Sydney Stricklin from SoundVision

On this episode of “SoundVision Tech Talks,” Mark and Andrew sit down with Sydney Stricklin, SoundVision's new Lighting Design Assistant.

Not long ago, Sydney had no idea what AV integration was. Now, she’s diving headfirst into the world of lighting design, drawn in by the details that often go unnoticed, like how a keypad is labeled or how a lighting scene actually fits into everyday life. Coming from Partner Technology in Athens, GA, Sydney first connected with the SoundVision team at Lightapalooza last year. After staying in touch and relocating to the Charlotte area, the opportunity to join the team felt like the perfect fit. 

With a background in advertising and fashion merchandising, Sydney brings a design-first mindset to everything she touches. Since joining the team, she’s already refining how we present lighting and automation to clients: introducing a more polished, visual approach using Canva, helping clients better visualize the experience without getting lost in the technical details. 

We also explore one of the more unique project trends we’re seeing: barndominiums. From functional shop lighting to accent lighting designed to highlight cars or personal collections, Sydney brings fresh ideas to these evolving spaces. Plus, we touch on keypad design in traditional homes and why offering curated, vetted options can make all the difference when working alongside architects and interior designers. 

Sydney’s fresh perspective and creative eye are already elevating how we approach lighting design. This episode is about more than just a new role, it’s about what happens when a fresh set of eyes meets an industry built on experience, and how that combination continues to push our design process forward.

To learn more about SoundVision:

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Contact Us Today:  (704) 696-2792 Ext. 1 | Info@svavnc.com | soundvisionlkn.com

Transcript

Welcome And The Last Name Mystery

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome to Simplifying Life Technology. Joining us in the podcast studio today, we have our new lighting design assistant, Sydney Strickland. Welcome. Welcome, Sydney.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Hello, hello.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

So we always have a little a little thing for everybody here. There's a little thing. And it's something I've done my whole life.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Super warm welcome.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

We stole Sydney. We'll get into that a little bit later. But Sydney, um, first, before we get into your your background and telling you, telling us a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Um, why can't you afford the D?

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Why what?

SPEAKER_01 0:49

What what happened to the D?

SPEAKER_03 0:53

End of your last name.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Thank you, Andrew.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Oh. We had to be different. We had to be different. Did you drop the D? No. It's typically spelled L-A-N-D.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

And that's how it's always misspelled on everything I've ever gotten. But it's L-I-N. Stricklin. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

I have never met anyone with your last name.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Well, here I am.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

One of the colleagues. So why don't you tell us how you got your last name and tell while you're doing that, tell us a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

So hi everyone. I am the newest hire of Soundvision. My name is Sidney Stricklin. I recently moved into the Charlotte area from Athens, Georgia. I'm a proud UGA grad, go dogs. Um, but I've been in this Don't you have to screen that?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Can you just say that?

SPEAKER_00 1:40

No, you can you can say it. It gets a little aggressive and there's lots of barking that typically happens.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

I'm sorry, I don't want to I can get off on tangents and I don't want to, but I do. Do you guys like the barking commercial with that dude, the insurance company?

SPEAKER_00 1:54

I think it's so funny.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

So you guys like that? They're like, that's cool. You're good with that.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

It's so funny.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Some people may take offense, but I think it's good.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Yeah. You know what I'm talking about, Andrew? I don't know. The lady with the coffee mug, they're in like a they're in like a boardroom.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Like a big conference meeting, corporate.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

And the like the whatever, the CEO, whoever it is, they don't, you know, comes in and she's got like a Georgia mug, like a coffee mug. And this one dude is sitting there in the meeting and he and he starts barking, like in the meeting.

SPEAKER_03 2:22

How? Give me an example. Odyssey bar.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

And and she's like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

And everyone's like, what are you doing? And then everyone around the office then calls him Bark Boy.

