Esther Lamm is CEO of LAMM Industries, the company her father, Vladimir Lamm, founded.

Ever since he brought her to her first Consumer Electronics Show when she was 14, Vladimir instilled in his daughter an abiding interest in the audio industry and in his ongoing pursuit of the purity of sound.

In everything she’s done, she’s been preparing herself to honor her father’s legacy from all her experiences.

https://www.lammindustries.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/esther-lamm-6780141/

https://www.youtube.com/@estherlamm7559

IG: @lamm_industries

FB: https://www.facebook.com/LammIndustriesInc/

 Welcome back friends to our podcast on locking your world of creativity and we travel around the world talking to creative practitioners about how they get inspired and how they organize ideas and most of all, how they gain the connections and the confidence to get their work done. Out into the world.

And just in the last few episodes, we've traveled to Norway, Portugal, LA, South Africa. So it's great to connect the dots all over the world. And today we're going to a real global center. We're going to Miami. It's called magic city, little Haiti, and it's a hotbed of creativity. I'm just so glad to be talking with Esther Lamm, CEO of lamm industries.

Esther, welcome to the show.

Mark, thank you so much for having me. It

must be such a great pulse where you are in the Magic City area.

Oh, I'm so excited to be here. So we're in Magic City, Little Haiti Innovation District. And there's a lot of interesting things

from development and to art galleries and restaurants popping up. But also literally around the corner from us. It's a space called Little River Business District. So there are a lot of incubator, companies in the tech world and health care. It's really exciting and a good time to be in Miami.

Yes. And all those influences of creativity coming at you from all sorts of angles, I'm sure. Yes, for sure. That's for certain. Let's get into the sort of past, present, and future of Lamb Industries. This is the namesake company of you and your family. Your father founded it gosh many years ago.

Yes. And a real sort of foundational brand in the area of consumer electronics, sound, audio, visual equipment. But give us a little sense of how the company is shaped now.

Sure. So it's actually our 30th year anniversary. And I like to say my dad started with a dollar in a dream, really, because we were immigrants.

And even then he was developing consumer electronics and obviously under the former Soviet union umbrella. There was no privatization. So they were selling his products, abroad and he was their cash cow to be more specific. So he really at his heart, had this like entrepreneurial spirit and to do what he loved best was to, create these products now.

Growing up at his knee and really being exposed to the industry and live music, I always had this vision that there's more to just the audiophile market. I have a tremendous respect and appreciation for audiophiles because that's our core audience. But even in my twenties traveling with him and really being interested in like lifestyle products and luxury market.

Because I always felt like his brand equity just didn't match the infrastructure, right? He was like a one man show. Obviously, we had assembly and engineers and my stepmom built the company with him under him. They had a five people team. But I always felt like when we'd audiophiles, right?

We were like, we were dubbed like the Bugatti of audio, but then little did they know that my, my dad assembled the products in this, like this little creaky staircase, walking to his basement, the Bill Gates, model. And I always had this vision you know what, in order to market to the Southern market you have to look the part, right?

You can't say you're the Bugatti of audio, make it in a basement, right? So I'm very grateful and blessed that we were able to open up in this facility in this neighborhood in the state really now matching up, the brand equity to the way that the infrastructure will be going forward running the

company.

Yes in your sense of the brand. And the brand history certainly does come through and I was thinking about as I read one of the pieces of your bio that you went to your first consumer electronic show when you were 14 and so you, the branding, the glitz, the glamor, the, you have to show the wares in this aspirational brand sort of way, right?

Sure. But I would say here's the funny part, right? The audio files. And this was, where my father and I would have this like kind of point of contention where even at a young age, I was like, dad, our website has to resonate this sort of image. And for him it was very cute.

Our website, the old one had a little American flag waving, right? It was like, literally he could have gotten the award for The first website ever created right and like you could see the little number of visitors and you would come in and it was like my stepmom made it herself with the computer guy at the time that they were working with.

And I was like, this is so not on brand and my father didn't care for that right. His idea was like what does that matter? Because we have the best sounding equipment in the world. And that's what I got out of, again, not all audiophiles. There are, look, these are sophisticated people with sophisticated tastes, right?

But a lot of them, they're not really looking at. You know the branding the outside all the flair they care about the sound and that is what my father focused on. I actually have one of his quotes and it says my ultimate aim like that of many in the high end is to build equipment that has no sound at all that brings the listener as close as possible to the musicians and singers in the studio with minimal interference from between.

