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REPLAY: Building Your Solar Empire From The Ground Up - Jon Soriano
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This episode is a throwback to our first episode with Jon Soriano as we unraveled one of the highlights of his solar career. He is someone who embodies organic growth, building respect, and creating a brand for his success, all through the determination to produce.
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Transcript
Introduction to Solarpreneur Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
Taylor Armstrong's Journey to Success
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong. went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in the year and cracking the code on why sales reps fail.
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
What is a Solopreneur?
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solopreneur you might ask? solopreneur is a new breed of solopro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one. Okay, what's going on? Taylor Armstrong here with the Solarpreneur Podcast. And we've got another one that I'm stoked about because we've got someone that we've been in the same circle for a while now, but this is really the first time we've kind of connected on a deeper level. I've been able to talk and you relate a lot. We're both in San Diego. And so I'm excited for today's episode.
Introduction to John Soriano at Legacy
00:01:01
Speaker
We've got the one, the only John Soriano coming on the show. Thanks for coming on the podcast with us, John. Yeah, thanks, Taylor. is a privilege and honor to be here. So appreciate you sharing the platform. I'm excited. And I've been following you for a long time. You've been doing amazing things in the industry. He is senior director over at Legacy.
00:01:17
Speaker
um You've been through a ton of challenges we're going talk about and just growing massive regions, recruited an insane amount of reps. So, yeah, we're going to jam on all that today. and Here are how you've done it, what's working for you to build San Diego and, you know, lot other markets that you've helped build. So, yeah, man, I mean, let's just run it from the top. How did you get into solar and what was that? What was kind of like the beginning
John Soriano's Early Solar Sales Experience
00:01:41
Speaker
like for you? Yeah, let me let me say this first. You know, i i am passionate about this industry. I am passionate about transforming lives. I truly believe that the doors has the ability to transform an individual if they allow it
00:01:56
Speaker
Because I think in this world, everybody can pretend to be somebody they're not. Right. really easy to look confident online. It's really easy to show up to a meeting and talk about how you can do X, Y and z But on the doors, you go against the real version of you.
00:02:10
Speaker
Right. If you struggle with being lazy or you're scared to knock doors like the doors don't lie. Right. You go against the real version of you. And that's why i love the doors. so That's why i love this space, because it's an opportunity for you to go against you every single day and truly become a better person. And I am passionate about helping others do that because it's done in in my life. You know, you ask about kind of how I started. I mean, seven years ago, i had no sales experience.
00:02:35
Speaker
Door to door was my first sales job. Solar was my first sales job. Legacy has been my only company, right? I'm like that virgin in the solar that I stayed with one company for the last seven years. I haven't gone anywhere else. And so it's transforming. But I remember my first door. remember my first door when I knocked it, my mouth instantly went dry.
00:02:54
Speaker
Instantly. And I remember that luckily the guy was really nice. i remember he opened the door, my mouth went dry and I was like trying to talk with like dry mouth. You know how that goes? And he didn't understand me. He was like, Hey, I don't know what you're saying, but I'm good. And then he like closed the door and he said it very nicely. I remember I went home that day. I was like one door. My first door, one door, I went home. i was like, this is hard, but I kept going. And and it's crazy because I still remember that version of me. That was seven years ago.
00:03:19
Speaker
Started, you know, just learning the art of setting appointments, then closing and then so on and so forth. And, you know, to be here now and now we have a sales organization of about 200 reps in Southern California.
John Soriano's Persistence and Determination
00:03:30
Speaker
You know, we're about averaging like last month we did 630 sales. You know, that's definitely been ah a high month for us.
00:03:37
Speaker
Last year, we averaged about four to 500 sales a month. And just to go from that, John, to now, it's been great. But that only happened because I allowed the doors to truly transform who I am. And I love seeing that happen in countless other people. And I remember before we met up, um you know, we have a mutual friend, someone used to work with Hunter Lee, but he actually told me before i got here, he's like, yeah, John, he actually was pretty bad at sales and he really struggled starting out. For 18 months. It took me about 18 months to get decent, like decent. It took me two weeks to get my first lead. I still never forget my first lead, didn't close, but it took week. I remember I got a bill and I hit up Ashton Buswell actually and I was like, I got a lead.
00:04:18
Speaker
What do i do with it? And then I didn't close, but it took me to it took me about two months to get my first sale, four five months to get my first install. It's crazy. I mean, I did probably like, don't know, 15 accounts my first year. I was really bad. I was, you know, but I will tell you what I did have was determination, you know, and that's really all it takes. Like, I don't care if it took, I don't care if some guy, it took him a year to get to do what I did in three, four or five years. doesn't matter. The outcome is the same. And I really, believe if you stay with it long enough, eventually the results will come. yeah You know, and others have done what I've done a lot faster, but I don't care because because the the the reality is I'm in competition with me every single day. yeah And too often people try to compete with others. They see what other people are doing and like, oh, well, it's like, dude, no, like compete against you. Just compete against the version of you yesterday, last week, last month, last quarter. And you do that long enough. Eventually you look back and be like, wow, I've actually accomplished a good amount.
00:05:10
Speaker
yeah All that to say, like, yeah, I was I was really bad the first 12 months. And I'm happy i had people that believed in me. So the gold in me and, you know, werere we're patient with me and do eventually become the person I knew I become. Yeah, well, that's awesome. And I relate to that, too. I mean, I was similar to that took me. I think I got a sell on my first week, but then they canceled. didn't get one that stuck until like a month later. And, you know, just living off other guys' food because I came out worth 50 bucks in the bank account and everything.
00:05:35
Speaker
So yeah I really move relate to that. And in my opinion, I think in a way people that have to go through that struggle and it's not like instant success, i think a lot of times they end up being a stick it out. Like those are the ones that I see stick in the industry more than yeah someone that sometimes has like ins instant success. So I think there's something to be said about really pushing hard and developing the traits to stick it out and yeah develop those skills. But speaking that, like I know a lot of reps listening to this, they might be in the same boat. Maybe they're just starting, maybe they're struggling and you know how it is. a lot of people quit.
00:06:05
Speaker
a lot of people start out and if they don't have success, they just
Adapting and Overcoming: Lessons from the Marine Corps
00:06:08
Speaker
quit. And so for you, was there something that clicked that finally was like, okay, this is working now or like what drove you to keep going and what made you think that you would eventually have success? And don't maybe something to help me finally start having success. Yeah, the way I saw it is if one person could have success, then that means countless others could. That's all. It just takes one person.
00:06:28
Speaker
And when I first started, I saw there were a few people that was like, OK, like they're making good money. Like, cool, they're making five, eight, ten thousand a month. Right. With back then in the 250 kilowatt days, for those of you that remember that, that was good money back then. Right. Like if you're making ten thousand a month, like that was good. we're Nowadays, it's like people are like, yeah, that's not enough. Anyways, but I remember there were people that were making good money and I was like, well, why if they can do it, why why can't I? And, you know, I also have four years in the Marine Corps. And one of the the biggest things to learn in Marine Corps was this philosophy or this mindset of adapt and overcome.