How She Landed In AV

SPEAKER_03 2:34

Oh my gosh. Go and look this up immediately after. It's pretty, it's pretty funny. Anyways, okay. Back to you, Sydney.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Back to me. All right. So I moved here about two months ago from Athens, Georgia. I graduated 24 and worked at an AV integration company for about a year and a half up until I moved here. And now I'm here with Sound Vision.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Who did you work with?

SPEAKER_00 2:55

I worked with Partner Technology and Georgia. Shout out partner to Chris.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Chris and Christina. Chris and Christina.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Hey guys.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Yes, we know them and have known them for a couple of years. And yeah, really, really nice people. Um and so how did you how did they find you or how did you find them?

SPEAKER_00 3:13

So funny story, Christina and I actually met at a Christmas party through mutual friends years ago. I think I was a junior, sophomore junior in college, and we just got to talking at a Christmas party, and she'd been keeping up with me as I went through college, and she was wondering what I was doing post-grad. She needed a little help um picking up the details with kind of the overhead work that was coming in to partner. And again, I had no idea what AV integration or this industry was by any means. I was an advertising grad with a miners with a fashion merchandising miner. So nothing related to the AV world.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

And so she took me to lunch and she was like, hey, would you be interested in maybe helping me out with work? And I was like, you know what? I'm babysitting over the summer. And yeah, that sounds great. I'm not I'm not too busy.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

So Okay, so you you jumped in, you didn't know what you were doing. Uh for those listeners out there that care, Christina's very high energy. She is uh she is uh a whirlwind, a whirving whirling dervish? Whirling dervish, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:30

I don't know what that is.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

I think it's a whirling dervish. We're learning so many things today. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

She's very fast-paced, and there was a lot of details that were just surrounding, and it's just bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, and picking up the pieces and not letting things fall through the cracks. So that was that was really my role is keeping things from falling through the cracks on a high level.

First Look At Panelized Lighting

SPEAKER_01 4:50

But as you as you kind of worked through that, then lighting started to uh you kind of started to move towards the lighting end of it. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 5:00

That's correct. So one of the first sites that I ever set foot on, it was day one, actually. We went to this amazing lakefront property and they had panelized lighting throughout the house. Now keep in mind this is day one of like shadowing Christina. I have no idea what panelized lighting means. All I see are buttons on a wall that say, good morning and relax and dim. I'm like, what the heck do these do? I'm like, I've never seen this once in my life. And so I was fascinated with it at first because I knew nothing about it. And then I gravitated towards it because it was so new and I was like, this is really exciting. I can see, I can see a future in this for sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Okay, that's cool. And I was like, this is a game changer, like solving first world problems. This is awesome.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Game changer. Game changer, Andrew.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

All with a keypad. All with a keypad. Mark doesn't like that I say game changer.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Curate. I've heard that one. Yes, Sydney has her favorite words. One is amazing, and one is curate. So we'll see. And game changer. Game changer. So, okay, so you have no background in this at all. What what is your background? Like, what is your family? What give me a little family background?

SPEAKER_00 6:11

So we are a baseball family through and through. My dad has been in the coaching world since I was born. I think my first baseball game, I was maybe four days old. Oh my gosh. All right, cool. I've been at the ballpark my whole life.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Um, what's your dad's name?

SPEAKER_00 6:27

My dad is Scott, Scott Strickland.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Shout out to Scott.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Hey dad. Um but yeah, he um he's a baseball coach. My mom is a dog lover like myself. We have three dogs at home. Love all the dogs in this. What kind of dogs? Um, they're all rescues, they're all voices. Okay. Yeah, they're all over the place. DNA tests have a long list of all the breeds. But my brother is a baseball player. I mean, who would have guessed? Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

What's your brother's name?

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Kale. Hey, buddy.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Hey Kale.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Hey, buddy. He is a catcher at UNC Charlotte. So he's here in Charlotte too, which is fun.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

And then my sister You wouldn't know it because he hasn't been up here to visit.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

But do you know? No, he's welcome anytime. He would love it. He's been busy. I was gonna say midseason.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Um, but whatever.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

And then my little sister, hey Keaton, Keaton Strickland. She's a senior in high school. She just got accepted to UGA. So she will be at Georgia in the fall. Oh, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

I just learned last weekend. Do not walk under the arch.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Yes, until you graduate. Until you graduate, you are welcome to walk under the arch.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Yeah. So slime that, Andrew. Okay, well, that's cool. So, how did you hear about us? So you were you were moving to Charlotte a couple months ago. How did you find out about us?

