Episode 5: Let's take a seat with Mark Bench.

In this episode, we sit down with Mark Bench to delve into the personal side of his journey while also exploring the impactful work of the RSA in leading the charge for residential solar. Join us for an engaging conversation as we uncover Mark's story and the important role of the RSA in advancing residential solar initiatives.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome everybody. We are at day two at SolarCon, the solar event of the year. And I am so honored for this next guest that we have on today. I have got Mr. Paul Stefan from Goodleap. If you do not know Paul, I'm sorry. You absolutely need to get to know him. And my hope from having some time with him today is to just get a little bit of Paul's greatness and goodness in front of all of you because he really is one of the most caring, kind, and just nurturing souls who's been so kind to me through my business journey. I hope I'm not overwhelming you right now.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

No more, keep going. This is great.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Here's where I want to start. We're here at a solar conference. Lots of stuff happening in the industry. I know that if there's a really, really big challenge that I'm happening that I have happening in my business and I really don't know where to go, you're gonna be the first person I call.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

So we're gonna we're gonna start right there with the solar industry before I jump into a little more, Paul. What would you say to everyone in the space right now that's dealt with a lot of adversity, not a little bit, a lot of adversity. Yeah. And um needs maybe that reminder of a little bit of a higher elevated view and pushing forward, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Yeah, I don't know how high high and elevated it'll be, but I'll I'll take a shot. Remember these words. You've probably heard them before. This too shall pass.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

It's number one thing that you have to remember when facing adversity is this is not a forever time. It will pass. And then take a moment to look back at the past adversities that you have overcome. Just as a reminder that this is not fatal, whatever you're experiencing, you've overcome probably 10 other things were just as bad. So I think elevating from the feelings and moving more into the cerebral component of what's happening, uh, that's always the advice that I give, and I try to practice it myself.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

That's amazing. What would you say are maybe a couple of your hopes to see this little solar industry space uh start to um uh adapt and change in its own ways? Like what are your hopes for the industry?

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Yeah, I mean look, we're very lucky to be in an industry that it just in its nature comes with so much passion.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Helping homeowners save money. I mean, at the end of the day, we get to provide a service to a consumer group that doesn't cost them anything out of pocket. Like who gets to say that? Right? So to your question, I I I would say what needs to change. What needs to change is I think over time, with explosive growth, our industry has forgotten who our most important asset is, or what our most important asset is, and that's the homeowner. It's the consumer. You see a lot of people that are focused on revenue, growth, commissions. Um, a lot of, you know, in this industry, there's there's a lot of um customer acquisition, varying customer acquisition channels that that are focused on attracting new people into the industry. So there's a lot of sizzle, there's a lot of flash, there's a lot of look at me. And when that happens, oftentimes you forget that we are duty bound to make sure that the homeowner is protected at all times.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

They're the ones that matter. It's not the salesperson, it's not the installer, it's not the lender, it's not the takeout investor. It all starts with the homeowner. And if we all align with understanding that it is the homeowner that must be protected, that must reap the most value, everything else will fall in line.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Can I jump in there and get a little bit vulnerable with you? Because um when I came into the industry and space, I had big wild dreams of building an amazing business that just benefited its people. And I it was so important to me to build this culture that really felt empowering and touched everyone, including the homeowners, right? And as we grew and as sort of this uh insane amount of growth that felt like we had to grab it or it was maybe never gonna be there, young business owners, you know, really with great intentions, but also trying to learn a whole lot faster than sometimes humanly capable, right? The business was outgrowing us in so many different ways. And as CEO, that experience um having a failure on my hands, you know, that it's hard to look at your people in the eyes and say, you know, I asked you to I asked you to trust me and follow me, and you know, it's not it's not ending the way that we wanted. There's there's so many just really, really painful points, but the point I want to drive home here is the absolute travesty of homeowners that you know really, really bought into the brand and into the warranty and all of these great things that were never you know created with the intention of not having them be, you know, a quality and a deliverable. And unfortunately, we were just unable to keep that together. And um the pain of that experience, the the you know, messages that I got from homeowners and you know, asking for help as a CEO in a company that you know I didn't I didn't control anymore, those were difficult. And I really only share that story to say that um I love that you started us off on that topic. I hear so much you know within the industry conversations, like we gotta make sure that sales reps are not you know going out with with getting you know not getting paid. We gotta make sure that um you know businesses are still like we get so focused on self and we get so focused sometimes on you know, maybe either pointing fingers or some of the the combativeness in the space. And I personally, after having gone through what I did, love that message of unity and lifting out of that space for a minute and saying, hey, we're here with an opportunity to serve in a really, really big way. And my being connected to Goodly early in my days um selling loans on your platform was really empowering for me in a personal way, and and and that kind of trickled through my business. And I just want to talk about that because I I think that you guys have been such a pillar in the industry, setting an industry-wide culture. I came into this saying, I love contracting, I I know it inside and out, and I really wanted to build a great business. And what I quickly learned was that we could be part of a give back program. Uh, learn from people who put giving first and selflessness first. And I found a mission in what I was doing, not just a job. I found purpose that is just it's it's hard to replace. And so that's just my big thank you to you and to all of you. I uh like to consider myself the adopted stepchild uh of the family of Goodley, only because you've all done so much for me personally over the years. But uh tell me what it's like where you from where you're sitting, looking back. Um your team is incredible. Like, how did you build a team like that? Let me start with that question.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Wow. Well, first, thank you for your very kind words. I appreciate that. Um this is a hard business, it's hard for everyone, and you'll go through incredible fun times, the good old days, we all call them, and recognizing that you're in the good old days when you are, no one ever does that. Yeah, we all experience failures. You're I appreciate you being vulnerable and talking about yours. I I felt like saying, yeah, so you're human, and we all know that you in life you fail way more than you succeed. And so understanding that that's actually part of the journey and not being afraid of failure is really important. Yeah. Uh so that, and thank you for the very kind words. I'm I'm certainly humbled. To the question about my team, oh boy. So I had a very large organization at one point. My team was over 6,000 people.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

