Your Interview Tracy Ho

Introduce yourself (name, company, position, country) and tell us how you got into lighting design (including education/qualifications).

My name is Tracy Ho, and I’m in Business Development at Aligned Vision Group in Canada. We are an audiovisual integrator that designs and builds solutions for complex, high-impact environments — from immersive spaces to performance venues. Our team includes engineers, programmers, technicians, and installers, and I sit in the space between the technical and the creative, connecting people, ideas, and possibilities.

Before AV Group, I spent 18 years as a commercial interior designer. I loved collaborating with lighting consultants and lighting designers — whether it was setting the mood in a restaurant, mimicking daylight in healthcare, or creating custom fixtures for hospitality and entertainment spaces. I became fascinated by how lighting can instantly change how a space feels, and once I saw that, I was hooked.

Music also played a role in pulling me into this new industry — out of necessity. Figuring out cables, mixer boards, and signal flow just to get sound out of an instrument gave me an early appreciation for the technical backbone behind every great experience.

Tell us about your work – is there a specific type of project you like to work on or an area you specialise in and why?

My role is about bridging vision and execution. I work with designers, architects, engineers, consultants, and business owners, listening to what they want a space to feel like, then collaborating with our engineers to turn that into something that actually works in the real world.

One day it might be a wellness studio, where lighting and sound create calm and presence. The next, it could be a workplace or retail environment, where carefully layered light, video, and audio shape how people move, focus, and connect with a brand. And sometimes it’s a black-box theatre or performance space with stage lighting, IMAG, and crystal-clear audio.

I’m especially drawn to projection mapping — using video and light to transform walls, objects, and buildings into living, moving canvases. It’s where visual media meets architecture, and it still feels a bit like magic every time.

What project are you most proud of and why?

One of my favourite projects was small but mighty — a booth I designed for a client at the Interior Design Show. It was not only my first real foray into immersive design, but also my first real step into AV before I even knew I was moving into AV, which makes it especially meaningful.

The booth was a simple box, but the entrance mimicked a tree-lined laneway, and once inside, visitors were surrounded by video walls and soundscapes. We created a custom film and soundtrack to tell the client’s story, and collaborated with Rollout & Splendid Projects to create the artwork wrap. It won Best in Show and increased the client’s customer base by 200% — proof that light, video, and design truly move people.

What is the biggest challenge that you have overcome in your career?

Starting a new career in my mid-40s.

Moving from a design-driven world into a more technical, systems-based one has been humbling. You have to re-train your brain — it’s less about aesthetics and more about user-experience. But I’ve learned that curiosity, good teammates, and asking lots of questions go a long way.

I’m grateful for mentors, allies, AI tools, and incredibly patient engineers who help me understand complex ideas. I didn’t jump in at the deep end — I learned the landscape, found my footing, and then moved forward with confidence.

How does light inspire you?

Light brings spaces and people to life. It can flatter, frighten, energize, or soothe. It can make something disappear or make it impossible to ignore. It shapes emotion as much as it shapes architecture.

To me, light is one of the most powerful storytelling tools we have.

What is your message for other Women In Lighting?

Connect with Others. Be the one to reach out.  Groups like Women in Lighting make it easier to find your people, ask questions, and step into new parts of your career with confidence.  It's never too late to go for what lights you up inside.