The people that work for Ideoli are Rockstars – literally! Vito is a talented designer for Ideoli, but he is also a talented musician based in Argentina. “It’s kind of crazy because I never studied music. Once my father just bought me a guitar when I was 19 years old. And the way I learned was looking at pictures,” says Vito, Ideoli’s 3D Renderer. Self-taught, eh? Tell us more, Vito! “My passion started to grow up there and luckily, I met a lot of good musicians in the way I formed a band. We played with a lot of good known people here. I played on big avenues, I played for the radios. We made some records. Also, I had the honor to play with the most well-known musicians in Argentina,” says Vito. There you have it, not only talented at helping Ideoli builds its brand and offerings, but also in the musical field. Bravo, Vito.
Ideoli has been all over the world as we grow our business in new markets. One perk of traveling the world for business has been that we’ve gotten to experience so many unique, inspiring cultures, and one of our favorite ways to dive in is by trying the local cuisine. One of the more vibrant cities we’ve been to is Barcelona, Spain, which has an exciting mix of amazing architecture, nightlife, beaches, and, of course, great food and drink! If you get the chance to travel there, be sure to try these five standouts among Barcelona’s cuisine: #1) Paella: Arguably the most famous Spanish dish is also the hardest to define, as the rice base can be complemented with an assortment of vegetables, seafood and meat. #2) Sangria: Like paella, sangria has also gained international fame, and this delicious, fruit-infused wine can have many variations. #3) Bombas: While the history of bombas harkens back to the era leading up to the Spanish Civil War, these potato and meat filled “bombs” or croquettes are now a delightful treat to enjoy in Barcelona. #4) Esqueixada: dive into this Catalonian salad that centers around salted cod. The fish is typically mixed with other tasty ingredients like tomatoes, onions, peppers, olive oil and vinegar. #5) Cava: Last but not least, toast to good times in Barcelona with cava, the Spanish version of champagne. Salud! Indulging in these delicious dishes and drinks will help you soak up the local culture in Barcelona and help invigorate you for whatever you want to work on next!
The land of productivity, organization and efficiency. You guessed it; we are talking about Japan. We often hear about these stereotypes regarding japan, but do we agree? “So, all the stereotypes about Japan that I’ve experienced so far are absolutely true. People are absolutely respectful; the country and city of Tokyo is spotless,” says George, Ideoli CEO and Co-Founder. Well, if our first professional visit to the city of Tokyo is any indication, these stereotypes are spot on. “It’s unbelievably well organized with tens of millions of people just functioning and respecting each other’s space. It’s pretty phenomenal,” says George, Ideoli CEO and Co-Founder. Keep being awesome, Japan!
One of the longest flights in the world is from Los Angeles to Singapore. Over 17 hours! “Just landed after a 17 hour flight. One of the top 3 longest flights in the world from LAX to Singapore,” says George Stroumboulis, Ideoli CEO and Co-Founder. Nearly 9,000 miles covered in that time. That is simply insane! “Really, really long flight. Really, really good flight. Just catching up on a lot of stuff right now,” says George. It’s a small world, after all.
We make amazing products for our clients. To ensure this amazingness, we have a dedicated Quality Control team to oversee this – from design, to prototype, to production, to delivery. Our Senior Applications Engineer is on site at every major production run to oversee Ideoli’s production lines. He also coordinates the on-site review at the client’s installation sites. Tell us a bit more, Armando… “We start the QC process as soon as we finalize our drawings and we start ordering parts for production.” Armando has a team of dedicated professionals that help oversee the entire QC process. “We are always on site when the product is installed. We like to oversee the whole process from start to finish. We pride ourselves on how dedicated we are to quality.” “The best part about my position is seeing the product in the early stages and seeing it get finalized in the install location. It’s all about quality control and being there every step of the process for our clients.” We’re off to oversee the next installation!
You haven’t lived until you experienced a tuk-tuk rickshaw ride in India. “So we are in India right now. I figured hey why take a car service to get to our meeting when I can take a tuk-tuk,” says George Stroumboulis, Ideoli CEO and Co-Founder. No shocks, no air conditioning, no seat belts… No problem.
