Episode 7: From youngest to leader.

In Episode 7  we talk with ESP President Jordan Gietz about his journey. From the youngest in his family to a leadership role at ESP (Energy Service Partners), Jordan shares insights into his growth. Join us as we explore his challenges, lessons learned, and path to leadership.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the Blind Ambitions podcast. We are on day two of SolarCon, my favorite show of the year. I'm really excited to kick this day off with one of my good friends. I've got Jordan Geats.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Thanks for joining me, Jordan. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

I'm so excited about this. I have thought a lot about the questions that I want to ask you. But before I jump in, I want to give everybody a little bit of the lay of limp who Jordan Geats is. So you probably have heard of an amazing company called Energy Service Partners out of California. If you've been in the solar industry, I'm sure that you have. Although, you know what I hear a lot is that uh you guys might be one of the best kept secrets as well.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

I know. Everyone keeps saying this. I don't know why. I mean, to be fair, I don't think we've promoted ourselves as much as we could, but we've gone on a stage under the radar on purpose. You know, we we don't like the the lights as much as maybe other people want, but yeah, we're happy where we are.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

You know what that says to me though, what it always has said to me is just that confidence and stability in a legitimate business that knows their territory inside and out and is really focused on doing quality good business. How long have you guys been in business now?

SPEAKER_00 1:11

2015 is when we started it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

So in solar years, that's like what 30 years.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Oh, and that's not even we've been I've been in business in solar in 16 years almost. Wow. Yeah, I like almost got raced in this industry. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Yeah, you must have. So what'd you do before solar?

SPEAKER_00 1:27

That's it. I oh solar, yeah. Honestly, uh, I started uh when I was 16 with door knocking during the summers for my family, and then uh did that for a couple years through college. And then uh yeah, after I graduated from uh U of A in Arizona, I moved out to California, you know, got the the family all together and started doing solar. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Your family. So when I joined solar, the solar industry 2017, uh, your brother Dallin was one of the first pieces of people that I was introduced to. I don't know if you know this. Oh, yeah. Um, and he's always been super, super kind to me. And then fast forward over the years and all the times that we've kind of done business together and have crossed paths. Um, I have just absolutely fallen in love with your father.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

I've heard, trust me.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

That's gonna sound so weird.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

You falling in love with him? Is there something you want to tell me?

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Gary Gates is uh just one of the most genuine, kind, and just warm human beings. And I'm sure that as your father, I'm sure that that comes through. I'm so interested to hear. What I want to ask you though, yeah, is I think what's fascinating to me about seeing your family business is the fact that I come from family business. So before I my entry into solar, I've been started out as working, you know, for my dad in his back office, really running everything so that he didn't touch a thing. And we started an oil field, but uh that was like you know, me having my first baby. I was pretty young. I'd had jobs before that, but he taught me everything about business. And he was a really he is a big personality. People really love him. And I think there's so much in watching the way that your family dynamic is and watching the way that Gary moves that I think reminds me of some of those better times. Yeah. And I look back on all the experience that I gained from working with my dad and um nothing but really good memories and nothing but just gratitude because you kind of get that front row seat. So you are the president of ESP, and am I correct that you're the youngest?

SPEAKER_00 3:30

I am the youngest, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

That's amazing. I'm the youngest, also.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

I know, right? It's crazy. Youngest kids are the best. It is true though. You know, honestly, we're also the favorites, you know.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

We're the favorites, we're the best, we're the smartest, brightest, and most hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Just keep going on, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Um so question for you.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Has there ever been a time in your family dynamic that you felt like it's really hard to shine as yourself or be you or bring your own, you know, uniqueness to what you're doing?

