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Speaker 1 (00:03):

Welcome to the Solarpreneur podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level. My name is Taylor Armstrong and I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fail. I teach you to avoid the mistakes I made and bringing the top solar dogs, 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 Solarpreneur you might ask a Solarpreneur is a new breed of solar pro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.

Speaker 2 (00:42):

What's going on. Solarpreneurs Taylor Armstrong, your host here, and we have the first female guest ever on the Solarpreneur podcast. I'm super excited. So we got a Suli Zinck. Can I say your last name? Right. Zinc. Okay, so, so will you, thanks for coming on the show, I'm so excited to finally have a girl knocker on, so appreciate it. Appreciate you coming on,

Speaker 3 (01:07):

But I'll be honest. Taylor, yours was one. When I was looking into the solar industry, yours is one of the first ones that I like found. And I was like, oh, he there, there's not like a ton of like episodes, not a ton of people. This is definitely where I'm going to start because it's going to be like, he's going to be methodical and he's going to give you tips. And it's exactly been that since like what, when I started listening to you back in November. So

Speaker 2 (01:32):

Yeah, no, I appreciate that. And I've been following your podcast too, and your story and, um, pretty amazing stuff. So yeah, I will say we've been, yeah, I've, I think I've scheduled a one or two other girls to come on and both of them like fell through, um, um, one of them, one of them like just no showing me and then like one responds. I'm like, all right, maybe I'm not going to chain get girls on if they do this. So maybe I left kind of bad days, my mother, but yeah. But God, we made it work and no, um, you guys are crushing it with your team and I know there's some powerhouse ladies in the industry, so I think it's important. And actually, I remember now that I think back, I remember one of my like lower reviews on the PA I think it was like three stars or something, but, um, one of the reviews was like, Taylor focuses so much on like guys, Neil, he just says, here's the thing guys. And like, he never brings on me in girl.

Speaker 3 (02:27):

They was like, that is going to be my one full year. And then we like failure by two of us. Go see.

Speaker 2 (02:35):

So yeah, that's when I realized, like, I, I gotta be, uh, you know, conscious that the ladies listen to the show and not, you know, just suggest everyone by guys and stuff like that. So glad we're making it happen though. Um, but yeah, so slowly, do you want to maybe get into your story a little bit? I know you just did an awesome interview on the, uh, the door knocker podcasts. So we probably won't go quite as in depth as you went on that podcast. So people go listen to that to you, if you want to hear kind of her full in-depth story, which was awesome. But I, yeah. Do you want to give us just a little bit of the background for people who don't know you on the podcast or?

Speaker 3 (03:12):

Yeah, so I'm Sui, Juliana, Zuli all the weird games. People call me on the doors, whatever floats your boat. But, um, I started in the door to door industry 13 summers ago. This is my 13th summer. Um, I just came in with like the mindset. If I was going to give up, you know, a good job, I was going to make it count. And I ended up my first summer, I just asked the team, they're like, Hey, what is the number one girl did, uh, how many accounts pest control accounts that she serviced the summer. And, and when he told me it was like three 11, I was like, all right. And, uh, but originally the person who recruited me, it was like, look, if everything fails and sucks, like I'll at least pay for your plane ticket, everything. So at least you had like fun while you're out here.

Speaker 3 (03:58):

And so those three weeks ended up turning into 13 years. Like later I ended up, uh, that girl had did three, uh, 3 0 9 and I finished with three 16 that summer. And then there was just no turning back for me in the door to door to industry. When I saw that there was just no cap on, on basically, uh, my pay, there's just a cap with companies. And so, um, once I realized that I was like, there's no way that I was going to go to a nine to five. And, um, two summers in, I get married to my husband of 10 years now. And then I recruited him to be my service pro and then I got in trouble for having to be a service pro because I would have him work through his lunch breaks. I would be calling him on Sundays. Like, Hey, we're going to go to these homes. And we're not even supposed to like, is a W2 employee.

Speaker 2 (04:55):

Like I'm a church, let me go to church.

Speaker 3 (04:59):

And so my branch manager was like, sweet. You can be doing this. Like, there's, this is, he works for us, not for you. And, and then the following summer, um, I, we had our first kid AMA I knocked until I gave birth to her on the doors, like eight months pregnant and still did more than like my team leader on the team. And it was just no turning back. Like I just, I just have one of those like mindsets. I just feel like I'm a little bit different in the sense, like, I, I I've seen the money. I've seen the success. I've seen what this industry can do. And I just now want to have a lot more women be in the same space.

Speaker 2 (05:40):

That's incredible. And no, I got mad respect because my wife she's actually, I think, seven months pregnant right now. So, um, yeah, but she's not, she's not moving much. Like I can't even imagine trying to get her out on a door. Yeah. Just imagining that, just blow my mind that you would even, you know, attempt to knock eight months pregnant. Um, so pretty incredible. Yeah. Um, have you, but yeah, I was wondering, have you always been like that competitive because I see, I don't think there's a lot of girls. They're like, oh, what's the, what did the top girl female rap do? And then want to beat it? Is it always just been like super competitive your whole life? Or where did that come from?

Speaker 3 (06:22):

Yeah. And so that's like one of the tips that I give to like men or people in general and the door to door to industry when they are looking at female reps in the sense of like who they're wanting to recruit, like any woman who's like been in like sports for more than one year, or I've done piano lessons for more than a year have been in karate for more than a year, or have done anything consistent that, that had a little bit of competition for more than a year. Those are definitely the people that definitely the girls that you do want to want to start with. And yeah, I was super competitive period, but, um, it's, it's weird because in the industry, like, I, my husband says it all the time. He's like, you're humble in public, but in private, you're not. And I was like, well, not like, you know, I'm just like, oh, good job. And like, whatever. And I'm like, how did they get right. That's how I have to do that tomorrow or whatever. But yeah. So those are definitely a quality that you want to look in, look for when you're looking for girls to recruit.