00:07:00
Speaker
Right. In the military, they teach you like, hey, like you never know what situation you're going walk into. Right. They make you ready to where. If you're literally a light for that situation, you have to adapt to that situation and overcome. And we can't do that. And so i was like, OK, well, who do I have to become to have the results this person has? Because I was like, if they can do it, why why can I? Like, I'm no different. Like, I have the same resources. You know, I can I knock the same doors. So that was the kind of like the mindset that carried me through. So it's like, just remember that. And especially even back then, we didn't have that many people. That were operating a high level. You fast forward to 2023. If you're starting solar, you have so many people. Think like podcasts like these really weren't that big in 2016 when I first started. for Sure. You know, where now you have so many people that are providing a great amount of resource on social media, and on YouTube, Instagram, podcasts, whatever. So like if one person can do it, which now we have countless of people that are making crazy good money. Yeah. Like, why can't you, you know, and adopt that
Philosophy of Persistence and Long-term Success
00:08:00
Speaker
mindset? Like, hey, like I will like I will persist.
00:08:03
Speaker
Now I'll persist until I succeed. Right. From the great selves in the world. Like that was a book I read when I first started. And that first scroll stuck with me. I will persist until I will succeed. OK, and that might take a year.
00:08:15
Speaker
Might take two years, five years. But the way I saw it is I would much rather grind it for five years if I knew that for the next 30 years I was set up than to do the normal right route, nine to five, whatever, and kind of barely make it by for 40 years. I would much rather have the first option.
00:08:30
Speaker
Well, yeah. And it. paid off for you, which talk about. But um yeah, it's funny you're talking, you know, all the resources we have now, just because don't know if you knew this story, but when I first started in 2016 as well, um one of the first people I reached out that I saw was having a ton of success was Ashton.
00:08:46
Speaker
And, you know, everyone talked about Ash, you know, he's closing all these deals. The goat. And so shout out to him. But I reached out to him and I was obviously not with um Legacy, but I'm like, hey, man, I see you're having a ton of success. Can i ah like take you out to lunch, take you out to dinner, just ask, you know, ask you some questions. And he turned me down. He's like, he's like no, I only i will meet with people within my company.
00:09:11
Speaker
I'm like, come on, man. Free food isn't enough for you. And so that was, you know, I give him crap about that. But that was one of the reasons I started the podcast. And obviously we have way more resources
Resources Then and Now in Solar Industry
00:09:21
Speaker
now. Yeah. so that's cool to see how it's growing and way more abundant mindset. And it's nothing against Ashton, I'm sure, you know, yeah he wanted to keep it tight-lipped and everything. But it's crazy. Actually, i want to give him a app praise, too. Ashton was one, he was my early mentor. um i was under his office when I first started. you know, he was the district manager of San Diego at the time. And he He was, he took me in the doors for a few hours and I quickly saw that the guy literally runs from door to door.
00:09:46
Speaker
and Like literally, like it's crazy. Like, you know, he jokes about sometimes when listen to him. But if you ever see him knock, he's like, he walks so fast that it looks like he's running. So it's it's a funny thing about him. But yeah, no, he's he's great. But yeah, it's crazy that nowadays though, we have so many guys to learn from. it it's like free now, right? You go on Instagram and you don't have to search for that long to find people. good content on Instagram, YouTube, whatever. So there's really no reason, like we have so many more resources for people to be successful. So just learn it.
From Marine Corps to Solar: An Entrepreneurial Path
00:10:17
Speaker
Remember, go, like I would say, like the advice I would give is to new people is just go against the version of you from yesterday and just go to sleep knowing that the version of you going to bed is better than the version of you that woke up. what Like 1% better.
00:10:29
Speaker
100% and so I wanted to ask you to John how did you get recruited like was this zip recruiter indeed one of those guys there how do you first get recruited in this or it wasn't indeed so I so like I mentioned so I did the Marine Corps for four years right i actually wanted to do like 20 years in the Marine Corps I was like one of those guys that's like i love it I was going home nice but my last about 18 months in the Marine Corps got exposed to network marketing and so i actually did Vima for about three years and So I don't even remember Vima, but I did Vima. It was a network marketing company. We sold energy drinks, you know, were competing against Red Bull. and And that was my first exposure to self-development. That was my first exposure to entrepreneurship. it was my first exposure of like, hey, you don't have to go the traditional route, right? I bought into that. I believe that you have to take the the traditional route of, you know nine to five, whether it's the Marine Corps or some corporate job, go to college, all that.
00:11:19
Speaker
And so we did Vima and I loved it. The company went under, unfortunately. Well, I guess fortunately. But the principles I learned stuck with me. And so for about a year after that, I was kind of in this weird limbo, kind of looking for the next thing. I knew that the lifestyle of a nine to five wasn't for me, um but I didn't know what my future held me. So I was like open minded to new opportunities.
00:11:39
Speaker
yeah And so my my friend, Michael from the Marine Corps, we did a demo together. He one day hit me up. He was in Vegas and he's like, dude, Everything we were looking for in in network marketing is in solar.
00:11:53
Speaker
I'm like, what are you talking What do you mean solar? It didn't know anything less solar. And then he kind of told me all about it, the money you can make, you know, and all that. I was like, cool, I'm in. Like it was, I was, it I was laid out because I was, so I was open to the neck, like, cool, what's, what's next, you know? And so he wanted me to go to San Jose with him, but I was doing an an internship at the church at the time. And I was like, well, i got to finish the internship. Let me just do it here in San Diego. Once I'm done, you know, I'll go up to st i'll go to San Jose. And well, a few months later, he actually got promoted, became the new manager of San Diego. And then he was like, hey, you don't got to move. And I'm like, thank God, because I did not want to go to San Jose.
00:12:25
Speaker
Kind of after that, the rest is history, you know. and But that was my kind of intro Solar. Okay, nice. And this guy is still doing solar to this day? Yeah, we parted ways he' in 2019, unfortunately. He's over a competitor now and doing great things over there. Yeah, we no longer work together. Okay. Yeah. That's cool. So that's why they call you the general, right?
00:12:44
Speaker
Yeah. So it's funny. He actually is the one that gave me the nickname. That's him, Michael. Yeah.
Embracing the 'General' Brand
00:12:49
Speaker
So he actually, we were doing a coaching. It's funny because I and i want to show this. I don't call myself that. Yeah. I didn't just one day wake up and I'm like, I want everyone to call me the general. So the kind of quick, funny story, but, uh, him and I were doing a ah business coaching class together for six months. We did this. Uh, there was only 12 of us.
00:13:06
Speaker
And one day randomly we, we went to the class and he just called me like, what's up general. And I was like, okay, that sounds weird. Like, all right. but i was like, okay, hey, what's up, man? haha And then he kept calling me that. And then after a few weeks, the people that were in that class with us, then they started calling me general.
