Building Community and Sharing Resources with Megan Bott.mp3

Hi. This is Paul Zellizer, and welcome to the Awarepreneurs podcast. On this show, we dive deep into wisdom from some of the world's leading social entrepreneurs. Our goal is to help you increase your positive impact, your profitability, and your quality of life. Before we get into today's topic, I have one request. If you could hit subscribe and do a review on your favorite podcast app, it helps more people learn how to positive impact through a values based business. Thank you so much. Today, I'm really thrilled to introduce you to another New Mexico rock star, Megan Bott.

And our title today is Be the Solution, Building Community and Sharing Resources. So anybody doesn't know, the word soul means sun. And Megan is the community and business impact manager at Positive Energy Solar, a certified B Corp here in New Mexico that's been selling and installing solar systems for many, many years. Today, Positive Energy employs over a 120 people, including over 75, according to your website, Megan. We're gonna find out if this is true. 75 employee owners, and has completed over 5,000 solar installations in New Mexico. And if you go on Google, which I do, and you look at the reviews, you will see that there are 73 reviews with a 4.9 out of 5 star average. In other words, New Mexico loves positive energy.

Megan, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me, Paul.

So you and I met because you were a panelist at a recent event here called Business For Good in New Mexico, cosponsored with the Social Enterprise Alliance. And you've been thinking about impact in quite a few different configurations of your life. Before we get into positive energy and somebody didn't know who Megan Bott was, like, tell us a little bit about, like, who are you from a professional standpoint and a community member standpoint, and what would a listener need to know about you before we get into unpacking what positive energy

does? Yeah. So throughout my career and really just throughout different areas of my life, I've been searching for ways to make a positive difference and and contribute positively, you know, to our communities and have impact on social and environmental issues. And I've sort of just spent my career searching for different opportunities in order to, you know, put myself in the space, in the position to be able to do those things. And so my background largely consists of working in journalism, writing. I did radio for a little while. I worked in broadcast news behind the scenes there. Just sort of learning and meeting people and and networking in that regard. And then I'm I moved from there to, sort of working in a public education sphere, working with people who had special needs, people who have autism.

And that was really meaningful to me just sort of having an an impact and being able to reach lives in that regard and and support families whose children, you know, were on the spectrum. And then from there, I sort of fell into the marketing world. I was I was just looking for different avenues to work in communications, and I fell into marketing. And what I what I feel that I gathered most from my time, which I still work in in a marketing positive energy as well, is that brands have power. And through seeing the the sort of power that a brand can have, especially when they speak, you know, to some some sort of issue going on in society or in the environment, people listen. And so when I came across positive energy searching for another, you know, job that was more on the marketing side of things, I discovered that, you know, through searching their website that they're a b corporation, employee owned. And I was just reading about all these different areas within the community that Positive Energy cared about and wanted to be present for and was involved with. And I was like, I've never met a company, you know, that that, you know, really put itself in that sort of role in the community and sort of having that kind of presence.

And so I was really interested in that. And as I started to learn more about b corporations and benefit corporations and social enterprises, I was like, this is an entirely new way to have an impact. And so I sort of took on this job more in marketing, but I was always very interested in what they were doing when it came to social and environmental and, like, even, like, you know, the governance aspect of the way positive energy operates. And I wanted to have more to do with that, and it became very clear because I was like, hey. You know, here's some organizations we can work with if we wanna have, like, more impact in this area. What if we got behind this sort of policy? And I was just bringing up all these things constantly. And so they actually created a role within the community outreach as a community outreach coordinator for me to sort of slide into and still have my marketing responsibilities. It really chased what it was I was passionate about at the same time.

And I was doing that for a while, just sort of a community outreach and building partnerships and finding different events that we could sponsor and different things could show up for and invest in. And so time went on, and I was you know, this is, like, over a period of 3 years that I was sort of just, like, in these different areas at Positive Energy. But as we started to move forward and discovering more about ourselves as a b corp and as, you know, overall, what it what it boils down to is being a social enterprise and having these, you know, interest in environmental and social issues. I I wanted to own that even more. So it's like I'm I'm really happy doing community outreach and and, you know, making these relationships within the business community, But I would like to more take ownership of how we can be as impactful as possible and as strong of an organization as possible when it comes to showing up for these causes that we that we, you know, we say that we wanna stand behind and care about. And I wanna be able to communicate more of our message as a as a benefit corporation. And I just you know, the the great thing about working at Positive Energy is if there's something you're passionate about, you're interested in, they will find a way that you can, you know, take hold of that within the company. And that's exactly what they did for me, you know, as time went on and I grew into this role that I'm in now managing overall managing our community and business impact in these sort of relationships and being that point of contact if someone wants to talk or learn more about us being a benefit corporation.

