Skyler, Kyle, thank you so much for joining us, today! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to the Solar Energy Industry?
Skyler- “Well, I guess I can start that one off! First off, thank you for having us here. We’re excited to share our story for anyone who’s out there listening.
For me, it started at a very young age that I found out that I loved selling, and I loved being a part of door to door teams.
I have been focused on direct sales and personal development since I was 18, from alarm systems to coaching programs, to pest control… I traveled all over the country, learning from the best about what it took to sell a lot and to teach others how to do the same.
But, it was not until I came across the product that is solar energy, that blew me away because of how much a no-brainer, not only for the customers savings, but on so many different levels.
So, yeah in 2014 I built a solar sales team in AZ that was able to do a great job over the 3 years that I was there. The team was amazing, I was surrounded by incredible leaders, and I was really happy and proud of what we were able to get done.
We wiped over ten thousand tons of CO2 over those 3 years, which over time has been the number that has really come to matter the most to me.
Despite how much I had accomplished with this company, I was feeling limited by management team and I had a vision for something more for myself, my wife and kids, for my team, and for my customers. I started considering how I could fix all the problems that I was experiencing and also build something that would impact the lives of many and fulfill my desire to make an impact on as many lives as possible.
So, all those things being said I had the pleasure of working with Kyle in the past, and when I was thinking about who I wanted to build a company with, Kyle was one of the first people that came to mind. I called him, he was ready to go, and as they say the rest was history.”
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your company?
Kyle – “Skyler is a dad and he’s all boring now so I’ll take this one! Culture is such a HUGE part of what we do with our team.
Going door to door everyday, getting doors slammed in your face, getting rejection after rejection… it can be really tough on a person’s psychology if it’s not complemented with an incredible team culture and good leadership.
So, one of the most epic things we’ve done since getting started is going out to Grand Lake in Colorado as a team. We were whipping snow mobiles, shredding black diamond slopes, and then the best part was being able to connect with the team at the cabin.
Typically, knocking on doors for solar is a summer gig, so we really wanted to reward the guys that have been crushing it during what others call the off season. Super fun and I know we have a lot more trips planned.”
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Skyler – “Honestly, the funniest mistake I made coming up was selling stuff that did not fuel my soul with passion.
I’ve sold pest control, alarms, you name it, and I did it happily because of the people around me and the money I was making… But looking back, it’s pretty unfulfilling to think about my legacy being in providing high quality pest control haha.
Yeah, I mean the lesson is to do things that fire you up. I have never worked as hard as I have since starting Zoetic Solar, I’ve never gotten so fired up talking about a product like solar. Life is just better when you do something that’s aligned with something that you believe in.
If you think about it, there are millions of people that work tremendously hard for something that they believe in and don’t get paid very much.
We live in a world where the things that do good for the world, aren’t going to make you a lot of money, yet these are some of the happiest people on the planet.
So, to be able to provide a solution like solar energy where the customer is happy, the planet is a better place, and the rep is happy and fulfilled, that is a hell of an opportunity to me. Whatever it is for you, find your passion and have the self awareness to realize if you’re doing something you don’t believe in. “
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Kyle – “Our training. Sky and I have had the opportunity to attract some of the most impressive leaders and people that we have ever met.
We have a great process, a cool brand, awesome culture, amazing talent… But all of those things are useless if you don’t have a confident and a trained group of consultants that are going to provide their best for their customers.
Our training has proven time and time again that all you need is a smile, two legs, and the will to succeed for people to be successful with us.
We have been able to develop individuals that had no business knocking on doors to sell a state of the art technology, but they do, and they do it very well.
I definitely credit that to how intentional we are about training and getting programs like Straight Line Persuasion by Jordan Belfort into the hands of anyone who wants to grow and get better.”
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Skyler – “I would remind them that Rome wasn’t built in one day. Stay patient, trust the process and be consistent.
I use to think that it only took one good month to propel you to success when really it takes a compilation of many smaller accomplishments that build momentum and create ultimate success.”
Kyle – “Yeah and I would add that it so crucial to control the controllables.
In direct sales a lot of us will want to set high sales goals, which is great and something we should all aspire to do… But that is something that is totally contingent on other people’s cooperation.
No matter how good you are, we all have bad weeks and weeks where things just do not work out the way we want them to.
So, instead of driving myself crazy over my sales goals, I’ve learned to trust the process of hitting the metrics that are completely in my control. Like how many doors I can knock on or how many conversations I can have in week.
Those types of goals are just contingent of my effort and will power, and I am a lot more likely to hit goals like that, and when you are able to start stacking wins, things tend to go in your favor.”
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Skyler – “My wife has helped and believed in ways that I will always be grateful for.
She pushes me to be more of who I really am. She sees me as the person that I have the potential to be, and pushes me to show up and be that guy everyday. She’s been a huge influence in my career.”
Kyle – ”Yeah you know, I was a pretty free spirit early traveling to Europe, Central America, Hawaiian islands, growing up.
I love participating in just about every adventure sport from sport bikes, to wake-boarding, to skateboarding, hiking, skydiving, salsa dancing, to skiing always looking for adventure.
My dad helped me channel a lot of that energy and passion when I started at 16 years old working at my dads garage door company.
I quickly learned a good work ethic, staying organized, serving customers, operations, management culture, and ultimately a lot of lessons that I attribute a lot of my success to.”
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Skyler – “Yeah I mean that’s the best part about what we do. Pretty much every facet of our company brings goodness to the world.
I believe we offer an incredible opportunity for people young and old to do something that they can get passionate about and make good money in the process, while developing mentally, physically, and emotionally.
We provide a solution for homeowners that saves them tens of thousands of dollars.
I’ve seen what solar can do for families and it blows me away, no money down, short and long term savings, our customers are taken care of – then finally, the environmental impact.
The work we have done has led to thousands and thousands of tons of CO2 wiped off the face of the planet.
Reducing that much CO2 has so many different types of implications for our planet, and it just feels really good to be a part of the solution to a big problem like climate change.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?
Kyle – ‘Manage your state. This is relevant because whenever I experience adversity, It helps me shift my mindset from negative to positive.
Anything that happens on my journey to success is all part of the process and will make me a stronger person in the end. We are in a state in every given moment.
Sometimes it’s an excited state, or a depressed one, or just even keel… I’ve seen this quote play out in my life countless times, because if we can manage our state in all the different types of situations we encounter, then we really give ourselves a chance to live our most ideal lives.
Life is not so much about your circumstances as much as it is how you react to the circumstances and how you are able to manager your state because of it.
You guys are persons of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Kyle and Skyler – “GO SOLAR”. Skyler, “Haha, yeah I mean, as the next generation of consumers and producers, we have a responsibility that was bestowed upon us to really take care of the planet.
Maybe you can’t go solar but you can definitely switch the lights off behind you. You can definitely get a reusable water bottle. You can definitely turn the sink off when you’re not using it. We can all do the little things that go a long way.
So, If I could start a movement it would be one that can help people realize that we can all do our part to have a positive impact on the environment we all live in.
This is the only planet we got, and I plan on keeping it safe, green, and beautiful, sometimes that’s all I can think about when I have my kid in my arms.” Kyle – “Yeah, Sky nailed it. What’s cool is I think that the movement has already started with the inception of Zoetic Solar, we’re just getting started.”
How can our readers follow you on social media?
@zoeticsolar @zoetic.tribe @skyreflected @kyledavidmoffitt