Speaker 2 (07:24):

Yeah. And I bet I can only imagine like Sunday game night at your house, you're gonna have to invite me over to one of those things. That's just like

Speaker 3 (07:31):

Been, and I are not allowed to play games together. We just don't do games because like he doesn't care enough and it bugs me. Like he won't even like compete in like UNO or anything like that. So we just don't do card games.

Speaker 2 (07:49):

Yeah. I won a competition. That's funny. Yeah. Well you can come next time. You're in San Diego, let us know because me and my wife, we get, we get into it quite a bit. So we'll play monopoly or something.

Speaker 3 (08:02):

I known to just pop up when people tell me like, Hey, just come over here at any time. I typically just go up.

Speaker 2 (08:09):

Okay. Well, let's do it. We'd love to have you, but no, that's awesome. So w what was your background? Were you like a sports background then? Or music or?

Speaker 3 (08:20):

Yeah, so I did soccer for a few years, actually got like a full ride scholarship to go and play soccer. I was just, uh, I played goalie, but I play like Ford. I also did basketball too, but I was like more of like the sucky offense player, but I was going to be like the best defense player. Like typically they were just always calling me just play events, but I wasn't that great of a shooter. I wasn't that great of an athlete. I was just competitive plus all.

Speaker 2 (08:47):

Yeah. That's awesome. Well, no, that's good. And yeah. I mean any, um, yeah, I think that applies to, you know, girls and anyone with a sports background. Um, yeah, you've probably seen it too, but guys that have like wrestled and done just those like kind of endurance sports too, I think are great at this because especially out on the doors, it's a mental grain, you know, and

Speaker 3 (09:11):

Tracking McNeil piano, like anything consistently. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:15):

Yeah. So yeah, definitely a nugget right there as you're recruiting. Um, but no, that's cool. And so PEs, um, yeah, again, you can go listen to the other interview. I think you went pretty in depth in that soil, but, um, just the short version. Why did you decide to switch from a pest to solar then? And what was because I came from a pest background too. I don't know if you knew that, but I did it too, as summer's a pest control. And, um, you were much better than me. I would've, you would have destroyed me and pest. I think my best summer is like 120 accounts or something. So

Speaker 3 (09:53):

Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:54):

They're low maintenance. Um, no, that's it, it was funny. That's actually how female knockers started. And so I did my first summer three 16, and then my very last summer, before I transitioned into solar, I was the number one rep in the company. I had serviced 1,012, uh, past accounts in like 156, uh, knocking days. But before that summer, before that summer, um, had started, I, you know, basically went to like the leadership about how we needed to have a program for women, uh, in the company. And it wasn't even like, you know, I'm not even trying to say like, Hey, girls are better than guys. Guys are better than girls. It's more of just like a space. And, um, just a little bit of awareness that I just saw. A lot of regionals and team leaders were flying to Vegas and Arizona and all these other states to basically recruit more men.

Speaker 3 (10:53):

And I'm like, why don't you just make this space a little bit more inviting for the 40% of people we're not even tapping into who are returning from their missions, who are doing all these things. And they're literally in our back yards. And, um, but basically I was just kind of dismissed a little bit. And so I was like, and this was before I did the thousand accounts. And so when I came home in September, just throughout the summer, I just seen how many women were rooting me on that didn't even know me. And they were just like texting me. And they were just like keeping track of like what I was doing during the summer, because I would just post weekly updates. And the amount of like women would just like reach out to me. I was just like, so like, it kept me going and I'm on a team where there's not even like women period.

Speaker 3 (11:38):

And so that was like the biggest thing for me. So I swore once the summer ended that I was going to do something to give back. And so I'm not a social media guru. I am not the, I don't even dress fancy. I don't even feel like I fit in with like the cool, proud, but I'm like, I'm going to start something. Even if it means that I just pay like out of my own pocket. And so I started, I finished knocking for pest control in September, and then I was like, I'm going to create a coaching program or a coaching platform for women in the industry. And it doesn't matter what the shirt that they're wearing, but I want to teach concepts that could be used in alarms that can be used in Bish that could be used in solar and whatever industry, basically for women.

Speaker 3 (12:19):

Because when we're going into a lot of these teams, a lot of the men are focusing their training. And it's just kind of like we forget about the emotional side. And I used to actually not want women on my team. And I thought, this is a way of me giving back and making up for that mindset that I bought into, of not wanting women on my team. And so in October, when I basically started this platform, I started recruiting, um, women just from different, I don't know, I wasn't recruiting. I basically created this coaching program and I put it out there and I was surprised at how many people I signed up and I wasn't doing it to be rich or anything like that. I think I had like 15 people and, um, I had some from vivid or alarms at some from past and, uh, some from dish and then from solar.

Speaker 3 (13:07):

And I'm coming from the highest summer that I've ever had in pest control, like off of this high, doing financially great. Like everything's great. And I felt like a hypocrite. I'm like, I'm over here, coaching women in the industry. And I only know pest control. So I was like, screw it. I'm going to go and do blitzes, like with everyone, just for it as a learning tool to be a better coach and to be a better mentor. And so I fell flat on my face when it came to alarms and bless the hearts of the people who do alarms. I'm never going to do that again. And then I wanted to dish and I was like, okay, you guys do not get paid enough. This is way too easy. And then I had this one girl who was on this team doing solar and crap. That's probably going to sound crappy on your and try to be on your, on your team.

Speaker 3 (14:02):

Yeah. And so I was like, you know what? Um, this girl had told me that, uh, she was the only girl and, um, no one on her team had made a cell for solar like that month. I, and I literally overheard teaching her concepts about like mental toughness. And the only reason that you're not going to get a deal is because you're not going out there, you know, on the doors. So I was like, all right, well, I've got to go do a blitz, um, with them. And so I ended up going and doing a blitz, um, with their team. And I basically fell flat on my face on, uh, the first three days. And I was like, what am I doing? And, uh, it was basically the competitiveness in me that I was like, there's no way that I can't like make this happen.