00:13:21
Speaker
And I was like, okay, like I didn't like it. I was like, that I thought it was weird. And then, um and then he started calling me that at the sales meetings, correlations. And then like some of the other reps started calling me that. I went to a Grant Cardone conference at the 10X conference 2019. And Grant Cardone talked about like the power of branding. He just said in such a way where I was like, man, why um why don't I just own the general? Because people organically were calling – they were already calling me that. yeah Again, I didn't self-promote it. It was like I was like trying to stop it. Yeah. But they were like, what's up up General John, General General, up? And I was like, okay, whatever. I had this thought. And I was like, man, the reason I don't like it is because I don't view myself as a real general.
00:14:02
Speaker
Because when you think about a real, like, military general, the the person that comes to mind is an alpha, strong-minded, physically fit, a strategist. right You don't think of a weak dude when you think of a five-star general. yeah And I kind of had this, like, mo like this revelation of, like, man The reason I struggle with like kind of owning it is because i don't feel worthy of that.
00:14:25
Speaker
And then after that message from Grant Cardone, I was like, you know what? Like I may not be it in the real world, but I can believe it in my mind. And that moment I kind of made this this point of like, you know what?
00:14:37
Speaker
I will become i will operate as a real general. Like so in my mind, i' have convinced myself that I am a real general. Right in my mind. Right. It exists in my mind. And so I'm like, cool. How would a general think?
00:14:51
Speaker
Right. Because running a sales organization is kind of like having an army. Yeah. You know, you got all these like freaking strong alpha personalities, which is kind of like running a like business. you know, like running Spartans or running like, running like SEAL Team Six.
00:15:05
Speaker
And so I was like, man, okay, how, how would a general think? How would he treat his people? How would he show up to meetings? You know, what, what, what, what accolades would he had? And ever since then, I made this decision of, I'm going to work towards that. I'm still working towards that to this day. yeah But that really helped me with my identity and kind of helped me with my self-worth. Because I do think men in general struggle a lot with self-worth.
00:15:25
Speaker
They don't feel worthy of certain successes. And I was like, no, I'm going to own that. And then that's kind of where I was like, I changed my Instagram name. I was like, I'm own this. You know what? People already call me. I don't care. I'm going to own It it was weird at first, but it's actually helped a lot with the brand. And, but more importantly, it's not that it's more what it's done within me that I really have this sense of self-love towards myself because I'm like, no, I am worthy of that. And I'm going to, till the day I die, i'm going to keep working towards being that person, right? Thinking, acting like a real general that commands an army. Like my goals in the next 10 years, I want to have 10,000 people in my organization. And again, if I was a real general, how how would I lead these 10,000 people?
00:16:02
Speaker
Because to lead 10,000 people, you better have your crap dialed in. yeah And so I'm working towards that every single day. Well, no, I can tell. I mean, you got you got your systems dialed. You guys are growing massive teams. And ah it's funny. I've heard a lot of people talk about almost like, you know, business guys almost having like an alter ego or someone that they're like trying to be when they're like in business mode and everything. So...
00:16:23
Speaker
um Yeah, I think it's worked for you and um you know you you're probably the dream recruit like if I could think of my dream recruit and be someone that was like military experience network marketing experience sure and ah Yeah, i have I will say yeah some of the best sales guys are like one of the two network markers are great Yeah, like we were like Jack Pastrana. He was the top earner he did like he made one point of at least three million last year and an install Commission And he came from a network marketing. He did it for seven years. And so when he like found about solar, he's like, dude, this is, yeah, he's like i' been he's like ah he's like, I've been doing in-home presentations already nice for like a hundred bucks. And when he saw this, he was like, and dude, second, last year was his second full year into solar. And he did 1.3. You should get him on your podcast because he's, he's a beast. He's on your team. Yeah. Jack Pastrana. He's a beast. He did like, wow.
00:17:14
Speaker
we'll We'll show pay subs, but he did 1.3 million and just install commission. Oh my God. Right? Like that's not even including leadership pay yet. So i mean, he installed about 170 accounts, believe. Yeah. Give or take a few. days Yeah. No, I know there's certain guys that have that background that you want to go after them. And I think network marketing is one of them. Military is another, and I guess, what was the third Mormons maybe? People like, yeah.
00:17:37
Speaker
I will even say this on recruiting. i would love I would love to see more of the industry shift towards recruiting non-door-to-door guys. yeah What I see happening a lot in the industry is like like the same solar companies are going against other solar companies and they're recruiting and like that's their style. Yeah.
00:17:54
Speaker
And a lot of like all my growth has been organic. You know, we have, it's been a slow way to build. However, it's been a strong way to build. I have 18 managers right now. All 18 of them were one setters with me.
00:18:06
Speaker
All of them. There's not a single one. You know, my, my two regionals, there were one setting for me like years ago. Right. Right. All of them didn't had never done solar, never done door to door. And I do believe that it's much better to take somebody new.
00:18:19
Speaker
Like they will learn a lot faster because if you hire a guy that maybe has a door to door background, sometimes they have to unlearn certain things that maybe is not conducive with your culture. Yeah.
00:18:31
Speaker
And so I will say, I think the industry should like make more of a shift to like, hey, go after the servers. Like there's a lot of people right now that are doing some dead end job that don't want to be there and they have no idea and opportunity like solar exists. And I think we owe it to ourselves to share that with people, you know, because I will say that some of the most loyal people you will recruit are people who had nothing to give you when they first started. Yeah. Because they like a brand new guy has nothing to give you. Like it's you actually have to pour a lot into them. You have to be patient. It takes sometimes a few months. Like Jordan Metessia, he's one of my best leaders. He's practically my right wing man. The first six months he sucked.
00:19:09
Speaker
He actually quit. He quit and then went back to a corporate job. And after five months of me like pestering him, like, dude, come back, come back. He's right, I'll give him him a shot. You know, but he's one of the most loyal dudes because he had nothing to give me back then.
00:19:21
Speaker
So I will say like some of the best recruits are actually people who don't have some type of sales. for I'm not saying that's the case all the time. yeah yeah But it is a slow way to build. It will take time. But you will have a really strong foundation that when weather, when storms come, you'll be able to survive that because those guys are so loyal to you because they know that you gave them a lot when they had nothing to give you.
00:19:42
Speaker
Exactly. Well, and the other thing, they're way less needy too, because guys come from that company. He's like, Oh, okay. What's my sign on bonus? They're like, what are you going to give me if I come over? Guys that I ask for sign on bonus usually suck. Yeah. I'm going to say that. yeah They will like that guy. That's been my experience. that Like if you ask for a sign on bonus, my, cause then I ask him like, well, if you're so good, why do you need a bonus? If you're so good, then shouldn't you have money? Like I just, I'm just like kind of, little dumbfounded by that sometimes in the industry.
00:20:12
Speaker
So, yeah, no, i agree. I mean, way more loyal, less needy guys
Industry Challenges and Radical Ownership
00:20:16
Speaker
for sure. And, um, yeah, I mean, you've been able to weather a lot of storms and that's actually what I want to talk about next. Just transition a little bit is before we started the podcast, you told me, you know, some of the big challenges you guys have been through over at legacy and, um, you know, maybe in time, don't have to get super in depth on all of them, but like most people, they quit when the first storm comes, they quit, they jumped to another company.
