Jason Lewis – Lovelight

Tony Cassar: Hi Jason, Welcome to this edition of the Window Furnishings Australia Ask the Expert series. 

Jason Lewis: Thank you for having me Tony. 

Tony Cassar: Jason, how did you start in the window covering industry?

Jason Lewis: My family has been in the industry since 1959, so it has always been in my blood. My business journey started in the home automation/smart home space – we worked in some of the largest homes in Melbourne and as part of our electrical offering of lighting control, security CCTV and Audio Visual, adding in window coverings made sense. We were wiring them and connecting them to the automation system so supplying them seemed like the logical next step.

Tony Cassar:  What are your main activities within your organisation today? 

Jason Lewis: We run three key divisions that we break up into residential, commercial, and volume builders. These divisions work in a business-to-business relationship with builders, architects, and designers. Our relationship is at the business level, although consumers may also be involved.

Tony Cassar: How many personnel do you employ, Jason?

Jason Lewis: At the moment, we have about 80 team members in Australia, 25 in Manila and approximately 25 in our manufacturing businesses. Additionally, we have 80 to 100 fitters who work with us every single day.

Tony Cassar: They’re big numbers.

Jason Lewis:  It’s a big team, at our Christmas party the vast majority of them were here from all over the country. It was a fantastic day, one of my favourite days of the year.

Tony Cassar: In terms of your commercial versus domestic businesses, what is the split between them? Which do you wish to grow?

Jason Lewis:  Well, I suppose it’s the way that you look at my business. We do a lot with the volume builders and our residential business, a lot of which ends in a residential home. The relationships are quite commercial in nature because they’re with the builder themselves.

We’re looking to grow across both markets. We’re looking to get ourselves some exposure to the existing home market as well. A lot of our business units are in new homes and new home construction is the softest it’s been in nearly 15 years. There are 11 million existing homes and only 150,000 new dwellings built every year. We have some initiatives and ideas to target the existing residential market, which are exciting. 

Tony Cassar: Do you think the softness is firming up in the market?

Jason Lewis: I think it’s improving, but I’m not sure yet. I don’t anticipate it getting worse, although the noise about interest rates going back up is concerning. The way I describe it is that we’re at the bottom of the pan waiting for it to tick up, but I don’t know if it’s a 12-inch pan, a 24-inch pan or a paella dish!

When we’re going to start to come up the other side, I think the overall macroeconomics indicates that we have demand via immigration, and a need for more housing. So at some point, it will change. The question is when.

Tony Cassar: There has been some upheaval in the commercial market recently. How have you seen things playing out? 

Jason Lewis: I think change is a given, you just expect it these days. You expect the big beasts to do what the big beasts do, but every single negative creates a positive. 

It’s maybe unfortunate that some local manufacturing capacity has gone; however, someone will eventually fill it. It may not necessarily be in that specific factory, but the gap will be filled in the commercial window furnishings industry by one of our members, a new supplier or a new opportunity for someone to start a business.

It’s never good when businesses close or are sold, or when people lose their jobs. However, an equilibrium is usually formed and a new opportunity arises. This gives someone else a chance to showcase their skills and make changes that can help the business and industry grow.

Tony Cassar: What are your greatest challenges within the business now?

Jason Lewis: It’s an interesting question. The hardest part is the complexity in our industry – the complexity of the product and selling.

The complexity of the permutations and combinations of everything that can be purchased, and the ability to sell and install it in a customer’s home to their satisfaction, is crucial to our future success. Learning how to streamline our business and industry will be key.

Tony Cassar:  What is your most successful promotional activity and how do you undertake it?

Jason Lewis: We undertake all the typical modes of promotional activity, such as social media and photography. Quality photography is essential in our visually-driven category. Our socials and website feature a vast library of imagery that effectively sells our products. 

We believe that we are doing business with partners, not one-off customers. We nurture and spend a lot of time making sure our relationships are very strong and can withstand any changes on site. We can continue to grow with the organisations we are working with.

Tony Cassar: In your view, what sets you apart from your competitors?

Jason Lewis: No doubt, my team is the best. Most of them don’t come from the industry; I’ve coaxed them in from other industries, such as finance and banking.

