Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Hobbs-Stone.
Hi Stephen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started in this trade at 19, working a five-year IBEW apprenticeship. That’s where I learned the work — commercial and industrial jobs: restaurants, retail buildouts, warehouses, manufacturing plants, food processing facilities, and large-scale corporate breweries. Every one of those had its own set of demands, and none of them tolerated sloppy work. That apprenticeship set the standard I still hold jobs to today.
I came up on the tools before I came up in the office. After years in the field, I went back and finished a BS in Electrical Engineering at NC A&T in 2017. From there I moved into engineering work, including high-voltage utility systems — the kind of work where a mistake doesn’t just trip a breaker.
Most people in this trade pick a lane: you’re either the guy who designs it or the guy who installs it. I didn’t want to pick. I kept pushing on both tracks until I held an NC electrical contractor’s license and a Professional Engineer license in electrical engineering. That combination is rare, and it’s the whole basis for Lighten Up Electrical Services.
What it means practically: when a customer has a problem, I’m not handing them off. I can engineer the solution and then run the wire myself. On a commercial bid I can produce the power and lighting plans and then install what I drew. On a residential service call I’m reading the actual field conditions, not a spec someone else guessed at. Fewer handoffs, fewer change orders, fewer surprises.
Today we’re based in Fuquay-Varina and cover about a 30-mile radius, residential and commercial. My wife handles customer relations and networking. I handle estimating and installation, and as of this year I’ve brought on help and expect to add more people to jobs as the work grows.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Nothing about this road has been smooth. Working in the field is a challenge, sitting at a desk is a challenge, and building a business from scratch is a challenge. But every one of those has served a purpose in my life, and I’m excited about where this road takes me next. Every course I’ve chosen so far has accelerated my life and my career. I don’t expect this business to be any different.
We’ve been impressed with LIGHTEN UP ELECTRICAL SERVICES LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Lighten Up Electrical Services is a family-owned electrical contracting business in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. My wife and I run it. We serve Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Angier, Willow Spring, Apex, Cary, Garner, Raleigh, New Hill, Morrisville, Benson, Lillington, and the surrounding Wake County area.
We handle residential and commercial work: panel upgrades, residential and commercial wiring, lighting installation, EV charger installs, portable generator hookups, and troubleshooting and repair. Estimates are free, and we typically respond within one business day.
What sets us apart is straightforward. I’m both a licensed electrician and a licensed Professional Engineer in electrical engineering. Most electricians never pursue a PE license because standard work doesn’t require it — it’s traditionally tied to large infrastructure, not houses and small commercial buildings. The path to it is long: an accredited engineering degree, the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, years of verified engineering experience working under another PE, and then the PE exam itself. A contractor’s license proves you can install the work correctly. A PE license proves you can analyze and design it.
In practice that means load calculations instead of guesswork when you’re adding a big appliance or considering a service upgrade. Panel sizing and circuit layouts built from actual calculated load profiles instead of rules of thumb. And when something’s wrong, tracing it back to the root cause — a voltage drop, a neutral problem — instead of swapping parts until the symptom goes away.
The thing I’m proudest of is the part that isn’t a credential: we don’t subcontract. When you hire us, the person who engineered the solution is the person pulling the wire. No handoffs, no crew you’ve never met showing up, no gap between what was designed and what actually got installed. Every job is code-compliant and permit-ready, and we’re fully licensed and insured. Both of my licenses are publicly verifiable through the state boards — NC electrical contractor L.37098 and NC Professional Engineer 057651. Those aren’t marketing claims, and anyone can check them.
We’re not trying to be the biggest shop around. We’re building the kind of business where the work speaks for itself and people call us back.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lightenupelectrical.com/
