
Advertise on podcast: Captain’s Quarters First Class | Lights. Legacy. Living.
Rating
5from
This podcast has
35 episodes
Language
EnglishPublisher
Matt MartoccioExplicit
No
Date created
2025/09/19
Latest episode
2026/09/28
Average duration
21 min.
Release period
20 days
Description
Captain’s Quarters First Class isn’t just another outdoor lighting podcast, it’s my arena. I’m Captain Matt, and here we dive into the big three that move money: landscape lighting, permanent lighting, and Christmas lights. But it’s bigger than fixtures and installs. This show is about leading your crew, building a brand that lasts, and sharpening the mindset to keep you from sinking when the pressure hits. Sponsored by The Lighting Trade School but make no mistake, this is my ship. Sink or Swim.
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Check latest episodes from Captain’s Quarters First Class | Lights. Legacy. Living. podcast
The Christmas Lighting Crew That Sells While It Installs | 34
2026/09/28
Christmas season is coming fast, and this week Glo Show Shane joins me to talk about what actually keeps Christmas lighting business owners up at night this time of year.
Hiring. Crew capacity. Callbacks. Profit. And whether the people you just hired are even going to make it through the season.
Shane recently hired three people and fired all three within a couple of weeks. I’ve had seasons where I hired 25 people, had 19 show up for training, 14 make it to day two, and finished the season with four.
That’s Christmas.
But the biggest idea in this episode is something Shane is testing this year: stop thinking of your crew lead as just an installer.
What if your lead technician was sales first and install second?
He walks the property with the customer, confirms the job, spots additional opportunities, upsells the customer, talks to the neighbors, and then helps the crew complete the installation.
Instead of sending someone to a $300 service call just to fix something, can they turn that visit into $1,200?
Instead of installing a $1,000 Christmas job and leaving, can they add another tree, another roofline, another wreath, or sell the neighbor while they’re already there?
We get into:
• Hiring slow and firing fast before Christmas season
• Using Christmas to identify the A players you want to keep year-round
• Why revenue means nothing if the profit isn’t there
• Shane’s sales-first / install-second technician model
• Paying technicians for both sales and installation performance
• Two-man crews vs. three-man crews
• When one-man crews actually make sense
• Why four-man crews often become inefficient
• Keeping service and fix crews from destroying production
• Increasing average ticket while you’re already on the property
• Whether Christmas companies should offer more than rooflines
• Branch wraps, wreaths, garland, and the “gutter slammer” debate
• Why roofline-only companies may eventually lose the rest of the property
Christmas is one of the biggest opportunities of the year to make money, build a stronger team, and identify who belongs in your company long-term.
But the season gets ugly fast if your systems, people, and numbers aren’t ready.
Glo Show Shane is with Glo Geeks:https://GlowGeeksGang.com
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Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.
Ready to build a real outdoor lighting business?
🔹 Work with Captain Matt: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 See Barefoot Lighting projects: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Learn landscape + Christmas + permanent lighting: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
After 18 Years, I’m Capping Christmas Lighting Sales. Here’s Why. | 33
2026/09/24
For the first time in 18 Christmas seasons, I’m putting a cap on how much Christmas lighting work we sell.
Not because the leads aren’t there. Not because I don’t want to make money. Because I finally understand that every crew has a capacity, and constantly saying yes to more work has a cost.
I’ve spent Christmas seasons waking up at 4 AM, working until 8 PM, answering calls, selling jobs, fixing problems, watching crews turn into Christmas zombies, and trying to squeeze one more job onto an already packed schedule.
I’m not doing that this year.
In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, I break down what I’m doing differently for this Christmas lighting season and why I think Christmas is one of the biggest opportunities of the year to change the way you run your business.
We get into:
• Why I’m intentionally capping Christmas lighting sales this season
• How I’m calculating actual crew capacity instead of just selling everything we can
• Why more Christmas revenue does not automatically mean more Christmas profit
• The trap owner-operators fall into when they have to sell AND install
• Why Christmas is one of the easiest times to make your first hire
• Why seasonal employees can be the perfect way to start building a team
• When you should hire installers and when you should hire a salesperson
• Why Christmas lighting is easier to train than permanent lighting or landscape lighting
• How separating sales, installation, and office responsibilities changes the entire business
• Why getting yourself off the ladder can actually help you sell more work
• How some of my original seasonal employees eventually helped us become a full-time company
Christmas has built-in urgency. It has nostalgia. Customers already want what we sell.