Speaker 3 (14:48):

Like I am telling this girl that I am like mentally tough and I can do all these things. Like I'm going to have to figure it out. There was no pitch for solar. There's no manual, there's no nothing. I basically wrote up a pitch. I basically just put everything together and I was all right. Um, and then finally, day three, I set a bunch of appointments before lunch and I ended up closing one and I closed one every day for the next three days. And I left with like 30 grand and was like, Chad, that was a fluke I have to do again. And so I invited a couple of my pest control buddies. We didn't tell anyone, it was just about five of us. And we would meet up every morning, just like we did in pest control. And like, again, there's no training, no nothing.

Speaker 3 (15:30):

We just do like, our role plays with each other. We shared our pitch and then we'd go set appointments before lunch. We were on the doors by like 11:00 AM, like every single or 10 30. And then every day each one of us comes on with a deal and we're going home with like 50 plus K a week, all of us. And I'm like, what? The crap. Yeah. Yeah. And then, um, it was from there that basically my solar journey started, but basically my, uh, female knockers page just kind of like evolved from that mindset. And from that little accident, like I always tell people that I got into solar by accident and hearing them

Speaker 2 (16:06):

Wow, crazy. That's a cool story. And yeah, I mean, it's awesome. You're able to connect and cause I think that's a big issue with like, I don't know, maybe guy manager, stuff like that is maybe the girls feel like they can't understand their perspectives. Point of view. I know that's how it was for me. I brought out my sister-in-law actually, um, she really struggled. I wish this was like three years ago. So I wish, um, you would have been training in the solar space at that time because I was just like, I was like, all right, just get out there, knock harder. Just do it. She was, yeah. I mean, she was pretty emotional girl and I just, I didn't really know what to do. I'm just like, I dunno, just get out there and just go knock doors. So it was rough and um, you know, it didn't have a very good summer and everything, but yeah. What do you think like for you, what you've seen solely as your coach, all these female reps and, um, leading knockers and all that, have you seen that there's like, I don't know, maybe a way that they like to be coached or treated that's different than like the guy reps or what have you seen that? Uh, well I guess from a female perspective,

Speaker 3 (17:18):

Yeah. Well, one we're not teaching the concept of just, uh, how to compartmentalize our emotions because a lot of times we're talking about like women and how emotional we are, but men are just as emotional. But what you guys are really good at is compartmentalizing. Like you guys can put things aside and emotions and just go do what you gotta do. Whereas us as women, that's one thing is just, we're just not being taught how to put our emotions aside for how to put them in a box just for a short time, while we focus on what we need to do in front of us. And so I spent a lot of time just working on the mindset aspect in the sense of like how we compartmentalize, like how we can overcome anxiety, how is it that we can overcome like the negative things that are happening?

Speaker 3 (18:03):

Because once women can figure that out on your teams who like the, the success is going to be endless. And so like my whole goal in female knockers is not to have all of us women knocking on freaking ones on one team. But my whole goal is all of us, no matter what shirt that we're wearing, because we're all gonna ha we're going to be in different phases of our lives. But to be able to have that unity and know like, Hey, I'm going to have someone who's going to understand and have my back and root me on where I'm at exactly where I literally want to be a big sister in the industry for women in every aspect of like, you're there in pest control. Like let's figure out how you can level up in pest control, but you're going to have to start with your emotions.

Speaker 2 (18:46):

Yeah, no, I think that's huge because for me, I don't know if this is wrong, but what I've seen is pretty much any girl that can figure out the emotional part of it. I see them have success like that. The teams I've been on. Cause it's like, I don't know for me, it's like, it seems like people are nicer to girls. It seems like bill here at Mount Moore. Um, I was always jealous of that. I remember doing pest control. I'm like, man, you can get through like way more easier pitch than I can see.

Speaker 3 (19:15):

And it's true. And I focus on the reasons I, I focus on the things that we have a leg up on w w as women in the industry and that we can look at them as like strengths rather than, you know, rather than weaknesses. And I feel like in solar, especially for me, my emotional side and how emotion and like how much emotion I put into, like my deals. Like people feel it, like, it's, it's just a different dynamic than a guy who's just, you know, just going through it.

Speaker 2 (19:42):

Yeah. A hundred percent. But yeah. Um, for you to slowly, do you have any, I dunno, like stories or examples of times where you coach like some girl reps that maybe were struggling or super emotional and I don't know, I wanted to go home, things like that and like specific things you did to turn it around. I don't know if you have any examples of people you've coached or anything like that.

Speaker 3 (20:03):

So I'll be honest. Um, so I've actually had like a, a couple of girls actually just on my team. Um, and, uh, they have been in another industry and they'd been with another company and, um, they basically always do use their emotions and the negativity to get in their cars and to go home and to let it bleed over to the next to the next day. And then we worked together again and I actually had her come out and we started just focusing on all the positive things. We actually took away, all the things that, that was negative for her in her life. And the biggest thing was having a car. The biggest thing was being a driver. It was being the driver and how easy it was for her to be able to get back in the car, get over here, taking that one thing away because we recognize that that was like one of her weaknesses and where, what she would use to be able to, um, let it bleed over to the next day.

Speaker 3 (20:59):

She ended up being one of the top producers this year, just by focusing on that one little thing. Is she still emotional? Yes. Do we still have rough days? Yes. But we were able to see a lot, a lot more success just by taking away a couple of the little things that were triggers for her. And so I, and so a lot of the girls who reach out to me who are having emotional days and things that, that stink, we, we basically just work on, find out like what some of their triggers are. We remove some of those triggers and it just makes it a little bit better to focus on the things that they can control.

