On June 3, WILD convened its very first Fireside Chat webinar/online event that underscored how passion – rather than higher education – can found lighting career. Writer, editor, and advocate Lois I. Hutchinson and social justice–major–turned–sales leader Alessa Aguyao shared their unvarnished reflections on personal priorities, career accelerators, and (of course) navigating bias. We’ve stitched together some highlights, but the full conversation lives on YouTube.
Lois never planned a career in lighting. Fresh out of journalism school with a technical bent, she answered a New York Times ad for LD+A magazine – “the height of the magazine industry,” she recalled – and discovered a world of optics, ergonomics, electricity, and control systems (4:30). Over eight years at the IES, she rose from assistant editor to editor, shepherding volunteer-authors through the manuscript-to-publication process, producing clear, accessible content. “I speak Engineer,” she joked.
How did she learn lighting? “I read LD+A four times a month for seven years. If I didn’t understand it, we had to recast it to where everyone would understand it.” Behind the scenes she guided LD+A into the digital age.
Alessa’s entree to lighting was equally circuitous. A chemistry major turned social-justice advocate at Arizona State University, she needed a change. So she loaded up the truck and she moved to Beverly… “I just wanted to get out of Arizona,” she admits. She landed a job at an LED retrofit company in Los Angeles, igniting a 15-year journey that led today to Director of Sales for Lumenwerx in New York and President of WILD’s international board.
A sense of mission
What keeps the spark alive? Alessa traces her devotion to sustainability back to rural Arizona and remembers seeing Fern Gully, brokenhearted at 4 or 5 years old. “Since then I’ve just always cared about the planet and the environment.” Initially, the LED story was about energy efficiency but at Lumenwerx she’s on the Sustainability Committee, where they see through the lens of cradle to grave and embodied carbon.
Lois describes juggling a triangle of work, life, and volunteer roles. She’s invested countless hours in personal and professional nonprofits; for instance, helping found organizations like WILD, its LA Chapter, and the LA Lighting Speakers Bureau. But she found that those commitments also feed her. She mentioned being introduced to WILD by tending bar at an early, informal event, and meeting everyone. Volunteering, particularly mentorship, is her happy place: “I help someone out and I’m dancing around my kitchen that morning.”
Under Alessa’s presidency, WILD’s first official mentorship cohort swelled to nearly 80 participants. Neither Lois or Alessa had mentors available at key inflection points in their careers. That’s why Alessa beams when she recounts hearing WILD Mentorship cohort participants describe how the program helped with new opportunities and professional connections. “I love the fact that it’s peer-to-peer. It’s unique,” Alessa said. She went on to describe how volunteering with WILD has expanded her own network and professional skill sets.
Unfortunately, bias still surfaces. Both women have learned a simple reframing: let results speak louder than stereotypes. Lois describes herself as a lifelong learner who evolves along with changing technologies. Alessa, meanwhile, faces clients who demand technical answers from men. Rather than push back, “I let my work speak for itself,” she said.
As the webinar wrapped, both dropped some hard-earned advice. Lois offered, “Don’t reinvent the wheel.” Building on others’ lessons accelerates your own growth. “Iterate and reflect.” Alessa wants you to trust your gut: “Women have that special gift, so always trust your intuition.”
Again, both full-length interviews are online now. You’ll hear more confessions, work to bridge lighting technology and design, and lots more on WILD’s evolution and where we’re going. There’s a rundown on the Mentorship program, in general. And in their interviewer roles, WILD Mentorship Committee Co-Chairs Sarah Ricter and Sara Schonour share some of their own views and experience. Let us know what you think. If you know professionals you think we all should know better, let us know at programs@womeninlightinganddesign.org and reference Fireside Chats.
And if you know anyone who could maybe benefit from some open-hearted connection with lighting colleagues around the country, applications for the 2026 cohorts open in the fall.