00:20:39
Speaker
Or if there's one issue, you know, they're having tons of doubts and I'm sure there's doubts and all that. Maybe you could speak to that. Just maybe, you know, give a little overview of some of the big storms you've had to weather as you've been at Legacy for seven years.
00:20:52
Speaker
And then just like what gave you this strength or what, how did you keep going where most guys would quit and be like, god I'm just going to bounce to another company and take the easier route. But why did you continue with the same company and maybe how it's paid off for you? But yeah, let's, let's hear a little bit about that.
00:21:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think first it begins with adopting a mindset of you're forged through the fire. um You know, there's like a verse in the Bible that talks about like as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens another man. You know, in in other words, you can interpret that as you have to go through fire. You have to go through friction to truly become that best version of yourself. And so I think too many guys, they want the easy path. And that's fine because our our brains that we are wired, we're built to always take the path of least resistance, right? Our brain's main function in life is to help us survive, right? Like that's that fight or flight. If a bear pops up, the brain's like, okay, what do I need to do to survive, Yeah. Right. So, of course, we have to understand that our brain is wired that way. But sometimes we have to you know have the awareness of like, no brain. I know you're trying to make me survive. So I know you're trying to tell me I shouldn't take this hard path, but I actually need to take this hard path. And so I think first is ah adopting adopting this mindset of like, hey, you're forced to the fire. You have to go through challenges. in order to see this version of you that doesn't know exists. So I like maybe the military helped me believe that I'm not really sure where that belief came from for me.
00:22:11
Speaker
But that's why whenever any challenges come, i actually get excited because I'm like, dude, this is an opportunity for me to discover a new version of me that I don't know exists yet. If you would have told me that I am, but I would have been where I am today, three years ago, i wouldn't believe you because I didn't know that version of me existed. But I'm only here today because i have weathered many storms. And i think people are too quick To be like, oh, it's hard. I'm going quit. I'm going to go somewhere else. Or they point the blame and say, oh, well, this didn't work out because of X, Y, and Z. It's like, I believe in radical ownership. I do. I believe in absolute radical ownership. I truly believe that everything that is going right in your life is your fault and everything going wrong in your life is also your fault.
00:22:47
Speaker
So I think it begins to that, adopting that mindset of like, hey, just if you if your company is going through some growing pains, grow with them. Right. Stop looking somewhere else, you know, because on the other side of that is a lot of fruit. You know, you can't like no different than the gym. Right. You can't go to the gym and expect to stay in the comfort zone and for your muscles to grow, for your muscles to grow. You have to at this point where you're like, it hurts so bad. I don't want to keep going. But that's where the growth happens. And everyone knows that. But when it's time to actually do it, I i don't i don't understand why some people you know have this kind of victim like, oh, I'd rather just deflect than just absorb it. And I'm sure that answers your question. but Yeah. Well, no, it's true. like yeah Yeah. A lot of people – and and i was I was telling before, I've gone through some situations where –
00:23:30
Speaker
Maybe I should have weathered the storm a little bit more. um you know, sometimes it's tough to know when it's time to jump ship and everything, but obviously it's paid off for you. And like, you're in extremely good position now where you've gone through these obstacles and you've grown with it.
00:23:44
Speaker
And now you're out on the other side that much stronger where, you know, people that jump ship early, it's like, I think there's a lot of lessons maybe they could have learned if they would have stayed. But, uh, yeah, so I know you had, you know, with, um, legacy, you guys had the people that broke off, did the whole slender thing. You talk about some other people, key people leaving in your organization. what do you think?
Transformation to a Conviction-led Leader
00:24:05
Speaker
I don't know if you're willing to speak to that, but what's been like the toughest challenge that you've had to go through in these seven years? And how did you ah get through it? Would you say? Yeah, that was easy for me. so I would say for a long um time, I had this fear of man. I was afraid of what others thought of me.
00:24:19
Speaker
And so I was this kind of passive leader in the sense i was more of a people pleaser. So in 2019, you know, we, like said, had a really bad breakup with some of the key people in there. I think the the industry knows it, you know, and overnight, you know, we lost two thirds of our sales force. You know, we went, they went to a different installer and started their own company, regardless of whatever, like the right or wrong doesn't really matter, but, but it did cripple us. It did, you know, like I remember staying back and at the time our office had maybe like 50 guys in there and there were like 20 left, like with, with legacy. And I was like,
00:24:53
Speaker
I hit this point where I'm like, crap, I got to rebuild again. You know, like I was finally gaining some traction back then. i was like, like a year prior to that, we had another company that recruited a lot of our guys and we lost them. And and then we finally rebuild that. And then that, that thing happened in 2019. And then I was like, I hit this point where I like, I don't want to rebuild again. Like I remember feeling the sense of, man, I'm raising up my competition because there were so many people that I trained and then now they're with a competitor. Yeah. And I was like, who's to say this person won't leave me? And so I think that traumatized me to where I didn't want to invest in people because and then I turned more into a people pleaser than being the person I knew I needed to be. So then fast forward about two years after that, I went through another challenge where –
00:25:35
Speaker
um I had one of my one of my leaders um that, you know, there were just some issues with his sales practice. And when we confronted him about it, you know, it it didn't turn out too well.
00:25:45
Speaker
And so um ah there was like another challenge we had to go through. And I failed. i did turn a blind eye to towards certain things that were being done. but And I was doing it out of fear of.
00:25:57
Speaker
Correcting this person. I thought if I corrected this person that this person will leave me and then other people will leave and i had to go through this season of owning my crap. I had apologize. A lot of people say I wasn't the leader I needed to be and all that to say this is that I made this pivotal point that I'm like, you know what? I am done being afraid of other people's opinion on me. Like I know the person i need to be. And if people don't vibe with that, that's fine. Because in this industry, it's very easy to get, become a people pleaser because like we all know that our reps have many options as to where they can work. yeah Like we're being real, right? Like there's not a, like there's an abundance of of places reps can work. yeah Right. So because we know that we have this sense of like, oh, I got to please them or they're going somewhere else. But I've actually discovered that
00:26:45
Speaker
That when I actually became a leader of conviction, a leader that was like, nope, I'm not afraid I piss you off. I'm not afraid if I say something to you and you don't like it. What actually happens, the opposite of what I thought would happen, happened.
00:26:58
Speaker
Like people actually didn't leave me. If anything, they had more respect and reverence towards me because I feel like in this industry, people just more or less just want to please others. Like, oh, well, hook me up with this. And I've been like, people have come to me and say, hey, well, you know, I want i want better economics. I'm like, no.
00:27:13
Speaker
And here's why. And then they're just like, okay And then they they carry on. But i I'd be 2021. Something happened to where I was like, no, I'm going to be the leader that is not afraid to hurt people's feelings. And I think we need more of those leaders sometimes in this space. Sometimes I look at, you know, like some of the organizations and some of them are kind of ran kind of fratty and kind of like party and all that and whatever. Teach their own, I guess. But I think we need more leaders that are not afraid to step into their masculine core.