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, even growing up, being the youngest, you know, I was it was challenging because you always had had other people that you know were growing up more, you know, you know. And it was, especially when you have like a father figure like Gary, who's a very bold personality and kind of captures the the room. And um, I've learned to know that that's what his his strong suits, and I have my own strong suits, you know, in it all. And I think he's also taught me how to become my own man and be able to, you know, really get into my own role. And it took me a little bit, you know, going through it. You know, I started off doing site surveys. I wasn't really in the operations. I I tried everything possibly to not be in the business as much as I possibly could. And then I felt, you know, after really, you know, I think 21, 22 years old, I was like, all right, I'm ready for this next step in this evolution. And I, you know, and with the support of the family, it was it was a really big piece of you know how I become today and and why uh now you've been so successful in business.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

That's amazing. So tell me, what would you say your superpower is kind of in that dynamic? Where you fit in kind of that superpower?

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Um, I'm really good at solving problems. Like I am the problem solver. Anytime there's a problem that someone cannot solve, they are coming to me. I love that answer. So and I've really learned like I like to solve problems, but I want to get people to solve their own problems. So I've learned just to ask them the questions what would you do in this scenario if you if you were me, right? And given the the empowerment to be able to make their decisions, because as much as I love helping people out, it's you know time exhausting. And I need to empower my team to be able to make decisions on themselves because I can't be everywhere, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:48

That's so cool.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

So California has been um through it the past two years.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

Tell me about it.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

And you guys are still standing, and I am zero percent surprised. Um, you know, those again, those really stable businesses, especially those really focused in their own backyard and in their own markets, um, have certainly seemed to kind of fare the landscape a lot better. So tell me what your outlook is, President of ESP. When when you look at California, you guys got, you know, the the heavy battery landscape right now, you've got the NEM 3.0, you know, situation here. How do you feel about the next 12 to 24 months?

SPEAKER_00 6:24

I'm very excited. You know, the last year was definitely challenging. Like the the things that we had to go through. I mean, really, you go from this deadline of NEM2 to NEM3, and everyone's so excited to get you these deals in, and you know, everything so felt so great. And then literally the next day, it's just on trap of a dime, it just changes completely. And you're really left with what do you do? And and for me, it's like I've always looked at it as I'm gonna do whatever I can to make sure that we are successful and that we get through this. Yeah, and it was grueling, you know. We really, it's a new business for us. Yeah, you know, we go from installing a couple batteries every year, and now 85% of our jobs have batteries.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

It's so much different.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Oh, it's completely different in the landscape of utilities and the delays that we experience. But really going into this year, this is the first time the last actually month or two, you know, with uh sales dealers getting back in on the doors where there's this light. And I've seen a lot of other dealers be super successful over the last couple of months. I think they'll continue to transition into the the rest of the year. And I think a lot of it is just education. I think it just took a lot of people to the time to figure out how to do these things. It's you know, it was really complicated. I don't think we have it perfectly dialed in, but softwares and batteries and and being able to just get the experience out of it all will allow us to really thrive in this market going forward.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

I love that you said the light because I think that that's my takeaway here from SolarCon. I've been feeling it within my business. We're very front of frontal on a lot of what we do with site surveys. And we're seeing the partners that have kind of um again sort of survived what's happening. We're seeing their sales climb, which means our numbers are kind of booming, right? And we're I'm personally having a lot of conversations that are full of optimism. And it's um it's really good, kind of after we've been from site. I love hearing that coming from being California. And I no doubt the world you guys are gonna continue to crush and thrive. And you've now launched a second market.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Yeah, we are now in Texas.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

That's amazing. Texas is the best market. I'm happy.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

I know, honestly. Like even just being in it for like the last month or two, it's such a fresh of breath air, honestly, because dealing with the the challenges of California and then go into this market where all right, I have brand new houses, I don't have to deal with houses from the 1920s, 1940s.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

You know, and then we have all these, you know, faster timelines on permits, you know, there's no tile roofs where you have to break tiles and have to fix up, you know. Massive systems, too. And massive systems.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Okay. Okay. So whenever you know, people come to me a lot and say, who should I be working with? Um, obviously, the first name on my list, if it's anywhere in territory that you guys are at, is you you gotta check out what's happening at ESP. Tell me on the reverse side of that. So if you're looking for new either dealer partners or you know, salespeople you're looking to bring internal, we know that those relationships being kind of strong in quality are the lifeblood. And a lot of, I'm sure why you guys have done as well as you have. What do you look for? This this sounds like a dangerous. What is your ideal date? What do you look for in a sales partner?