I'm sort of that person people can go to. And I just grew into that role, and it's kind of funny. I was telling someone the other day, like, what I do now sort of is overall summary of all the jobs I've ever had because, you know, I'm I'm working in communications. I'm working with fellow nonprofit organizations, which I used to work in before, and there's still that aspect of of marketing and communicating our brand message. So, yeah, overall, I'm kind of just, like, living all of my experience right now in this role that that was created for me at Positive Energy.

That's very cool. I didn't know that this job was created for you. I'm not surprised. As I was listening, we we did an episode a while back. I think it was, like, in the 170s, and now we're, like, 330 something. So halfway through the podcast, on a frame called entrepreneurship, how do you bring an entrepreneurial, social entrepreneur mindset inside an impact oriented company? So I'm gonna put a link to that for anybody who could use some help building the muscles that helped you get into the role that you're in now, Megan. But that was some language. You're you're very much a social intrapreneur within positive energy is is maybe one way.

Does that be all accurate way to talk about it?

I certainly say so. Yeah.

Cool. So so much we could talk about. You know, positive energy is a solar company, and and that's super cool in and of itself. But there's a lot of solar companies in the world. Right? Like, the the the in addition to being in the environmental space, the b corp and the engagement and the worker owned part is as much or more of the story I wanted to help our listeners learn from as much as the solar part of it. But to make sure people understand, just give us a little bit of, like, background. What is Positive Energy, and what do you all do from a market perspective? And now we're gonna get into some of more of these innovative things that maybe not every solar company does.

Yeah. So Positive Energy has been serving New Mexico for 27 years, and we are a a benefit corporation that is also employee owned. And we, I mean, we've we've sort of have started you know, since our inception, we've really been driven by these, like, sustainability framework. Our our owner, his name is Randy Sedewick. And when he founded Positive Energy, he, you know, he said, like, I I want this to be, know, not just like any other business not just like any other company. I want I want sustainability to be the foundation of how we operate, not just because we're a solar energy company, but because, like, that's what we value is is is sustainability. And, you you know, having the impact that we can have when it comes to our community, our environment, and also to to operate in a way that speaks to those values. And so that's why, since the very beginning, we've been employee owned.

Cool. When somebody's like, who's your typical customer? Is it residential? Is it commercial? Is it a little bit of both? But just, like, unpack the business, and and then again, we'll go into the impact end. But the business end of positive energy, maybe when you got started in 27 years later, it might be a little different. Like, who was your ideal customer back at the beginning, and what does your typical installation look like now?

Back at the beginning, there was a lot of there was a lot of, like, you know, small sort of commercial work that we were doing. Now we're largely residential, but we do have a very strong commercial department as well. So there is some balance there, but I would definitely say our our average customer is more of a residential customer. And through the surveys that we conduct, we find that our average customer goes solar because they're doing it for the the cause of the environment. That's that's, you know I mean, the savings is great, and people do care about that, but our customers are largely going for the sake of this is the right thing to do for the for the planet, and they very much appreciate our our messaging and being employee owned. So our values are what draw most of our clientele.

Awesome. So it's impact forward is fair to say. It's Yeah. It's yes. It's solar, but also New Mexico has learned and or if somebody's like, hey. If you if you turn to your brand if somebody came to me, Paul Doelzer, and said, I wanna get solar on my house. Who should I talk to? Positive energy would be on my short list, both because I think you all do awesome on the solar part, but also the values, the work around, the how much you care about the community and you're engaged there. That is not typical.

And, certainly, that kind of word-of-mouth is very strong in the circles I move in. And for somebody who cares more than just, how do I get solar that is reliable and as cheap as possible, that's not what is motivating to me and might not be the most important to your obviously, we don't wanna pay 10 x, but it's not just the cheapest solar. It's the values that has helped positive energy get to where you are. Is that fair to say?

That's that's very fair to say. And, also, I mean, we're the first to tell you, we're not the cheapest option out there. Like, you know, we we sell top of the line products, but you will find that, you know, there's been several instances, you know, throughout our business, throughout me being here that at least 50% of our of our business comes from people referring us to their friends and family.

Exactly. And and if there's a problem, again, just go to the Google reviews listeners. Right. You can see you you all take care of it. Right? It's not just you bolt it on and then see you later, have fun. If something doesn't work, you're stuck on your you all staying in touch with and serving your customers and the community. It's above average, like, way beyond average as one of the reputations on the ground, at least in the circles I move in.

