EP# 51 - Championing Innovation: Jason LeMay's Entrepreneurial VoyageDecember 05, 2023 - 1 minute readEver thought of the intricate journey behind the creation of your favorite custom audio-video solutions? Join us as we rewind the tape of Jason LeMay’s inspiring story, starting as a small-town Florida electrician to becoming a powerhouse entrepreneur. Jason’s tale is a testament to the power of resilience, determination, and a keen sense of identifying needs in the tech market. His insights into overcoming hurdles in the tech world and addressing common misconceptions are thought-provoking. As we traverse through Jason’s professional timeline, you’ll get a deeper appreciation for professional-grade electronics, technology, and innovation.
Do you crave to know more about businesses that not only provide outstanding services but also positively impact communities? We got you covered. We sat down with Jason to unravel the offerings of his company, CITE Solutions. A firm believer in quality and core values, Jason passionately shares how his company aims to make a difference. You’ll discover a man whose mission stretches beyond profit, to creating solutions that meet the community’s needs. This conversation will leave you inspired and perhaps challenge you to rethink your perspective on technology, entrepreneurship, and community involvement. So, gear up, and let’s unravel these exciting stories together.
Speaker 1: 0:00This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here’s your host, Jim Schaller.
Speaker 2: 0:10Welcome Good Neighbors To episode number 51 of the Good Neighbor podcast, the Estero. Today we have Good Neighbor Jason LeMay CITE Solutions joining us. Jason, welcome, welcome. Thank you very much. Yeah, it’s a pleasure getting to know people out in the community and learn a little bit more about their businesses. So let’s jump right in. And why don’t we start by sharing a little bit about CITE Solutions and what you guys do over there? Speaker 3: 0:36So we do a lot of custom audio video stuff. I do a lot of stuff in the lighting world too. I do these lighting systems where you can control everything from your phone or a keypad on the wall. You can control your lights anywhere in the world Motorized shades, audio video, dedicated home theaters and I have a bit of a knack, because I’ve been doing this for a couple of decades now, where I understand the old technology, the analog technology from yesterday, and how to make that new and fresh into the digital world that we are living in now. So there’s not a lot of guys out there that have that type of experience or have that understanding, and so that’s something that we bring to the table that other technology companies do not.
Speaker 2: 1:27So we do a lot of custom audio video stuff. I do a lot of stuff in the lighting world too. I do these lighting systems where you can control everything from your phone or a keypad on the wall. You can control your lights anywhere in the world Motorized shades, audio video, dedicated home theaters and I have a bit of a knack, because I’ve been doing this for a couple of decades now, where I understand the old technology, the analog technology from yesterday, and how to make that new and fresh into the digital world that we are living in now. So there’s not a lot of guys out there that have that type of experience or have that understanding, and so that’s something that we bring to the table that other technology companies do not.
Speaker 3: 1:46So right out of high school I decided to go to work instead of going to college. I was married, young, with two children, and I had to put food on the table, so I quickly realized that regular jobs weren’t gonna cut it. So I decided to look for a trade and I met this great young, this great gentleman named Fred, and he gave me an opportunity to become an electrician. And so I started as an electrician, roughing luxury custom homes here in Naples 10,000 square foot, 15,000 square foot houses. I was running the wires, the high voltage wires, inside of it, and that’s where I started to learn the lighting systems. The lighting systems then grew into the automation stuff and the audio video and that type of thing, and so eventually I migrated out of being an electrician and more into the technology side of these homes, these residential homes, interesting interesting and how did you go about starting your own business, and that. So, after years and years of working for lots of other people, very well rounded, I was a project manager and operations manager for one of the largest AV companies in the United States. I was in Los Angeles for five or six years doing that, and Naples happens to be my home I was born and raised here so when I moved back I decided that it was gonna start building to open my own company and after working for a couple other companies here for a few years, I just went and, out of pure grit, just decided to start my own business. The fun story with that one is I had $5,000 in my bank account. I had no job, no paychecks, no contracts, no nothing. And I said I’m gonna go into business for myself. And I quickly realized that I had worked and so I did and I was by myself for the first three years two years and we now have my wife involved and she’s been with us now two years and I have a couple of fantastic employees and we’re growing. We just moved to a new location. So, yeah, we’re doing well. Speaker 2: 4:01And those are some of the best stories and literally starting from the bottom and with a vision and making it happen yourself, and that’s the best feeling as a business owner too. I love that. So, speaking along those lines, we’ve all kind of had some challenges along our way that maybe put us in a better position today, or better because of it. Is there something along your journey that’s maybe made you a better person today?Speaker 3: 4:28Well, you know so as a young man, like I said, I grew up here in Naples and at one point my mom was a single mom and we moved to a little city called Copeland, which is outside of Everglades City, and for four years I went to school in Everglades City. I went to middle school and high school and back then it was the Wild, wild West. I mean, I lived down there during Operation Everglades where the DEA came in and created all the houses and arrested everybody on drug busts and all this stuff. So it was quite the experience and growing up there it really gave me grit, right, it gave me a level of earnest that you just don’t get any other place than a place like Everglades City.Speaker 2: 5:21That is great. That is great and it’s made you a great person today. So, along the industry lines, are there any myths or maybe