00:27:37
Speaker
And be that masculine leader, right? Kind of like that father's, you know, like just like on every healthy household, right? You have the the voice and the correction of the father or of a father. I mean, like same thing, I think in a sales organization, right? Somebody on that team better be that voice of that father. That's like, yeah, it can be fun. Also can kind of be like, no, when it's time to correct somebody, we're going to correct somebody. And when I made that shift.
00:28:00
Speaker
Dude, my results changed. so And I was able to operate with more peace. I had more peace in my life. I was like, thank God I'm not stressed about people leaving me because it was more about me just coming in alignment with like my worth. And I was like, no, like I'm this is who I am. And if you don't like it, that's fine. Like I'm i'm cool with that. yeah I think I'll go to sleep at night.
00:28:16
Speaker
Fine. Knowing that this person doesn't like me. Yeah. But it's it's crazy how much like actually the results change when I made that pivot. that's awesome well i love that because i think it applies in so many other things aside from you know growing and growing teams and offices it's like even in cells the people that have the abundance mindset and they're like you know i was just having a conversation with the guy i'm coaching this morning is just um him sitting in appointments with like one layers just a wife or husband is there and like he used to sit in so many of these appointments and obviously you know we know that has a lower chance of closing that I'm like, dude, just switch it to abundance mindset. Be like, Hey, I got 10 more of these waiting for me.
00:28:54
Speaker
Like if, if you don't want, you know, a husband, wife to be here, just onto the next one. And you got to create that frame. And I think it's the same thing that some of us are afraid to do as leaders walking on eggshells and afraid to upset this rep, afraid to offend this person. yeah Where I think if you, you know, once, like you're saying, once you created that frame, people respected at more and probably able to grow your team and way better leaders and yeah have a lot more success. Yeah.
00:29:17
Speaker
I mean, it's kind of like this too, you know, think about this. If, if somebody's breaking in your home, what kind of, like what kind of person do you want to show up to your house? So some of you already know that I run my own door-to-door sales team here in San Diego. And as we are gearing up for the summer, I realized if we do the same thing we always did, we're going to get the same results. But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage.
00:29:39
Speaker
Then we discovered an app called solar scout. But it's not a door knocking app. It's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market. It shows us who has previously applied for solar but later canceled the deal, who has moved in recently, and even how much electricity the homes are using in a given neighborhood. It's been working for a lot of teams across the country and now I'm on board too. I'm going to be one of the first two SolarScout in San Diego, so I decided to partner up.
00:30:07
Speaker
But I told them, hey, I'm going to talk about SolarScout on my show, you need to give my listeners a great deal. And they did. So go to solarscout.app forward slash Taylor and book a demo with them and you'll get 10% off your first month when you sign up.
00:30:23
Speaker
That's solarscout.app forward slash Taylor. Okay, back to the show. To protect you, right? What kind of police officer do you want? Do you want the passive, like, oh, let me just make sure you're okay kind of police officer?
00:30:35
Speaker
Or do you want that alpha, right, strong, like, Police officer. I think we all know what what kind of police officer we want. Sure. You know, because i do believe there's something in each human that they want to be led by somebody that can operate in true masculine power.
00:30:52
Speaker
Right. and And masculine power isn't like, you know, you tell people what to do. It's not that. Right. I believe like um a masculine leader like invites others, right? A masculine leader empowers others, you know, challenges others, but also with love. And I think everyone deep down inside does want to follow a leader like that. yeah Not someone who just tells them what they want to hear, but sometimes who like someone who really does them what they, what they need to hear sometimes. Of course, again, out of love, not in a like you suck kind of way, but in i' like, Hey, I care so much about you.
00:31:21
Speaker
And I care about your development that i need I need to point out a blind spot in your life. And yeah I discovered that actually people become more loyal to you because I had this mindset of like, oh, if say going to leave me or even even in the home. Right. Like I've had cases where I have a one leger and I just leave. yeah I'm just like, oh, well, and then they're like, oh, well, we'll just meet here. And i'm like, no, cause i mean I know where this ends. And there's like there's been there's been times where like I'll be meeting with the the wife and the husband's just kind of doing his thing. yeah And I will literally say, hey, miss can like I need both of you guys present. If both of you guys can't be here, then I can't be with you. And if you say that with conviction, like they're just like, oh, OK. And then they like sit down with you. And if they say no, then cool. Like you said, like, you know, you're worth. Right. Just walk out. There's more there's more homeowners out there that will buy your product. Then then there there's But there's only one of you. Well, and it's impressive. You're talking about just how you build all these leaders organically.
Growing Leaders with Purpose Beyond Solar
00:32:11
Speaker
And yeah, I don't really know I don't think I've had really anyone on the podcast that's built that many leaders with it from within the organization and had them turn into such strong reps. You know, we were just talking about one guy that actually used to work at a previous company with me before. And
00:32:25
Speaker
He wasn't doing a ton, but now he's one of your leaders. He's producing a ton. So I think there's something, you know you guys got a secret sauce over over there. You're growing a lot of people. And so what's been the secret? Like, how do you take some of these people that, you know, maybe it seems like they're not going to be super solid reps. Maybe it seems like they're not hitting it off and having a ton of success initially, but how have you taken these people and growing them into leaders? What's your secret on that? Yeah, I would say one of the things is you got to give them – they have to believe in something bigger than themselves, something bigger than solar, something bigger than money. About 20 – end of 2020, we made this pivot to where like I had done enough volume within – so Legacy has this thing where when you do certain amount volume, you can start branding your own your own teams, right? Okay. And so for a while, when we finally hit that, I was like, OK, what are we going to name our team? Like, what's going to be the name? And I even my wife will tell you for weeks. I was like, man, i was like, no, but what about this? And like ah that sounds corny. This, this, this, this. And the word valor came to mind for me.
00:33:22
Speaker
And I was like, Valor, am I? Okay, that sounds good. But I wasn't sold yet. And, you know, I'm a man of faith. Right. And um so I was like praying about it. I was just guided to this passage. and And I'm getting to a point to all this. But I was guided to a passage in the Bible um through through King David.
00:33:37
Speaker
And everyone else King David, right? You know, fought Goliath, a really mighty warrior, a great king. You know, this is after he slays Goliath. And then he goes and then Saul tries to kill him. And then now he's hiding in the cave of Dulem.
00:33:50
Speaker
And the Bible says that 300 men come to his aid. But it's interesting. The Bible describes these men as broken men, men in debt, discontent. Right. They were like the rejects of the society.
00:34:03
Speaker
Right. They were the broken people. And I was like, huh, that's interesting. Like these are the men that came to David's aid. Right. When David needed help, these are the men. Yeah. You fast forward a whole book later, right? David is now king of Israel. Ten years have passed. These same men are now being described as mighty men of valor.