Speaker 2 (21:31):

Um, yeah. That I love that I reminds me of that you grid the power of habit, that book they talked about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Super important principle. And it's so true. Um, I think a lot of people struggle with that being the driver and whatnot, but it's like, if you're on a diet, you need to get the Oreos out of the kitchen. Right. Get the stuff that's tempting out of the way. It's not tempting, tempting anymore. This is the same thing. If you're struggling to knock the door or whatever, it might be that trigger, like you're saying, see if you can figure out a way to eliminate it because a lot of people just solves a problem instantly. Yeah. So, yeah. That's powerful. Um, and what about like for guys, let's say you're, um, uh, you know, a guy who's managing a team with girls, um, maybe you seen guys be super successful with it. And what would you say to like, like me, for example, if I manage a team I'm trying to help the ladies out. Um, would you have any tips for like a guy trained to manage the ladies on his team and help them coaching?

Speaker 3 (22:32):

Yeah. It's just going to be like focusing on the little things like, whoa, what a lot of people don't understand. It's like, women are not, we're not like, yes, we're, we're wanting equal pay and all these things, but the little things like really like, matter to us, like a shirt that actually fits a girl, like actually having incentives that doesn't include a freaking wallet. That's just a one or a pocket knife or like the little things just really go a long ways in the sense of like texting and actually calling like what I do and why I don't have a car partners as a leader and in my car, because I also use that time to be able to follow up on reps. Like I'm always like driving in from like an appointment or to a house or whatever. So I'm thinking about that rep who may have had like a bad day.

Speaker 3 (23:22):

And I'm thinking about that girl who talked to me about this and I'll shoot her a text or a call, or like, Hey, how are you feeling today? Like using that time in, that's a focus on the business in front of me, but take care of that. People around me as well. So every night, like when I'm coming home, I'm reaching out to someone on my team to just ask them how their day was to just to ask them like what it is that I can train on that would help them personally. And it's every day it's gonna be like a new rep. And so every one knows that I'm going to reach out and at some point or time and another, and it's just something so small as like calling them regularly and like, Hey, how was your day?

Speaker 2 (23:59):

Hmm. That's awesome. Yeah. How do you like, remember, do you have a system set up to like, I dunno, remember, oh, this is having a hard time or keep track of all their, I dunno how big your team is, but you have, I dunno, a system in place to remember, oh, I need to call this your app. Or they were struggling with this or their numbers are down or you just going to come to you while you're driving.

Speaker 3 (24:20):

So one it's my, I have a good relationship with all the girls that they're just like coming to me, but two, we have a group chat. So like on our group, me, if I see that someone doesn't have a set or if like someone's numbers, like is enough or, um, or it's, I just don't see like any doors knock or anything, like I'll reach out to that person and be like, Hey, what time today? Can I come and knock with you? Or like, Hey, and so I, I, based the day, like when it's, if I have like a no show or an appointment, that's not there, I'll go and look at group me and see who's produced and who isn't. And I'll just start from there. And then at the end of the night, when I am going home, I'm just starting with someone who actually texted me and reached out to me about like an issue or problem or something.

Speaker 2 (25:02):

Okay. I love that. And I like this. I like your point about the little things, the shirts and the incentives and stuff like that. Um, yeah. I didn't even think about that, but I can see why that'd be a big thing. It's like a shirt that fits.

Speaker 3 (25:19):

Yeah. Even just that, like I had some girls come over here from another company and they're like, what? The, like, they're different from them. Like these are actually like women's shirt. And I didn't realize like how big of a deal, like it was to them. And it was literally an $11 shirt.

Speaker 2 (25:36):

Yeah. No, that's true. Yeah. I'm just thinking of, I don't know if you watch the office, do you watch the office? I'm just, I'm just thinking of the one where Michael takes model to them, all the girls, like, like to the mall and take small than Victoria's secret. I remember that upset. So maybe not to that level, but I think that is really important. Just being, um, you know, aware that girls probably, maybe they don't want to go, uh, dirt biking for the day or whatever. Maybe they want to get.

Speaker 3 (26:12):

Maybe they don't want to go on a golfing trip for like a lot of little things.

Speaker 2 (26:18):

Yeah. Yeah, no, that's important. Um, so cool. No, that helps a lot. Um, and yeah, I guess I wanted to ask you too. How many people are you managing right now?

Speaker 3 (26:31):

So at the beginning of this summer, so like our whole team, there was probably for the whole summer, about 35 of us. And, um, so I had another co-manager and then there was like another guy on the team. We're just kind of like, I had recruited him, but he had like a bunch of guys. So we were just because we all came from pests, we just kind of wanted to stick together. And so, yeah, I think he had about a 15 and then I had about 25 of like my own. So we can kind of just like combine and ran the summer together.

Speaker 2 (27:05):

Yeah. Big team. And, and, sorry, I guess I, I know before we started the call here, um, yeah. We're just talking about how you don't like to call yourself the boss and stuff, but you're just almost like,

Speaker 3 (27:17):

Yeah. I like, yeah. I just want to be the sister. Like, even when I have the, the girls like introducing me and we're like, yeah, like this boss you see now my, no, I'm just like a team member. I was like, I never want to look at myself as above them. I truly look at them as like, especially on solar. Like my, my mindset is just a lot different. Like I truly feel that I'm an employee of them, but like, I need to continually like take care of them obviously to take care of myself first. But like they come first.

Speaker 2 (27:49):

Yeah. I'm sure that's a huge key to your success and they can feel, um, you know, that you really care about them. Appreciate them. Um, I'm sure you learned this on your mission and everything, but speaking of missions, I think that was one of the keys to success we saw in like our missions is the more you care about people, the more they're going to respond because it's like, oh, they actually want me to get baptized or whatever. Cause they love me. And they like for like, believe in this.

Speaker 3 (28:18):

Exactly. I probably kept people longer, you know, just because they're not a number then who I should have. And I have like some reps who are super protective of me or just like, why don't you let them leave? Like, you're just too nice. Like you're just like, and this and that. I'm like, Hey guys, it's a G

Speaker 2 (28:34):

Yeah. I know. It's super important though. Like Zig Ziglar says the more people, um, you know, the more people know you care, I forget the quote, but when people see you care, that's how they're gonna, you know, respond to you and, and wanting to do business with you, tune on a team. Yeah. Um, but the point I was, I think what I was going to ask you before I got distracted by that is also like the family aspects of the way. So I know you're a mom. How many kids do you have now?

