Lighting the Way

Story and photography courtesy of Elite Outdoor Lighting

For Elite Outdoor Lighting, every phone call, consultation, and completed project creates more than just a satisfied customer; from start to finish, the process lays the groundwork for a company/client relationship that far surpasses a lighting project. And that is exactly what Adam Crosby, owner and operator, intended when designing his business and its model.

While working for a nationwide lighting franchise in college, Adam learned key details about the installation and design process of outdoor lighting. And in 2016, when he and his wife started a new business offering landscaping, irrigation, and lawn care services, they knew outdoor lighting would be an important piece of that business plan. The desire to offer lighting services for residential and commercial properties essentially became the driving force behind their business. In the fall of 2020, they transitioned from a landscaping and lawn care business to a company specializing solely in outdoor lighting.

That change brought about challenges in a community where outdoor lighting wasn’t a super prominent feature for homes in the area. As time passed, Adam spent many resources educating potential clients, as well as family and friends, on the benefits of lighting for their homes and properties. Over time, with unwavering commitment, a dedicated marketing plan, and the ability to brush himself off when faced with challenges, the business began to take off, and his sales started to climb.

Now, with three locations across Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, the business has seen exponential growth—but the driving force and the initial business model remain: creating lifelong relationships that far surpass a lighting system. Recently, in communities across the Panhandle, Adam has had the opportunity to build invaluable relationships and experience a few full-circle moments dating back to his childhood with that exact model in mind.

Adam recalls growing up in Southern Alabama and, on any given evening, being guaranteed to watch one of two things on TV with his Dad: Emeril Lagasse’s cooking show or Atlanta Braves baseball. Unbeknownst to Adam, after his father’s passing in September 2022, those childhood memories would resurface in his business thirty years later in a remarkably special way.

A couple of years ago, Adam was offered the opportunity to serve on a new construction project in a quaint Santa Rosa Beach community. As he began designing that project, he realized that the project he’d been working on was the Lagasse residence. A few months later, Adam was also given the chance to work on another project down the road for a former Atlanta Braves player. He would have the opportunity to use his craft and talent to help illuminate the homes of people he had spent so many nights watching on TV with his dad, creating a moment that bridged his childhood with the present day.

Adam and his mom shared many conversations about how much his dad would have loved to experience this season of business with him. And now, as the projects are wrapping up, and with the unexpected loss of his mom in February 2025 to a brief battle with cancer, he’s navigating the coexistence of joy and grief in both business and life, making the need to deepen the roots of his company/client relationships even more of a priority.

Elite Outdoor Lighting’s goal is to be more than just an outdoor lighting company. It’s a business built on taking a client’s vision for their home, property, and entertainment space and transforming it into something more than they could have ever dreamed of. It’s taking the desires of the client and utilizing Adam’s creative eye for design to provide each homeowner with an experience that makes them say “Wow!” every evening as they arrive home.

Setting deeper roots with a small-town feel and natural Southern hospitality within each community Elite Outdoor Lighting currently serves is the number one priority. Being able to truly love, appreciate, and enjoy the business as it continues to grow and get to know all the people it provides with the opportunity to serve is the most essential aspect of the business model. As Adam says, “We really appreciate any project that allows us to use a variety of lighting to give our customers the best possible experience.” Such an outlook is the company’s way of ultimately illuminating not just your home, but your life.

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Visit EliteOutdoorLighting.com and follow @eliteoutdoorlighting on Instagram to learn more or book a consultation.