SPEAKER_00 7:51

So I moved my life to Charlotte, me and my sweet boyfriend Nick. Shout out, Nick.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Oh, can't wait to meet Nick. Nick, by the way, before this podcast, we talked a bunch about you. Ask her.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

That's so nice. Um, so I moved my life up here. We ended long distance. Um, wait, pause. What was your question?

SPEAKER_01 8:11

Uh, how did you hear about sound vision?

What A Lighting Design Assistant Does

SPEAKER_00 8:12

How did you hear about this is funny. We were at Light of Palooza. I was at Light of Palooza with partner technology last year. And we went to a dealer dinner, and it was just, I think it was the last night. I think it was the last night we were there. And you're sat next to people you you don't necessarily know. And it's just everyone shows up and sits down and we have a good time. And so we're all talking, and we're like, okay, where's everyone from? And to my right was the Sound Vision team, and we talked, I think it was like it was a really long dinner. It was like a two and a half hour dinner. We just talked and talked and talked. Yeah. It was a fabulous dinner. Thank you, Laney, for the invite. Um, we had such a great time and we started talking, and in the back of my head, Nick had just moved to Charlotte, and I was like, this is a good company to keep in the back of my head. Like, they're such great people. I was like, this would be an awesome company to work for if I so happened to move my life up to Charlotte. And I did, and now I'm here. That is so cool. And I kept up, I followed them right after social media is a really big thing, it's a huge impact. And so I kept up with social media and I kept seeing all these awesome projects that Soundvision was doing, and I was like, this is a match made. So I love it. So here we are.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

So you came on board as a lighting design assistant, and hopefully we're we're moving towards a lighting designer. What what is that for for our listeners? What exactly does that mean? What is your job entail?

SPEAKER_00 9:36

So currently, right now, I'm absorbing like a sponge all of the culture of Sound Vision and kind of learning how the punches roll. And currently I'm shadowing Zach. I would call it that. Hold on, let me say that more confidently. Pause. I'm currently shadowing the design team and kind of how they do their processes when it comes to client meetings, client walkthroughs, site visits, and then end presentation of lighting.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

So true, you are shadowing, but you've already brought some cool um new things. Uh I want to talk about Canva a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Oh my gosh, I love Canva. If Chris and Christina are listening to this, they're gonna be like, yes, she does. It is fabulous. So currently what is Canva? Canva is a newer version of PowerPoint presentation. It's a more interactive, user-friendly version of PowerPoint.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Okay. And how how are we using it, thanks to you?

SPEAKER_00 10:40

How I would love to be using it is in a client presentation when we have um a client come in and we go through their proposal instead of showing them hold on, I gotta breathe. I get so nervous. It's okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:55

This is so I can relate to this. You know, you know how I started this.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

So when we have clients come in to our conference room and we're going through their proposal, instead of showing them line item by line item and part numbers out the walls, it's just a presentation where we give them a budget range based on scope with pretty pictures and it's all super relatable. So it's more digestible for the client to see.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Yeah, this was there was a couple things going on at the same time with with some other uh uh dealers across the country, and you came in at a perfect time with this. This is really a big deal because when we do show customers these systems, they're very complicated. There's a lot of parts and pieces, and in reality, nobody cares about that. What they care about is what they do for them.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

What they care about is the experience, the experience, how it's gonna look in the air, and and that's the aesthetics of it.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

That's what Canva has helped a lot with. It it creates this interactive uh way of showing what it what it is that we are proposing.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

I don't want to say more simplistic, but it is. It's a simplified version of a proposal.

SPEAKER_03 12:08

It's just really user-friendly, too.