Definitely. And our and our reputation precedes us. And there's also the fact that we have an in house service department. And so we service we we've been servicing a lot of systems from companies that have gone under lately, you know, and and we've been letting people know, like, you know, you know, we hear, you know, word on the street. People are concerned. There's a lot of companies going out of business, but we've been here 27 years. We have a service department, and we will we're here to take care of you, you know, if you've been left high and dry. So we've been getting a lot of phone calls from people who've gone off other companies and they're like, you know, can you help me out? And we are more than happy to come out and either complete a system or service a system if something went wrong that was installed by a different company.

And so, yeah, we we really have that reliability that people can find and the fact that, you know, we're there from start to even past installation. We're there for our customers, and we care that they continue to have a positive experience.

Awesome. So if I'm a listener, I'm like, okay. I got it. Listen, if you need more information, go to the show notes. Positive energy will be the first link in the show notes. So go check out their site if you want more information. Reach out if you need some help. If I'm a listener, I think I got it, Megan.

Alright. Solar company with values and services, you know, above average focuses. Let's get into some of the more innovative stuff that, again, not every solar company is doing. And one of the area is being worker owned and sharing profits. This is very different than most solar companies. Like, tell us a little bit about why you started doing that, and also just what does that look like?

Yeah. So being employee owned, that was part of mean, it all it all kinda stems from the values that we have with the way that we want to operate our business. And being employee owned is another way that we can create more equity within our company. It's I mean, a lot of research you'll find will, you know, tell you that it's it's a long term wealth building tool to be an employee owned company, And we want to invest and improve the lives of the people who work for us. And so that's sort of the the way that that's one of the ways that we choose to do that is by being employee owned and by doing things like investing in in education for our employees to, like, need more training or looking to transfer to a different role than, you know, if they wanna take a class or something like that, then we pay for, you know, their education classes at CNM or licensure certifications. So, yeah, it's just it's an investment in our employees, and we find that when individuals have a sense of ownership, they're more likely to invest time and effort in maintaining the company and maintaining, you know, our reputation. And when they're on the job, like, you know, I have a stake in this, They feel stronger about what it is that they're doing, and it really just kind of brings home, like, you know, this isn't just like some company I work for. Like, this is my company too.

And there's another aspect of that that, you know, when it comes to decision making. Like, we make decisions for the company collaboratively because we are employee owned. So, for example, like, when it came to becoming a benefit corporation, we held multiple company wide meetings and said if this matters to you as an employee owner, please sit in on this. We're gonna have a conversation. We're making some decisions, and we wanna hear from you, you know, because your your opinion on this matters. You know, this is also your company. It's just a way to empower our employees and a way to, you know, continue to share that wealth. And, you know, when we we have that triple bottom line of people, planet, profit, another thing that we say for profit is creating prosperity for everyone.

Like, we care about doing that internally and externally, and being employee owned helps us really embody that belief that we have that, you know, it's not just a company that you work for. It's not just a business. It's it's a place where we're on a collective mission to create a clean energy transition, and we want to bring everybody forward with us in that. And I I think that there's this visual of being an employee on company. You know, we're all kind of, like, linked in arms for this clean energy revolution that we're part of, you know, and driving that forward in a sustainable way.

Cool. And if somebody, like, heard the term most of our listeners have probably heard the term employee owned, but maybe don't know that much about it. Can you give us a little bit either on a top level or if you're comfortable sharing details, like, what does that actually mean if I an employee at an employee owned company. Right? They're like, do you get a salary? Is it all profit share? Like, what does it mean in terms of what you get paid? And you've already started to name some of the decision making inputs or or circles where somebody can, but what does it mean in terms of, like, how your voice is counted that might be different than a company that wasn't employee?

Yeah. So employee and people you know, profit sharing is something that we do at the company, but profit sharing isn't just for employee owners. If if you work for positive energy, then you get a share of the profits at, you know, at the end of the year just because you're you're part of the team. We are we are structured structured as a benefit corporation that has shares owned by employees. And so we get dividends on those shares every year at the end of the year on top of the profit shares as well. And so that's sort of of how it's structured. Like, when when it comes to the end of the year, whatever profit we have, we decide among employee owners as well as among our board, we decide what is it that we're gonna reinvest in the organization, and what is it that we're gonna share among, you know, all the people who work for us. And that decision gets made collaboratively by the employee owners as well.

So that's, again, another say that they have in things. And it's just a way of, you know, democratizing our operations and, again, building wealth for employees and sharing decision, you know, decisions that get made for the company as well. Sort of empowering people and letting them know, like, you know, you this is you know, your voice counts as as much as anyone else. As much as as Randy who's, you know, been at this for 27 years, he carries as much to hear from me who's been there for a little over 3 years. And there's there's a lot of power behind that.