As much as My father was dedicated to building a brand. It was from the perspective of just what the sound was like. Whereas where I was coming in and, I have a marketing degree and this was just something that was almost like counterintuitive for me okay, but what if someone is coming in from the outside in and they're not an audiophile and they're looking at your website, they won't figure out what it is, they don't know, is it a.

Is it a speaker? Is it a cable? Is it an amplifier? And so in that industry per se, going to all the CES shows, yes, there were certain brands that got it and they were like focusing on the glitz, but most of all, most of them, I would say really were not. And that was my point of contention that look, these are such beautiful machines, from the From the usage perspective from the price perspective from the aesthetic perspective, and then you have this lifestyle market where you have these like again, I'll go back to the moneyed influencer.

They have a category for watches, they have a category for cars, they have a category for airplanes and homes and so on. But there's, I've never really saw in in the proper presentate representation that there was a category where people, unless they were an audiophile, right? But then that's a different category where someone was like, Oh my gosh, I just got the new, X, Y, and Z brand of sound system.

And they're showing it off. And for them, that it's something that also speaks to the outside world about them. So that's where I see this like opportunity to change that and to trail blaze with other, with partner brands. Cause like you can't do it alone. Although I'm set out to with or with anybody, but that's where I see the opportunity right now.

Yes. And it's been interesting. You talk about in your father's quote there about getting out of the way, I think about the sound equipment then being the channel, being the voice for the musicians, for the singers, for the orchestras for the classical music of whatever. Genre that you might be listening to.

So are you really bringing the artist's work, to bear

right? So I would say, even it's a very interesting question So at some see a show so one of our one of our customers and friends David Chesky as Chesky records And it's it's it's it's like a niche indie record label And what he would do is he would get these like fantastic artists around the world And there was one show where they did a setup where they had a live performance and then they had that artist, same song being played on a sound system.

And they asked everybody to close their eyes. And it was actually very difficult to say which was which. So I would say, yes, like a sound system of our caliber or any high end audio system, it's really an instrument becomes almost an instrument in terms from the artist perspective, even after they record at a recording studio and when they do playback, if a recording is not properly recorded, this kind of system will pick it up, right? So yeah, it is a conduit for the artists. If someone like, if someone wants to experience Andrea Bocelli in a concert, and then they want to bring a piece of Andrea Bocelli home.

But the high end audio system, they're able to do that. And I believe that not enough people in the world that have the ability to afford this kind of system even know about it. And that's a shame. Yes.

Then bringing us up to date in your ideas and plans to reinvigorate and revitalize the brand.

What sort of things are you thinking about? And I think about yes to serve the current market, but it sounds like you also want to expand and you're talking about bringing more people into the market who can appreciate this kind of sound.

Yes, for sure. So I definitely believe that there is enough.

Room to grab more market share because my father always said throughout the years of hearing him speak about the business that, he was an artist, an engineer, a scientist, and not that he didn't understand business because he was brilliant. But that wasn't his that wasn't his thing. And he always said that there was a lack of sales and marketing, having a sales and marketing arm, and then I was a lot younger, I wasn't as focused, I didn't have all the life experience that I have now and all the business acronym because I worked in many different, many different industries.

And so definitely there, there are audio files that haven't been able, let's say they heard of our brand, but they haven't experienced it. So there's definitely, it's not that I'm like going away from and saying, high end audio or audio files. I'm not interested. I'm now I'm going into other markets.

That's, that, that's not correct. I want to.

I do see a lot of growth, a lot of opportunity, especially being in Miami. To now go into different markets and in doing so by partnering with lifestyle brands to do experiential sound events, and really, cause one of the, one of the things that we were, going through with our branding team, like in any business plan, what's the problem?

How do you solve it? But most people don't realize that they have a problem in how they're listening. And again, I'm not knocking. I'm very grateful. I myself listened to iTunes and Apple and all that stuff when I'm on the road. And I'm so grateful for Spotify and all these channels I am. But there's another medium of listening that people are just are not exposed to.

So how do you solve that problem? You go to them. You really have a concentrated effort in doing experiential pop up events, right? And something that actually we discussed with our PR team. If I was going to tell you about an art piece. And describe it to you, right? It's not a descriptive forum, right?

