Category: Capitol Lighting

Good evening. It’s a great pleasure to be here and I want to thank Habitat for Humanity for giving me this honor and recognizing the work done by our company, Capitol Lighting.
So, how did it come to be that a little Jewish boy from New Jersey who sells lights for a living ends up being honored by a big international Christian Ministry that builds houses. Well, my parents, by their thoughts and deeds, showed me to live in a way where I always look for what connects us, rather than what can divide us.
It is easy to focus on differences, if that is the lense you choose the view the world through. The color of our skin, the kind of clothes we wear, if we had a car or if we had to take the bus, if we believe in one god, or many or none. If we had one parent, or many or none.
If one elevates their thinking just a little bit, we come to realize that the small differences between us are easily dwarfed by the commonalities we all share.
The quality of a person is not made up by who they know, what they have or how they look, but by who they are, what they create and how they can add to the lives of others.
Capitol Lighting was founded in 1924 by my great grandparents, Max and Ethel Lebersfeld. Max was a master craftsman working with the first generation of American electricians. He would tear up the ornate parque floors of his well to do customers and replace their gas pipes with electrical wiring. He made them the promise that if they could find where he took up their floorboards, they didn’t have to pay him. As far as I can tell, this was the first “money back guarantee” in history.
Ethel was the wise one who decided that we should open a store and sell the light fixtures too. Together, they started Capitol Lighting and began our mission to make lives brighter.
They did this literally and figuratively. For almost 90 years, Capitol Lighting has been on a quest of making the lives of our customers, our communities, our vendors and most importantly, our employees – brighter.
We know “why” we’re here and constantly strive improve on what we have to do to live our “why.”
Habitat’s stated mission is that of “building hope with homes.” They are also clear about their “why.” Their organization is filled with dedicated and passionate people striving to provide deserving and hard working families with an incredible gift. They also have provided me personally and every member of my team who has worked on a habitat project the gift allowing us to do a mitzvah – a good deed.
So it seems that Habitat is also is the business of making lives brighter, but they just do it … with houses.
Our goals are aligned and Capitol’s and Habitat’s working together makes all the sense in world.
This past year, with the help of our spokesperson, Rob Van Winkle, also known as Vanilla Ice, our Making Lives Brighter campaign has donated well over $100,000 to Habitat and we look forward for that good work to continue.
So thank you again to Habitat for Humanity for allowing Capitol Lighting the opportunity to support your good work for it allows us to fulfill our mission while helping you fulfill yours.
Thank you all for being here tonight. Thank you to Mike Campbell, director of Habitat and Ana Vento of Vento Designs for making tonight such a success. Have a great rest of the evening.”

Howdy. As you all know, we have embarked on upping our game and have laid out our WOW Customer Service plan. To fully implement WOW, perhaps we should start with asking “WHY”. Why “start with why” you ask? Everything we do should start with “why.” I’m going to specifically talk about Capitol Lighting, but really everything you spend your precious time and energy doing, you should understand “why” you’re doing it.

Not only does knowing why you’re doing something give meaning and purpose to your actions, but you’ll ultimately be happier doing it. Conversely, if you don’t know why you’re doing something, your actions will be less energized, less productive and ultimately give you less joy.
“Why are we here?” Big question. I’ll make it smaller, “Why are we here at Capitol Lighting?” Why did Capitol Lighting come about in the first place? We all know “what” we do. We sell lighting and home furnishings. We know “how” we do it. We have stores, we have people, and we have customers we serve. But “why” do we do it? Can you answer that question easily?
I truly believe we are here to make lives brighter, both literally and figuratively. Not just our customers lives, but also the lives of everyone who works here. Yes, we sell lighting, but what will that lighting ultimately do for our customers? Yes, we work here, but will that help us achieve our goals and will we have fun doing it?
When that customer that purchased that fixture flips the switch and sees her dining room on Thanksgiving light up to a spectacular scene, that’s Capitol’s why. When a person comes home late at night and sees their home lit beautifully with landscape lighting we sold them, and they are filled with a great sense of comfort and pride, that’s Capitol’s why. We’re here to make sure our customers’ homes are places of refuge and reflection and celebration. When we’re taking merchandise to their car, we’re not carrying a box. We’re carrying a little piece of wonder that will, when installed, make their lives brighter.
Why are you here? Is it to get a paycheck? Is it to feel productive? Is it to be part of a team? Sure, all those things are important. Yet for this to be the best, most energetic and fun place to work, understanding the “why” of Capitol Lighting and the role each of you play in accomplishing our “why” should also be at the top of your list. If you have the desire to make peoples’ lives brighter (your own included!), our “whys” are aligned and there will be no stopping this company.
People can buy lighting anywhere. Why would they choose to buy from us? We have to inspire them with confidence we know what we’re talking about. We have to dazzle them with beautiful showrooms. We have to WOW them with our customer service. We have to make it absolutely clear we know our “why.” We have to have fun doing it! When all these things happen, why would they ever buy anywhere else?