Speaker 3 (29:04):

So I have three. I have a nine-year-old I haven't about to be an eight year old and then a two year old. Mr.

Speaker 2 (29:11):

Okay. Nice, cute, cute. So that's impressive to me. I'm um, you know, I have one kid right now, one on the way here in a couple of months. And, um, so something that I really respect about you is just being able to do all this and have the level of success that you've been all that cheap. Um, while being a mom for three kids, I don't even know cause I'm with the one kid, I feel like I'm, uh, you know, already not there as much as I need to be and not the best dad at times, things that, so, um, maybe this doesn't apply to everyone who isn't a parent, but how do you manage your time being like a mom and being there for your kids and all that, how do you manage like the family aspect of everything?

Speaker 3 (29:53):

So I'll be honest. And I, one person that I love in this industry is Michael Donal. And, um, one thing that he talks about is seasons. And so I just, I, I no longer, um, you know, have this like guilt of what I used to when I was in pest control and I wouldn't see my kids. So till the, till the evening, but we have the mindset, like my kids understand it. And so to my husband, that there's a season that there's going to be a season for everything. And right now my season is going to be solar. My season is in this industry is basically just like building and being able to set up our family into a position to where that season is going to be just us and still because my, my, my husband is like bought in to like the fact of like seasons. We, we just have like that mindset, like right now, like, like this very second, it's just going to be a season and it's going to end. And I know that there's gonna be a season and a time and a place for me to be with my family and with my kids. And because we both just bought into it, it just, there's no more guilt. Like he's just a thousand percent in. And, uh, it just worked out.

Speaker 2 (31:02):

Yeah, no, that's true. Yeah. I do remember Michael Donald talking about that too. And anyone that has a family, um, that's a topic I love is like the whole work-life balance, but any successful person I hear, they always, they say pretty much the same thing. There's no like balance. There's just gonna be ups and downs, different seasons times when you're focused on different things. Right.

Speaker 3 (31:23):

But when we are with our family, it's like, we are with our family. Like my husband has to intentionally like turn off my phones and put things down and, and things like that. So he's like, okay, this second, the season, this time, this moment is for us. And I'm like, you're right. So it's just about communication and working it together.

Speaker 2 (31:44):

Uh, your husband's name is Walter right of that. What does Walter think of all this is he, uh, I know he's probably used to the old kind of sells life by now, but does he, uh, is he kind of the stay at home dad then while you're off slinging deals? Or how does that,

Speaker 3 (32:00):

Uh, so it's just kinda like funny, cause people are like, well, you know, they'll try to like, get me to talk to like these women who have kids and like try to recruit them and try to do that on my guys. There's, you know, there's hot buttons and not every woman is as mobile as me, or has like a companion who, who is willing to sacrifice. Like my husband was, he had a great job. Like he loved it. He was going to school. He's making like six figures. He was doing all those things. Um, but he saw that my season was going to get us to our end goal a lot sooner. And so when COVID hit and, uh, he just saw how anxious it was going to be for me to worry about a babysitter for our kids, not being at work, the different things like that.

Speaker 3 (32:41):

He decided that his season was to be the best day at home dad. Like he legitimately is a lot more patient of a father. He's a great cook. And he freaking takes care of the house a lot better than me. So, you know, roles are, are, are, are different for everyone. And so he enjoys our kids. He enjoys the season, he enjoys cooking. He enjoys, like, he knows my stats better than me. Like he's always kept spreadsheets. He, he knows what I did from like my first year in pest control. Like it's a sport to him. Like he can tell you which rep that I competed with, which month can tell you, he can tell you which company, which rep has the best rep. And like, he it's like the NBA for him, like thrives off of my life. And so he is just so bought into it that he just saw how much less anxiety that I would have by him doing a great job at home with the kids. So we never questioned me being gone and one parent being home with the kids and he's just an all star stay at home dad. So,

Speaker 2 (33:44):

Wow. He's like the analytic he's he has all this stats and analytics down and it's almost like the side by side announcer for,

Speaker 3 (33:52):

Yeah. He texted me, Rick texted me the other day and was like, Hey, I'm knocking in Nashville. And I know you, I know you slayed it over here. Like, what cities did you do? Well, and I'm like, I have no clue. Give me a sec. I'm going to text the hubby literally in 30 seconds, that hubby texts me a list of places that I did well. And I sent it through and he's like, oh, whoa.

Speaker 2 (34:13):

Oh my gosh. That's incredible.

Speaker 3 (34:16):

So he thrives off of like the door to door industry and he's just the cheerleaders.

Speaker 2 (34:22):

So do you ever come back to him and like, I don't know, a slower day or anything and he'll like, be slinging off the stats, say, you know, how many doors did you talk to? How many homeowners starts going through stats like that to make sure you,

Speaker 3 (34:35):

We would get in arguments. Like it had to get to the point where like, he, because I would be in like competitions for the past and whatnot. And like, I do not pay attention to numbers. That's like one thing about me. Like, I will not look at stats. I will not check them throughout the day. And when I come home, just like, you know, if you would've only did one more account, I'm like, he's secretly like it because he knows that I don't check it. It like stresses him out because he's like wanting you to win. And he knows that I just care less than he knows.

Speaker 2 (35:11):

That's awesome. Here. We might have to have him on the show and go through like the stats to hit, to be successful on the doors or whatever.

