When I started my book-writing journey back with initial research in 2021, I never imagined the impact We Took the Risk would have after it launched on October 1, 2022, and the “staying power” it continues to have as I cross over 7,000 copies sold nationwide. It’s with this milestone anniversary that I’m reflecting on two years of We Took the Risk.
The motivation for the book stemmed from a desire to honor a mentor through a simple 750-word article in Biofuels International Magazine. That effort – through support (and empowerment) from individuals like Georgetown University Professor Eric Koester, former Board Members of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE), personal mentors, and colleagues I interact with daily – made it grow into a much larger project documenting the very origins of our US renewable energy industry.
I still cannot thank New Degree Press (now Manuscripts Press) enough and the slew of editors I had for taking me on (indeed, taking a risk on me!) as a first-time author.
Coming out of the COVID period, the one thing I learned, which I can attribute to a wise renewables leader named Devin Welch, who co-founded Sun Tribe Solar – now the Sun Tribe Group – was that we need to find gratitude in the daily aspects of our work life. Indeed, joy and thankfulness play important roles also as we find meaning in our renewables career journey. These traits continue to motivate and drive us in our mission to ensure every single person on the planet can access the benefits and transformational power of renewable energy.
We Took the Risk was just that – an act of gratitude – taking time to reflect and look back at those individuals who played a pivotal role in shaping my career and the greater renewables industry.
Reflecting on gratitude, I pulled together stories of 25 leaders who inspired me and repeatedly broke the proverbial glass ceiling for all of us from the 1970s until the early 2000s. In addition, I reflected on leadership and wrote about the unique traits they all had that made them successful in the renewable industry. If you haven’t read the book yet, check out my earlier blog launching the book for teasers on leaders I included in the book, recapping their stories and “superpower” traits.
So what’s my only lament in reflecting upon two years of We Took the Risk being out there? I wish that I could have included the over 75+ other executives I interviewed who made just as important an impact in the industry – ranging from Ira Ehrenpreis and Matt Cheney to Mary Powell and Paula Gold-Williams. In writing the book, I undertook a historical quest – to ensure these leaders’ stories would be immortalized in the very fabric of the U.S. renewable energy industry’s history – a quest that I’ll continue to work on in an act of gratitude to all of them for showing us the way.
After an initial pre-sales campaign resulting in over 681 books sold and the success of the book tour in October 2022 that gathered over 570+ guests across New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Houston, I’m still speechless at the support the renewable energy industry gave me in writing the book. To this day, I cannot thank the hundreds of you who believed in the power of the book and bought a pre-sale copy before seeing a single word. I hope each and every one of you enjoyed the thank you in my acknowledgments section!
To this day, my favorite book-related events are the opportunities I get to sit down with young professionals who have either already started their journey or are embarking on their journey in renewable energy. Speaking monthly to college & university students, corporate affinity & SynERGy groups, professional association book clubs, and non-profits has allowed the book to be “living and breathing” in the industry, continuously creating impact. It has kept me motivated to keep forging my own renewables journey and has kept me dedicated to “giving back” for all those countless hours mentors spent on me to learn the ropes.
In speaking with so many young professionals embarking on their journey in renewables, I’ll admit that I’m envious of them. They are coming into an industry that is maturing with career opportunities spanning engineering, finance, and marketing ranging in choice of exciting technologies and market opportunities raging from storage to recycling of solar panels. They are also experiencing a stabilizing industry from a political and financial perspective. Young professionals are also benefitting from their choice of of college and university degrees specializing in renewables and sustainability. All these were things that, when I started 20 years ago, were all foreign.
The one thing that has not changed, though, is the power of relationships in the renewables industry.
In speaking with a young professional during a mentorship session a few months ago during an event organized by Kay McCall and REAL Houston, I reminded them that every outreach meeting one does at a conference like RE+, every LinkedIn cold message one sends, and every phone call with a mentor that ends with you asking for three additional recommended contacts, adds to your proverbial rolodex. You’ll have these contacts with you for your entire renewables journey. One day, you could be on the same team as they are – and the next – you could be negotiating a wind power deal across the table from them. The lesson – is never to take these relationships for granted and to keep enriching your life by being in touch with them.
When asked what has stood out to me looking back at my author journey and We Took the Risk, it’s been the support I received from all of you, my fellow renewables journey co-patriots.
In many ways, I feel that it was all of us, together, who ultimately wrote the book.
Reflecting on two years of We Took the Risk, I’m cognizant that the journeys and adventures described in the book continue in the daily advancement and entrepreneurship exhibited in the renewables industry today. The foundations built by these amazing risk-takers have helped us all advance in the sophistication of technologically integrating, financially structuring, and developing ever-awe-inspiring renewable energy projects.
I look forward to continuing to meet and get to know everyone I can in the renewables industry. At the end of the day, we all have a story to tell, and I look forward to telling your story.