That makes it a great time to make money, but it also makes it easy to convince yourself that you need to take every single job that comes through the door.
You don’t.
Know your capacity. Build the team. Protect the operation. And stop creating a business that requires you to personally do everything.
If you’re still the person answering the phone, selling the job, climbing the ladder, installing the lights, fixing the lights, invoicing the customer, and trying to make payroll, this episode is for you.
This Christmas season can be the season you finally start building something bigger than yourself.
Now go make some damn money.
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.
Ready to build a real outdoor lighting business?
🔹 Work with Captain Matt: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 See Barefoot Lighting projects: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Learn landscape + Christmas + permanent lighting: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
Before You Start Your Own Business, Watch This | 32
2026/06/23
Thinking about leaving your job and starting your own business?
Before you jump, you need to hear this.
In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, Captain Matt breaks down the hard truth most employees, technicians, installers, and tradesmen do not fully see from the outside.
Being great at the work does not automatically mean you should own the business.
You might be an incredible installer, technician, or craftsman, but running the company means taking on sales, marketing, taxes, payroll, workers’ comp, follow-ups, customer problems, storage, insurance, pricing, hiring, and every late-night phone call after the crew goes home.
This episode is not anti-business. It is a real conversation about whether you actually want to be an entrepreneur, or whether you would be better off becoming more valuable inside the company you already work for.
Captain Matt talks about:
Why business ownership looks sexier from the outside
Why top-line revenue is not the same as profit
The hidden costs employees never see
Why amazing technicians often struggle as owners
The difference between being an entrepreneur and an intrapreneur
How production pay or performance pay can change your career
Why there is nothing wrong with being an employee
The real question to ask before starting your own business
This one is for anyone in the trades, home services, lighting, Christmas lights, landscaping, construction, window washing, or any service business who thinks they are ready to go out on their own.
Before you quit your job, make sure you know what you are actually signing up for.
---
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.
Ready to build a real outdoor lighting business?
🔹 Work with Captain Matt: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 See Barefoot Lighting projects: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Learn landscape + Christmas + permanent lighting: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
Want a Bigger Christmas Lighting Season? Start With This Number First | 31
2026/06/12
Most Christmas light installers wait too long to plan their season.
They start thinking about product, trucks, crews, storage, marketing, and invoices when the season is already breathing down their neck. By then, they are not really planning anymore. They are reacting.
In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, Captain Matt breaks down what Christmas lighting prep should actually look like before the madness starts.
This is not about cleaning bulbs or ordering clips.
This is about knowing:
• What profit number you actually want
• Why you want that number
• How much one crew can realistically produce per day
• How many install days you really have
• What payroll, product, commissions, overhead, and marketing are going to eat
• How many crews you need to hit the number
• How much work you need to sell before the season starts
If you are a Christmas lighting contractor, outdoor lighting company, landscape lighting business, or permanent lighting installer trying to grow your holiday lighting revenue, this episode will help you stop guessing and start planning with real numbers.
Whether you are in Albany, Saratoga, Clifton Park, Troy, Schenectady, the Capital Region, or building a Christmas lighting business anywhere in the country, the math does not lie.
If you want a bigger Christmas season, you need to know the number before you start chasing the work.
Learn more about Captain Matt’s mentorship and training at CaptainMattOutdoors.com
---
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.
Ready to build a real outdoor lighting business?
🔹 Work with Captain Matt: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 See Barefoot Lighting projects: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Learn landscape + Christmas + permanent lighting: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
Stop Letting Landscapers Ruin Your Lighting Sales | 30
2026/06/05
When a client tells you your lighting design will look like "Disney World," it’s not their fault—it’s yours. In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, Captain Matt breaks down why so many outdoor lighting business owners lose massive jobs to hardscapers and landscapers who don't know the first thing about real lighting design.
If you are tired of losing $40,000 lighting jobs to guys charging $12,000 for a handful of front-lit fixtures, you need to change how you sell. Captain Matt explains why it takes more fixtures to create less glare, why a 129-fixture estate looks elegant instead of overwhelming, and how to communicate the true value of professional landscape lighting without relying solely on nighttime demos.
