Brad Leavitt Podcast

Amy Margolin of M&M Lighting

Nov 15, 2020

01:01:05

Amy Margolin is the third-generation co-owner of M&M Lighting. She joined her family business in 2013 after graduating with an English degree from Columbia University working as a manager for an international clothing retailer in Austin, Texas. She was also a food photographer for Zagat, a national restaurant review guide, and spent time as a freelance celebrity stylist at red carpet events in Los Angeles.

Combining her background in writing with her innate sense of style and relentless work ethic, Amy is working hard to bring M&M Lighting—a company with 56 employees that specializes in residential and commercial lighting—into the social media age, and overturn the adage that the third generation ruins family businesses.

We dive into the value of social media as far as how it helped her in building her business and how it has grown her client base as well. She talks about how you can successfully integrate your social media into your business while building a network with architects and designers at the same time.

Listen in as Amy discusses how she uses social media to build her company’s brand, her Instagram content and engagement strategies, the challenges and rewards of working in a family business, and working with lighting architects and designers in an industry that is always evolving.

Topics Discussed:

05:21 How Amy is able to effectively use social media to establish M&M’s brand
08:48 Why Amy began to do more video home tours
12:41 Amy’s experience with TikTok
15:12 Building a following on Instagram
17:57 How much time Amy spends on social media
20:39 Getting better engagement on social media
23:18 Amy’s content strategy on Instagram
24:41 How using social media impacted Amy’s business
27:39 How having a large audience keeps Amy accountable
32:26 Justifying higher prices for your products or services online
35:34 How social media has benefitted M&M’s relationships with stakeholders
39:33 Amy’s experience working on her own projects
42:31 Amy’s favorite architectural style
43:50 How Amy’s eye for design evolved over the years
45:28 Becoming a stylist for celebrities
43:50 How Amy’s eye for design evolved over the years
48:14 Moving from California back to Texas
49:20 What Amy learned about the lighting industry since joining M&M
50:51 Lighting architects and other partners that Amy works with
54:03 Staying current in an ever-evolving industry
56:00 How COVID-19 affected M&M
58:47 What Amy is looking forward to in the near future

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Key Quotes by Amy:

If you want to stay on top with the content you put out and the engagement you get on social media, follow the algorithm.
It’s “social media” for a reason: You have to be social.
If you’re not communicating with your people and the customers at every stage of the process, you’ll run into problems you’ll later regret.