Yeah. And the research says that when a company is employee owned, when a company practices profit sharing, that a real crisis in the workforce goes way down or just, like, goes away. Not as employee engagement. Right? You hear people talking about, you know, just, like, can't get employees to be motivated. They just barely do their job, and then they wanna go home, blah blah blah blah blah. Right? And I'm gonna tell a story. First of all, I'm curious as your sense that part a, it that's less of an issue, and I'm gonna tell a story recently. There was somebody in our ecosystem here in New Mexico who was leaving a job, to because he was very it was a great job.

He's a rock star in our ecosystem, educated here, and he's looking at the world saying it's on fire, and his job wasn't directly addressing climate. And he's like, I need a climate job, and I'm not sure if I can stay in New Mexico. I'd rather stay here. He and I were going back and forth. And I reached out to you and said, hey, here's a rock star in our and one of the things you said, and it was really interesting to me, I think you have a 120 plus employees. And when you go on your website right now, there are literally 0 openings. Right? Think about that lesson. There's a 120, you know, employees, and we're in the midst of what the story line is in the American business world.

We're in the midst of an employee engagement, and people are quitting and, you know, leaving companies. Like, you know, it's just like this just gerbil wheel of people in and out, and that's not seeming to be the case of positive energy. Do you think that this decision making structure, but also the culture of being more engaged and listening and not just using the words we care, but people feeling like they care is part of why I go to the website, and I see 0 openings right now of positive energy?

Most definitely. We have as of 2023, our employee retention rate was 77.8%. And so we I mean, we're as I mentioned before, we're investing in employees' education. Like, if they're saying, hey. You know, I I, you know, I wanna earn this certification, this licensure. It's it's pretty expensive, you know, but I do wanna invest the time in this. We're you know, we'll cover that for you. We will pay for that.

We will pay for you to take a class at CNM to learn more about solar. If you just like, you're interested in learning more about the technology, there's something called the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioner Certification, NABCEP. We pay for our employees to achieve that through CNM, their electrical licensure through ABC. We're we literally we we make it a a purpose to invest as much as possible in the people who work for us, and they can feel that, you know, by being an employee owner, by having your education covered, by saying if you want to, you know, if you're more interested in learning about this, then, you know, here, take the time during the day to train with this person or like me. Like, hey. I really care about society and the environment. You know? Can I like, I I wrote this, you know, this role for myself? Like, would you mind if I took this on for the company? We really listen, and we care, and we prioritize our our workers ultimately. And they can feel that when they when they come in every day.

Why would they wanna leave and go to a job where that was much less the case? Right?

Right. We've actually implemented. Like, we've we've heard before, you know, from installers, for example, you know, different rates of pay that they were being approached by other companies. Like, hey. They're paying us this much. So we look at what we're paying, and we've given people raises across the board. I mean and and then learning about the we have employees. We have an office in Santa Fe.

The cost of living is a lot more there, so we give a special stipend to people who live in Santa Fe so that they're not struggling to get by every month. Like, you when when you and I I feel this really came about during the pandemic as people started to realize, like, my company, like, ultimately does care about me. They're telling me to work from home. You know, they're they're they're covering this and that. And then you had companies that are like, no. You know, that those rules don't apply to us. You need to come in. That really showed people what it what it's like to work for a company that cares and invests in its employees compared to a company where, you know, you're just somebody who works for that company.

And if you don't like it, then you can go work for somewhere else. Yeah. And that sort of has always been you know, we've we've been on the, you know, the bright side of things, you know, forever. But I feel like once the pandemic came around, then people started to think more and more about that. You know, they're more likely to stay at a company that they that they saw was investing in them during that entire time and still to this day is prioritizing safety and well-being for their workforce.

And, again, I live in New Mexico, folks, and this is not just a theory. Like, if you ask around, I've lived here since 1993. The everything you're saying and the word on the street is you live what you're talking about now. These are not just words. These are not just concepts on a website, but you have built a reputation. Obviously, nobody's perfect. No company, no individual. There are oopsies.

There are miss you know, just mistakes or missteps. But to the extent humanly possible, the people at Positive Energy live what you're talking about, not just say the words.

Right. And, you know, if we have those honest conversations too about ways that we can do better, we refer ourselves as a learning organization. So when something, like, you know, doesn't feel right or we need to have a conversation about different areas we can improve in, we do have those conversations. And I think that that's why we've con I mean, it sounds like, oh, yeah. You know, what are you? Just some perfect company. No. But we do continuously work and and put in the effort to grow and and do better by our people that work for us and do better by the community wherever we can. And even I mean, we have something called a theory of change.

