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I grew up on the East Coast and went to the University of New Hampshire. I graduated with a bachelor's degree in communication and a minor in conservation and sustainability. I first got into the renewable energy space during college. I had a solar sales position in Massachusetts and was knocking on doors asking people what they thought of solar and if they were prepared to implement themselves. This was a very transformative role as I think it's important for anyone in sales to go through the process of rejection, and also to educate yourself and learn pitches to perform on the fly.

After this first role, I worked in a couple of marketing departments at different solar companies. I worked for Green Mountain Energy, which is a subsidiary of NRG, one of the major energy companies in Texas with various branches of sustainable groups. I was on their sales force and then quickly transitioned to their partnership team, so I was developing different locations for us to sell at and did a lot of B2C work. From there, I went to work at WindESCo, which is a wind-energy SaaS company this is focused on optimizing power outputs for different wind farms. This is where I really found my stride for SaaS and different facets of renewable energy. We operated on a global scale, so I got to talk to people in Japan, Mexico, Europe, Australia, and India - it was a really interesting role! 

I am now helping manage our EV division and channel sales here at Kitu and working on Austin Chambers (Kitu's VP of Market Development) team to help fuel the direction that we have for our EV division. On a personal level, I love to cook! I enjoy the outdoors and I go camping a lot. I also love music and going to shows and festivals. 

2. What is your history with Kitu? 

I started in January of this year and came on to join Austin's team at a time when the sales organization was kind of up and coming. Kitu is a small company, there's about 40 of us and primarily engineering based. It's been a journey to witness and be a part of the sales organization growing and changing direction in how we manage our sales. Instead of doing a lot of direct sales for our EV products, we're doing more channel partnerships with larger organizations on the commercial side as well as the utility side. For example, we work with local California utilities to try and understand their needs and what they're looking for in terms of connecting their devices. We're helping to answer those questions and come up with solutions that make sense specific to the end customer.

We have attended different conferences over the past year including DistribuTECH and the Advanced Clean Transportation conference (ACT), and it's telling to walk around and ask people what's going on in the industry. A lot of the talk initially was around IEEE 2030.5 and understanding that protocol but what I'm learning is that many people are gaining access to funds within the realm of electrification. People are scrambling to take an approach and that's where we come in to help with consultation. 

3. What has been the most fascinating or interesting project you have been a part of recently?

There are two projects that come to mind, one being a large investor-owned utility on the West coast. This has been the most interesting to me because it's also the most strategic right now. We're trying to make some of our EVSE partners without software or network components more capable, which will allow us to get a view of the back end of how the data is being managed and improve energy management.   

The other project didn't move forward but was really fun to work on! It was the Hilton and Bartell hotel group deal that I had been working on predominantly for six months and was something that I latched on to when I first started. I was working with the General Manager at a Hilton hotel, and we connected well but the reason it didn't move forward was because the customer and utility could not overcome infrastructure challenges. It was indicative of the challenges our industry faces and Kitu has since come up with many compelling answers should we face such a problem again.   

4. How would you describe the company culture at Kitu?

We're a small company in San Diego with people spotted all across the country, and when I came in, I really liked this environment because I knew there was going to be support. Kitu is a network of industry leaders who are passionate about renewables and being able to provide a common language for devices across the grid.   

I think most culture on the sales side that we see is at conferences and that's when we have some fun! In terms of why everyone's at Kitu, I think there's a commonality of drive, passion, and being educated in the renewable space. 

5. Do you have any advice for new professionals looking to enter the industry of the "electric ecosystem?" 

I love this question because I remember thinking to myself, 'How do I become a part of this industry?' after I had started in solar sales, and it was just interest meets career. There are so many resources available, one of which is your local utility. They often hold free webinars and events that are open to the public. There are also a lot of small pocketed clean tech groups in various cities across the US that you can reach out to with questions and opportunities. If you are interested in both the startup space and renewable and electric ecosystems, that's a great place to go for a networking event. I often remember going to Greentown Labs in Somerville, MA that hosted clean tech startup incubator events where I met a lot of people in the industry and did some good networking.

Another thing I would mention is that education is key! Keeping up with the ever-flowing expansion of the industry is important. The industry will always be evolving, and it can be hard to consolidate all of the information. An article a day and checking in on the news can be really helpful. The last thing is to also be aware of what your local, state, and federal governments are doing to back related programs. 

6. What are your goals for the future of Kitu?

With the development of our sales organization over the past year, I feel there is a lot of foundational relationships that have been established with different clients and customers that will put us on a trajectory for growth and mutual expansion, both for Kitu and the industry. There are a lot of good opportunities that have come in the last six months that are going to lead to more bookings and revenue for the company and it's amazing to be a part of creating that.     

For my personal goals, I would like to bring on a couple more utilities over the next year. I'd like to build on our momentum with fleets as Kitu begins to build fleet-specific intelligence into our platform.   

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