Our focus on relationships and technology has allowed us to stay on the cutting edge and support our customers. We may sell window furnishings, but at our core, we are a relationship and technology-driven business.

Tony Cassar: Collaboration plays an important part of any business. Can you give us an example and possibly an outcome? 

Jason Lewis: Collaborating is really important for us as I’ve touched on. Most of our relationships are at a business level, so working with our customers to provide solutions to their customers.

A good example of critical work would be collaborating with a developer to set up an installation within their display suite, showcasing the potential features of the apartments to customers. This involves utilising the latest technology to sell window furnishings packages to potential customers, so that when they move into their new apartment, it is already furnished. This way, when they rent it out to a tenant, it is already furnished and they can start receiving the necessary income.

Tony Cassar: What challenges do you believe the window covering industry is facing in the future?

Jason Lewis: I touched on it earlier about my challenge around complexity – I think our industry faces a real problem with complexity. It is difficult to train and develop people and teams to effectively sell, order and install window furnishings. As an industry, we must find a way to simplify this process in order to appeal to the next generation, that this industry is one where you can come in, make money, have a successful, happy, and long career. 

Also, as part of the WSAA and my board seat we are working to ensure that our products are utilised in the energy efficiency conversation as much as possible. 

They’re the two big challenges: making sure that our product is simple and making sure that our product is valued when it comes to energy efficiency.

Tony Cassar: Sustainability is a very good topic. Can you tell us about your approach?

Jason Lewis:  For me, there are two parts to sustainability. The first is energy efficiency, which I mentioned earlier. And then there is the actual production of the product. Using recycled inputs in fabric is important, the difficulty lies in getting customers to pay for them. Currently, the cost discrepancy is too high for a commodity product like ours. However, there is still an appetite for sustainability in the build to rent, government, and schooling spaces, especially among our builders, developers, and architects. We are able to provide our products or our suppliers’ products, for these projects.

On the energy efficiency side, I think it’s really important that window furnishings are part of the narrative. The glass industry, solar industry, and insulation industry have dominated that space for too long.

My intention is that the WSAA ensures that window furnishings are categorised for conversations around energy efficiency. 

Tony Cassar: What does the future look like for you and the organisation, Jason?

Jason Lewis: I feel like the future’s bright. I’m still very young and I love my business, my team, and what I do. I’m very passionate about the window furnishings industry and can see myself doing this for the next 30 or 40 years with pleasure.

Tony Cassar: How has your year been to date?

Jason Lewis: From a business perspective, I think there have been considerable challenges in the new home space, especially in our volume builder market where business is down quite considerably. However, we’ve been able to pick up a lot of commercial work and a lot of residential work. 

We’ve got ourselves in a really good position in a business process sense by removing some of the complexities within the business. That’s about simplifying what we do so that we can be lighter and more agile, making it easier for us to do business in 2026.

Tony Cassar: Jason, you play an important role within the Window Shading Association of Australia. Can you please tell us a bit more about your goals for that position?

Jason Lewis: I’ve already touched on it a bit, but I’m very proud to be the co-president of the Window Shading Association of Australia. My family has been in this industry for more than 65 years, and to have a seat at the table to create influence is something I take very seriously. Together with the rest of theboard and Chris Parkinson, who is also Co-President, we work towards making a positive impact in the industry.

My focus is on sustainability and energy efficiency. I’m working to develop a tool that will enable our members to rate the energy efficiency of window furnishings. This tool will calculate the annual cost savings, percentage of the bill, and CO2 emissions reduction. I believe this data will be a valuable tool to assist in making informed decisions.

That tool will be available to all WSAA members and we will launch it at Super Expo in June next year. We’ll be doing a presentation every day.

The idea is to get everybody across WincovER and then take that tool to government. We will lobby government to change the way that window furnishings are viewed in the tools to decide what is the most energy efficient product to be installed in houses to achieve a 7, 8, or 10 star rating.

Tony Cassar: Can you tell the readers how important it is to be a member of an industry body, such as the Window Shading Association of Australia? 

Jason Lewis: You won’t get access to our new energy tool if you’re not a member. So, there’s one really good selling point. But I think the most important part is the community. Being a part of a community is really important.