Using Canva To Make Proposals Clear

SPEAKER_01 12:09

Yeah, it's very elegant. Absolutely. And and Sydney, um being of the generation like uh Zach and Marshall, God love them, uh they're not gonna be uh designing these things uh in Canva because well, frankly, we just don't have enough time. But but Sydney comes very natural to her. So so that's so you've already been a huge asset in that way uh on the design side um in in relating to customers. What other things do you like what projects have you been working on? What are some cool things that you've seen or done since you've been here?

SPEAKER_00 12:45

There have been lots of barn dominiums, which is new for me. I've never I've never worked on one before and I've never seen one. So to work on so many just in the past week or two is crazy to me.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

And while that is very common in our world, for the average listener who may not know the term barn dominium, what does that mean? What is that?

SPEAKER_00 13:04

I couldn't even tell you. I believe it's an extension. It's an extension of their primary residence. Could be on the same properties. There are barn dominium neighborhoods, if you'd like to call them that, but typically they're on a large lot of land, and the ones I've been working on have lots of car storage and they're very industrial.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

So hold on, let's let's let's cut that. So just so you can answer it right. So uh a barn dough. Yeah, so if you're working on them, we probably should you probably should be comfortable answering that.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

I mean, I know what they know what they look like.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

A barn dough is basically like think of a huge garage that is also a house, uh that has a house component to it. So there's there's a handful of of uh purposes for them. Uh I won't I don't want to say anyone's the most common, but the common ones are uh somebody builds this before they build their primary residence.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

Um, they may and and they so they put this on their property and there's a big garage, but then there's also a living space with a kitchen and bathroom. Um people use them for any kind of woodwork, metal work, car work.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Like a true shop space.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

Yeah, it could be a shop space, absolutely. Some people use them. Well, probably shouldn't talk about the the uh the casino one that we have, but uh some people use them for all kinds of different things. Uh and then and then the other one is uh there's there like you were just saying, there's true um little neighborhoods. Yeah. Uh Octane Park is one. Um there's true little neighborhoods where people uh you know they want extra space as opposed to like a self-storage, it's space for cars, boats. Uh actually it's not long-term livable, but it's like spend the nightable.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Livable storage space.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Yeah, yeah. So that that's what Barn Does.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

These ones I've been working on are very high level and not so I mean, yes, temporary living, but very high-end temporary living.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Yeah, these things literally in the in the Charlotte market, anyways, these things are going, you know, they're starting at maybe 400 grand and they're going up to multi-million dollars, just depending on how big they are and what uh people are putting in them.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Yeah.

Barndominiums And Lighting For Cars

SPEAKER_01 15:20

So yeah, crazy, crazy stuff. But uh, but very, very popular. You're right, very popular. And now we're adding a lot of lighting, which is cool because in I don't know, the more traditional home, we'd be doing lighting for art. Maybe somebody's got a cool picture, you know, some kind of art thing. Or maybe there's a vase or a piano, or a piano. In this, it's a Ferrari, you know, or uh or a Porsche, or it's uh, you know, or it's a workspace where they're literally doing what we're doing or crafting. And so lighting that is really is just as important. It's different, but it's just as important. Absolutely. So well, cool. So, all right, so that's what you're working on. And then what what uh what do you see? Where are we going?

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Where are we going? Yeah, where are we going? So I am hoping to bring in some new vetted products and options when it comes to the aesthetics of lighting. We're gonna talk keypads in specific. There are so many homes done in such a contemporary and modern keypad setup, but when we get into these historic traditional homes, that's not necessarily the best aesthetic option. And these designers are like, why would we put that in this beautiful historic home? Like, isn't there something else? So I'm hoping to bring in um some new products and some new aesthetic finishes to Sound Vision.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

One of the things we've had numerous folks that have come from different integrators across the country. We have a lot of people here that have been all over the place. And one of the things that it took me a while to figure out, but now I've got it, is that their experiences product-wise, uh process-wise, uh, from other companies, there's a lot that we can glean, a lot that we can learn from that. And so when you've when you bring in uh products that you've used in other situations that maybe we haven't, that's a huge win for us. So we're real excited about seeing that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

And yeah, there's some exciting ideas I've I've seen in some previous projects that I would love to bring into Sound Vision.