00:34:20
Speaker
And if you have valor, valor is like a spirit, right? if you have valor, you're just an individual that can do hard things. You're an individual that can go into battle, right? And, you know, can can handle it, right? And when when I read that, it kind of had this like, you know, like God spoke to me and was like, I'm calling you to raise up men and women of valor. I'm going to send you broken people.
00:34:40
Speaker
And your job is to empower them and help them become whole. And so when I thought about that, I'm like, wow, organically, we already are that. You know, when you look at any one organization, like all of us, i would say everyone in the industry probably entered the industry a little broken. Yeah.
00:34:56
Speaker
Right. Whether it's you weren't confident, whether it's you were broke, whether it's you were in debt, whether whatever it is, I think all of us entered a little bit broken. But if you allow the door to door space to refine you.
00:35:09
Speaker
You know, you can become an individual that can develop the spirit of valor. And so for me, I was like, man that's it. So ever since then, I've been honing big on that brand of like, hey, this is who we are. okay Yes, we sell solar. Yes, we knock on doors. That's the vehicle.
00:35:26
Speaker
But that's not our purpose. And I feel like that's been a huge reason why, like the guy you mentioned, have plugged in because they plugged into something bigger than solar. You know, like my guys don't work for me because of the money and selling solar, although that's an added bonus. But they do it because they buy into what our purpose is. You know, that's why our organization's name is Valor, right? That's the name of our division.
00:35:49
Speaker
And, you know, if you go to our meetings, you know, you'll you'll you'll hear our seven, you know, we have seven core values. Right. And we talk about what it means. It's not just a name. We live it. We embrace it.
00:35:59
Speaker
You know, we talk about, okay like, what does it mean to come in broken? or You know, like, cool, let's let's go from you're in debt. So you're buying your first home. And so I think, you know, for any leaders are listening to this, give your guys a purpose deeper. Right.
00:36:15
Speaker
than than than anything material, right? Like you can't buy what i just said. You can't, true you know? It has to already organically be happening. When I named the Valor, it wasn't like we weren't already doing that. We already were doing that. We already were taking broken people in, right? Like one of my leaders used to be a drug addict.
00:36:31
Speaker
Right now he's married homeowner. Right. Like, you know, actually, i have one of my little leaders used to be an Uber driver right now. Also married about to buy a home in about a month, you know, up in Fallbrook.
00:36:44
Speaker
You know, so it's just crazy. When i look at my organization, there's so many stories. Almost everybody came in broken, but that's organically who we were. But now we talk about it. Right. When we recruit people, we talk about, hey, this is who we are.
00:36:56
Speaker
You know, and I, and I, we're unapologetic about it, you know? And so I think develop something like a purpose deeper than just making money than just, yeah, we sell solar. Cause those things come and go, yeah you know, those things like, cause if,
00:37:11
Speaker
Then another guy will come around and have a better pay scale or better product and then they'll leave you. But what I offer is not easy duplicatable. True. And so that's what allow certain guys to come in, plug into it. And then they're like, wow, because everybody inherently wants to grow.
00:37:26
Speaker
I do believe that people don't feel like they're growing. Eventually they will start looking somewhere else. I do believe that. I think as humans, we're wired to want to grow. Yeah. And so, you know if you're a leader of of of sales reps, you better have some type of like some type of systems of a culture where people can truly feel like, wow, I'm growing.
00:37:43
Speaker
what Whether that means they're growing in their sales. Like I'm big on marriage. You know, like I told my guys, like, hey, the moment you get married, our relationship just changed. you know Actually, just just recently, I was at a wedding literally a week ago, one one of my guys.
00:37:56
Speaker
Now he's a husband, and i noticed that he was – his now wife was at the table by herself. You know like when people get married, they have a dinner by themselves – they have a table by themselves, and they like have their first meal together? yeah Well, I noticed that he was talking to one of his boys another table. Yeah.
00:38:13
Speaker
You know, and like his wife. And so I walk over to him and some people may think I'm wrong for doing this or whatever. but this is who I am. I walk over to him. and this is one of my friends. Right. yeah I'm like, hey, I'm like, I'm like, hey, you're you're you're a husband, right?
00:38:26
Speaker
He's like, yeah. He's like, well, hey, listen, one of the first rules being a husband is you don't leave your wife alone the table. I've been looking at your wife for the last three minutes over there. And I can tell that she wants you to come back. And I'm like, I like as a friend, think should go back. And he was like, oh, OK, you're right. Nice. you know i tell my guys that hey when you become a husband for example right like people want to feel like they're growing whether it's again in finances in their salesmanship in their parenting in their fatherhood motherhood their fitness whatever like you better have some type a culture that truly is helping people grow and develop Yeah, that's that's a
Purpose Over Pay: Commitment and Results
00:38:57
Speaker
nugget right there. And it's so cool that you make this more than just about sales. It's like you're saying, if it's if they're not growing, then second they get offered an extra 10 cents a lot or whatever, they're off to the next one. If it's all about the sales and the money. And um yeah, I've definitely seen that in different organizations when they're bought in with a purpose.
00:39:14
Speaker
people are not only like bought in the organization but they're also selling at a higher level because like the motivation for money runs out pretty quick when you're out there it's 100 degrees outside and yeah dogs barking at you people yelling at you and but yeah that's that's awesome that you guys have been on the grill like that yeah and' and i'll say this you know and i said this pride but i would say that we have probably one of the higher economics in this market like my team does but i will promise you I will go against any team here and pound for pound, my guys make more.
00:39:47
Speaker
And even though with us having higher economics, because again, it's more than just money. Right. And so there's, there's definitely power in that. I think a lot of leaders, they try to build it around. Like, let me offer the lowest pay scale. Yeah. But I would say we offer probably one of the highest, I'm not saying the highest, but we're definitely not in the cheap route. Like, you know, someone wants to ever work,
00:40:08
Speaker
At Legacy, like we definitely are not on the lower end, but we're also not on the highest end. I would say we're like a little bit above average. However, though, we have done, i think, a great job at helping our people believe in something bigger than themselves. And that allows them to make even more money than a guy who has a lower red line, lower economics, whatever. but doesn't have maybe ah a deep purpose. Yeah. Well, you were telling me before we started the podcast, you were naming off like how many people made over a million, how many people made over half a million, and then so many people made over like six figures.
00:40:40
Speaker
And so for you as a leader, does that give you, don't know, does that excite you more, almost more? Because I've heard from some people like, oh, it's more exciting to see like other people making a ton of money than myself at this point. Would you agree with that? Is it pretty exciting to see? Yeah, because I believe a real leader should want to see their people do better than them. Yeah.
00:40:59
Speaker
Right. A real leader should want it like a leader paves the way so that when the people that come after them can do it better and faster. So if like for me to go from my like, it took me maybe three years to make my first six figures in solar.
00:41:15
Speaker
Right. But if right now is also taking guys three years to make six figures, I am failing as a leader. where we literally had a guy, think oh man was it it was either January january or December.
00:41:29
Speaker
He in one week, he got paid $126,000. Brenly, another guy, if you want to go to the podcast, his name is Will Brenly. I don't think he has social media. But we recruited him from, I believe that was a car dealership. I'm trying to remember what he was doing, but he wasn't doing solar door-to-door.