Speaker 2 (35:23):

That's awesome. Well, no, that's, that's good. And always helps a ton to have a supportive spouse and, um, you know, be, make sure you're on the same level one to explain to them that their seasons and make the time. Um, yeah, one of our interviews, Ashton, I don't know if you know Ashton Boswell, but, um, he's over like VP of sales at legacy, but that's one of his big secrets. Is he coaches all his reps just on, um, I think he says having him set aside just like one day a week or one evening, a week, go on your date night or whatever. And that's like his big thing. He's like, yeah, he's like set aside one night. Do your date night, take a break from appointments.

Speaker 2 (36:04):

So I thought that was cool. And that's like something, he coaches all of his reps. Like I'm sure whether they're married or not. He's like go on a date or whatever I needed to do that I'm here. So, so, so that's cool. And I love to about hearing about people, is that just the way that their seasons and the ways they make at work? Um, so yeah, speaking of seasons Suli I know before the recording, we were just talking about how you sort of brought the whole pest control idea of the summer sprint over to solar and you guys are obviously crushing it. Um, how, how many deals is your team doing on these like blitzes and stuff? What's like an average blitz. How many deals would you say you guys do?

Speaker 3 (36:42):

So basically my team and a, it was like 136 days. We sold a 4.7 megawatts. Uh, we had 3.9, uh, still in the pipeline to have been installed in. Uh, we've still got 1.9 and that's in a hundred and, uh, 37 knocking days that we have in the summer. So,

Speaker 2 (37:07):

Oh, again, you guys are just in Texas, right? Or any other

Speaker 3 (37:11):

Just in Texas. Yeah, we just, uh, we just traveled different cities here in Texas. We just call ourself the pure blood squad. And, uh, we do, uh, 18 days on and we'd do a full week off and I make people go home. I'm like, I wasn't supposed to run a team. I was literally going to do one week a month for a whole year and call it good. But the whole team thing came by accident and just organically. And I was like, I'm supposed to be traveling. So if I'm going to do this, we're taking a week off and I'm going to go live my life. And so it's why people see a lot of like traveling stuff like throughout the summer. Cause I'm like, because I'm making the schedule I'm choosing even and make people go home. So it's been kind of night.

Speaker 2 (37:52):

Yeah. That's cool. And so you have a house out there in Texas or what's like,

Speaker 3 (37:57):

So we don't, so all of my we've been doing like Airbnbs and so I'm actually closing on a, on a property here, like right now in Texas, because the housing that I've spent on rabbis have just been like crazy. And so I'm basically just setting stuff up to where I'm not having to, to, to worry about housing, but, um, we've been in Airbnbs all summer.

Speaker 2 (38:20):

Okay. And so when you, when you get your house closed on, is that, are you just going to still be traveling around and then go back to your house for that week still?

Speaker 3 (38:29):

Yeah, like literally the like, I'm, I'm kind of like in no man's land, I like our, this property that we're going to get, it's literally going to be a rental. It's literally going to be on Airbnb, like the rest of the year. But during the summer it's going to be used to house reps because I'm cheap and don't want to keep spending 20 grand a month on housing. And so I'm like finding a way to like how's reps. And then like my place in Utah is like rented out and I have tenants on the top and bottom and like, our properties are like rented out and I live nowhere. Like I am like this

Speaker 2 (39:03):

[inaudible]. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (39:05):

And so until I settled down on solar and I kind of want to ride this tax credit, I'm just, I'm just not choosing a place to be, but I'm going to everywhere.

Speaker 2 (39:15):

Yeah. Might as well that's you guys are crushing it. And so like, is this, you're doing it all year round, just this blitz model though, or you just,

Speaker 3 (39:25):

So we weren't supposed to do oppose these. And that was another thing. Like, all this stuff just happens. It's like my team grows and people wants different things. And so we were, I was supposed to be done in August and then I had girls on the team. It was like local. I want to transition into closing or I want to like, get a head start for like next summer. And then it's like, Hey, I want to recruit this person. So basically what my post season is, it's just like, it's, they're just low key vivant schedule where I'm just allowing people to come and test it out. And I'm actually like looking and, and sharpening the sob, like people that I want to be leaders to take over next summer, but I only want to be a summer program. The reason people just still see me working right now is because I'm prepping training and recruiting to set up a good next summer model. Oh,

Speaker 2 (40:09):

Okay. Interesting. That's cool. And I don't, to my knowledge, I don't know if there's anyone else doing just like a pure summer model in solar, is there?

Speaker 3 (40:19):

No, no, no. It's it's, it's why I refuse to let it fail.

Speaker 2 (40:25):

Yeah. Pulling up by the teeth. Um,

Speaker 3 (40:30):

Yeah. So this is my, uh, I'm definitely sharpening things up and putting a lot of things together and place to basically set up for April 1st when we started again. So,

Speaker 2 (40:40):

Yeah. Wow. And yeah, what's incredible is you guys are in this summer, I'm sure you've done more than most like year round solar gummies. Like there's probably not too many year round solar companies that do that for the entire year, let alone a summer. That's incredible. So what's your arguments, I guess. Would that just come from pest control or what's your argument? Why did you even try to just do that when everyone else in the solar industry's doing all year round, what's your argument for this?

Speaker 3 (41:10):

So, because I, I actually dabbled in a couple of solar companies before I came here. And again, like, I, I I'm new to this. It's like, I don't even know what I'm doing. It's why I reached out to so many people in solar before I even started. Because like, I know if I'm coaching people who don't know what they're doing, that I need to be taught and be coached, what I don't know. And from the solar places that I've been and the, and the different companies, what I saw is just, it's just a lot easier to be relaxed when you live in the location that you're knocking. It's why I would never knock in Utah when I was doing pest control. The summer that I did, I spent more time at my auntie's house. I spent more time with my grandparents. I spent more times at barbecue than I did like actually knocking doors.