The window furnishings community is strong. There are people who have been in it for many years. Everybody is willing to share their knowledge and experience. By joining the association, you have the ability to connect with like-minded businesses. Yes, maybe you do compete at some level. But I’ve met hundreds, maybe even thousands, of amazing people in this industry who would all be willing to help you grow your business. You don’t have access to that unless you join the association, attend the events, and become an active member of the industry.

Tony Cassar: What have been your greatest achievements throughout your career?

Jason Lewis: I think survival is probably the one of the most amazing feats that we will celebrate on 1 October 2026, marking 20 years in business.

I started as a 22 year old kid, and to be able to be 20 years in business through Covid, through the ups and downs and in a growing business nationally, is my greatest achievement. I am still here today, able to make wages every single month, and enjoy a fantastic team and work environment.

Tony Cassar: You should be proud of that achievement. Who have been the greatest influences in your personal life?

Jason Lewis: My dad, my grandfather, and my grandmother have been running the family business for 44 years. My grandmother, who is my mother’s mum, and my grandfather were migrants who had nothing. They built a business in the ‘80s with nearly 3,500 employees. The experience and business knowledge that I gained from sitting at the dinner table every Friday night was immense. I didn’t realise what I was learning and soaking in, but that information and passion for business is instilled in me.

My dad has been my greatest influence in business without any doubt. Dad rings me every morning and we talk shop. We discuss how things are going for me and the nice thing is, we also discuss how things are going for him. He listens to me now about what goes on in his world. It’s a beautiful part of our relationship. So yeah, my dad would be my greatest influence in business.

Tony Cassar: Tell us a little bit about your family. 

Jason Lewis: I am a father of two. Charlie is my daughter, she’s 10. She is strong, intelligent, charismatic, and a phenomenal writer. She could write a story, play, or musical for you in 25 minutes, it would blow your mind. My son Max, he’s 8, is my little mate. We play footy together and every sport under the sun. They really really are my greatest achievement.

Tony Cassar: Wonderful. Can you tell us about any other interests you have? 

Jason Lewis: I have taken up running and am trying to become an ultra-marathon runner, which is ludicrous. I completed in recently in the UTMB race in Mount Kosciuszko, which is 105km. I made it through 92km. I ran for 16 hours and did over 4,500 vertical metres and I’m super proud of my achievement. Next time I will finish!

For me, it’s about training and discipline. The race is a byproduct of 6 months of effort, focus, and discipline. This helps me be a great dad and a really good business owner.

Tony Cassar:  What do you think you would have done if you didn’t enter the window covering industry?

Jason Lewis:  I probably would have become a doctor before I became a blinds guy. I loved the show ER as a kid and the high intensity, high-paced nature of an emergency room. So, I think I would have become an emergency room doctor. 

Tony Cassar:  Wonderful. Finally, on generational change in the industry, what are your thoughts on the future of this industry?

Jason Lewis: I think generations shift all the time and until those generations shift, it’s very hard to create new opportunities. The board at the WSAA commissioned a review of the constitution, led by Geoff Turner, which meant that board members couldn’t serve more than two terms.

As a result this will create new oppurtunities for members to become directors. 

Part of the strategy was to rebrand, so instead of being the Blind Manufacturers Association of Australia, we are now Window Shading Association of Australia, opening up opportunities for our retail partners to participate, as we have many sensational retail businesses in Australia, lead by amazing managers and founders. I hope that by leading from the front, members will see that and be inspired to get involved. I got started on one of the committees, the marketing committee, which I believe is the best way.

The Committee for Energy Efficiency category caught my attention and I became more involved with Robert Mayer in that area. It really interested me, so I volunteered to be a board member. 

I wanted to contribute to the board, but before they would recognize it, I had to actually participate. If you want to be a part of this association, come to the meetings and participate in the events. Let yourself be seen and let us understand you. It’s a relationship, after all. We like to know who we’re going to go into business with.

Tony Cassar: They are great words of encouragement. On that note I’d like to thank you for being our Expert for this edition of WFA magazine. 

Jason Lewis: Thank you Tony it has been a pleasure.