And so I have, you know, my team's much smaller now because we went from B2C to B2B. And so I have you know 25 people-ish on my team now. The the 25 people that I have on my team were the people that were the most accomplished, had the most upside potential, were the most dedicated. Like for me, they were the best of the best. And I knew when we transitioned from one company, you know, we we sold Solar City and then you know went off into the sidelines to figure out what we wanted to do when we grew up. We knew we wanted to build what is now Goodleap. We saw a massive opportunity in the space to fix some things. But I knew I didn't want to do it alone, and I could only be successful if I had those people. So I just went on a mission to go find wherever they had, either they were still at Tesla or wherever they were, and find them and say, when you're ready, I have a home for you, and I miss you, and I love you, and I want you to come back. And then at their own time, um, they they came back. And I've been able to reassemble the vast majority of my team. I've had zero attrition on that team in the last seven years, and so I feel honored, lucky, humbled that I get to work with them. And and you took the words right out of my mouth. They are exceptional.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

So I'm I feel very lucky. I feel blessed every day.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Yeah, it's incredible. I um there's a couple things that I look to Goodleap uh as sort of again my inspiration in any business that I want to create. And it is number one, um, creating that tight-knit culture where everybody just really wants to be their best versions of themselves. That's what I get from your team. And number two, the relationship building. The the way that you have all invested into relationships um is like nothing else that I've ever seen. And it's really been inspirational for me to see the power and to you know better understand how and where I can kind of show up important relationships. So that's been really, really good. I I want to go back to the adversity piece because you touched on it, touched, talked about mine a little bit, but you were absolutely no stranger to adversity. And um I want to ask a little bit of a tough question if you're open to it.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Uh I heard you speak recently, and um, I left the room an absolute mess in tears. And so it's gonna, or hope that's not gonna happen today. But uh, you shared the that you're dealing with some personal stuff right now, and uh your your message about um not getting lost in you know the craziness and and what's super super important to you, I think, is one that I would love for my viewers to hear a little bit about.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Wow, okay. I'll do my I'll do my best. Thank you. I I think you're always dealing with some level of adversity. Um, I will not bore you or anyone watching and listening with the levels of adversity that because everybody's got stuff that they deal with. Everybody has loss, everybody has those things. I think what I would share is um, yeah, I'm I'm in a phase of my life where I've got more gray hair than I have at any other point in my life for obvious reasons. Uh and so comes with that comes health issues that pop up. Um, and so I I have those things that that come up, and they're all things that that are overcomable. Um I've got, geez, I've got a brain tumor that is non-fatal, but you know, you have to deal with. Uh I was recently diagnosed with cancer, um, but you know, not fatal. Like you've just got to, it's one of those things you have to you have to address. Uh I would I would describe it as it's like saying that you're you need uh your appendix out. Um their appendix are infected. That's the way I'm choosing to see it. Um and so I don't, I never look at those things as a woe was me moment or anything. It's a challenge like any other challenge that I've experienced. And I have enough age and enough wisdom to know that when you overcome challenges like this, you come out the other end stronger, wiser, usually more humbled. And I look forward to those things. I love to learn. And so I want to be a better version of myself. Some of that comes through challenges, adversity, suffering, all those other things. But the thing that I think, the the event that you're referring to, it comes also with a realization of what is truly important.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Right? No one lays on a deathbed and says, boy, I wish I would have worked more. That never happens. Everyone is in that situation, says, Boy, I wish I would have spent more time with family, been more loving, said I love you more. Right. And so I think my message to myself and to anyone that that cares to listen is, why wait?