And, like, we're currently, like, overlook looking over our theory of change and, like, you know, making tweaks and fixing things. You know? Is this what we're doing? Is this where we're having an impact? Are we, you know, working more in this area? And sort of just constantly exercising that reflection on how we're doing and what we're doing and what we're what our message is and what we're living. And I think that's why we can continue to, you know, sound like we're doing so great is because we're never letting something just sit there and saying, well, we're already doing this. That's done. You know? We're we're constantly looking for ways to improve and ways to do better.

Awesome. So let's do this. I lost track. I was trying to count, Megan, how many times you use the word communities in our, like, not quite 25 minutes so far, but I lost track.

Oh, gosh.

Which is awesome. And part of our title is building community. So in a moment, I wanna take break and hear a word from our sponsor. But when we come back, I wanna ask you more about the building community part of specifically your job, but also positive energy as a whole? And, also, how do you make that financially work when you have such a focus and core value of building community, but you don't always get paid directly for those kinds of initiatives? How does a company or a social entrepreneur that wants to do the community building kind of work that you do, but also has to pay the bills and take care of their people and keep an office and etcetera, etcetera. How do you balance all that? Before we do that, I just wanna take a quick break and hear a word from our sponsor. Are you facing 1 or more important decisions in your impact business? And you'd like an experienced thought partner to develop a plan about how to proceed in the complex times we're living. But you don't feel the need for an extended coaching or consulting contract that's gonna cost you many 1,000 of dollars. You're looking for an affordable, targeted, and time efficient type of support.

Through paulzellizer.com, I offer a strategy session package. These packages are ideal for entrepreneurs who are facing 1 to 3 immediate decisions, like how to increase your positive impact, fine tune your marketing strategies to get more results for less effort, launch a new product or service successfully, or refine your pricing structure so it's both inclusive and provides you with a great quality of life. You can find out more by clicking below, and thank you so much for listening to this podcast. So welcome back, everybody. I am here with Megan Bot, and we are talking about Be the Soulution, soul meaning sun in Spanish here in New Mexico, building community and sharing resources. And Megan is so generously sharing about positive energy, a 27 year plus company here in New Mexico, a b corp, a worker owned b corp, a solar company, but not just all that. Deeply caring about and showing up in community initiatives and building understanding of what ESG, environmental, social governance, means for New Mexico. Anybody has not been listening to the show.

You know, I've lived here since 1993, and I don't like this language, but this is how people talk about us. We are both one of the first or the first majority minority state, which means we have a higher proportion of people of color than any other state in the US. And also historically, a state that is on towards the bottom of economic indicators and other kind of indicators in measuring our economy. So it's a really interesting environment. And I would just wanted to give some context about what it means to build community here because it's it's a cultural value. It's one of the reasons I live in New Mexico and have since 1993. I love the care for and the valuing of community. But when a business wants to do that, it's always a dance, but it's particularly a dance here because there's just less dollars floating around the New Mexico economy than many other states.

So I wanted to give that context. And now go into what is building community look like in this place, in this moment, in positive energies journey and also in your journey as somebody who's been thinking about community for a long time, Megan.

Yeah. So, I mean, it takes a it takes a lot of work to to be a company that uses its profits to reinvest in community because you also have to make a profit. You have, you know, remain a profitable company. We have to invest in the organization. We are profit sharing with our employees. We're doing all these different things, just sort of trying to share the wealth, but it's a careful dance when you're balancing all of that with all with also investing dollars on a regular basis in the community. And so we've we've had a conversation over the years of the best way to do this, and the way that we've been able to invest in community is not just through dollars and and all that, but it's through time. It's through education.

It's through influence. These are all resources along with money. And so sharing those resources does empower communities by democratizing access to information, access like supporting nonprofit organizations and amplifying whatever missions and causes and events it is that they're having to do good for community and creating a sort of infrastructure that we can say is collectively owned like our company is. And, like, we ultimately want solar energy to be. So it takes a lot of it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of, like, honest reflection on what it is that we are capable of doing, and we're not always capable of donating, like, 1% of our profits or something like that to the community. But we do what we can, and we we make that a priority with a triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. But one thing that I that I do kinda wanna point out is that when it comes to sharing your resources, it's really about trying to help the more marginalized groups also gain agency.

In the clean energy transition, we're trying to combat a lot of the exploitation and extractive nature of what the oil and gas industry was for so long. So we really want in everything that we do for it to be collaborative and for it to be an investment in the very place that makes it possible for us to do business.

Yeah. And let's say Positive Energy has infrastructure, has a 120 employees. Listeners, you can imagine what kind of a budget might be a company that can afford profit sharing. And, yeah, we'll pay for you to anybody doesn't know it's CNM, it's an incredible it's our it's called Central New Mexico College, and it's like our our trade school and 2 year college, and it's an incredible resource that it's gone into, like, more than that. But that's where it started, and now it's, like, just upskilling our workforce here in New Mexico. It's an incredible player in the ecosystem. So, yeah, you wanna learn about solar or get your electrical technician certification through CNM, and you all are. Yes.

