ABOUT THIS PODCAST 🔗
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.
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.
Hosts:
Update frequency:
every 16 days
Average audio length:
20 minutes
Has sponsors
Video podcast
English
United States
35 episodes
since Sept. 15, 2025
episodic
IN THIS PODCAST 🔗
LATEST EPISODE 🔗
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.
…
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PREVIOUS EPISODES 🔗
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’…
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…
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…
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 …
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 lightin…
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 …
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…
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 inst…
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 …
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Matt Martoccio, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
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