Beyond Design: Four Women Open Up About the Business of Lighting

PARIS — Lighting designers spend years learning how to shape spaces with light. Running a successful practice, however, requires an entirely different set of skills.

That reality became the focus of one of the most interactive sessions at IALD Enlighten Europe, where attendees used Mentimeter to share their thoughts in real time while a panel of four accomplished lighting professionals discussed the realities of building and running a lighting design practice.

The panel featured Kelly Roberts of Primary Arc Design, Sabine De Schutter of Hochschule Wismar, Francesca Bastianini of Sighte Studio, and Luciana Alanis of Lichtgold. Together, they explored topics rarely covered in lighting design education: entrepreneurship, finances, work-life balance, leadership, and personal growth.

A Conversation, Not a Lecture

Rather than delivering a traditional presentation, the panel invited the audience into the discussion.

Throughout the session, attendees responded to live polls that appeared on screens around the room. One of the first questions asked participants where they were on their entrepreneurial journey. The responses revealed a split audience. Some already owned firms. Others hoped to launch a practice someday. Many were simply curious about what business ownership actually looked like.

That audience participation continued throughout the session and often shaped the conversation.

No Single Path to Ownership

One of the most interesting aspects of the discussion was how different each panelist’s journey had been. Luciana explained that she always imagined herself running a business. Growing up around family entrepreneurs, she saw business ownership as a natural goal.

Francesca’s experience was almost the opposite. She never intended to own a company. Instead, a conversation with a former classmate led to a partnership that eventually evolved into an independent practice. The contrast highlighted one of the session’s recurring themes: there is no single path to becoming a business owner.

The Business Skills Nobody Teaches

The panel quickly moved beyond lighting design and into the practical realities of operating a firm.

Sabine discussed The E-Myth, a business book that describes the three roles every business owner must perform: technician, manager, and entrepreneur.

For many lighting designers, that transition can be surprising. The profession teaches photometrics, controls, specifications, and visual storytelling. It rarely teaches bookkeeping, staffing, contracts, cash flow, marketing, or succession planning.

The panelists agreed that many designers learn those skills through trial and error.

Work-Life Balance Gets Personal

When the discussion shifted to work-life balance, the audience responded immediately.

A Mentimeter poll asked participants about their biggest challenges. Among the most common answers were managing client expectations, protecting personal time, maintaining financial stability, and setting boundaries.

Kelly spoke candidly about the need to intentionally schedule personal time. Without those boundaries, work can quickly consume evenings and weekends.

Sabine shared her perspective as both a business owner and a parent, explaining the importance of protecting time with family.

Francesca admitted that for years she overcommitted herself to projects, organizations, and volunteer work before realizing she needed to rethink her priorities.

The honesty resonated with the audience because many attendees clearly faced similar challenges.

Turning Challenges Into Strengths

One of the session’s most memorable moments came when Luciana discussed her experience as a woman, a business owner, and living in a foreign country.

Early in her career, she often felt that others defined her by those labels. Over time, however, she realized those differences were actually strengths. Rather than viewing those characteristics as obstacles, she learned to see them as unique perspectives that distinguished her work and leadership style.

The room responded immediately, with many nodding in agreement.

Defining Success

Near the end of the session, the panel asked the audience one final question

What does success mean?

Again, attendees submitted answers in real time.

Some chose financial stability. Others selected fulfillment, flexibility, creativity, leadership, or purpose. Happiness, however, emerged as the most common response. The resulting word cloud revealed something important: while attendees defined success differently, most agreed that personal happiness remains central to a rewarding career.

For some designers, success means building a large firm. For others, it means maintaining independence. Some value financial growth. Others prioritize family, flexibility, or creative freedom. The panelists agreed that understanding your own definition of success is one of the most important steps in building a sustainable career.

Building Community

While the conversation covered finances, staffing, marketing, and leadership, a larger theme emerged. Lighting designers are often willing to share technical knowledge. Business knowledge is shared far less frequently.

Several panelists encouraged attendees to ask questions, seek mentors, and talk openly about the challenges of running a practice.In many ways, that spirit of openness was what made the session so successful.

The audience did not simply listen. They participated.

And by the end of the discussion, the focus had shifted away from business ownership itself and toward something more universal: how lighting professionals can support one another while building careers that reflect their own values and definitions of success.

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