Stop letting clients compare your custom lighting design to cheap solar lights or basic wash lighting. Learn how to position yourself as the premier lighting expert in your market and get paid what your design is actually worth.
In this episode:
Why clients think your lighting design will look like "Disney World"
The real reason you are losing bids to landscapers and hardscapers
Why it takes more fixtures to create a softer, elegant lighting effect
How to explain the cost of professional landscape lighting to clients
The problem with AI mockups vs. real lighting design
Why front-lighting trees and 16-inch spacing looks terrible
How to sell high-end lighting jobs without doing a demo every night
The difference between a $175,000 lighting design and a $30,000 bid
Why solar lights will never replace wired low-voltage lighting
If your plan is to let clients compare your work to the guy who just throws a few lights against a wall, you are already losing. The money you think you are saving by skipping the education process is costing you massive, profitable installs.
Learn how to design it right. Sell the value. And get paid like the expert you are.
---
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.
Ready to build a real outdoor lighting business?
🔹 Work with Captain Matt: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 See Barefoot Lighting projects: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Learn landscape + Christmas + permanent lighting: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
Can’t Find Good Employees? Stop Paying Like You’re Broke | 29
2026/05/26
Fourth quarter is when the phone starts ringing, the installs stack up, and lighting companies either cash in…or completely choke because they waited too long to build a team.
In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, Captain Matt talks about training employees before the Christmas lighting rush, preparing crews for permanent lighting installs, and why so many business owners lose good employees, miss profitable jobs, and blame everyone except themselves.
Christmas lighting can be trained quickly. Permanent lighting is different. Running data, installing power supplies, drilling into a home, troubleshooting boosts, and representing your company on a permanent installation requires real training, clear processes, and people who are ready before the fourth-quarter insanity begins.
Because when the owner is stuck on a ladder training a new hire in October, he is not answering leads correctly. He is not selling at his best. He is not protecting the customer experience. And he is leaving money on the table.
Captain Matt also goes straight at one of the biggest problems in the trades: owners who constantly complain that they cannot find good employees while underpaying people, failing to train them, giving them no clear standards, and expecting them to care more about the business than the owner does.
In this episode:
Why lighting companies need to prepare for Q4 months in advance
Training Christmas lighting crews vs. permanent lighting installers
Why permanent lighting requires a dedicated, trained crew
How owners lose sales when they are stuck installing and training
Why hiring before the rush can open up more revenue
The real reason many companies cannot keep good employees
Paying employees well enough to represent your brand properly
Why processes and written standards matter in the field
How bad leadership creates bad crews
Planning for Christmas lighting, permanent lighting, and landscape lighting demand at the same time
If your plan is to wait until October to hire, train, and figure out who is going to handle the work, you are already behind.
The money you think you are saving by waiting could cost you far more in missed installs, dropped leads, burned-out crews, and clients who never get the experience your company promised.
Build the crew. Train them right. Pay them like they matter. Then hit the season ready to win.
---
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.
Ready to build a real outdoor lighting business?
🔹 Work with Captain Matt: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 See Barefoot Lighting projects: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Learn landscape + Christmas + permanent lighting: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
The Christmas Light Industry Has a Leadership Problem | 28
2026/05/11
The Christmas lighting industry has plenty of people teaching installers how to hang lights.
But after that?
A lot of guys are left alone, confused, and taking business advice from random Facebook comments, suppliers pushing product, or people who have never actually built what they are pretending to teach.
In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, Captain Matt talks about why the Christmas lighting industry lacks real leadership, what most new installers are missing, and why bad advice can wreck your business before you ever get a chance to scale.
This is not about attacking specific people. There are great people in the Christmas light industry doing great things. This is about the gap between installation training and actual business mentorship.
Captain Matt breaks down why pricing advice, product advice, leasing vs. selling debates, and Facebook group opinions are often useless without understanding the contractor’s actual goals, numbers, market, and life situation. He also shares why hitting big revenue numbers does not automatically mean you built a healthy business.
Sometimes $300,000 with control, profit, and sanity is better than chasing $1 million just so strangers on Facebook can clap for thirty seconds.