Dear California, we have arrived! With our new offices, showroom & warehouse. Located in beautiful Newport Beach. Come visit us!
Every retailer’s goal is to draw customers into their stores, right? Well, at Ideoli, we are able to provide our clients with just that. Our beautiful LED rings create the“wow” factor that draws people into their stores, increasing their chances of generating sales. The ring chandelier’s unique design captivates your attention and sparkles from every angle of the retail location. Super excited how our products look and enhance the clients space. With our Ring Chandeliers being such a hit at our client’s prestigious New York Flagship store, we were invited to install our LED rings in their locations across the Middle East. It’s very promising seeing what we’re doing over here and the reaction our clients have. Makes it all worth it. Not only do our clients love it, but the customers love it too! Here’s what they had to say about the ring chandeliers. I love it, I’d love it in my home. It’s beautiful. It’s very ‘wow’. Elegant and stunning. It makes it look very classy. They were beautiful and it’s a focal point of the store. It’s the first thing you notice when you walk in the store. It’s clear to see how a stunning focal point lighting fixture can make a big difference in a retail store’s appeal. At Ideoli, we can raise the elegance and interest in any store with our LED ring chandeliers.
Ideoli has been expanding aggressively into new markets since it was founded. To help guide our growth we created a board of advisors with a group of extremely knowledgeable individuals. One of our advisors is Grant Whitmore, a digital media specialist living in New York City. “Hi, I’m Grant Whitmore, I’m an EVP of Digital at New York Daily News. I live in New York and I’m a board of advisor at Ideoli. Grant has worked for some of the world’s largest media companies driving results in a competitive industry. I’m the Executive Vice President at New York Daily News, I’m responsible for everything that we do digitally for New York’s biggest newspaper. I’ve seen a young company get its, figure out their production model. Figuring out how to acquire customers has always been something that’s been super interesting to me, it’s great to see these guys get such a working start.” Grant is the epitome of professionalism and business acumen, helping Ideoli move in the right direction. “One of the things with young companies is really trying to figure out what are the best things to focus on and being on the board of advisors for Ideoli, I think we’ve got a great opportunity to help George and Chris and the rest of their team figure out where there are great opportunities, helping them to clear hurdles that they run into. Cos it’s a very complex organization, it’s multinational in nature. Ideoli has the ability to deliver really high quality product, much much more, as a result of how they manage their supply chains and I think that that’s going to be a huge differentiator for them. And also there’s the fact that these two guys bring such a great energy to this and bringing forth outstanding relationships throughout the entirety of their eco system is going to help them.” Grant has made an immediate impact on our team and we’re extremely excited to have him on board. I’m really really lucky to be a part of this, it’s an honor to be a part of Ideoli and I know that they are going to be tremendous.
In order to impress your clients, you need to give them 110%. If they ask you to jump, you need to ask them “how high”! George, can you believe this guy? “I can’t stand these cheesy clichés, Chris”. Tell me about it! Jumping to keep the client happy is not enough in our world… of course not, to keep our clients happy… we don’t jump. We freaking fly! And never bother to ask them in the first place… we just do it! Maybe we show this guy what we mean? Ideoli is all about going above and beyond what is expected from their clients… and from the industry. So when it comes to our clients, we do everything that is imaginable, possible and needed, to exceed their expectations. And to do this, we believe in 5 simple principles to amazingly-awesome customer service. 1) DON’T BE AN ASSHOLE! We hate assholes. Whether they are on our team or on the client’s team, life is too short and too beautiful to deal with them on a daily basis. So, when we are confronted with true assholes out there, we simply remove them from our equation. 2) BE RIDICULOUSLY CREATIVE! If you can think of it, then we can create it. And if you don’t have the exact vision of what you need but have an idea, then integrate us into the brainstorming process early on. We have an international team with the engineering, design and marketing capacity to knock your socks off. It’s what we do! 3) SHOW AND YELL, NOT TELL! Show and tell is fun and effective, but Ideoli prefers to engage in “Show and Yell”… as in, show our clients what we can do for their product needs and then have make them yell with joy and satisfaction from what we deliver. 4) DON’T F*** UP! Easier said than done. F***ing up is part of the process and life… its inevitable. But when we mess up at ideoli, we are obsessive about taking immediate, effective corrective action at all lengths to correct any issues that may take place. We are passionate about that. 5) HAVE THE BEST MILKSHAKE! If you are really good at what you do, your milkshake should bring all the fans to the yard… (and we’re like, its better than yours)! We believe our milkshake is good enough to get the right people’s attention. But once we have your attention, we work hard to listen to our prospects, create products that convert them into clients, and do everything to keep them invested and engaged. From jumping on a 15 hour flight to grab a beer with our clients, to traveling to the other side of the world to help oversee an installation project. Whatever it takes! Wherever it takes us! That summarizes our simple principles when it comes to impressing our clients.