Speaker 3 (41:55):

And so I just had that same mindset. I was like, look, if I can convince people to leave their homes and come to a place where they have no friends, or they don't have no family members, like, aren't they going to work just a little bit quick? Aren't they just going to work a little bit longer? But the reason I wanted to change it from the way that pest control dynamic was where it was literally just going stay for the full summer is because I felt like there wasn't enough of a break, like mental space, like physical breaks. It was just go, go, go. And I wanted to find like a happy medium. And so I saw when people can see the light sooner, or they can see the end a lot sooner, they're gonna work a little bit harder. So I want it to have end dates every single month that people could be like, look, it's 18 knocking days. Anyone can do anything for 18 knocking days, as opposed to saying, Hey, for 365 days out of the year, and let's just go knock three or four hours every day. Yeah, no, that was what it was for me. I just knew that people were just going to be a lot less laxed when they saw that there was going to be an end date each month. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:02):

No, that makes sense. And yeah, I was telling you before we started the recording, that a lot of this stuff is you're describing like what I do, and I can see that my numbers are just cause in my head, it's like, I'm doing this all year round. I don't need it more than three or four hours a day.

Speaker 3 (43:19):

So we lived there.

Speaker 2 (43:22):

Yeah. And I've seen that. I think that's the curse of the solar industry. Is everyone coming like so many lazy reps, that's the big thing. And then solar understanding, because you won't see this level of laziness in it, like any other door knocking companies, but it's,

Speaker 3 (43:37):

We also like miss out on a lot of things too. Right. There's some people who just need like an extra week to think about it or like, so I feel like we have lost some deals because it's like we are coming in and going from like different cities that we basically set up appointments for like other solar companies to come in and take a bath, you know? So the it's pros and cons, I feel like.

Speaker 2 (44:01):

Yeah. Yeah, no, that's true. But yeah. I mean, it's just like, if you can get in there close the deals, um, you guys do a lot of like same day appointments. Do things like that as your,

Speaker 3 (44:12):

Especially. Yes. Like it's like same day or die. It's like same day next day. And like, period. And I just, I just incentivize like so much on same day as the next days that it just like, we, we push it like so hard.

Speaker 2 (44:25):

Yeah. No, I think it's no secret. I think that's how people do high numbers. Um, in solar that's all Mo fall. I don't know if, you know, morphology keep bringing up these successful people in the industry, but that's basically, I think what he did do, he just brought over what was working in alarms and other industries and apply it at a solar. And now they're doing a similar thing to you blitz and all over the place. And I'm just working hours,

Speaker 3 (44:49):

Same day tips. I, I remember listening to, I was like, this is money if people aren't doing this and solar they're.

Speaker 2 (44:56):

Yeah. It helps that done. So, yeah. Um, how would you, like, I dunno, maybe someone that's used to working just a year round model, um, like myself I'm use, I'll be honest. I haven't knocked more than probably four or five hours in a day for, I don't know, probably like six months at least just because that's what I get, you know, book my same day or whatever. And I'm like, sweet. I'm off the doors. Just hit up that appointment, go close it. And so how do you turn around? I don't know if you've brought in recruited people that are used to that model and maybe have some, uh, laziness in them of not knocking as much and coming out and doing a blitz. Do you have any tips for like how to break that or how to, um, shift that mindset to going to like a blitz model versus just doing like three, four hours a day? Maybe like you're used to as a year-round rep.

Speaker 3 (45:46):

Yeah. So it's hard. I'm actually dealing with that. Like right now it was like people who've been doing like your and, and stuff like that. And so I basically managed the expectation and it's why I like the Airbnb model because I let my reps know at the very beginning, like, Hey, these 18 days are for you to judge me. And for me to judge you at the end of the 18 days, you know, if you feel like this is the team for you, if you feel like, great, Hey, like we're going to move on to the next blitz. But it's also for me to be like, Hey, if I feel like your negativity or your mindset, or you're just not adding value to this team being, it allows me to be able to be like, Hey, the Airbnb ends at this date. Like, that's it.

Speaker 3 (46:25):

And it's one of the biggest reasons why I want it to have Airbnbs because I just didn't know how well these people were coming and going and what the dynamics would look like. So for one, letting them know that at the very beginning that, Hey, every single blitz is a trial and at the end of the 18 days, if we're going to work together and it's going to be great, Hey, I'll book you another Airbnb. But if it's not, we're going to have to part ways and be friends. And so when people have that expectation that every blitz was going to be a trial and that there was a certain amount of kilowatts. So I actually, every single month in order to not be charged their rent back, they had to hit certain milestones. And so people were always doing at least the minimum and that's all I required minimum as well as a positive attitude.

Speaker 3 (47:08):

And if they have those two things they could keep coming on. And so when I have like some of the, the year round reps are coming in and they're like, holy cow, I've never knocked six hours in a day. And like, not like, I'm not sure if this is for me. And so it makes it to where the expectations are already there and they can approach me. And I don't have to be the bad guy about like, this is what our team is prepping for next summer. If it works great. If not the solar industry is endless and plenty of people will take.

Speaker 2 (47:37):

Sure, sure. No, I think that's so important though. In so many solar companies, aren't doing that setting expectations with their reps, especially your own well, yeah, as most companies are a year round, I think that's super important for our listeners. Even if, um, you know, maybe you are doing three, four hours, but set the expectations, the milestones that people need to hit, because it's like, you can go get mad at them for not producing, but if they didn't know they needed to close two deals that week or whatever it was then, I mean, how can you get mad at them? You know, they didn't know what the expectation was. Yes.

Speaker 3 (48:10):

Yeah. People milestones and give them a, give them something to work towards or else there's going to be like, you know, there has to be like consequences or there has to be something in order to hurt a little bit.

Speaker 2 (48:19):

Yeah, definitely. And um, yeah, no, we'll, we'll, uh, we're running a little bit short on time. Don't want to keep you super late. I know we're going on like 10 o'clock there your time, which you said you're a night out, so that's cool. Um, but yeah, last couple of things. So we what's your guys' schedule for a blitz. What is your, I know you're saying 18 days on then a week off. What's like your schedule during that Boyd, do you have meetings every day? Or what does that look like?

