What is a good first light/flash to get as a beginning photographer?

[softball]

Originally Posted by Jace

I wanna get to the point where I don't have to rely on someone else to take all our professional photos....so, I am going to need some good lighting

what can you all suggest?

What kind of shooting do you do? Controlled studio? Do you need portability? Do you shoot stills and video at the same time? What kind of camera do you have? If you have a studio, does it have a lot of natural window light you can use? What is your budget?
Sorry to ask all these questions but there are so many lighting solutions available and it really depends on your application which you choose.