"Its up to you to try something in order to improve yourself - it reinforces the notion that failure isn't the end of everything." - Martin Van Koolbergen
In this episode, I’m joined by Martin van Koolbergen, partner at KGM Architectural Lighting and head of KGM’s New York office.
KGM — short for Kaplan, Gehring, McCarroll — is a multidisciplinary lighting design firm with studios in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta. Since the mid-1980s, they’ve been creating transformative lighting designs for spaces across the globe.
Martin joined KGM in 2000 after working as a licensed architect, a background that deeply shapes his approach to lighting. Over his career, he’s led projects in more than 20 countries and has been instrumental in building KGM’s reputation in stadium and sports entertainment lighting.
Our conversation covers:
Career growth and mentorship
Scaling creative teams
Succession planning in design firms
The role of travel in expanding creative perspective
Building a studio culture centered on collaboration and curiosity
How mentoring builds confidence, capability, and trust
It’s a wide-ranging and insightful discussion, full of wisdom on leadership, design, and the future of the profession.
Please enjoy my conversation with Martin van Koolbergen.
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The Light Lounge was founded as an art project by Thomas Mnich in 2018, me interviewing and talking with the most brilliant and creative lighting designers in the world. To learn from them and to get inspired by the stories they share. Please let me know if you have any questions and feel free to contact me via LinkedIn or Instagram.