 She has lived in four countries, speaks four languages fluently, and considers herself a citizen of the world. But for Berenice Chauvet, her home is Florida-based Chauvet Lighting, the company she started with her husband, Albert, more than 20 years ago.
“We’re so passionate about this business that it’s our third child,” Chauvet said. “We are in love with business. We’re also in love with making a difference and we believe that we’re doing that in the world of lighting.”
When the Chauvets started their company, it was out of that love for business, rather than a love for the product category per se. “The opportunity came because Albert started manufacturing rope lighting. We were an OEM manufacturer for existing U.S. brands and from there we realized that we might as well brand ourselves,” said Chauvet. “I would love to have a wonderful story to tell about how we dreamed of being in the lighting business and that’s all we ever wanted to do. Albert wanted to be a professional soccer player and I wanted to write the greatest novel of then, the 20th century—now I postponed it; now it’s going to be for the 21st century.”
Say the Word
Writing, and indeed communicating, has been in Chauvet’s blood from the start. She was a journalist for both the Miami Herald and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel when Chauvet was in its infancy, and today she has a hand in many of the company’s functions, including branding and marketing.
“I’m more of a people person. I thrive on meeting people, spreading the message. I enjoy being an ambassador to all things Chauvet and making sure that we really set out to accomplish what we promise to deliver, which is value, innovation, and performance,” said Chauvet.
“It’s a learning curve for me even to this day as far as the technological side of lighting,” she continued. “There is a lot of stereotyping going on in our industry where, as a woman, you feel that your expertise is questioned maybe more often than it would be if you were a man; that you have to prove yourself a lot more than if you were a man. But I don’t see that as a negative because at the end of the day, it makes me better.”
A Woman’s World
“Regularly, when I go to trade shows, I look around, trying to spot women executives and they’re just not there,” Chauvet said, adding that one of her goals at the company “is to increase the number of women executives we have here. I think it’s one of the few companies in our business where basically in every department you have a woman at a managerial level.”
According to Chauvet, this reflects the atmosphere at the company, where she considers its 70 employees to be her second family. “I think we have our values really straight here—family comes first. So that helps to attract qualified women who might hesitate otherwise to get into an industry like ours where they don’t feel that they’re going to get the understanding or the support that they will get here,” said Chauvet. “As a mother myself, I understand the value of being flexible when it comes to picking up a child from school, when it comes to multitasking the way we women do, and I don’t think that’s the case in many companies where you don’t have a woman at the top.”
Chauvet certainly has a keen understanding of balancing work and family since she works so closely with her husband, who is also her 50/50 partner in the business.
“The biggest challenge is to try not to talk too much about work when we’re out of work—which is usually just one hour during the night between 11 and midnight,” she said with a laugh. “I can see why some couples could struggle with it. It’s not always easy, but I think that with a lot of love and a lot of respect it can be done.
“I have to say I consider myself a spectacularly lucky person because I happen to work with someone I really, genuinely admire as a businessperson, regardless that I am married to him and that I’m in love with him. He’s also my mentor and I’m very lucky.”
Keeps Getting Better
What started as a one-product company has certainly grown over the years, but what remains a source of pride for Berenice Chauvet are the small battles, the tiny accomplishments others might not notice.
“Here at Chauvet, the moments that pop up when you ask me about my career highlights are things that have done nothing for my career, actually,” she said. “The highlights of being at Chauvet are the moments when I’ve seen an employee, for example, who started at Chauvet lifting boxes in the warehouse become a manager. [Or last year, when] we won the Best Booth Award at LDI. The flashback I had was our first booth,” she continued, “which was a mere 15 years ago, and it was a 10x10 booth. It was Albert doing everything. And to be there all of a sudden and have this huge, beautiful booth—an award-winning one—I knew [our employees] would go back home and feel that sense of a job well done, mission accomplished, that they deserve.
“That’s what it’s all about for me. It’s about making a difference in my life everyday and in the people surrounding me every single day. It’s beyond money,” said Chauvet. “Once you do something that you genuinely love and you give it your best, I do think the money comes, especially when you live in this wonderful country that’s called the United States of America. This is the land of opportunity.”
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