I decided to take an extended hiatus from “Energizing the Workforce” and that allowed me to purposefully think about why I felt compelled to reset this series. As Courtney mentioned in Our Long Winters Nap, “Individually and as a team we’re assessing what we love and what we want to share with you.” And to be fully honest, I was not loving what I was writing. Which is why the reset was needed.

After a few months, I have had time to think about my intentions for this series, as well as the message I hope to instill in those who choose to read it. I think the way to rest is to go back to my beginning, when I first started my career in clean energy. Or better yet, a couple of years prior.

At 17, applying for college, I had NO IDEA what I wanted to do with my life. Lawyer? Teacher? Writer? Editor? Who knew! All I knew was that I would have ample time to figure it out. By testing the waters, taking a variety of classes, and trying to make something stick, I knew I would absolutely find my “thing” and would be on my merry way. But that’s just it. I never had that moment. I naively assumed that college would automatically create that moment for me, and I would walk across the stage at graduation eager for my future career in whatever I was destined to do.

Instead, I walked across the stage feeling like an absolute failure.

I had just achieved one of my life’s goals and wound up feeling flat. It seems the status quo that at 21 you graduate from college with a job offer at a highly rated company making $100,000/year.  If not, somehow you have failed. This idea, this expectation, contributed to my feelings of inadequacy.

All I knew when I graduated was that I wanted my work to be meaningful. I wanted to be part of something that mattered not only to me, but to others.

Fast forward through post college depression, a retail job, and a learning curve to an industry I did not even know existed--here I am!

With a little over four years of experience in the energy efficiency workforce, I am now making it my goal to help others find their way to this weird, but wonderful industry. I also want to help more people—like me—understand why this industry matters. As young professionals we get caught up in what we think we’re supposed to do and not necessarily what we want to do. I’ve come to understand the clean energy space brings together people from all sorts of differing career paths together; engineering, finance, marketing, etc. all have different, but important roles to play and they all support the common mission to make our communities better.

I decided I want this series to share my story, but others too on why they chose a career in energy efficiency, or in some cases, found themselves here. I want to make a space for young, and not-so-young professional who may  not even know this industry exists and highlight paths to expand our industry to better represent our communities.

Through the reset Energizing the Workforce follow along as I share through personal stories and interviews from the very brand new to seasoned veterans! Job shadow positions you probably haven’t heard about, learn what others are doing to expand the workforce, and come away understanding why clean energy is the place to make your career.  Even at 22…

I invite you all to come along this path with me and together we can truly “energize OUR workforce.” And ourselves.