You have to experience it by seeing it the same thing would hold true for sound, right? So and I think one of them like growing up again in this industry and hearing one of the major complaints of a lot of Dealers and distributors. How do you get the younger generation? Interested when it's the iPod generation, right?

How do you get them interested? And again, my not to expose too much of my secret sauce because, I have a fine line. Someone from Macintosh labs is listening and they're like, Oh, that sounds like a good idea. And they got a lot more marketing dollars than we do, which I have a high respect for Macintosh labs.

They're one of the great companies in the industry over 50 years old, but it's really having these, this is where my creative juices come in. It's how to incorporate high quality sound into the lives of people and how to deliver that. And again I'll leave it at that.

And you could, the listeners could use their magic. But it's pop ups, pop ups and different experiential events centered around big festivals, music festivals, film festivals and the like. And so I'm very excited about that part. You

should be, it sounds very exciting. And you touched on an idea at the outset about collaboration and author.

Many of my podcast interviews, people have said, obviously, we can't do it alone, or we tried to do it alone, and then we teamed up, or, many artists say, I couldn't have done this myself. You mentioned collaboration, and in the world of music, in the world of sound and consumer electronics in general, collaborations are a Big part of anybody's success.

What are your thoughts on that?

I agree with that very much especially in the way that we are structured, there are very few high end audio brands that do it all right. That do that manufacture speakers and the DAC and the turntable and the preamplifier and the amplifier. So Most companies like for instance, I'll give you an example behind me or the Wilson audio speakers, right?

So traditionally, the way that it works for all the consumer type audio shows, you have a speaker company, you have a turntable company, you have the furniture company, you have a cable company and that with the occasion company. Through that collaborative interaction and experience, they create something magical, one cohesive system.

I would say collaboration is very important, but I also believe, in, in the power of self, meaning that, one of my favorite books, actually a customer of ours, Alan Jamal sent it to me because he said when he was reading it, it reminded him. Of myself, which is the tipping point five.

And so one of the things that I have, I actually, I looked up the, so I could be if we'd go in this direction. So he explains how ideas spread like epidemics, right? With few elements need to come together to help an idea reach. The point of critical mass. So I feel like it starts from the power of one, but then even there, elements have to come together and that's the power of collaboration.

Even on the human scale, we're all individuals. We all have our unique qualities, but it's the power of coming together as humanity, that, that gives us that umph. And makes us, but then the power of us coming together still makes us like a single, unit. So I feel like it's ever changing and ever flowing,

sounds exciting. It sounds like you're getting to team up with some great people. Yes. Folks, my guest is Esther Lamm. She's the CEO of Lamm Industries, a company that was founded by her father. And. Esther, my listeners are going to really tune in, and they're probably even saying by now, Mark, you let her talk about her father coming to the U.

S. from the former Soviet Union, and you didn't hear more of that story, and how that's probably influenced Esther today. So I'd like to rewind the tape a bit, and pause on that, and talk about your father's journey. And in the global context that we're living today, even what impact has that had on both you personally, but also your entrepreneurial spirit?

I'll tell you that. Thank you for this question. Because, everything I'm doing. Is really stemmed in my father's legacy, right? This is very much a legacy brand. I do love music and I feel very privileged to be in this position as CEO. My father was a very, he was a very multifaceted man.

Anyone that's. I spoke to him. He could talk to you about philosophy, could talk to you about medicine, he could talk to you about electronics, he could talk to you about God, whatever it was. So he's a very unique individual. He loved art. My father grew up in probably, what's dubbed, right?

World War II, like the dark ages, post that, and that clearly influenced him in his upbringing, but he always had this, spirit of freedom and that's what he aspired to. And, I'm not going to go bashing and talking about, politicizing, but, living under any kind of regime that's oppressive is not healthy.

It's not healthy for the individual of self. I was a little girl, I was seven and a half when we left, when we immigrated and we immigrated, we went through like this. political refugee route that I still remember. We went to Vienna from Vienna to Rome and in Rome, we lived for a few months where we had opportunity to decide whether it's Israel or Canada.

And we came to New York because we have family, my grandma and my uncle were already there. And, seeing my father coming from the background that. He came from out of a high level engineer, having 500 people around them. It was very humbling, even as a child to see, he went to the university and actually it's funny because sometimes he would teach the class, believe it or not.

