Meet Michael Lugay

We recently connected with Michael Lugay and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

My resiience came from my parents. My Parents were not to happy with my decision to enter the art field as a career at first because my Dad was an Ophthalmologist and they wanted me to go into the Medical field. They later said that they support any decision I made for a career choice. This made me even more resilient to continue in the design and art field. I then perused my art career as a graphic designer/illustrator by going to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for my AA degree but I always wanted to move to Los Angeles since my teen years. I then moved to LA and attended Otis Art College to get my BA degree. After I graduated I worked doing graphic design for a promotional product company but after a few years I got my first job as a Graphic Designer at a sign company doing signs. I enjoyed it very much. Since then I have been in signs as an employee and eventually became a owner. I can absolutely say that my art background played a major role in my career as a sign owner. I only wish I had opened my own shop earlier in my but I have no regrets and enjoy what I am doing.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am the Co-Founder/Owner of L.A.Sign Factory. My Business partners Marco and Lee started this company back in 2016, and we produce all sorts of signage for the southern California area. We are a fully equipped sign manufacturer company where everything is fabricated and produced inhouse with all of the state of the art machinery.
I am very proud of how this company has grown over the last 8 years. We started in the beginning, by passing out flyers when we first opened, to doing many projects from dimensional signage to digital printing for many various clients. The most exciting part of this company is being able to see your work all over the Southern California area. The best part is seeing our work on National and local television. We have done various projects from TV to retail storefronts. Some our clients range from The Hollywood Bowl, The Beverly Hilton, Super Bowls to NBC shows such as The Voice, World of Dance, That’s My Jam and other shows from Top Chef, Ink Masters and many more. We just recently completed a big project for Saks Fifth Ave. in Beverly Hills for their new location in the building next door. We continue to grow and hope that the future will continue to be bright.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

My Art Background. My Art background started when I was about 12 years old. I always love to draw and I would always be drawing something whether it be at home or at school I always loved sports so I would constantly draw sports related subjects. I kind of knew that I had a certain talent at art because my friends and teachers would always tell me that my illustrations were amazing. As I got older I would do more illustrations in High school for friends and for teachers. I knew then that I wanted to go into the art field.

Risk taking, Taking risk to me is something we all need to do. This is coming from a guy who was always fearful of taking risk. I would always be afraid to take chances because of my conservative upbringing. When I opened up a business with my partners, we had been talking about making this move for a long time. I never really took it seriously because I had always been content with being an employee and having a job. Even though many of the clients at my old jobs who have their own businesses would tell me that you have to take chances if you want to move up in life. Being an employee all my life I finally got tired of having to work for someone else and as I got older as well I decided to spend some money I had saved and take that chance of opening up our own business. I felt it was a sign to finally take all those years of experience and use them in this venture. If I would have tried to make this move a while back I may not have had as much experience and knowledge as I do now. So I do value all the places I have worked at in the past.

Work Ethic. My work ethic has always been one of hard work and at the same time, enjoying what you are doing.

My advice to people starting out is to be patient. Learn as much as you can and take your career choice very seriously, especially at a younger age. Start early. Do not be afraid of taking risks. All successful people have taken risks. Some have failed in the beginning but have succeeded in the end. The only regret I have was not taking the risk earlier in my life as a youngster. But it is all working out in the end.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

My parents have always supported any decisions I made as far as career choices. My Dad was an Ophthalmologists so he was hoping I would choose Medicine as a career and when I told them I wanted to go into the art and design field he was a bit hesitant but told me that he would support any decision I would make. So I give props to my folks for their support.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lasignfactory.com
• Instagram: lasignfactory
• Facebook: L.A. Sign Factory
• Yelp: L.A. SignFactory