Ideoli has been experiencing tremendous growth with international brands. To help guide our growth we created a board of advisors with a group of extremely talented individuals. One of our advisors is Allen Kieffer, a legend in the retail construction arena. Allen got together with our content team to tell us what he’s all about. “Hi, I’m Allen Kieffer, I am a Retail Development Consultant with Crazy Results LLC. I live in Ventura, California and I’m on the Board of Advisors for Ideoli. Allen has helped drive the success for some of the world’s largest retail brands. Semi retired from Guess Jeans two years ago and decided to go to France for a year, tried studying culinary arts for a kind of a gap year and when I came back I started up consulting; kind of organically. So at Guess I was there for 12 years and I was Vice President of Retail Development, where I oversaw the design for all of their stores worldwide, the construction of the stores in North America, their sourcing and their facilities management; so it was cradle to grave.” Allen has previous experience working with Ideoli’s co-founder making this advisory role a natural fit. “What they do differently is they’re not out solely to make money and to turn a quick client; they’re out to make relationships, to keep those relationships, strengthen those relationships and take them on however they need to go. My role helping Ideoli will be to help with sourcing but also help give them ideas, help guide them in different directions if they come up with an idea, to help bounce ideas back and forth.” Allen has made an immediate impact and we are extremely excited to have him on our team. I couldn’t be more excited to be part of Ideoli because there is limitless possibilities and with the two of them putting things together it’s fantastic and you know; I couldn’t be more flattered and I’m looking forward to a long tenure with Ideoli.
Ideoli is expanding quickly across several international markets. To help guide our growth, we created a board of advisors with a group of extremely impressive individuals. One of our advisors is Robert Peck, a Canadian diplomat and former ambassador of Canada. “My name is Robert Peck; I’m a Canadian Diplomat and former Ambassador. I live in Ottawa, Canada. Robert has worked with prominent heads of state and continues to be a catalyst for positive change throughout his career. I was Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic to Greece and I was Ambassador to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.” As the Canadian Ambassador in Greece, Robert helped Ideoli’s co-founder with his entrepreneurial initiatives. “We became friends and as I watched him do all kinds of new things, particularly Ideoli, I thought wow! Anything I can do to help someone like him succeed I’m pleased to roll up my sleeves and get involved.” Robert has tremendous communications experience in the political arena on an international scale. “I hope that I can be helpful in terms of connecting the company with important stakeholders but also bring some understanding about what it means to do business in the international environment. And I think that the company to me conveys an image of cutting edge, something that is not a cookie cutter; and brings that really innovative dimension to lighting. I’m very very impressed by what the company has achieved. I know that it’s by dint of hard work, tenacity and getting out there and hustling. Business is tough in a globalized economy, and that’s why that energy, that enthusiasm is that much more important to succeed.” Robert has made an immediate impact on our team and we are extremely excited to have him on board. I am absolutely delighted to be on the board of Ideoli and look forward to working with its great team in the months and years ahead.