Speaker 3 (48:45):

Oh yeah. Like that's like a big thing. Like when I brought other people, they're like you guys meet every day and I'm like, you don't, you guys even learn. So we, uh, we basically meet at 10:00 AM. Every single morning. We train from 10 to 10 45, our reps around the doors between 11 and 1130. We knocked from 1130, till three o'clock. Then we have lunch from three o'clock to four o'clock and then they're knocking from four o'clock to dark Monday through Friday. And then on Saturdays, we only not sell four o'clock now. And then Sundays, no one works unless they want to.

Speaker 2 (49:20):

Okay. Awesome. Now, are you, uh, for meetings, you guys swap and trainings or, uh, do you kind of run it?

Speaker 3 (49:28):

No, it's never a guessing game. Like there's some I'm OCD and, uh, that's one thing with women, women, uh, of reps. They, they want to know that there's a little bit of a structure and I feel like I kind of overly structured. So to go into those meetings where like, Hey guys, what do you guys want to learn about today? What do you guys want to look like one it's showing your team that you don't really care. You didn't really put a lot of effort and thought into what it was that they were struggling in the day before. So me and my other co managers, yes. Each single day, we would have like, one of our lead, our lead setters would take one day. We would take a day, uh, and, uh, we would rotate. And so every single day there was going to be a planned lesson, a planned discussion.

Speaker 3 (50:10):

We going to make sure every single day that everyone had time to be able to role play, but we would have a concept every single day. And then we would incentivize on the doors based on those concepts. Hey, if you go and do like this concept that we taught today or whatnot, you're going to be able to receive XYZ. So every single day we are training, we are role playing. Um, I just don't believe in this once a week, zoom meeting that a lot of solar companies do and just kind of like let their reps come and go like, yeah,

Speaker 2 (50:39):

Yeah, no, that's, I think that's super important. I noticed that too, actually, I'm with, uh, um, Jason newbie in his squad if you know him, but that's one of the things that he brought over the, I saw like an instant boost in people's numbers. It's just like meeting, because number, I think in my opinion, the main purposes, if you meet people are gonna actually gonna go out and work, right. Like if you're not going to meet the likelihood that people drag themselves out and actually go out like way lower. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (51:10):

Girls it's like, how do you get out of your car? Like, how do you get to area? Like, how do you do all these things? And like, the biggest thing is they're meeting once a week, so It's not their fault, but

Speaker 2 (51:23):

Yeah, no, it's because yeah, I brought other people on that are seen way more success do meaning every day. And it's like, you show up, you got your game clothes on, you got your, a game base, you just get in the right mindset versus you trying to drag yourself out and, and, uh, do it all yourself. So I think that's a big secret for people that are managing teams are trained to boost their numbers, maybe consider meeting everyday, or just doing mini blitzes. Because I think that might be the future. I'm seeing almost more and more people I bring on, even if they are year round, they're doing mini blitzes like that throughout the year and going to different areas and mixing it up because yeah, it is, it is tough.

Speaker 3 (52:02):

So makes it more fun. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:05):

Well, Zoe, um, we appreciate you coming on the show and, um, don't want to take up your entire evening. Hopefully you got some dinner. Um, but if people want to find out more about, I know you got your own podcast and everything, so do you want to tell people where they can find out more about you and possibly, I dunno, I dunno if you're still running coaching or whatever you're doing. So let's hear about that.

Speaker 3 (52:28):

So you can find me on female knockers, uh, unite. Uh, I do do coaching, but since solar was just so new and I feel like I'm just trying to put like so many things together for me. I want to be intentional. Um, and so right now I'm just doing a lot more educating just on my female page, my female knockers, you can I'm uh, also my podcast is sales with Suli twice a month, every single month I'll drop some nuggets. Uh, basically the same thing that I teach in some of my coaching calls, um, and things like that. And so, um, you can find me on Spotify and all the same spots. So you can find Taylor for pretty much.

Speaker 2 (53:06):

No. Yeah. Awesome podcasts. I've been listening to them. They are. So, um, yeah, they play it at home. Guys can listen to them too. Right. It's not just girls.

Speaker 3 (53:16):

I have them episodes in there just for the guys. So check out the title.

Speaker 2 (53:20):

Yeah. And I fall a female knockers United page. So I think guys got me if I'm wrong, I guys are allowed to fall that through. Right.

Speaker 3 (53:28):

It's an open public

Speaker 2 (53:33):

Gopal that is dropping in great content in there. And yeah, I learned a ton from her podcasts and stuff. She shares, so go shoot or a follow. So I slowly thanks for coming on today. And before we let you go, do you have any, like, I dunno, final tips or things you wish you knew first getting in solar industry that you want to share with our solar printers before we say goodbye here.

Speaker 3 (53:52):

Yes. Definitely find people who have content. I remember the first solar company that I started with one, they basically gave everyone two shirts because they basically planned on you or one shirt because they planned on you never coming back. So that's already like a red flag for me. Um, but two, if you're going to find someone who is going to train you, who is going to basically teach you from a to Z exactly what to do, you're definitely going to find success, just control the controllables and just focus on the little things. It doesn't matter which industry you're in. You're going to find success. If you just focus on the things you can control. So no,

Speaker 2 (54:28):

I appreciate that. So guys, go give Sulia follow control. The things you can control, like she just mentioned and make sure you find a good mentor. Cause I think those are the keys to having success in the industry for sure. And have meetings every day.

Speaker 3 (54:42):

Yeah. Thanks so much Taylor for having me like literally, I, I I've found rolled your, your podcast for like a while. It's literally one of the reasons that I have the success that I do and I, I share your podcasts with everyone.

Speaker 2 (54:55):

Uh, thank you so much. That means a ton then that's like why I've kept it going. So I love hearing comments like that. Appreciate you Suli. So go give Suli follow and Suli we'll be in touch. Thanks again for coming on the show. Have

Speaker 3 (55:07):

A good one. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (55:10):

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