This article is part of our coverage of the 2025 CE Pro Masters.
With her Midwest upbringing, “Energizer Bunny” work ethic, and unwavering commitment to excel at everything she attempts, Star Trek enthusiast Helen Heneveld became a leader and innovator in home automation long ago.
In 1989, she founded TALI, The Automation Link, Inc. — one of the first custom integration firms focused entirely on home automation, building it into a nationally recognized company. TALI offered fully integrated systems including: communications wiring, phone/intercom, multiroom audio, home theater, lighting control, security, overall control systems, and surge protection with the mission to be a single-source/full-service team dedicated to wiring for the future and providing homeowners with easy-to-use systems.
Heneveld remembers pleading with customers to have TALI homerun all cables and use Category 3 cable in preparation for new technologies.
She has often been at the forefront and ahead of her time… as a dedicated Girl Scout through high school and selected to be a state representative; earning her varsity letter in 1974 at the University of Michigan, the first-year women were allowed.
Lightapalooza took place in late February, and the growth of the event has mirrored the rapid ascension lighting fixtures and controls.
She even demanded the same letter jacket as the men’s, requiring her to walk through the football team’s locker room to get to the equipment cage for ordering — imagine that picture in your mind with 80 male athletes, she recalls with a chuckle. It wasn’t until 2016, when other female athletes were given the same jacket as the men, 42 years later.
She received her MBA at the University of Michigan when there were only 12% female in the class, going into labor with her first son during her After selling TALI in 1997, Heneveld followed her passion to help others by sharing her vast industry knowledge through training and business consulting.
She says the rewards are always the smiles on the faces and success stories shared by manufacturers, installation companies, and consumers she helped. As a natural and college-educated teacher, Heneveld grasped learning methods were changing.
Bypassing online webinars, she jumped into creating videos and interactive online training, founding Bedrock Learning in 2004, dedicated to educating both technicians and consumers about new technologies and their many benefits. Bedrock’s courses and materials received the Consumer Technology Association, CTA, 2016 Mark of Excellence Best Education or Support Program Award.
Author of numerous books, she helps educate the industry; first and second editions of DHTI+ Home Technology Integrator All-In-One Exam Guide by McGraw-Hill, and low voltage, now called limited energy, books for the Electrical Training Alliance, ETA, for training electricians nationwide, Cabling, Networking and Communication Technologies, and Audio, Video and Streaming Media Technologies. She also created the TIA-568B Bean Bag Toss game for technicians to learn the correct pinning of RJ-45 connectors.
Heneveld currently serves on the Board of Directors of CTA, Smart Home Division and was recognized with the 2018 CTA Mark of Excellence Leadership Award. She also served on the Board of Directors of CEDIA and for several years as chair of the CEDIA Systems Integration Council, leading the effort for industry standardization of symbols.
She also started the Women in Consumer Technology group in 1996, handed it over to Carol Campbell in 1999 and was recognized with the Legacy Award in 2013.
In 2025, Heneveld starts the next chapter of her life with retirement, though she notes it’s doubtful she’ll ever really quit working! Her next gig involves seasonal work with her husband, Santa, and bringing joy to young and old alike, especially children.
To read through the profiles of any previous Master, or to find out the full list of CE Pro Masters for 2025, check out the main article here.
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