In this episode, Captain Matt talks about:
Why the Christmas lighting industry needs stronger leadership
The danger of taking advice from random Facebook groups
Why pricing advice without context is usually worthless
C7 vs. C9 debates, branch wrapping pricing, leasing vs. selling, and other industry arguments
Why scaling for the sake of scaling can destroy your business
The difference between revenue, profit, freedom, and ego
Why your goals matter more than someone else’s business model
What real mentorship should look like in the Christmas lighting industry
Why contractors need support beyond installation training
How to build a Christmas lighting business around your actual life, not someone else’s scoreboard
If you are starting or growing a Christmas lighting business, this episode is a wake-up call.
Stop chasing random advice.
Stop copying someone else’s dream.
Figure out what you actually want, build the business around that, and surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth, call you on your b******t, and help you win.
---
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.
Ready to build a real outdoor lighting business?
🔹 Work with Captain Matt: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 See Barefoot Lighting projects: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Learn landscape + Christmas + permanent lighting: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
How Thunder Lighting Supply Became a Christmas Lighting Industry Powerhouse with Grant Fields | 27
2026/05/08
Grant Fields from Thunder Lighting Supply joins Captain Matt for a behind-the-scenes conversation on the Christmas lighting industry, building a supplier brand contractors actually trust, and why training the next wave of installers is not “ruining the market.”
In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, Grant shares how he went from hanging Christmas lights in high school, running crews before most people even start a career, studying diesel mechanics, and eventually becoming one of the most recognizable faces behind Thunder Lighting Supply.
Captain Matt and Grant dig into what really matters in the holiday lighting business: speed, systems, branding, customer experience, training, and staying organized before your company outgrows you.
They also talk about:
How Grant got started in Christmas lighting as a teenager
Why Thunder Lighting Supply rebranded from Wholesale Holiday Lighting
The power of trade shows, buckets, branding, and being memorable
Why contractors should stop blaming new installers and start building better companies
Selling vs. leasing Christmas lights
Why free training helps elevate the whole industry
How systems and SOPs help Christmas lighting companies scale
Why outdoor lighting and holiday lighting are emotional services, not just products
If you install Christmas lights, landscape lighting, permanent lighting, or you’re trying to grow a seasonal service business, this episode is packed with real-world perspective from someone who has been inside the industry from the ground up.
---
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.
Ready to build a real outdoor lighting business?
🔹 Work with Captain Matt: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 See Barefoot Lighting projects: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Learn landscape + Christmas + permanent lighting: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
How Josh Trees Scaled a Christmas Lighting Business Without Competing on Price | 26
2026/03/20
Josh Trees doesn’t do a ton of podcasts...and that’s exactly why this one matters.
If you’re in Christmas lighting, this is a real conversation with one of the original builders of the industry. Not fluff. Not recycled motivation. Real talk on what it actually takes to build a Christmas light installation business, scale it, keep customers, delegate, and stop racing to the bottom on price.
In this episode, Josh and Captain Matt get into business growth, training, retention, systems, commercial work, perception, branding, and the mindset required to stay in the fight long enough to become a legend.
Whether you install Christmas lighting, build a landscape lighting company, or sell permanent soffit lighting, this episode hits the real operator side of outdoor lighting business.
In this episode:
How Josh Trees got started before We Hang Christmas Lights became a known name
The truth about growing a Christmas light installation business
Why selling on price is a losing game
How to sell the experience, not just the lights
What delegation really looks like when you want to build a business instead of owning a job
Why commercial Christmas lighting can change your numbers fast
The role of systems, evaluation, and leadership in long-term growth
How bold branding moves can make you unforgettable in your market
The tiny house tour story and what it teaches about attention, marketing, and industry authority
Josh also shares hard-earned lessons on risk, change, hiring, retention, and why most guys stay stuck doing everything themselves.
This one is especially important for operators in the Christmas lighting world...but the principles apply across landscape lighting, outdoor lighting, and permanent roofline / soffit lighting too.
If you want to build a stronger lighting business, keep better clients, and stop thinking like a technician only...this episode is worth your time.
#ChristmasLighting #OutdoorLighting #LandscapeLighting #PermanentLighting #CaptainMatt #JoshTrees #BusinessGrowth #ChristmasLightInstallation
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Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.
Ready to build a real outdoor lighting business?
🔹 Work with Captain Matt: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 See Barefoot Lighting projects: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Learn landscape + Christmas + permanent lighting: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
Why You’re Broke Already (Even After a $500K Christmas Season) | 25
2026/02/23
It’s mid-February.
