all of our vendors, our clients, everyone who came out. The night was incredible, one of our best turnouts we had, and it was just great to see everyone having such a Nice time.
SPEAKER_00:I a hundred percent agree. And thank you, yes, for everybody. And you know, I do this is maybe a little odd timing, but we are uh recording this the day after Veterans Day. And I want to uh extend uh just a heartfelt thank you for all the men and women that have served our country and and provided uh you know the freedoms that we I don't want to say take for granted, but that we enjoy every day. And it allows us to do these kind of fun jobs because of their sacrifice. And so um I'm I'm just very thankful. So to all our veterans. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:So 15 years on to 15 more. So what about the future? Not just speaking for you, but for sound vision, what does the future look like? Do you see a vision?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you know, uh I'm a big reader too, and and um I I read a book a while ago uh by an author named Cameron Harold, uh called Vivid Vision. And it's uh it's a great read for anybody, uh not only business to personal, but uh gives you a kind of an outline of what you want your future or company's future to be. And I uh it talks about going in very detailed, and so we did that, and it was a tenure, it's a tenure thing. Um, and we are now like around six years in, and we've eclipsed almost all of it. I read it like at least every quarter to everybody here.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And for one reason, so that they can hear like you know, things that they're like, well, wait a minute, we've already done that. Well, we've already done that. We've already done that, we've already done that. Yeah, you're right. Most of the list. Most of it's done. And and it's just having that vision there, yeah, so that your brain can work on it. Um and you can you can devote resources to it and that sort of thing. So another thing about business is I guess after you've been around for a while and you you've not you're not gonna go out of business tomorrow. You know, we're we're we're fair, we're we're stable. I mean, you not nothing's given or guaranteed, but we're in a good place. It's more the legacy of what that's gonna be down the road. And so I've really started devoting time and thinking about that, you know what I I I certainly don't I certainly just don't want to shut the doors one day. Yeah. And I would really um love this to live past me, uh, whether that's well, it'll you know, retirement at some point, and then you know, I'm gonna go. Um so I'd I'd love for it to be around uh to um you know help other families that work here and provide for our customers uh down the road too. So uh, you know, what does that look like? We're we have been fortunate to expand. We've uh got another location now in Wilmington, uh the guys at Sound Decisions, um, which have been around for 36 years before us, so they certainly have been doing a lot of stuff right. Yeah. And uh and we get to work with them. And so that's something um not necessarily a plan of of doing more yet, but also not like off the table. So we'll see how that goes. But yeah, their legacy's important.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Well, and if anything that I've learned in my life is life is unpredictable, so you just roll with it. Yes, it is. Is there anything else we want to cover?
SPEAKER_03:I think we're good.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, we just have it on So again, I just wanted to say how incredible that 15 years of sound vision, what an accomplishment, and I know I and yourself are looking forward to many more and I'm like when you get like unsure, that's when you go, and I 15 years.
SPEAKER_00:This has been nice taking some time and reminiscing about the past. I think that the present is the only thing that we're given. So they call it a present. Corny dad joke, but it's but it's true. And so uh trying to live in the present is is a challenge for me. I do kind of reminisce a lot. I know Chris makes fun of me a lot because I'm a I do kind of I'm nostalgic. Uh okay. And I but at the same time, I also like I'm very forward thinking and I'm I think about the future a lot. So I really struggle with being in the present, but I recognize that that's the that's the only thing that we're that we're guaranteed is this moment. So it's just it's very, very nice to do this and it and it's uh humbling. And again, I I cannot thank all the folks that have been here that are here now and that have helped build the foundation over the past 15 years. So it's been been really cool. Awesome. All right.
SPEAKER_01:Well, thanks for joining me, Mark, until next time.
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