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Do it now. Not because there's some impending thing. I've been blessed with a reminder, an overcomable challenge, and a reminder of what is truly important before it's too late. So I'm thankful. I'm blessed. I get to tell my kids and my wife I love you every day and give them big hugs and and do all those other things because I know many years in the future that my day will come. I don't want to look back on that day and think, boy, I wish I would have. I want to look back at that day and go, man, I'm so glad I did.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Paul, I um I'm gonna ask a selfish question here because I just am absolutely floored with the energy in which you tell that story. What stands out to me the most is that it's clear to me why people come to you and look to you the way they do as a mentor and that sort of stable energy, because I guess my question for you is this how do you control your mind space to be able to format everything that you're just dealing with in that's that's laid at your feet, and to be able to compartmentalize it by saying these are you know temporary challenges and I'm gonna stay focused on this. How do you get to that space? Because I know that my my head is my worst enemy. Yeah, that's a genuine question for you. Advice for me.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Yeah, sure. Every well, you're human, and that's everyone, myself included. Yeah. It's sort of like asking me how I'm wired. It's difficult to answer. Uh uh, I come from a family of chess players and cerebral thinkers. My dad was a grandmaster, he spoke nine languages fluently. So I think that's just maybe the way I'm wired is I tend to look at things logically and compartmentalize. Yeah. I'm I'm more cerebral than I am emotional. Um, and so for me, it's it's it comes naturally, I guess. And so for maybe for those that where it doesn't come natural, I would say that there are exercises in which you can you can go through to get to that same logical place. First, you have to recognize when you're experiencing an emotional event, right? That is a physiological event. Yeah. You know, being emotional to something, even though it originates and you have thoughts associated with it, that is a physiological, it's like having the hiccups. Yeah. Okay, cool. You have to figure out how to remedy the hiccups first before you tackle the next piece. So when you're facing challenges, and oftentimes when you're having this emotional, stressful panic attack, whatever it might be, you're not at your best. You're not thinking straight. So you have to get past that first. And so I think understanding techniques that you can use, one that I picked up a long time ago, it's very basic, but I love, is whatever you're afraid of, whatever you think the worst thing that can happen is, write that down on a piece of paper, take it from a random thoughts bouncing around in your head, an emotional feeling kind of in your tightness in your chest, and then turn that into written words on a piece of paper. Put it away, walk away for a half an hour, come back and reread it. Every time I've done that, what I was feeling was level 10. When I went back and reread it, it was like a level three or four. Wow. So when you disassociate the emotion and you take it to just the facts, it is much easier to conquer. So I think that would be one technique of many that that I used very early on, and that that gets me pretty zen.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

I love that. That is amazing. I um I love that you also framed it as an opportunity right now to kind of be tapped back into what's really important. It spoke to me uh what I was talking about, my previous business failure, and you know, I found myself in a space of um what in the world do I do next? Who am I even, you know, to this world? So many of these just like turmoil and questions, huge identity crisis and stuff. I am here gifted with this time with my kids, and as a working mom, um, you know, it was like I blinked and or worked or whatever it was, um, you know, and he went from in diapers to leaving the house, and I kind of just went, did I just miss like 18 of the most important years of my life? And it was just a smack upside the head that yes, this is important, and yes, I find so much passion, you know, in what I'm doing. Um, but the ability to stay present, stay connected to the things that are important. I personally look back at my own adversity and say, that was the biggest gift that I took from it. So I love that you called that out as well. I know it's hard when you're in it. Um I'm gonna I'm gonna pivot here before we end, and I'm gonna ask you to play a little bit of a game with me. If you're if you're open, if you'd be so kind. Of course. So this game is called uh We're Not Really Strangers. Oh, okay. And no, I'm not playing a dating show. Looks looks like it. These cards I used to keep uh on my desk my first uh round as CEO. And the intent here was I had employees that would come and talk to me and want to just chit-chat. And I'm actually not great at small talk, it's not my strength. And uh I also wanted to make most of the time, and so I'd say grab a card and let's get to know each other a little bit better. So I'm gonna let you randomly pick a card. This is gonna be a question for Paul.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Oh, alright.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

All right, I'll take it. I'll reform that here. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Level two.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Ooh, it's a level two. What is the most pain that you've ever been in that was not physical?

