CE Pro October 2021 - 31

building at what became Global Wave.
" The whole idea around rogue waves are if
we bring our energies together we can create
that bigger wave and move the most sand
and have the biggest impact ... that's what
we're about as a company, " he says.
Sounds like wisdom that might have been
stated by Larry Steele's legendary teammate
and Grateful Dead superfan Bill Walton. " But
rogue wave sounded like maybe we wanted
to rob you, " he adds, and he settled on
Global Wave.
Small Squads Tackle Tough Projects
Speaking of his staff, Steel emphasizes,
" We're truly a team. We all work together
and there are specialists, but it's just a cohesive
team and we can do these massive projects
we've been doing... like 60,000-squarefoot
homes or going to the Middle East to do
a palace because we're a small, nimble team. "
Global Wave likes to deploy small squads
among the company's 15 employees " to live
on a project and then come back and do the
next one, " Steele says. It's how the integrator
has tightly honed its processes and
techniques, kept morale high and fostered
top-notch service for its VIP customers, to
the tune of roughly $5.7 million in custom
revenues in 2020. (See an example of the
results of Global Wave's efficiencies - and
technology innovation and creativity - in
next month's issue as part of our Home of the
Year Awards coverage.)
The collaboration and cross-training of
everyone embody that rogue wave spirit,
and the democratic nature of Global Wave's
cepro.com
operations could be considered another
way the integrator has been blazing its path
forward. Steele borrowed the business model
from a large industry supplier but says it's not
something he sees in the CEDIA channel.
" It's this Tiger Installation squad we talk
about - you know Sony's a huge corporation,
but they only have four guys as their AV
team, " he says. " So Sony would send these
four guys to a stadium; they'd finish and come
back and get the next project and go back to
work. We're kind of modeling the same thing,
which is very unique as an AV company because
you think of engineering departments
or sales ... and we don't have any of that. "
He says recently Global Wave hired a
" rockstar " CEO - chief experience officer
- Kelsey Gallery, whose industry experience
includes Lutron and Sonnen, who marveled at
the lack of traditional departments.
" We have specialists, like our Savant
programmers; we have an in-house Crestron
Master CAIP [Crestron Authorized Independent
Programmer], which is rare for an AV
company, " he adds.
" But at the same time, when we go on these
projects it's all-hands on deck, we're all wearing
multiple hats and we just help each other out. "
The squads tend to be grouped together
on projects, creating that familiarity of working
together that naturally improves efficiencies
over time.
Diplomatic Approach, Scouting
Personalities Benefits All
Another rare and diplomatic approach Global
Wave employs, Steele adds, is that everyone
October 2021 CE Pro | 31
Global Wave purchased its
Burbank, Calif., building
a couple of years ago and
balanced it with high-end
systems while working on
obtaining WELL points.
http://www.cepro.com
CE Pro October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro October 2021
