Light Doctor - Team Members

Team Members

Don Nielsen

Chairman & CEO

Mr. Nielsen spent most of his business career building Hazleton Corporation. Hazleton was in the biomedical and biological research and testing business. Nielsen ran this company for 23 years growing it to 2500 employees and a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Hazleton was purchased by Corning, Inc., in 1987. Since then, Mr. Nielsen has devoted most of his time to Public Education. He served for eight years on the Seattle School Board. He has been CEO of Light Doctor since 2008.

Rachel Rieken

General Manager

Ms. Rieken has been with the company for 17 years and, during that time, has held numerous positions. As General Manager, Ms. Rieken oversees all field operations of the company and manages the warehouse and proposal preparation department. She is also the company's primary interface with the utilities.

John Douglas

Field Service Manager

Hired by Light Doctor in 1998 as a service technician trainee, John has been with the company more than 13 years, progressing through the position of Lead Service Technician to his current duties as Field Service Manager. Although he loves his current position, his passion is still “getting his hands dirty” working with the technicians in the field.

Francisco Segura

Project Manager

Mr. Segura was a Naval Electrician before joining Light Doctor in 2003. Since then, he has continually taken on additional responsibilities culminating in his present position as head of the Project Group. In that capacity, Mr. Segura manages all of the retrofit work conducted by Light Doctor.

Ann Olson

Service Desk Manager

Ann is a graduate of Central Washington University where she received a degree in education. She has been in the lighting business for over 20 years, all dealing with lighting service and maintenance. She is the voice of Light Doctor and her voice is well known to our many service clients.

Shane Petitt

Senior Lighting Consultant

Mr. Petitt has been with the company for over 20 years and has performed almost every job. He is a Journeyman Electrician and now is the company’s senior lighting consultant. His expertise is recognized by both our clients and the utility companies we serve.

Willy Honkala

Service Manager

Mr. Honkala joined Light Doctor in January 2007 after a 30 year career at a fortune 500 company where he managed and trained service managers and sales staff. Willy is responsible for all of Light Doctor’s service sales and customers and oversees the 15 service technicians and support staff and a 13 vehicle aerial truck and service van fleet. He also manages small and medium size lighting retrofit installations. Willy is passionate about good lighting. He says “What a great business we’re in. I’m able to improve people’s work and living spaces with great light using less energy and often with utility rebates.” Willy and his wife are 27 year residents of East King County where they live with their fox terrier Stella.

Jay Hawblitzel

Lighting Consultant

Jay Hawblitzel has worked in construction and project management for over 20 years. Most of that time was with the Jorve Corporation in Seattle (over 15yrs). Light Doctor gives Jay the opportunity to leverage interest in the environment and energy efficiency with proven project management skills. He came to Light Doctor because he believes that lighting can make an enormous impact on performance and safety in the workplace, esthetics inside and out of commercial properties and save money at the same time.

David Weinrod

Lighting Consultant

David Weinrod joined Light Doctor in August 2010 with 10 years of commercial lighting and over 20 years sales/account management experience. His lighting expertise covers commercial, industrial, institutional and retail properties. David has a BS in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont.

Kurt Nielsen, LC

Kurt joined Light Doctor, in 2004 and has contributed in numerous roles for the Company. As a self-proclaimed ‘Lighting Geek’ he achieved the Lighting Certified (LC) credential from the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions (NCQLP) in 2010. The LC is the highest certification available in the lighting industry and his expertise in the field is a tremendous asset for Light Doctor. Kurt has his bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and his MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Kurt’s focus, at Light Doctor, is selecting vendors from whom we buy, selecting the products which we will install & sell, and keeping the Company’s employees current on new technologies and lighting related matters. He also frequently consults with clients on their lighting issues and needs.

Richard Jacroux

CFO

Richard joined Light Doctor, as CFO, in March of 2011. Prior to joining the Company, he served for five years as the CFO for Cole and Weber, Inc., an advertising firm in downtown Seattle. He is a graduate of the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business with a BA in Accounting. He also has an MBA degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Richard also worked eight years for large accounting firms, including Ernst & Young where he earned his CPA license.

Vanessa Green

Project Coordinator

Vanessa Greene joined Light Doctor in July of 2009. She was a business owner for 13 years prior to her joining Light Doctor. Here at Light Doctor she is a Project Coordinator and assists the Project Manager in the Retrofit Department. Along with coordinating jobs Vanessa also takes care of all City permits and inspections for the company.

Laura Zorick

Proposal Manager

Laura grew up in Southern California with an electrician for a father and brother. Electrical work is in her blood. Laura came to Light Doctor in 2010 after spending 7 years with an energy efficiency consulting firm. Laura has an extensive energy efficient lighting & marketing background. She is able to expand on her experience here at Light Doctor as Proposal Manager as she continues to works with efficiency programs for Puget Sound Energy, Seattle City Light, Snohomish PUD, Tacoma Public Utilities as well as utilities throughout the country.

Margaret Mary White

Margaret-Mary has been in charge of our accounts payable and payroll functions since March 2011. She has extensive experience in these areas, as well as customer service and is obtaining her accounting degree from Edmonds Community College.