With over 30 years of experience, which includes founding and running a woman-owned, award-winning lighting design firm (Thea Award: Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington DC.), Traci Klainer has developed unique skills to inspire teams and collaborate with clients from across the globe. From 2018-2023 she had the great opportunity to work on the owner side as the bridge between cultural, experiential, and immersive design and execution. Today, as executive producer at TAIT, she specializes in creating and managing teams, supporting client relationships, and mentoring the next generation of amazing professionals.
At Showlight 2025, a gathering of the international lighting community in Dijon, France, on May 19-22, 2025, Klainer will present Redefining Success!, as part of a new series of workshops at this quadrennial conference. Her workshop will explore what success in lighting and beyond really looks like — and what happens when you start your career wanting to be a Tony award-winning lighting designer and end up as an executive producer!
Live Design: What can you tell us about your workshop at Showlight?
Traci Klainer: My goal is to talk with full transparency about how a career is like life, the one thing you can count on is change. You never know where you will land so when a door opens walk through with confidence and you will figure it out. I want to be support for young professionals not only now, but as they grow into their specific career paths.
LD: What is your role at TAIT and what kind of projects are you working on?
TK: I am an executive producer at TAIT, which has recently restructured and added additional specialties and expertise under its one umbrella. I specifically split my time between projects, mentoring, and strategic planning. Although I love my projects, NDA's limit my ability to discuss details however I can say that I work on projects across the globe ranging from new urban developments to museums to cultural attractions and more. On the strategic planning side, I have the great opportunity to support the reintroduction to TAIT as a leader in the world of Placemaking. More to come in the next weeks and months!
LD: What should lighting programs teach today's students about career options?
TK: I believe lighting programs, and really all design programs, need to teach not only the creative and technical side of our industry but also the business side. Some in the theatre would call what we do "show business" — not show fun, not show friendship, etc. As designers, we have the unique opportunity to do what we love, but it is still a business and we need to train the next generations to understand how to make a decent living and hopefully to flourish.
For the creative side it is essential to give a designer a well-rounded education that includes, but is not limited to, art history, language skills, and travel.
From grad school I remember and quote these two specific pieces of advice from my professors:
" You have to feed your soul to be an artist. You can't just sit in a dark theatre your whole life."
"15 minutes early is on time. On time is late. 15 minutes late is fired."
Suggested reading:
Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Susan Magsman and Ivy Ross
Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner.