Interview: Clean Energy Marketing Leader Tom Weirich on his new book We Took the Risk
Amazon bestselling author Tom Weirich and Silverline Founder Laura Taylor share both a deep friendship and commitment to clean energy, so we at Silverline are thrilled to support Tom as he celebrates the launch of his book We Took the Risk with gatherings in Washington, DC, at the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) headquarters and in Houston at Pillsbury. Beyond our enthusiastic support, we were curious, so we chatted with Tom to find out his motivation and goals for writing about the early risk-takers in renewable energy. Here’s how that conversation unfolded:
Silverline: What inspired you to write this book?
Tom: Two events occurred in parallel that synergistically came together about one and a half years ago. A mentor of mine, Lt. Col. Bill Holmberg, had passed away three years prior and I had missed his funeral due to business travel. Looking back, Bill deserved better from me, and I wanted to make amends by making sure his story was out there for new and aspiring renewables professionals entering the industry. I started to do research by interviewing a few CEOs that were his interns during his distinguished career in the biomass and biofuels sector and kept on thinking, “Wow, I wish I knew all these background stories when I was starting out in the industry.”
Simultaneously, Eric Koester, a professor at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business had created The Creator Institute to help professionals like you and me to become first time successful authors. He had reached out to me years prior, but I kept on rebuffing him stating that, “I had a full-time job that keeps me busy (and then some) and also was a horrible writer.” Furthermore, I told him that, “Marketing had ruined by writing style – I was good at presentations, OpEds and ad copy, but long form writing was going to be tough for me.” I instead introduced Eric to a close friend – Richard Marks – who was staying with me for a few months in my NYC apartment back in 2019-2020. Richard signed up to the program and I got to experience second hand the rigors of the Creator Institute and some of the writing Richard had embarked on in his book journey.
It was my first week of researching Bill’s piece that Eric had yet again circled around to me, and I felt as if it was Bill prodding me to say yes. Who was I to say no – especially to Bill? I told Eric I would do it and decided to expand my book research to include a broader selection of executives that were mentors of mine and had through their risk-taking created an impact in renewables.
Silverline: There are so many amazing stories in the renewable energy industry. How did you select the leaders who made the final cut in your book?
Tom: The decision of who to include in the book was truly the most gut-wrenching part of the whole process. I reached out and interviewed close to 100 executives across the United States. My publisher, New Degree Press, was clear that I had an 80,000-word max limit, which was +/- 350 pages. As a result, I had to apply a rigorous filter to the interviews, applying a “risk-taking” lens and had to ask myself after each interview: (1) Did this executive really take a risk? and (2) After taking the risk, what lasting impact do we still experience in the industry today because of that risk-taking? The resulting selection also came from personal relationships – I was lucky to have worked and/or collaborated with each of the executives in my early days of renewables. It was still a hard decision and in the first section of my book, I walk through the methodology of how I ended up featuring the 25 executives I did. To compromise where possible, I did include another 20 executives throughout the book who were integral to either the featured executives’ chapter or to my own personal story.
Silverline: What qualities did it to be a risk-taker as renewables were getting off the ground? What qualities does it take to be a risk taker now?
Tom: The second section of my book is broken up into chapters featuring all 25 executives, with each chapter named after a trait that each executive – unbeknownst to themselves – self-identified with. The traits that I believe defined the original risk-takers in renewables are Curiosity, Persistence, Being a Connector, Audacity, Social Entrepreneurship, Being Adventurous, Foresight, Servant Leadership, Dedication, Being the First, Adaptability, Fearlessness, Innovation, Enterprising and Grit. All the executives I interviewed had one dominant trait that I tied them to in the book – but at the same time – they had a combination of many of the traits above. Also, everyone – including myself - had a touch of productive narcissism, which sounds negative, but in fact was necessary to endure the ups and downs of a young industry.
It’s this combination of traits that we need to foster in the next generation of renewables entrepreneurs. In an age when we’re being told to avoid or stay away from risk taking, we actually should do the opposite and embrace it. It’s only when we truly become risk-takers that we can help advance this industry to the next phase of its evolution.
Silverline: What is the greatest challenge that renewables now face?
Tom: Lack of risk-taking. Despite the passage of the IRA most likely providing us with the most stable political climate that the renewables industry has ever had, we cannot take it for granted. From transmission challenges to figuring a way around COVID-era and trade war supply chain disruptions, we need to take risks again – be it in infusing energy and momentum into building up U.S. manufacturing or going out on a limb to engage regulators and state entities to finally crack the proverbial “nut” on transmission build out. Not all risks are the same and throughout the book I’m advocating that one takes calculated risks that yield high rewards. Do all risks end in success? Not at all, but this is our time to take the risks that will set the path for the next 25 years of our industry in the U.S., and we have no time to waste.
Silverline: What is one (or two) of the key lessons early risk takers learned that would benefit future risk takers?
Tom: Don’t be afraid to fail and begin building your rolodex of contacts from day one of your career. Fear is a double-edged sword – in some people it holds them back from achieving their full potential, while in others it’s an adrenal rush that only propels them forward. There is not one individual in our industry who does not suffer from imposter syndrome occasionally. Indeed, all the executives I interviewed failed multiple times, but they did not let those failures define them. They got up, and because of the supportive community that they had developed around them, were able to embark on their next venture and succeed.
It’s this supportive community which is just as important to develop as conquering a sense of failure. All the executives during their career journeys got to know each other – many financing each other’s ventures or being the recipients of the transaction or platforms set up by the other. The value of connecting and building your own rolodex from the first day you explore renewables is vitally important. It’ll be that rolodex that you rely on for your own career for the rest of your life. It’s likely the most valuable thing (other than your attitude and values) that you have to show at the end of the day.
Silverline: What story or aspect of a story surprised you the most while writing this book?
Tom: In my own journey “growing up” in renewables, I held so many of these executives on a pedestal of my own making, ascribing perfectionism to each of them and their efforts. The one trait that never came up was perfectionism. As a productive narcissist of sorts, I was perplexed – how did not one of them talk about striving for perfectionism – the perfect structured deal – the perfect policy or the perfect technology? It’s because perfectionism would have gotten in the way of risk-taking. If you constantly strive for perfection, you sign away the chance to take a risk – and at the end of the day – achieve success that trumps perfectionism.
Silverline: You probably have collected enough stories for a series of books. What is the next story you want to tell about the clean energy transition?
Tom: That I have, and I wish I could have published all the stories I heard! There are a few executives that I still want to tell a story about. Mary Powell is one of them, along with Lynn Jurich. Another story about a sub-section of colleagues in the industry would be about renewables journalists, and specifically the Canary Media, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Renewable Energy World, Proximo & New Project Media teams. They truly are the unsung heroes in so many ways that kept the potential of our industry alive and like a beacon on the hill. We don’t thank them enough.
Silverline: Based on what you’ve learned in writing this book and what you’ve experienced in your own career, what advice would you share with someone just starting their career in this industry?
Tom: Three Words: JUST. DO. IT. If you’re looking for a career where you intertwine your skills sets with a passion to make impact and do good, you’ve found a home here in the renewable energy industry.
Tom Weirich (@tomweirich)has served as a facilitator in building collaboration and connecting key players in the global renewable energy industry for more than18 years. He’s held leading roles at Rubicon Capital Advisors, CohnReznick Capital and the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE). Tom also served under the Obama Administration twice in honorary roles, advising both the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative on renewable energy trade and manufacturing policies. His inaugural book We Took The Risk, called “a fascinating exploration” by ocean explorer and filmmaker Philippe Cousteau, follow the journeys of 25 risk-takers who overcame the challenges of the early renewable energy industry.