00:41:46
Speaker
And in six months, he literally made $400,000. Six months. And I'm like, and that's what excites me because I'm like, dude, It took me like five years to make my first $400,000 in solar. This guy did in six freaking months.
00:42:00
Speaker
you know And at the end of the day, like development and growing, all these things, like the byproduct of that is the money. yeah right You focus on truly helping your people level up, not just in money.
00:42:11
Speaker
Actually, it shouldn't even be money. It should be like as a human, as ah as like if they're married, great. You better be a f freaking ah leader in the husband, right? Check in on their marriage. yeah I'll call my guys and say, hey ah how are you and your wife?
00:42:24
Speaker
And I'm the guy that I'll ask you about your sex life. I'll say, hey, Taylor. all right What's your wife's name? Natalie. I'll say, hey, Taylor, are you and Natalie having sex? I'm that guy. Okay. You know, and then sometimes they're like, actually, we're not.
00:42:36
Speaker
Well, what's going on, man? And dude, guys open up, you know, because I know sex is very important to marriage. yeah i I'm being real here. I like it. Right? it' Like I'm being real, right? If a man is not having sex in a marriage, it's going to disrupt their ability to lead. It's going to disrupt what they're bringing. Because already I know if if the marriage is not doing well, it's going to impact everything else. yeah So like I'm that kind of guy, right? To where like I don't care. I'll get down raw and real with you. Like that's just me, you know? and okay But anyways, i don't know where I was going with point. I'll keep that in mind. i didn't I didn't think about checking on my guy's sex life. Dude.
00:43:12
Speaker
But we're weird. Well, yeah, because if you're like, like for me, sometimes I've been in like little like fights or whatever with my wife and it affects you on the doors. It affects you going to meetings, trying to lead other guys. And like for me, I'm thinking about it all day. I'm like, oh, she's going mad at me when I get home. Like if you're yeah not resolved.
00:43:29
Speaker
So, yeah, I think it's like, you know, you got to dig deep. I think the true leaders, they're digging into more just like sales numbers, asking how the day's going. They're like digging deep. And it sounds like that's what you're doing too. Yeah. Yeah, learned this from actually Greg Butterfield. um one day He said a quote one day that stuck with me. and He's like, if your guys are struggling with work, it's probably not work related. It's probably something personal related.
00:43:51
Speaker
And so I've recognized that that if my guys are not operating at the level I know they can, it's usually not like a a skill thing. There's usually something going on yeah in their personal life. And I hope that if you're the leader, that you have that kind of relationship relationship with them where your guys feel comfortable opening up. Like my guys have opened up about some gnarly things. Yeah. You know, but I like that. And and I think that's where true trust is formed.
00:44:16
Speaker
Yeah. You know, I really believe the people that get to see the real you, the real raw, not literal naked of you, but you know what Like figuratively speaking version of you, you know, with all the mask off with all the what, like, dude, that's where real trust is formed because it it it takes a high level of trust for, for somebody to be like, yeah, this is, this is really what's going in life.
00:44:42
Speaker
You know, it's easy for a guy to show up to a sales meeting and be all like rah, rah, and I'm all this. But then they tell you that him and his wife are thinking about divorce, you know, and to be that person. That's like, all right, well, I'm here for you.
00:44:52
Speaker
You know, what can I do What resource can I recommend? You know, I had a friend. i have a i friend right now who him and his wife are going through it. And I recommended a book to him called The Masculine in Leadership. And he's he's not like a self-help kind of guy, like self-presidentment. But he finally he finally got the book. And we literally talked two weeks ago.
00:45:11
Speaker
And he's like, dude, that book has changed my life. He's like, thank you. Like it's our marriage is getting better. Cause yeah, if the marriage falls apart, dude, like sales fall apart too. I know this not a marriage podcast, but so's part two for part two yeah that's awesome yeah well yeah, that's something we haven't really talked about on the podcast. So I appreciate you like bringing that up because I think most leaders, especially they're not really thinking about. you know guys marriages guys sex life whatever and you know maybe it's not appropriate to ask like the girls on your team that but unfortunate now yes yeah that's where then my wife comes in it's my wife actually and we do this with intention and we're not my wife's not friends with them because she has to but i have also made sure that you know my wife has a good relationship with the wives of my leaders that's smart you know and again not because she has to like it just organically happens right when have outings and events, yeah, she just gravitates towards them. And, yeah you know, my wife's a stay-at-home mom and most of the other wives are also stay-at-home moms. So, you know, sometimes if one of my guys going through it, I'll say, hey, can you check in on so-and-so? And she will. And, you know, because I think you're right.
00:46:11
Speaker
like And my wife has helped with some of the female reps in my office because, yeah, that's not my place. right That's a very dangerous place. Yeah. Yeah. You should never go to a woman and ask those types of questions. Yes. For sure. Well, yeah. And speaking of that, like, I think that's a secret for guys recruiting people with wives or whatever. Like I remember the previous company I was with, one of the main factors in me joining that company was my wife was like friends with the other wives before I joined the team. Yeah. So I'm like, okay, well, even though I don't know some of the other things I don't know about, but at least my wife is friends and she has friends out there because we're not from Southern California too. So I think that's actually secret for guys trying to, you know, maybe you're trying to bring someone on your team, have the wives go do the recruiting for you. Yeah. You definitely want to incorporate the wives and the kids in some way because it's going to help in the sense of if maybe the guy in your team is having thoughts about leaving or maybe I should something else. The wife could be a voice that says, no, I think we should stay. But if the wife doesn't have any type of relationship like herself with maybe people there or whatever, then she's like, oh, whatever. I'll just do whatever you want to do. you Because I've had it happen before where sometimes like the wife was the one that convinced like, no, you should you should stay here. And they're like, yeah, you're right. Because she was invested in us as well.
00:47:20
Speaker
So like, you know, we try to do something where like at least two or three times a year, we put some event together where like, you know, they can bring their families as well. yeah You know, now to host an event with four or 500 people, it's kind of gnarly. That's we only do it like maybe twice a year, but we we'll tell guys, Hey, bring your wives, bring your girlfriends, bring your boyfriends, your fiance's, your kids.
