My parents were both teachers, as were two of my grandparents. So it was natural that I should follow in their footsteps, and my teaching career began in the 2000-2001 school year, at a small Title I school in Santa Fe, NM. As a beginning teacher, I was blessed to have my mother teaching in the 6th grade classroom next to mine, and my retired father coming in to visit from time to time. From them I learned many important lessons about how to be an effective and efficient educator. I also had my own initiatives. I started a chess club and then a chess team that competed in state competitions; my classes created a scale model of the solar system in the hall of the school, fulfilling standards for math, science, and language; and I founded a “Millionaire’s Club,” which celebrated students who read 1 million words or more during the school year (and inspired others to do the same). At the same time, I was also blessed to be able to teach junior high and high school math for summer education at a local private school.
My life changed when I left education for a career in solar distribution. I joined a small company, located in Santa Fe, NM, that would go on to become the second-largest solar distributor in the USA. While I learned about business ethics, sustainable practices, and acting in integrity with our vision, I also learned from and worked side-by-side with the cultural champions of the company. We built the company to be more than just another transactional store – “Give me your money, and here’s your product.” We wanted to be thought leaders. We wanted to be planners working proactively in an industry that was largely reactive. We wanted to build trust and long-term relationships. In short, we wanted to be providers of real value.
The cultural work that we did transformed me. I saw us grow from individuals (sales is often a very self-serving role) to a true team, working together to help create a better industry. We developed a language around how we wanted to show up, and what was expected of others, and what we expected of ourselves. We created tools to solve problems, and then iterated on those tools to make them better. Consultants and philosophers regularly came in to help us develop and test our own ideas. We did the thought work in addition to our “regular” work of selling solar equipment.
What started out as 4 people sitting around a ping pong table in Santa Fe, NM became an enterprise that had revenue of half a billion dollars in 2022, employed nearly 200 people, and was recognized throughout the industry as a thoughtful, committed, effective team.
That journey allowed me to reflect on my own time in education. I saw opportunities for us as educators to challenge some of the ways we think about and approach our vocation. I saw how providing a clear value (and talking about it) built stronger relationships, and envisioned those stronger relationships being built in school communities.
InSightEd is a result of my experiences in education, solar distribution, playing guitar in several bands, and volunteer work.