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Wow, that's pretty deep. Yeah. Emotional pain, right? Yeah, let's talk about all my emotional pain. All right, so so I'll give you the highlights. Okay. Um, I've experienced a lot of loss. Uh my father passed away tragically when I was 15 years old. He was killed in a car accident. The accident was my fault. So imagine dealing with that as a 15-year-old. I sent him on an errand for me that he didn't want to go on, and we argued about it. It was this whole thing, right? Yeah. And so unfortunately, he got killed in the car accident. So I carried that with me for a long time. Uh, my mother was um, my mother was on life support, and I had to remove life support later, much later in life. Uh, and so that was an emotionally like challenging moment for me. And then more recently, my only brother um also was was uh in a coma from a motorcycle accident, and I I was the one responsible for removing care for him. So I've had my dad, my mom, and my brother, my entire family that I grew up with has passed. And if I'm being honest, I'm very at peace with everything now, but in those moments, I was responsible for all three. So the emotional pain that comes with that is um can be heavy. I've I like to think I handled it very well because again, of the things we've talked about, I can compartmentalize. As a 15-year-old, you think it's your fault. As a 19-year-old, you know it's not your fault. You mature, you grow, it's like, hey, things like that happen. Could have could have been anything. And so you move past that stuff. You have to, right? You have to for your own survival. And in my mother's case, you know, failing health. That it's like that was the greatest gift I could have given her was you know, send her to heaven and allow her to be no longer feeling pain and those sorts of things. Uh, in my brother's case, same thing. I knew he did not want to live the, you know, he would have he would have been come out of a coma as a paraplegic, and you know, he I knew him and he would never want to live that way. And so, yeah, those are really hard in the moment. But when faced with those things, they're they're extremely challenging. You have to do that stuff. And I'm not saying that those are I'm not glad that those things happened. If there is a silver lining, I learned a lot about myself, and it has made me a more stable man for my wife and my children, understanding that there's not a lot that can come my way that I don't think I can handle now.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure. And you brought uh your brother's kids into your home.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

I did.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

It's incredible. Um I knew a little bit of that, and I there's a lot of that that I just did not know, and I'm I'm a little bit floored.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

So three kids, I'm so lucky. Yeah, my brother had four kids when he passed, and we moved them up to from Southern California to Northern California. But a tragic scenario, I inherited four children that I didn't have, and and built amazing bonds with them, and we'd go ride motorcycles together, and it was just such a they're all older now in college, but it was it was I'm so grateful for the time with those children. So I so I lost a relationship with my brother. I gained incredible relationships with his four children, like they were my own. So, I mean, I think he would he would laugh if he heard me say this. I got an upgrade, and it's good, it's fine. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

Oh man. Um, I think I know the way that you're gonna answer this, but I'm gonna ask it anyway because uh I operate a little bit differently. I tend to be a little more emotional, a little less cerebral sort of thing. Sure, sure, sure, sure. Do you ever have the thought, why? Why did why was it selected for you at some point in time, this path of that type of adversity? That's that's not an everyday story, Paul. Like that's a that's a big one.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

Yeah, I hope it's not an everyday story. There's I I'm so okay. So um I don't know. I you know, from a cosmic level, I would tell you, I know I can handle it. Yeah, there's more that I'm supposed to be doing. I am I am definitely a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and regardless of your beliefs, God, the universe, the cosmos, Buddha, whatever it is, I don't care. Whatever you believe. I believe that everything happens for a reason. Those events were important in my personal development so I can aid others. I think the number one reason that I'm on this planet is to help other people. That's the only reason I'm here. I firmly believe that. And so I apparently I needed to go through those things to be able to help others more or to help more people. And because of that, I'll take it.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

That's honestly exactly how I see it too. Great. We found the middle ground between the emotional and the surprinable. I can definitely tell you that you are living up to that potential and you've poured into me and you poured into others. And uh just on behalf of the industry and from one friend to another, thank you for being you. And thanks for sharing your story so openly today.