At ArchLIGHT Summit in Dallas, I sat down with Lesley Yonts, VP of Sales at Nora Lighting — someone I’ve actually known since long before her married name, back when she was Lesley Matt. It made for an easy, familiar conversation about where the family-owned recessed lighting specialist is headed next.
Nora, based in Commerce, California, has built its reputation going wide and deep in the recessed category, and Yonts used our sit-down to introduce the company’s newest release: the Apollo series, a 3-inch architectural downlight with small aperture sizes, 45 degrees of tool-free tilt, and 361 degrees of rotation for spot aiming in virtually any direction.
A Family Business, Post-COVID Growth
Nora is still very much a family business. Fred and Jel Farzison own the company, and their daughter, Neta Farzison, joined about a decade ago and is positioned to eventually take it over.
Yonts and I also swapped notes on the pandemic — I told her about calling ahead and touring an empty Nora factory during COVID — which led into what the company has built since.
That includes a new 5,000-square-foot learning experience center where customers can see Nora’s products in action, plus a full overhaul of its 150,000-square-foot California warehouse, done with help from a former Amazon employee, so it now runs with Amazon-style efficiency.
State of the Market, and AI Behind the Scenes
Yonts, who’s been VP of sales for just under three years, said ArchLIGHT Summit has been a good venue for Nora this year — not just at its trade show booth, but at its permanent third-floor showroom, where the team has gotten face time with interior designers and specifiers who don’t always come through Nora’s traditional distribution channels.
On the broader market, Yonts was candid: 2026 has been a little softer than she’d hoped, though Nora is faring better than some peers thanks to a run of strong project wins. She’s optimistic heading into next year, pointing to projects quoted as far back as 2022 that are finally moving forward.
We also talked technology. Nora still keeps quoting and customer service in human hands — Yonts was clear that’s a deliberate choice — but the team leans on AI daily for reporting and analysis that used to take hours, helping them get smarter, faster, on quoted opportunities.
She also teased something bigger: an AI-integrated LED fixture Nora hopes to bring to market in early 2027. She wouldn’t say much more than that, but promised more details are coming later this year.
Watch the Full Interview
Yonts and I covered a lot of ground in a short window — the Apollo launch, life since COVID, market conditions, and where AI fits at Nora. Watch the full conversation below.