00:47:39
Speaker
You know, because then it creates this also this culture where like the wives and the the husbands, whatever they feel like they're a part of it, too. Well, yeah, it's something we've done doing a smaller scale, is just like having the wives of the salespeople go. And obviously that's harder with if you have 400 reps or whatever organization. But I think that's something cool to do that we've done is just have the wives go out and kind of hang out with saleswives. Oh, cool. Well, so just before I forget here, John, like, um, you're big on social media and where, if people want to connect with you more, reach out and hear more about what you guys got going, where did they found, if they're not, they should already be following you. I mean, come on. Thank you. This guy's a dropping value bombs every day on social media, but in case someone's living under a rock, where can they find you? in Yeah. So, I mean, I'm on, shout to Serge, the creator, by the way. He has really helped level up my social media presence. Your social media is your, is the modern day business card, just for the record. If you're not, if you're a leader in solar, like I would say leverage social media. It is a free resource. Back in the day, people had to pay hundreds of dollars to be on newspaper ads, you know, thousands of dollars to be newspaper ads, TV ads. you know, to get their brand and their name and their message out there. Where nowadays, if you learn how to leverage social media, YouTube and all that podcast, like it's a free platform for you to leverage your message. So anyway, so I am on the General John on all platforms. That's Instagram, YouTube. I'm huge on YouTube. I post a lot of my longer kind of training contents on there. I talk a lot about leadership. Like leadership is definitely my bread and butter. I love
00:49:10
Speaker
love leadership. I love leading teams. awesome um I'll do some sales stuff on there as well. And then I'll do marriage as well. So that's kind of like my the three things I love talk about. Yeah. So, yeah, like I'm huge on, you know, you can have it all. You know, I adopt that philosophy like, hey, you can have it all. That true success is winning in the areas of faith, family, fitness and finance. Like I really do think that.
00:49:30
Speaker
We as men, you know, and that's my the main people I try to also speak to is the men of this world. And because I think men can believe that you have to sacrifice that your faith, family, fitness to succeed in the finance, in the financial component. But I'm like, no, you can have it all. Like you can have a thriving marriage. You can be a great dad. yeah You can be in great shape.
00:49:52
Speaker
And you can have a great business. Yeah. You know, and I really believe in that. And that's kind of what I try to do on social media and try to be that voice of like, hey, you can have it all.
Holistic Success: Faith, Family, Fitness, Finance
00:50:01
Speaker
No, it doesn't mean that I'm I got together all the time. and my wife still fight. You know, I still go through my seasons where things are bad, but it doesn't mean I don't stop. So the general John, that's where I'm at. Okay. Well, no, and I appreciate that because so many people you see on social media, I've had good friends where it looks like they're crushing in all areas of life. They're just posting about the finances, but come to find out, you know, they're going through marriage issues and all that. So appreciate someone that's keeping it real like yourself and really talking about things that matter because we can make all the money in the world. But if our marriage is falling apart, are if, uh, you know, our kids hate us, if, uh, you know, we're not, we're not developing the other relationships in our life. It's like, what are you do with that money? Exactly. So what could all four, you know?
00:50:43
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. To wrap up here, John. um So something we touched on before the podcast, too, is just how a lot of people these days, like we saw these solar fells and all that people, you know, sometimes we we get competitive with each other. And really, I think at the end of the day, I think we both talked about this and agree we should want to be winning.
00:51:04
Speaker
And I know that's a message you're trying to spread and just promote to you on your social media and in general, just having everybody win instead of others, drag people down and talk about like, know, all the negatives in the solar. What's your message on that? And then ah just any like, you know, final words of advice or words of wisdom to wrap up here.
00:51:21
Speaker
I would love if the industry unified
Advocating Industry Unity and Positivity
00:51:24
Speaker
more. I look at pages and if you're listening to this and you run Solar Fails, this is not enough a attack on you, but I just feel like what why choose to highlight the negative components of this industry?
00:51:36
Speaker
Instead, let's highlight the good. You know, I'm on that Solar Pros Facebook group, and I find that like 80% of it is just drama. Like, oh, don't use this as a installer. They screwed me over. it And I get it. There's a place...
00:51:49
Speaker
I guess in a way to share like maybe someone who truly a company that just truly is being extremely unethical. But I would like to see more unification where we're helping each other win because here's here's the truth. And I know even Sam Taggart, I've seen his videos where he has the same kind of thought. I worry about a day where this industry becomes regulated, you know, because of, you know, company like a lot of companies go out of business or there's a lot of bad practice. And I think we need to start elevating more of the good because it's kind of like, OK, so I think about when you're raising kids, right? Like when you're raising kids, you want to talk about the what what you want them to do, not what you don't want them to do. Yeah.
00:52:27
Speaker
So same thing, right? Let's talk about the good that we're doing in this space, not necessarily the bad. And it's kind of like the military too, where i remember when i was in the Marine Corps, like we Marines, we thought we were better than the Army and Army thought they better than Navy and Navy than the Air Force. And we did have this competition, but at the end of the day, we were wearing different jerseys, but we all knew big picture was, which is we all supported the U.S. government, you know? And on the battlefield, it was like, I got your back, right? But yeah, at home, we're like, yeah, we talk shit, whatever. Yeah, yeah. But it's like that, you know, hey, like you and I were competitors in a way. But, dude, like you're still my friend, you know, me and this guy like Cam Wallace, Cam Wallace, top rep over at Sunder. You know, dude, that's my homie.
00:53:03
Speaker
You know, love that guy. i talked to Edmund Bayard a lot. Apricot Energy, you know, Apricot is doing big things. And, dude, talk to Edmund all the time. You know, Edmund, Edmund, Edmund is my boy. Yeah. You know, Alex Smith over at Spartan Solar. Like, dude, talk to him all the time. And I know he had like a kind of a fallout with, i don't know, some team of legacy. i don't I don't know the details, but it's like I do my best to be like, dude, list we're all friends. You know, like we're all a part of the same company.
00:53:30
Speaker
Let's I would like to see just more unification together. That's kind of a message. and Yeah. Kind of like last, I guess, things I would, last word of advice I would say is I think all of us need to put our head down and just simply plant your flag, like decide where you want to be and stay committed on that path.
00:53:47
Speaker
So. hundred percent. Love that. Well, John, we appreciate you coming on the show here. And for all those listening, yeah, like John was saying, do your best to unify. We don't have to be, ah you know, cutting at each other's throats and bringing other people down. Like we can all up level each other and it helps us all. Cause if some, you know, if a homeowner hears from two other people that their solar sucked, their company went out of business, all this negativity, it's only going to make it tougher for all of us to sell and to grow and help each other out. So appreciate you coming, John. And ah yeah, we'll have to have you on for round two. We'll dig deep into, you know, guys, sex life, marriage stuff for the next one. The mayor, mayor, partner podcast. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. But guys, go give John a follow. You're not going to be disappointed if you're not following this guy. He's dropping absolute value every single day and keeping it real in marriage and success in life and business. So go give him a follow and I appreciate you for coming on the podcast today, John. Thank you so much, Taylor. Great being here. at Peace.
00:54:46
Speaker
What's up, solopreneurs? Hope you enjoyed the episode. Before you run out and start selling more solar yourself, wanted to let you know about an exciting new cheat sheet we created specifically for you in mind.
00:54:59
Speaker
One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start? What episodes should I listen to in the podcast? And You got too many podcasts, man, because now we have over 200 episodes.
00:55:14
Speaker
So what we've done, we created the top 10 most downloaded, most listened to, and i would say widely accepted, most useful podcasts that we've done here on Solrepreneur.
00:55:27
Speaker
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00:55:49
Speaker
We will have that in the show notes. Go download it right now. And especially if you have not listened to them, go listen to them and you can re-listen to them. That's going to show you how. So go download it and we'll see you on the other side.