Right? That's a lot. You you want a sponsorship, and you're a nonprofit, and you represent the communities we care about, and you're aligned with our value. Add all that up. That's significant. Right? That's an investment. Right? You got to have what as somebody who is thinking about community, and some of our listeners would have those resources, but some don't. Maybe they're a startup founder and they're pretty early on and they have a team of 3 or they're solo or they're just, you know, not 27 years into it. Right? With the kinds of resources that you all have.

What would you recommend to somebody who shared the same values about being a resource to the community, but didn't have the same, you know, dollars and cents or maybe even brand reputation there earlier in the journey? How can somebody vet and be smart about making investments and making a difference in community and the way you describe, but they didn't have the same resources available to to them.

Yeah. Yeah. And that's that's sort of why I went back, and I said it's not always about money. It's not always about, like, having, like, the dollars that you're gonna, like, like, put go throw this amount of money behind this campaign by new energy economy because you really believe in and support it. It's it's not always about that. It's about resources can be time. It can be in kind donations. It can be policy support.

It can be education, information. All of these different things are are ways of sharing resources and making those investments in the community. I think you just need to identify what sort of causes are are most, like, authentic to you that you wanna support and just finding ways to sort of, I mean, put investment behind that. Volunteering is another big one, and that's that's sort of an area that we're kinda growing our company and being able to do is is volunteer more. And we ultimately wanted all of that volunteer time to be paid. But, again, because we're making all these investments, we can't pay for every volunteer time just yet, but we're doing that where we're able to. It does suck to say, like, you know, there's this awesome event that's, you know, has a sponsorship. Can we support that? No.

We don't always have the dollars to throw out that either to be realistic. But we do look at what we are capable of doing and have honest conversations about that, and then just sort of go from there.

I'm thinking of the language. I'm blessed to be a consultant with New Angels, and the person who recruited me is Drew Tolchin. Drew is a significant player in the New Mexico ecosystem and knows a lot about B Corps and social entrepreneur ventures all over the world. And Drew's language is time, treasure, and talent. So when you think about having an impact, think about time. Like you're saying you can volunteer or write copy with somebody who's leaning towards social entrepreneurship, kind of peering over the edge this morning. And, like, it's not the majority of their income, but they're trying to get there. And, like, I didn't charge them for copy.

He's like, you've been at this. He's been doing it a year and a half. I've been at this 17 years. Right? That's an example of time. Treasure is dollars or some sort of financial assets. Right? Sometimes we're really busy, but we're in a different part of the journey, so we can be an impact investor. And we can use our dollars and cents to help a company either get off the ground or scale with our financial resources or other act assets we have. And the third one, time, treasure, and talent is like, you know, things you have that you're good at.

Part of the thing I was talking about this morning was I've been podcasting a little bit. I know how to podcast. I know how it works. I know the different AI tools. And if you wanna edit it yourself, use this AI tool. If you wanna pay somebody, I've got people in my network. Right? Example, podcasting talent is just something I built because I've been doing it a long time. Right? So if I'm treasure and talent, I'm thinking of Drew.

That's one way I really like to help think about how you can move the needle even if you don't yet have a ton of treasure, the dollars and cents part of it. What are the assets you have in either time or talent that you can kind of put to service in the communities you wanna help? Mhmm. The other thing I'd add of what you said, Megan, which was super great, is collaboration. Right? Stop being an independent solo. Like I'm gonna be the lone cowboy who makes all the difference in the world by yourself. That mindset is such a burnout mindset, and it really limits how you can provide value. But maybe you're new, but you have or you you don't have all the financial assets of a positive energy because you just haven't been around. If you do 27 years in the saddle, you'll get there.

Right? Mhmm. But how can you partner with somebody who has some of these other resources? Maybe you have a lot of talent or you have more time, and they have more financial resources. How can you collaborate for the benefit of the community instead of everybody going in siloed and, like, I do it myself or it doesn't get done kind of a mindset. It's way past time to let that mindset go. I'll get off of my milk crate now, but, yes, please, can we collaborate better than we have in the past impact space?

It's it's crucial. It's collaboration is the name of the game. I especially believe when it comes to being a clean energy company, that's a benefit corporation. Because, I mean, think about it. The solar energy, the sun is a shared resource. You know? It's breathing life into our communities. We want to do the same as as more or less advocates of the sun, I guess you could say. And then when it comes to clean energy being distributed energy resources, wind, solar, hydro, these are all different ways that we're sort of making or increasing access to energy.

