Perhaps the true hallmark of a great brand name is that you want to create references to it.
EVERYWHERE.
Once we locked in on Luma Accounting as the name of our Portland Oregon based bookkeeping and accounting firm, we started having little inspirations of how to incorporate it – at first it showed up in our tagline: “Your business. Illuminated.” And then in thinking about the client journey with us, we started talking about “The Illumination Journey”.
So when we started thinking about the best way to organize the team, we started thinking about how “pods” could drive efficiency for small business bookkeeping… but while we were sold on the concept, the word “pods” always immediately triggers Kim to think of the classic movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” with Donald Sutherland (the visual at the end of that movie when Nancy finds Matthew and is so happy to have found him until… LINK TO SCENE)
So as we start really getting into how we might create “pods”, we sidetracked into what on earth we could call these things INSTEAD of pods… and someone (we can’t even remember who) throws out, “What about calling them Lanterns?” EUREKA. And soooo much more FUN!
And once we hit on Lanterns = “pods”, we were off and running in a much more excited way to figure out implementation. And very quickly followed:
Lantern Leader = “client manager” + “pod leader”
Lightkeeper = bookkeeper
All of this took place back in the fall of 2024 and, given that we had been making team assignments up until then strictly based on who had capacity when a new client signed on, we had an org chart that looked more like a bowl of spaghetti than a neat, organized, easily understandable “who is working with whom”.
So the first step was to ensure that the Lantern Leaders were on board – for instance, would this really help in our quest of providing financial clarity for business owners? Would it support – or detract from – BEST. EXPERIENCE. EVER.?? if they didn’t see a level of benefit that at least equaled the amount of change that would be required to reassign client work into Lanterns, this could be an exercise of frustration, disappointment and dismay for everyone involved. But when we talked about how the Lantern model could:
- Provide a team within the team for everyone
- Ensure LLs (Lantern Leaders) have much better clarity/control over the amount of work assigned and priorities set for their LKs (Lightkeepers)
- LKs have only one LL they need to keep updated
- LLs would really get to know the capacity of their Lantern and know when there were issues arising
- We could have Lanterns focus on a specific type of work: industry, client’s “package”, job costing for small business, etc.
The Leadership Team hashed through all the angles and decided to move forward – and on 11/18/2024:
- 3 Lanterns were officially announced, each with a Lantern Leader and 1-3 Lightkeepers
- Transitions began to move all client work into one Lantern
- Members of each Lantern chose their Lantern’s name (Beacon, Glow and Luce de Sol)
- Slack channels were created for each Lantern to facilitate more community/bonding
In November 2025 we will have had the Lanterns in place for a year – and it is virtually impossible to think back to a time when we didn’t have them in place! Lantern Leaders are now able to really understand and manage the work within their Lantern based on any shifting needs of the Lightkeepers – this allows Kim and Heather to focus on at a higher level across the board which has been game changing from a firm management perspective.
In the tradition of all reputable science, we think each of our Luma Lab experiments should receive a grade… So here is the inaugural grade for the inaugural experiment based on input from all of #TeamLuma:
Luma Lanterns Grade: A+!
Ready to Light Up Your Finances?
Luma Accounting, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, provides bookkeeping, accounting, and financial clarity services to small businesses across the U.S.
Need reliable bookkeeping and accounting support for your Portland or nationwide business? Contact Luma Accounting today. Learn more about our services here.