He went to pick up the, the English, the electronics, to understand how to communicate. And and then he was like, he was a few years, I'm 43 now. And he was maybe 47, 48. He was an intern, which was odd, right? At 47, 48, you're an intern. And that was before he founded his company, he worked with a company called Madison fielding and they were big in high end audio in the sixties and at the time that he came in, they didn't really have a product, they were doing like high end furniture, cabinetry, and all that.

He's Oh, what else is new? Of course it was a given. He was just to me, it was the Einstein of audio. So really seeing, my father go on this journey and the tenacity and perseverance. It's something that he really instilled in me, right? I, sometimes to a fault, I don't understand the answer.

No, because I'm like okay, what if we do, what if we try this? Is it still no, right? It's it's, it's this combative spirit that I saw in my father. He never gave up. He never even in, the last few years of his life and his illness, right? Where most people would be like, I'm checking out, and most people wouldn't want to live.

And, he never gave up. He was always grateful for everything that the universe. Threw at him. And that's what I saw, growing up that he made literally from nothing, a global a brand with a global reputation being best in class and high end audio.

And I'm very grateful for that. And I just hope that I could, do at least, whatever percentage of what he's done and, take it to the next level. Yes.

Thanks for sharing that very personal story. You're reminding me as you're talking about this kind of take no for an answer or don't take no for an answer.

You've got a line on their website uncompromising sonic quality. There is something in creativity about not compromising. And yet we know in business, we're always navigating choices and, balancing things. How do you stay true to this idea of unpromising sonic quality? Compromising in creativity.

So

I'll tell you this. What I learned from our early age, or my father ingrained in me, he said, smart people, they learn from their they learn they learn from the mistakes that they have like bumps in the road. But brilliant people, they learn from other people's mistakes.

And so that kind of ingrained in me the space to be able to step back. Like I'm very passionate person and I'm very like, this is my idea. I'm running with it. But I also learned to pivot and really surround myself by very smart people. And that's who I realized early on, okay. Great. Yes.

I have the tenacity of my father and I have, some of his genetic inheritance, but there are people that have done just this one thing for a very long time. And I have to know how to pay attention. So I've surrounded myself with God's help. Of course, that he's given me really amazing advisors, right?

From, okay. The high-end audio. We have someone who's been with, been a family friend and a and a dealer for close to 30 years to, our publicists to our brand strategists, to our finance guy, to our experiential person. So I feel very. Honored and privileged to have this team of super, super powers, like all the super powers combined or, and those are the people that I really, troubleshoot ideas like there, there are things that I want to do.

And everyone says this since I'm like little, that I have a little bit of a it's like nuclear atomic energy and I just need to channel it. There are certain areas that I'll say, listen, guys, I really feel strongly about this. And this is how it just helped me get to this point.

And there are times that, you have to really learn how to step back and say, you know what, these people have combined like a hundred years of experience. And I need to really, I'm yes, I'm excited to do this, but maybe that's step three and four, not step one. So it's really balancing that.

That part,

you've definitely got the atomic energy, so don't let anybody take that away for sure. Definitely

not. Thank you.

What a great conversation. Esther, I've enjoyed learning about you, your brand, of course, and this heritage family story. I think it's so strong how this often contributes to our own creativity in it.

It does seem to fuel your energy, doesn't

it? Yes, for sure. For sure. I always say that the legacy, I'm not writing just like on what my father did without it, right? What would I be doing? I would still love music, but it's the legacy component that really propels me to go forward.

Continued great luck with that. Listeners, I'll put all the contact information for Esther and for Lamb Industries in our show notes so you can click and find all the information and continue to follow their work. Esther, I'm I'm excited. About what's to come. I can't wait to read more about the details of all these experiential collaborations.

So keep us posted. Will

you? I will for certain. Thank you so much,

Mark. Thanks for coming on the show and listeners. Thank you for coming by. Esther has given us a real insight into the sound world, the sound equipment world, but so much more. Of creativity and from their neighborhood there in magic city in miami Again of a part of that creativity So that's the kind of lessons we take from all our interviews on this podcast So come back again next time as we continue our global travels to talk to creativity And practitioners everywhere about how they get inspired and how they organize ideas.

And as we've talked about today, gaining the competence and making the connections to get our work out into the world. So until next time, I'm Mark Stinson, and we're unlocking your world of creativity. We'll see you soon.