And these aren't just one central power plant like like coal is, for example, just like one central resource. No. They're distributed amongst of amongst communities so that you have energy closer to the point of, you know, where you're at. And it just I mean, it all adds up, and it all makes sense to share your resources when you are in this the scope of work.

Cool. I feel like I would be not doing my job. And again, I think a lot of our listeners were like, oh my gosh. I want me to show. So I feel like I wouldn't be doing my job knowing our listeners. Like, this is really cool. You didn't have to start it from scratch. Right? You didn't start positive energy.

But, again, he is an social intrepreneur mindset, literally your job, the first word in your job description, right, community and business impact manager, is community. And I think a lot of our listeners, one of our core values at Au Entrepreneur, I can put a link to our core values, but community is one of our core values. And I know our listeners. If somebody wanted to, like, learn from your journey of getting a job that for some or maybe a lot of our listeners would be like, alright, if I wasn't gonna be an entrepreneur, I would do that job. Right? What would you say to somebody who is like, oh, I like that, and I would love to find my way into some version of the role you hold right now? What would you what kind of tips would you have for somebody who wanted to use their entrepreneurial skills in an intrepreneur way to do more in a community building and community impact focused role, but leveraging the resources of a company that's been around a long time?

I think that's a really great question, and it's it's kind of it's it's kind of funny because, I mean, I sort of just, like, fell into this by just being myself. I think it comes down to the company that you're able to find. I mean, you can find b corps through, like, the the b corporation website. They have a list of different b corps and a hiring page on there. And then you can also find a benefit corporation like Positive Energy is. But identifying a company, like, I was fortunately able to that, you know, is doing this kind of work already and that has this as part of of their, you know, their core values being community. Finding a like minded business, I think, is what you could do. And then just be honest about, you know, what it is that you're looking for and and what it is that you want to do and what role you can offer in that space to drive these initiatives.

I mean, the the thing that came with me is that I saw that we had a need, and I and I found myself capable of fulfilling that need. And I just kind of had that conversation with as many people as I could, you know, that could help me get there. There's, I mean, there's not there's there's not a lot of companies out there that are like positive energy, but there are more and more companies that are making that leap inside or being a b corp or being a benefit corporation with some other third party standard. That community is growing. And so because that community is growing so much, I think b lab has, like, maybe over over 5,000 or something b corps now, but there's gonna be more options and availability for roles like this, you know, in that landscape.

Cool. So if you look ahead 3 to 5 years, let's say. Right? 27 years, all kinds of awesome things. But you personally and also a positive, and it doesn't seem like you're the kind of folks to put your feet on the coffee table. Oh, well, the I don't think that's you all. So No. Look ahead 3 to 5 years. I don't think that's you all.

So No. Ahead 3 to 5 years. What where do you think positive energy will be 3 to 5 years out from now?

We're currently in the middle of planning for the next 3 years. It's interesting you ask me this question now. Yeah. We we just had our second planning meeting to look at our values, our mission statement, and what sort of stronger presence that we're able to have in our outreach and even in areas like policy. These are all conversations we're currently having. And so we're currently refining what our mission is and what our our vision is because those are those are 2 separate things as well as how our values tie into that. I think that in the next 3 to 5 years, we're going to have identified a way to have an even greater impact beyond just any dollars and cents or like that. But we're looking at how we can develop a process to stand up more and and put our name behind more legislation and policy as being discussed for New Mexico's energy landscape.

And so I am hoping, and it's part of, you know, my efforts are trying to make this happen, is that we can have a stronger presence during legislative sessions and stand up for more policy and improve and diversify our board so that we're able to have more people present who can help us understand better ways to engage in policy and sort of increase education awareness around what's being done to make New Mexico clean energy leader. There's also community solar that's being rolled out, and we're looking for ways that we can have more of a presence and involvement in that. Community solar is gonna be a really big deal in New Mexico, and and we're looking to get involved. There's been a lot of bureaucracy and red tape and back and forth surrounding community solar in our state, but we're looking for how we can even just kind of be a strong supporter and backer of that so that we can increase access to clean energy. Ultimately, when we're working in this transition, we want it to be equitable, and we're looking for ways that we can sort of help ramp up or ramp up and strengthen the equity that will be there for people who are looking to access solar, especially for LMI households. We just got a lot of money from the federal government, a $156,000,000 to support low income access to solar energy. And so we're looking at ways that we can definitely be part of that. So I would say in the next 3 to 5 years, we'll be able to say, you know, hey.

We achieved, you know, we achieved this. Not that we achieved it. We're done. Now people who are lower income have access to solar. No. We wanna continue to make this an equitable energy transition for everyone in New Mexico so that we can all reap the rewards of generating clean energy.

