Editor Note: This article originally appeared on Residential Systems.
I try not to get personal when I write these kinds of stories, but I am going to make an exception in this case, as Erin Phillips was one of my earliest and most consistent contacts when I first entered this industry full-time. Not only was she instrumental in my CI education, but she also always came through no matter how ridiculous my request or how tight the deadline was. And if she wanted to kill me for it, she hid it amazingly well!
So, when compiling the CEDIA Shares blogs for this year’s Expo, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Pro Audio Technology/Theory Audio Design entry came from Erin herself — as VP for the companies. Here Erin reveals her whole-life association with audio, discusses her new executive role in the companies, and offers a peek into Theory’s and PRO’s plans for 2025.
Growing Up Audio
Erin’s involvement in audio was seemingly fated from birth, with a father who was mechanically inclined and a musical mother who were close friends with Scott Bagby, the co-founder of Paradigm Electronics. “A lot of the original Paradigm products were built out of garages and in my parents’ unfinished basement in the early days,” she says. “I grew up in a house filled with music and surrounded by audio-centric people.
“I played classical piano from the age of six, so I was musical, as well. So, there was the musical connection and the Paradigm connection, which goes even deeper — eventually, my dad left the aerospace industry to oversee the construction and implementation of the enormous facility Paradigm, Anthem, and MartinLogan operate out of today. Any time there was an odd job to be done, my brother and I were asked to help in exchange for a few extra bucks. Outside of school, music, and dance classes, I spent much of my time at Paradigm. Even a few of my babysitters were employed there and would keep me entertained building tweeters or circuit boards while they were fixing a robot or doing whatever else they needed to do.”
Erin got her Bachelor of Commerce degree with a major in marketing management and worked in that role as well as in product development for Paradigm for nearly a decade after college. In those early days, PR for Paradigm, Anthem, and MartinLogan was handled by Caster Communications, and firm owner Kim Lancaster — who has a ridiculously keen eye for talent — brought Erin on as her company’s first remote employee.
“I told Kim I would take the job as long as I could have some audio clients since that was my bread and butter,” says Erin. “She kept her promise, and PRO was one of my first clients. I brought immediate success to PRO and went on to launch Theory Audio Design into the residential market in 2019. I also got immersed in the rest of the AV industry through my other client accounts, and that was eye-opening. Without a doubt, I learned the most in those five years at Caster than in my career leading up to that point. Working for Kim and with the talented Caster Communications team was a valuable experience that set me up for success.”
However, public relations can be a stressful career choice, and, in late 2020, Erin decided to take a breather from Caster and the industry as a whole to begin a family, which she did with the birth of her son. The break did not last long, as Caster was parting ways with Theory and PRO, and Lancaster knew who the right person would be to take over the account.
“Working with PRO and Theory has always come so naturally to me — I just believe in it. The proof is in the pudding. There is no higher-performing audio brand out there,” says Erin. “Plus, I clicked with Paul [Hales, owner of PRO and Theory] and bought into his philosophy and work ethic. Paul’s brain is very similar to mine and my dad’s — logical and practical, with a relentless passion and need for continuous improvement. Combine that with our shared appreciation for detail, and we’re an unstoppable pair supported by a very talented team.”
The Road to VP
Unsurprisingly, once she started at PRO and Theory, it did not take long for her role to increase. “If you know Paul, you know he doesn’t do anything half-ass,” she says. “He’d say to me, ‘There’s almost nothing I can throw at you that you can’t handle — can you take on more hours and responsibilities?’ He thought I could add value in the product development process or on the operations side of things. As a new brand trying to launch into new markets while growing rapidly, I understood that we constantly needed more help — and, more importantly, more capable people, and so every month I took on a little bit more. Before I knew it, I was full-time. At that point, my title no longer fit the role — and to be honest, it was confusing our partners. So, Paul assigned a title that better matched and gave credit to my responsibilities — VP for the companies.”
So, her being named VP didn’t mean an increase in responsibilities — it more matched all the roles she had taken on over time at PRO and Theory, including co-hosting the popular and very memorable demos with Hales at CEDIA Expo.
“Our goal with the demos, which matches our philosophy, is to prove that whether you’re buying an ic6 6-inch in-ceiling speaker from Theory or a full-range SR-28212ai from PRO, which is $15,000, it doesn’t matter. All PRO and Theory products sound spectacular and can be used and incorporated into any environment in whatever way works for the space and the client’s needs,” Erin explains. “Our team has fun with demo presentations, teasing each other and calling out the industry dogma. Typically, we start with a small, jaw-dropping, knock-your-socks-off demo of just two tiny in-ceiling speakers, and we build the systems from there. By the end, you’ve heard nearly every SKU we make in many different applications. From that, Paul is able to tell our story of why you don’t need 300 SKUs to solve all your installation problems. The timbre of every single one of our speakers is consistent — sure, the quantity of drivers or size of the drivers determines how loud or low they may play, but as Paul likes to say, a good speaker is a good speaker is a good speaker. Whatever environment you need to integrate audio into, we’ve got you covered with an intentionally small catalog of very smart, capable, and flexible solutions. You don’t have to select from one of the many unnecessarily complicated speaker brand catalogs out there to do that.”
Coming Soon
So, what’s next for PRO, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary, and Theory? “On the product development side, we have a lot in the pipeline,” says Erin. “The announced ic6 and iws12 bollard landscape speakers will start shipping mid-year, as will the sb210aw — big brother to the popular sb25aw all-weather surface mount speaker. We also have a 5-inch ic5 in-ceiling speaker coming from Theory that we’ve been talking about for a while, but in keeping with our brand promise to only bring products to market that are the best-performing in their given product category, it’s taken some time to perfect. Due to popular demand, we are also developing an infrasonic subwoofer and entering the sound reinforcement segment of the market. We have quite a lot of exciting innovations planned for 2025 and beyond, but I can’t give it all away this soon. You’ll have to stay tuned for more details. Most importantly, I invite Residential Systems readers to book a demo at our Southern California Experience Center or to attend an InfoComm or CEDIA Expo 2025 demo to get the full PRO and Theory experience. I promise what you hear will absolutely thrill you — and I bet you’ll have a good chuckle, too.”
For more information, visit www.theoryprofessional.com and www.proaudiotechnology.com.
See also: Cheryl Clendenon Joins NKBA’s Business Development Program As Advisor