misconceptions that we could kind of bust for our listeners that are involved?Speaker 3: 5:37Well, you know technology. Everybody thinks technology is simple and it is, if you know how to do it properly, right. So there’s steps, there are things that you have to do, and so people think they can just go to Best Buy or they can go to Costco and they can buy a TV and it’s the same TV that somebody like me sells, and that’s not entirely true at all. There’s consumer grade electronics and then there’s professional grade electronics. We only provide professional electronics professional grade, you know, and not the stuff written cameras and cloud-based stuff. I’m a big proponent of not having to wrench your own stuff, right, because that’s basically what we’re doing. So I think the challenge is having clients understand what we provide in a level of quality versus the Costco plastic thing that they saw on the shelf, that they think is cool, that they want at their house.Speaker 2: 6:41Yeah, do you get what you pay for? At the end of the day, you do. That’s the biggest thing. So are you noticing any kind of trends in the industry currently?Speaker 3: 6:53Voice is a big thing. Voice control we’re doing now some I’ll say privatized, but they’re kind of private ecosystem voice control systems. You know Siri and Google and you know all those other ones that are Alexa. All of those currently sell your data right, they’re mining your information. So we sell another system called Josh and Josh doesn’t do any of that mining and it’s again, it’s all kind of proprietary and it’s all set inside and it’s geared just towards the consumer electronics industry and so you don’t have to worry about whether or not your information’s being leaked and you’re not gonna get served up an ad because you were talking about something and you know at Home Depot and then all of a sudden, boom, you get a Home Depot ad there’s. We don’t play those games. We like to privatize that stuff.Speaker 2: 7:49That’s a good thing to know, because, yeah, somebody out there is always listening, right?Speaker 3: 7:53There’s one other thing too that’s a big thing and I wanna hit on is lighting Lighting today. The big thing right now is circadian rhythms, right? So we’re learning that back in the caveman days, right, or even farming and whatnot, people would get up when the sun came up, they would go to bed when the sun came down, and there’s a ton of health benefits to that whole rhythm, that rhythm of the day right, and we are now able to run these programs inside your house, that mimic sunrise highlight of the day, and then all the way back down to sunset, so that your body actually will wake up the proper way and go to sleep the proper way. So that’s something that is also really neat. That’s some new technology that we’re tapping into that’s really important for health and wellness.Speaker 2: 8:43Yeah, I love that. I love that. Yeah, it’s this time of year that I get a little down because the sun’s out up as much as this I’d like it to be and we can mimic summer all year round in your house. I’d be happy with that, totally happy with that. So, speaking of the weather down here, we live in Southwest Florida. What do you do as a business owner? I know you’re busy, but what do you do outside of work?Speaker 3: 9:09I am a huge scuba guy right, so I love the scuba dive. I am a technical scuba diver. I am a rebreather scuba diver. I do lots of fun, crazy dives. I like to go down into the deep, dark areas of wrecks. I spend a lot of time in the keys diving the sphedral grove, the Vandenberg, and we’re going into the engine rooms we’re doing all that kind of stuff, just wild stuff, my spearfish that’s something else I love to do, also scuba diving, right and then.
Speaker 1: 9:42I’m an added fisherman as well. Speaker 3: 9:44I don’t get to go fishing as much as I used to, but I spend more of my time underwater these days and on top on the boat. But I love to fish and I love to scuba dive. Definitely a water man, huh yeah and, of course, hanging out with the wife and the family you know, there you go.Speaker 2: 10:01that’s always important. Gotta include them as well. So are there any last things that maybe our listeners should know about site solutions that maybe they don’t know?Speaker 3: 10:13Well, you know, I think one of the key things that I like to pride myself in, that I like people to know, is that when you call me, actually pick up my phone. I hear all the time how I try to get a hold of this guy and he’s not calling me back. And if I don’t answer my phone immediately or answer a text immediately, I do my best to respond by the end of the day.
Speaker 2: 10:35There’s not a lot of guys that do that. Speaker 3: 10:37And that’s just one of those things that I understand from a service standpoint, that people want, right? You don’t need a 85 inch television and an awesome surround sound to control your whole house with your phone, right? Nobody needs that. That’s a want, yeah, and so I provide a service for the people that want that type of thing, and so I make sure they’re taken care of, because I also understand that technology can be confusing to some people that don’t understand it, and so I’m available to make sure that people are taken care of. Speaker 2: 11:09And that’s what people are looking for nowadays. Like you said, there’s so many options and so many things. To kind of sift or to have somebody with expert knowledge to kind of point them in the right direction is great. So how can our listeners go about getting a hold of you?Speaker 3: 11:25Of course we’re on all the social media platforms at site solutions and site is spelled with a C-I-T-E. CITE solutions. We are in the process of building out our little showroom. We just moved into a new unit in North Naples so you’ll be able to actually come in and touch and feel and see the circadian rhythm and the remote controls and experience the voice technology that we talked about. Once we get all that stuff online, you can also go to our website at site-solutionscom, and you can also call or text the office at 239-844-C-I-T-E, which is 2483.Speaker 2: 12:06Perfect Jason. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you and learn a little bit more about site solutions. Look forward to seeing you out in the community.Speaker 3: 12:16I appreciate it. Thank you very much for the opportunity.Speaker 1: 12:19Thank you. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast Estero. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPestero. com or call 239-296-2621.By Nicole, 12/08/2023
Contact UsMobile: (239) 844-CITE (2483)Location: 1040 Collier Center Way #2 , Naples, FL 34110, United States.