You felt like a king in Q4.
So why are you already out of cash?
In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, Captain Matt breaks down one of the most common and destructive patterns in the Christmas lighting industry:
💸 Blowing through “Christmas cash”
💸 Using Q4 profit to patch the other 9 months
💸 Mixing service divisions and hiding real losses
💸 Robbing Peter to pay Paul just to survive installs
If you’re doing six figures (or more) in Christmas lighting and you’re stressed by February…this is not a slow-season problem.
It’s a planning problem.
You’ll learn:
Why Christmas must be bucketed as its own division
How mixing services hides the real financial leak
The January–March funding model Captain Matt uses
How to set aside payroll + overhead before touching profit
Why “bridge loans” and panic selling are red flags
How to stop the Q1 collapse permanently
This is real operator talk from 17+ years in Christmas lighting and outdoor services.
If you don’t own your market, someone else will.And if you don’t own your cash flow, it will own you.
🧠 Core Concepts Covered
Separate accounts for each service (Christmas, landscape, soffit/permanent lighting)
Funding slow months before they arrive
Payroll reserve planning for installs + takedowns
Overhead planning (5 months minimum during Christmas cycle)
War chest vs. planned slow-season reserves
Identifying repeating collapse patterns vs. fluke months
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.Ready to join Captain’s Crew?
🔹 Apply to work with Captain Matt or hire him for elite outdoor lighting design: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 Explore design + install services at Barefoot Lighting: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Join the movement at The Lighting Trade School: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
How to Break Big Revenue Goals Into Simple Daily Wins | 24
2026/01/26
Most lighting business owners say the same thing every year:
“I want to do a million dollars.”
And then they wonder why they feel overwhelmed, behind, and defeated by February.
In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, Captain Matt breaks down why big, vague revenue goals destroy momentum and how translating those goals into simple daily and weekly numbers changes everything.
Instead of chasing a million dollars, what if your only job was to: • Sell 13 lights a day • Close 2 permanent lighting jobs a week • Hit a realistic, seasonal monthly target
Same goal. A completely different mental game.
Matt dives deep into:
Translating top-line revenue into daily production goals
Why “break-even” jobs are usually a lie
The difference between material cost vs true operating cost
How to calculate your real daily minimum
Why seasonality matters and pretending it doesn’t will bankrupt you
The “Money Game” framework for knowing exactly how long you can survive with zero sales
How weekly number tracking allows real-time course correction (instead of year-end regret)
If your business feels busy but your bank account doesn’t reflect it…
If you’ve ever said “I sold a ton but don’t know where the money went”…
If your goals sound good but don’t feel achievable…
This episode is for you.
🎯 Stop chasing fantasy numbers. Start winning daily.
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.Ready to join Captain’s Crew?
🔹 Apply to work with Captain Matt or hire him for elite outdoor lighting design: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 Explore design + install services at Barefoot Lighting: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Join the movement at The Lighting Trade School: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
The Brutal Truth About Why You’re Not Making Money in Lighting | 23
2026/01/20
Welcome back to Captain’s Quarters First Class.
I hear it all the time:
“I didn’t make enough money last year in outdoor lighting.”
And here’s the uncomfortable truth…
Most guys who say that didn’t do the work required to win.
In this episode, Captain Matt breaks down why some lighting business owners:
Miss their goals
Barely scrape by
Or completely shatter expectations
…even when they all have access to the same mentorship, the same systems, and the same information.
We cover:
Why focus beats talent every time
The danger of splitting your energy across side hustles
Why mindset kills more lighting businesses than pricing
The simple math behind $100K+ profit (that most people ignore)
Why demos still work today (and always will)
The non-negotiables: 30 demos, 10 at-cost jobs, 20 fixtures a week
Why blaming your market is the fastest way to stay stuck
Why Christmas lighting success doesn’t translate automatically to landscape lighting
This episode isn’t motivational fluff.
It’s a gut check.
If you didn’t make enough money last year, the answer isn’t your area, your competition, or the economy.
It’s your inputs.
And the good news?You can change those starting today.
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.Ready to join Captain’s Crew?
