Company Name: Solus Inc.

Your Name: Julie Adams

Local Rep’s Position/Years?: Specification Sales & Marketing, 6 years

Solus is a Portland-based lighting agency founded in 2009 as a partnership between lighting industry veteran, Gary Borrelli, and experienced lighting designer Benjamin Watson. The company has grown to a team of 25 and we are proud to represent 120 top-notch lighting brands. The Specification Team helps interior designers, architects and lighting designers navigate the often-overwhelming series of options in the lighting marketplace to find the best combination of aesthetics, quality, performance and value. We’re here to help you choose the right lighting solution for the application and determine exactly how to integrate that product into the architecture of the project. Our design and construction teams collaborate from initial concept to final installation, with ongoing support from our project management team to ensure projects go off without a hitch. 

What is your favorite IIDA event and why?

I love attending the IIDA Design Excellence Awards each year and seeing all of the inspiring projects coming out of the Oregon chapter. We don’t always get to see the final installations of projects we have supported so it’s exciting to see how they turned out and watch our colleagues from the design community get the recognition they deserve! 

What is your favorite product/service offered by your company and why?

Solus is currently hosting a Spring Virtual Events Series on Thursdays through the end of May. Our lunchtime 4-in-1 Live Zoom events have been a big hit with designers so far. The goal is to remove the monotony of long-winded presentations and keep things fast paced, with participants rotating to a different breakout room every 15 minutes. Lunch is provided through Grubhub and there are many opportunities to win prizes donated by our manufacturers! We also have some Virtual Factory and Showroom Tours on the calendar. 

You can see the full Spring Virtual Events Schedule and a visual recap of what’s been featured so far on our website. We have a wide range of decorative and architectural lighting manufacturers in the line-up including Vibia, Marset, OCL, ALW, Shaper, Sonneman, Tech Lighting and Matrix Mirrors plus virtual tours of the Flos showroom in New York and the Bover factory in Barcelona coming up.

Solus purchased and is renovating The Whole Nine Yards building on East Burnside and we look forward to the future when we can host some outdoor, in-person events as well!

What aspect of your company are you most proud of and why?

I’m very proud of the team I work with at Solus and the sense of family we have. I think of each designer I work with as an extended member of that family. I am always available to personally assist on the hunt for the perfect style for a project but also strive to provide resources that empower designers and make it easier to navigate the many lighting solutions out there. Our new website Solus.com, launched mid-2020, has useful features like a Quick Search Button to Keyword Search the Solus Line Card and an archive of the Friday Five Newsletter, a bi-weekly publication I have been writing for the past 4 years.

What value do you see in being an IIDA Oregon Chapter Annual Sponsor?

The IIDA Oregon Chapter builds community and Solus sees the value in supporting and being a part of this community. In the past, I have appreciated the opportunities to socialize and meet IIDA members at the various events and I have enjoyed getting to know the many personalities that have served in leadership positions over the years. I can’t even tell you how much I’ve missed seeing everyone in person over the past year but I value the connections I have made through the IIDA. If we haven’t met yet, please feel free to reach out and say hello! 

What impact do you see the IIDA Oregon Chapter having on the A&D community in Oregon?

I’ve seen firsthand the incredibly talented and hard-working members that make up the IIDA Oregon Chapter. I see the benefits of bringing the community together to network and inspire, providing mentorship for emerging professionals, and keeping a focus on advocacy and legislation to recognize commercial interior design as a profession in Oregon. This organization has a large sphere of influence and I’m constantly impressed and inspired by our local chapter. It is very clear that everyone involved does it for the love of it!

What is your personal mantra?

Less is more. I like clean and simple design that focuses on quality materials that will last. I’m also the person at parties who goes around dimming the overhead lights and turning on the table lamps and floor lamps to set the mood. 

On a typical Saturday where can we find you?

You’ll most likely find me at a local skatepark shredding a bowl in my roller skates with two closest friends. Check out #skatepalette on Instagram to see a fun intersection of design and roller skate culture.