SPEAKER_00 9:25

Um, for me, it's just transparency, honesty, someone that will work with us. And for me, it's a it's a partnership. And we have to both win in these situations. Yeah. And if one is winning and the other one's losing, it's not gonna work. And I just, for me, it's like if we get a partner that can submit clean projects, you know, set the proper expectations, and uh just support us along the way and help us whenever we need with these customers. And at the end of the day, they're selling the contracts, it's on us to be able to take it from there and get these jobs installed and make sure that there's a good experience for everyone, though.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

I love that. And I always hear phenomenal feedback. So um do you think it's important that an EPC say no now and then to sales partners?

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Yeah. I I mean, I I want to say yes as much as possible. Of course, you know, and I think uh it depends on if this is a repeatable process in my mind. If it's a repeatable process, we can do this consistently, I want to say yes. Yeah, but in certain situations where, you know, hey, this is gonna be a project that's gonna take a year to be able to install, it's like that's not gonna be in anyone's best interest. Right, right. And we want to say yes, and sometimes it comes with a price tag, yeah. But at the end of the day, you know, we want to work with our partners and make sure that they're educated why we're doing these things, and we want to put it, these projects in a box as much as possible so that we're setting everyone up for success at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

I love that. That's such a perfect answer. I always tell people if your APC isn't saying no, you've got problems.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

You know, it simply means that they don't understand the ramifications of some of those projects, right? You've got the one just shitty project or the one you know, different roof type, whatever it is, and it bogs the rest of the pipeline down and everything sort of suffers kind of for all, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Oh yeah. And we're uh liable by the end of the day, you know, we're gonna warranty this for the next 25 years. So we gotta make sure it's taken care of.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

I see so many good culture shifts in the industry around that, a lot of other topics, which um got me really optimistic, but I want to end our time together today on a fun note. I'm hoping that you'll come flow with me on this. No, I'm ready for it. Yeah, I have here a card game. Okay, I'm ready. So this game, what is this game called? I think it's called We're Not Really Strangers. And in my time as CEO, I used to keep this card deck on my desk. And so when people would come in and try to shoot the breeze with me, I don't love small talk, it's not my favorite. No, I understand. And so I would invite them to take a card and would ask the question. And so you are my first victim today.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Yes, I'm ready for it.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Don't read it, hand it back to me. All right, we're gonna see here. All right, Jordan. What would you say is a lesson that took you the very longest to unlearn?

SPEAKER_00 12:13

This is something that lesson to unlearn. Oh man, that's a load of question. You really had to get me there. Gosh. Um, you know, for me, it was like I always felt like I was always right, you know? And uh I always made justification for it all the time. It's like, and I kept showing it, and I've learned over time, it's like there's no right in any of this. And I think uh a lot of the time it's just understanding other scenarios and what people are thinking, and there's always opportunity to grow. And I'm, you know, I I'm not the smartest person in the room ever. And I got a lot of smart people that work for me, but you know, I just because if you are always right, there's not the opportunity to grow. And that's yeah, how much I can tell you how much I love that answer.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Oh, yeah. You honestly gave me chills of it. Really? I think because it speaks to me, because I I tend to be maybe it's the youngest thing.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

It is a hundred percent. Oh, trust me, my dad tells me that all the time.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

And I also think it can be a superpower, right? Yes, you're ready to stand your ground and fight. But uh, that's something that has uh formed and changed me over the past few years, especially as a leader and in business, like the humility that comes saying, Hey, I can be constantly become better. Yeah, I'm welcoming every opportunity to maybe not be right. Yeah, I love that. I uh I'm excited to know how much we have in common. And um, I personally am so grateful to know you, definitely our family. Uh, anybody that does not know ESP and you need the hookup, I know a guy. Um, you guys are incredible. Thank you for everything that you do for the industry, for remaining strong, for doing good quality business. I am your biggest fan.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Thanks for making it. No, thank you. Honestly, we have a great partnership and super excited for what we can do together in the future. Thanks, Forty. All right, appreciate it, Abby.