Better Keypad Style For Historic Homes

SPEAKER_01 17:31

All right, cool. So tell us something about you. We won't we won't go truth or dare, but let's tell us something about you that uh I don't know, something um I don't know, what's embarrassing? Tell me something that's embarrassing about you.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Yeah. Oh gosh. Oh. This is bad.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

So I I cheered at the University of Georgia. I was a cheerleader for three years. Um and it was my second game ever cheering. We were playing South Carolina. It was a noon game. It is hot. It is so hot. It's early in the season. And as a cheerleader, you have to get you have to get spray tanned, and we're very orange. We're very orange cheerleaders. Oh, god.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

You get spray tanned?

SPEAKER_00 18:15

Oh yeah. Yeah, it's a requirement. A requirement? It's it's an unwritten requirement to be tanned.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Yes. So me and my stunt partner, Avery. Hey Avery, we were stunting on the field. I think it was maybe maybe a third down situation. And he tosses me up. Our discussion before the stunt even happened was to do one thing. Well, that one thing did not happen. So we go up, we figure it out at the top. So he's, I was a co-ed cheerleader. So I've I have a male cheerleader throwing me up in the air. And we get to the top of the stunt and we we hit, and it's great. We're showing spirit, it's great. It's typical, it's normal. Well, when we come out of the stunt, we're all sweaty, it's gross, it's hot outside, the sun's in his eyes. He drops me in front of the whole entire Sanford Stadium and I fall onto my butt. Uh-oh. Mid-game. I was okay. A little bruised, but we're all good.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

All right.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

So that was pretty embarrassing.

SPEAKER_03 19:16

Slipping out of hands from that self-tanner.

SPEAKER_00 19:19

All because of that self tan.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Well, Andrew, we always ask our, and you know this is gonna be a little different. Oh, yeah. I think this is gonna be a little different.

SPEAKER_03 19:28

Oh, yes, it is. So I'm very eager to hear the answers. So, Sydney. So, Sydney. Okay. We always like to gauge all of our guests' music interest. So, yes, we're down to that. We're up to that. So, why don't you tell us who is your favorite band artist? What's your jam?

SPEAKER_00 19:49

Oh, my favorite artist, and she has been for a really long time, is Olivia Dean. She is phenomenal. She is. She's so classic. You know Olivia Dean?

SPEAKER_01 19:59

So I was before the podcast, I was talking about Monk. I was talking about Silence of the Lambs, and I was laughing at how these slightly younger than me people didn't know or weren't weren't familiar with those, but I am not familiar with Olivia Dean. Oh my goodness. What type of music is Olivia?

SPEAKER_00 20:18

It's it's a slower-paced jazz type.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Like maybe put on when you're cooking dinner or when you're slowing down for the night. She is just she's just lovely. Okay, very cool. And I've seen her in concert, and she is just as good live as she sounds on the radio. She is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

For our generation, I'm going with Olivia Newton John. Also an Olivia. That could be, yeah. So all right, well, that's cool. Olivia Dean. Any cool music experiences that you've uh I mean, you mentioned going to her concert, but anything that stands out?

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Well, I haven't been yet, but it's happening this month. I'm going to see Bruno Mars.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Wow.

Closing Thoughts And Welcome Aboard

SPEAKER_00 20:58

She has been on my bucket list to see. Oh, that's cool. And it was a surprise from Nick. Thank you, Nick. But we're going to see Bruno Marr. Bruno Mars here in a few weeks. So that'd be awesome. So that will be that will be an experience.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

Well, we are we appreciate your time here. We're very excited that you are here. Uh, you definitely bring a different energy and and new and new experiences and stuff. So um we're excited about where we're going in the lighting department. Thank you. With you uh with you helping out.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Excited to be here.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

Well, thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

Thanks, guys.