Awesome. And if anybody doesn't know about community solar, I'll put a link in the show notes, but it's super exciting. And like you said, a big part of it is is inclusion, that most at least residential solar historically has gone to folks with more resources, bigger homes, etcetera. And the idea of community solar is to create an economy of scale that if you have a a neighborhood or a condo complex or whatever, that makes solar accessible to somebody that wouldn't necessarily fit the traditional residential profile who gets solar. So it's super cool and can't wait. Come on, New Mexico. Let's do this. Right? Yes.

Get community solar over the finish line and do it. We've been talking about it for way too long. If I'm excited, we're talking about it, but we need to do it. Yeah. So

It's time. Yeah.

I'll put a link in the show notes. If you don't know what it is, go check it out. So, Megan, I could hang out with you all day. You're doing awesome things, positive, and and you're busy. Our listeners are busy. So as we start to wind down, if there was something that you were hoping we were gonna get to and we haven't touched on it, or there's something you wanna leave our social entrepreneur listeners with on this topic of building community and sharing resources, and we haven't touched on it yet, what would that be?

I've been hearing this question on your other episodes, and I'm like, I don't know how I'm gonna answer that. I still don't know how to answer this question.

Okay. Thanks for listening, everybody. No. I'm kidding.

No. I would just say that I'm really proud of the work that we're that we're doing at Positive Energy. And if you if you know of any businesses that are similar to Positive Energy that are benefit corporations or that are b corps, I mean, share share the message. I mean, support these businesses. I I truly believe that social enterprise and a triple bottom line is the way of the future for business. So if you see a a b corp stamp or if you just hear about a company that's, like, doing what we're doing and try to just increase access and share their wealth, support them, and refer your friends and family to them because you're you vote with your dollars. Like, when you support a company, you're voting for what kind of business you support, what you want the future of business to be, what sort of manufacturing and labor policies and all that. What you know, you're supporting these things with your money.

So I would really just say just go out and and keep doing that. And if you are looking to make an impact in your career, then start looking more into b corps and benefit corporations because by working for them, I mean, you're supporting them as well. So, yeah, just keep your eyes and ears open to to businesses like ours. And, yeah, that's what I would say.

Couldn't agree, Maureen. Again, if somebody asked me here in Albuquerque, where should I get solar? I'm gonna say positive energy, not just because you all do a great job at the solar. You do. But as you have heard listeners, it's so much more than that. So look for companies that have values that are really building community and are thinking about impact in a not just a what they what their subject matter is, but looking at it in a more comprehensive way. So, yeah, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and for sharing what you've learned at Positive Energy. And if somebody wants to get a hold of you, Megan, and or Positive Energy, how would they do that?

Yeah. So you can go on our website, positive energy solar.com, and we have a contact us, and you can just reach out. And, yeah, or follow or find me on LinkedIn.

Awesome. So let's do what we do, listeners. Go spread the message. And even if you're not in New Mexico, it's good to share stories and also to help link up. So maybe there's another super cool community minded equity focused solar company in, I don't know, some other part, you know, in California or in Florida or

in We do have a co op, Amicus Co op. You can find

co oh, okay.

Yeah. If you look up the Amicus Co op, we're part of our larger co op. Amicus is a certified b corporation, and they have tons of other solar companies all across the nation that are b corps and benefit corporations as well.

Nice. I didn't know that. And, again, I'll put a link in the show notes. See, this is why we do this. We're trying to surface resources, not just one company at a time, but, like, help wherever you are, wherever in the world. There are companies that are doing business in this way, and we're trying to help people connect up. So Amicus Coop, I'm gonna put a link to that in the show notes. Megan, thank you so much for being on the show today.

Oh, thank you for having me.

So let's do what we do, listeners. Go tell your friends. Let's amplify the incredible work that Positive Energy is doing. If you're here in New Mexico and you're thinking of getting solar or one of your friends are, please send them to Positive Energy. And even if you're not, like I said, just amplify this message because there are people all over the world that are looking for ways to work for companies and start the next positive energy. And if they can learn from 27 years, I keep saying to my clients over and over again, can we please make new and different mistakes instead of the same ones over and over again? Right? Positive energy has made some mistakes, has learned some things. So share this episode with somebody who's trying to do something similar so that they can get the benefit of lots of on the ground making an impact at scale, even in an economy that is not the easiest one to build this type of company with. I wanna say if you have an idea for an episode, we love hearing from our listeners.

You can go to the AwarePreneur's website. And on our contact page, we have 3 simple guidelines. So pitch us an episode. Love to hear from you. And finally, I wanna say thank you so much for listening. Please take really good care in these intense times. And thank you for all the positive impact that you're working for in armor.