SMP 59: Lessons Learned from Clean Energy Entrepreneur Laura Taylor, CEO and Founder of Silverline Communications

  Episode Summary We released today Solar Maverick Podcast-Episode 59: Lessons Learned from Clean Energy Entrepreneur Laura Taylor, CEO and Founder of Silverline Communications. Laura Taylor discusses the journey over the last ten years of her company, Silverline Communications, an integrated marketing and PR agency focused on clean and emerging tech. She also shares her perspectives on the importance of mentorship and diversity within the clean energy market, and why public relations and branding is vitally important for the renewable energy industry. Laura also talks about The Cleanie Awards, the first-of-its-kind industry award designed to recognize innovators in the clean energy community.   Benoy Thanjan Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy, as well as an advisor for several solar startup companies. Reneu Energy is a premier international solar energy consulting firm and developer, and the company focuses on developing commercial and industrial solar, as well as utility-scale solar plus storage projects. The company also sources financing for solar projects and hedges both energy and environmental commodities. Reneu Energy has brokered $27 million in environmental commodity transactions.   Benoy received his first experience in Finance as an intern at D.E. Shaw & Co., which is a global investment firm with 37 billion dollars in investment capital. Before founding Reneu Energy, he was the SREC Trader in the Project Finance Group for SolarCity, which merged with Tesla in 2016. He originated SREC trades with buyers and co-developed their SREC monetization and hedging strategy with the senior management of SolarCity, to move into the east coast markets. Benoy also worked at Vanguard Energy Partners, Ridgewood Renewable Power, and Deloitte & Touche.   Laura Taylor Laura Taylor is Founder and CEO of Silverline Communications, a nimble, full-service integrated communications agency uniquely focused on the B2B technology sector. As CEO of Silverline, Laura counsels a wide portfolio of enterprises, crafting impactful communications programs tailored to engage and influence key stakeholders and ultimately, drive measurable growth. Previous to Silverline, Laura co-founded and led global and national practice areas and served in management roles with regional high-growth ventures, accumulating over $1 billion in funding. During her tenure at Edelman, she was a founding leader of the agency’s award-winning global clean technology practice. In three short years, Laura led a team that grew the division from zero to a multi-million-dollar, international practice. A few years later, Laura built a clean technology division for Omnicom from the ground up. After establishing programs at the world’s largest and most prestigious public relations agencies, she founded Silverline Communications in 2009. In addition to leading Silverline, Laura continues to innovate and seek opportunities to contribute to the clean energy sector. After realizing a severe shortage of clean tech industry award recognition, Laura launched The Cleanie Awards® in 2018 to highlight notable individuals and companies in the industry. She is a frequent Forbes contributor and serves as Chairwoman on myriad Boards, including Potential Energy DC, CleanTech Open Southeast, and Solas Nua Theatre Company. Past speaking engagements include the Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit and the Energy Storage Annual Conference and Expo.   Insights from this episode: Details of Laura’s passion to be an entrepreneur and how optimism has shaped her journey. Benefits of being a mentor and making an impact in the lives of other entrepreneurs.  Strategies Laura employed to win support for Silverline Communications in the company’s early days. How to brand companies as they mature in the clean technology market by changing focus and visibility. Secrets to successful branding, including marketing and production.  Details on how The Cleanie Awards grew to become one of the most prestigious awards in renewable energy.    Quotes from the show: “If you think about the what ifs too long, you’re just going to sit in the corner, you’re never going to get it (your goals) done.” – Laura Taylor, Episode #59 “I'm an external optimist who doesn't dwell on failure.  We plan for it, but we don't dwell on it.” – Laura Taylor, Episode #59 ”I feel like very successful people are able to learn from failure and then adjust and adapt.” – Benoy Thanjan, Episode #59 On the expansion of the solar market: “Everything is changing so quickly, and it is so globalized, there’s no real borders or boundaries.” – Benoy Thanjan, Episode #59 On being a mentor: “I’m very interested in women and making sure that women feel supported within the clean energy community and outside of the clean energy community.” – Laura Taylor, Episode #59 On working with clients over time: “It is so wonderful to see them (now) engaging in the Wall Street aspect, in the finance aspect.” – Laura Taylor, Episode #59 On the urgent need to combat climate change: “How do we work within this global economy to keep things churning and not burning?” – Laura Taylor, Episode #59   “Personal branding is very important and people really want to see and listen to the people they are doing business with.” – Benoy Thanjan, Episode #59  “I think the Midwest (United States), for renewable energy, is one of the next big markets.” – Benoy Thanjan, Episode #59 “That’s us (Silverline Communications) in a nutshell: just tech geeks.” – Laura Taylor, Episode #59 On accomplishment: “You never say never … there’s always a little twist on the adventure.” – Laura Taylor, Episode #59 Resources Mentioned: The Cleanie Awards After noticing there was a severe shortage of industry recognition honoring the efforts of those making a positive impact, The Cleanie Awards was established to amplify innovation stories in cleantech and shine a spotlight on funders to global market movers shaping the industry.  Sponsorship Information: We would like to thank Silverline Communications for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. Sillverline Communications, an integrated marketing and PR agency focused on clean and emerging tech, is headquartered in DC with satellite offices in Chicago and Salt Lake City. What defines them? They are: Independent. Agile. Absolutely invested in their clients and their teams. They are storytellers and connectors at heart, grounding programs with insights to achieve real business objectives and shape outcomes that influence markets and policy. They use every tool in the communication arsenal to translate complex ideas into breakthrough campaigns that drive stakeholder action. The team that gets it done? Silverline Communications. Strategic, smart professionals with unrivaled expertise in energy, policy and emerging technologies. In short: They know their stuff. They believe in what they do. They believe in what their clients do. When their clients succeed, the world is a better place. To learn more about Silverline, go to teamsilverline.com. You can reach Silverline at 703-286-5500 or [email protected].   Stay Connected: Benoy Thanjan Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: @bthanjan Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com   Laura Taylor LinkedIn: Laura Taylor Website: Team Silverline Communications Twitter: @SilverlineComms   Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on itunes, Podbean and youtube.  This episode was produced and managed by  Podcast Laundry (www.podcastlaundry.com)