🔹 Apply to work with Captain Matt or hire him for elite outdoor lighting design: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 Explore design + install services at Barefoot Lighting: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Join the movement at The Lighting Trade School: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
Why Hard Work Isn’t Enough: The Look-Back That Changed My Business | 22
2026/01/12
Welcome back to Captain’s Quarters First Class.
It’s a new year, and everyone is talking about goals. Revenue goals. Growth goals. “This is my year” goals.
But most people skip the most important part of goal-setting entirely.
The look-back.
In this episode, Captain Matt breaks down a brutally honest review of his own business…where he missed, why he missed, and how easy it is to stay busy, exhausted, and still off-track.
We talk about:
Why working harder doesn’t fix broken focus
How ignoring the look-back keeps you stuck on the same hamster wheel
The real cost of doing work you’re no longer meant to do
Why staffing, roles, and timing matter more than motivation
How excuses sneak in disguised as “logic”
Why most marketing “doesn’t work” (and what’s actually broken)
How to course-correct weekly instead of burning a year
This episode isn’t motivational fluff.
It’s about radical honesty, personal responsibility, and building systems so you don’t repeat the same mistakes year after year.
If you’ve ever said:
“I’m working my ass off but not hitting my goals”
“The leads just aren’t there”
“Ads don’t work”
“I’ll fix it next quarter”
This one’s for you.
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.Ready to join Captain’s Crew?
🔹 Apply to work with Captain Matt or hire him for elite outdoor lighting design: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 Explore design + install services at Barefoot Lighting: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Join the movement at The Lighting Trade School: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
How Smart Christmas Light Takedowns Make Next Year Effortless | 21
2026/01/04
The installs are done.The lights are up.And now comes the phase most companies ignore…takedowns.
In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, Captain Matt breaks down why poor takedown systems quietly destroy profit, consistency, and next season’s efficiency and how to fix it before January eats your margins.
If reinstalls feel harder than brand-new installs, the problem isn’t your crew.It’s your process.
Inside the episode:
Why “everyone does it their own way” collapses at scale
The real reason reinstalls take longer and how to reverse it
How to document jobs properly with photos, videos, and checklists
Simple labeling systems that let any tech reinstall next year
How to avoid tangled chaos with smarter storage methods
Why takedown speed matters more than you think
How geography-based routing beats “by request” scheduling
The urgency factor in cold climates and why early matters
Why fast takedowns unlock clean numbers and smarter planning
This episode reframes takedowns as what they actually are: the foundation for next season’s success.
If January feels sloppy and October feels painful, this is where it starts.
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.Ready to join Captain’s Crew?
🔹 Apply to work with Captain Matt or hire him for elite outdoor lighting design: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 Explore design + install services at Barefoot Lighting: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Join the movement at The Lighting Trade School: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
Why Keeping the Wrong Employee Is More Dangerous Than Being Short-Staffed | 20
2026/01/03
Most lighting business owners don’t lose their companies overnight.They let them decay slowly by tolerating the wrong behavior for too long.
In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, Captain Matt shares a raw, real situation straight from an active job site where a new hire showed exactly who he was on day two…and was gone the same day.
Not because of a single mistake.Because of how he chose to show up.
Inside this episode:
Why hiring “just to have a body” quietly destroys culture
The difference between coachable mistakes and non-negotiable behavior
How one toxic employee poisons good people and drives your best techs away
The real test of core values: will you enforce them when it’s inconvenient?
Why crews should never feel unsafe or on edge around coworkers
The shift from “I see potential” to “do they actually want this?”
How letting things slide turns your values into empty words
Why underpaying for hard outdoor work guarantees turnover
The truth behind “no one wants to work anymore”
How hiring the right people unlocks growth instead of shrinking your income
Matt also dismantles the solopreneur lie:
“If I hire someone, I’ll make less.”
On a spreadsheet it might look true. In reality, it keeps you trapped.
The right team frees you to sell, design, lead, and build a company not just a job you can’t escape.
If you say culture, standards, and values matter to you…this episode forces the real question:
Are you actually protecting them or just talking about them?
Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.Ready to join Captain’s Crew?
🔹 Apply to work with Captain Matt or hire him for elite outdoor lighting design: https://www.captainmattoutdoors.com/
🔹 Explore design + install services at Barefoot Lighting: https://barefootlighting.com/
🔹 Join the movement at The Lighting Trade School: https://lightingtradeschool.com/
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