Meet the Team

With Meet The HARMAN Luxury Team, our goal is for you to get to know us better. In each edition we feature a different member of the team, and this month it's Amrit Lall, Product Manager Consumer Audio ANZ.

How would you describe what you do in your current role?

My role as Product Manager involves working with distributors and retail partners towards revenue generation, plus elements of market analysis, sales/product training and marketing. One of the most exciting aspects of the job is the opportunity to act as a bridge between different worlds. This might be between sales and marketing at an internal level, or increasingly between Lifestyle and Luxury divisions at a consumer level as I have a foot in both camps. The role requires understanding both products and people and showing how to make the former relevant to the latter.

What did you study in school? Did you always imagine yourself doing something like what you’re doing now or did the fates just take you in that direction? 

I completed my BA, Psychology & Philosophy at Sydney University in 2004. Whilst on the surface not directly connected to my career, it has proven invaluable. Being able to understand people’s differing motivations and learning styles has really helped with the sales and marketing elements of my role. Also, the process (honed during many late-night sessions at Uni) of organizing my thoughts to produce an essay, is quite like that required to create a product presentation.

I entered the AV industry as a sales assistant thinking it a fun job during university that was aligned with my passions for music and audio equipment. However, the more time I spent in the industry, the more I came to realize this was where I wanted to focus my energy for the long term. I really enjoy explaining concepts to people in a way that makes sense to them personally and in addition, the idea of bringing music into people’s lives has always had massive appeal for me.

How did your career path lead you to HARMAN? 

Long before my career path began, the first pair of speakers I grew up with back in the 1980s was pair of JBL L26s driven from a JVC Quadraphonic receiver – these selections made after painstaking research by my father from whom I clearly inherited the audio bug! So JBL blood is multigenerational for me.

Most of my career has involved working on the retail side having interactions with end-users about their needs and goals to determine the best possible solution for them - in short, what I’ve always felt sales is supposed to be. Upon moving into retail buying roles, I was lucky enough to meet the HARMAN Australia team. So, when an opportunity came up to move to a vendor of products I loved and with a group of people whom I knew, liked and trusted, I jumped at the chance. When thinking about my role now, I feel that the significant time I’ve spent on sales floors has been incredibly valuable, especially when it comes to sales training and product presentations.

What is the most important thing you have learned over your career? 

People are different. When they are similar to you it’s usually easy, but when you are different in some key manner and can nonetheless make it work that’s often when there is the most potential growth for all parties. This is something I really wish I’d understood better at a younger age.

Any other advice you would share with people just starting out in this industry? 

Learn as much as you can from community groups. Opinions vary wildly in this industry and it’s crucial to find out why people think the way they do if you want to develop lasting connections with them.

What are you most proud of in your life? 

Most definitely the network of relationships I’ve built both personally and professionally. I really like the people in my life.

When did you realize you had a passion for music or audio? Was there any one band, song, or movie that did it for you?

It was very early on, so I honestly can’t recall a specific song which started it all, but I don’t remember a time before music. From my pre-teen years, I was queuing up favorite individual tracks on the family turntable to create personalized mix tapes to play on my Walkman wherever I might be. I’d save my pocket money to get the best headphones and blank tapes I could afford. Throughout my life I’ve been trained in piano and drums/percussion (jazz, Latin and later even played in an Indy rock band) and then dabbled in amateur music production and DJ’ing.

What current technology impresses you the most? 

I think object-based audio production (Atmos, DTS-X, etc.) and its application for both movies and music. I’m looking forward to the day when I can walk into a nightclub in my own city and have a DJ experience in multichannel Atmos. I want to hear sound rather than speakers and when implemented well, this type of technology has the potential to facilitate just that.

Favorite music genre?

Motown/R&B, Hip-Hop and House.

The desert island question, of course. If you were marooned for eternity and could listen to only three albums, what would they be?

I find this one really difficult but… Dr Dre 2001, Underworld Live in Tokyo, Hans Zimmer Interstellar Soundtrack.

You have the floor. In closing, tell us anything else you want us to know about yourself.

Working in audio really is unique. Very few of us have a job where we can help people to really feel something, and I find that a gift. My hope is that we can help the next generation and beyond to understand that there is a better audio experience out there for them so they too can feel something overwhelmingly positive.