Going Above and Beyond

St. Louis, MO and Dallas, TX based members of Thoughtful Integrations are made up of some of the brightest minds in technology and business. Led by partners Joe Whitaker and Steve Sigel, the combination of technological knowledge, organization, process, management, and business operations allows the company to provide solutions that encompass the end users’ needs in a budget threshold and time-managed fashion, whether for commercial building automation or a smart home system.

Whitaker has almost two decades of experience in custom systems integration and design and is one of the most proactive members of the Control4 community. Among the first to be certified by Control4 in Texas, Whitaker continues to design and implement amazing solutions while contributing to the consumer knowledge base. He also has helped in product development, creation, and preproduction testing with top manufacturers like Sony, Platinum Tools, Sanus, Nyne, Stealth Acoustics, Simply Reliable, and Vanco. Not only has he volunteered for many technology speaking panels and held classes and seminars, Whitaker is also a member of the CEDIA Board of Directors.

Here’s what else we learned from our conversation with Whitaker.

Residential Tech Today: What are the most important lessons you’ve learned while running your integration business?

Joe Whitaker: One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that clients don’t know what they don’t know. Our industry as a whole has had a hard time publicly relating what all the options are and how they play