Jimmy Esparza – CEO of Renewable Power USA | The Future Of Renewable Energy

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About The Guest

Talking Points

• 00:00 — Intro
• 03:02 — Jimmy Esparza’s origin story
• 07:15 — What impact did the struggle of Jimmy’s family have on his thought process?
• 09:09 — Why did Jimmy start with a door-to-door solar job?
• 17:25 — How did Jimmy pivot from working for a salary to starting his own entrepreneurial venture?
• 26:03 — What were Jimmy’s first steps towards success?
• 29:51 — Is Jimmy Esparza a pure reseller?
• 30:26 — How did Jimmy Esparza find the right support to service customers and give them a premium experience?
• 32:20 — Where is the solar industry now?
• 36:00 — Do solar panels completely replace the energy being used from the city?
• 37:04 — What is the cost of solar panels and how do they help the customer?
• 39:57 — What will be the payoff if a person is financing solar?
• 41:52 — Jimmy’s thoughts on relying on solar without sun for a period of time?
• 47:27 — Are solar panels the best possible replacement for fossil fuel?
• 48:52 — What are the problems Jimmy faces as a CEO of a solar company?
• 50:00 — Do the big groups lobby on behalf of solar for more incentives for consumers?
• 50:42 — Who else is making innovations in the solar industry?
• 52:58 — Why is personal branding essential in Jimmy’s opinion?
• 55:54 — What was Jimmy’s strategy on day one of posting on social media and how did he gain confidence?
• 58:52 — Where does Jimmy Esparza want to see his company in the next 5 to 10 years?
• 1:05:34 — How can people connect with Jimmy Esparza?
• 1:06:08 — What are the 5 things that are keeping Jimmy up at night?
• 1:09:30 — How does Jimmy manage his time for his family?
• 1:13:46 — What was the biggest challenge Jimmy Esparza faced in his personal or professional life?
• 1:18:20 — If Jimmy had to choose one person in his life who had a great impact on him, who would that person be?
• 1:19:46 — A book or podcast recommended by Jimmy Esparza
• 1:24:32 — What would Jimmy Esparza tell his 20-year-old self?
• 1:25:32 — What does success mean to Jimmy Esparza?

Show Links

• https://www.instagram.com/jimmyesparzaofficial/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-esparza-667b7b123/
• https://www.renewablepowerusa.com/

Podcast & Newsletter Sponsors

• HUBSPOT – http://hubspot.com/successpod/
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What is the Success Story Podcast?

On this podcast, you’ll find interviews, Q&A, keynote presentations & conversations on sales, marketing, business, startups, and entrepreneurship.

The podcast is hosted by entrepreneur, business executive, author, educator & speaker, Scott D. Clary.

Scott will discuss some of the lessons he’s learned over his own career, as well as have candid interviews with execs, celebrities, notable figures, and politicians. All who have achieved success through both wins and losses, to learn more about their life, their ideas, and insights.

He sits down with leaders and mentors and unpacks their stories to help pass those lessons on to others through both experiences and tactical strategies for business professionals, entrepreneurs, and everyone in between.

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Contact: Scott D. Clary MBA |416-522-5622 | scott@scottdclary.com

Machine Generated Transcript

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

people, customer, solar, business, big, ceo, industry, company, sales, easy, family, job, grow, renewable power, build, create, mom, success, battery, hiring

SPEAKERS

Scott D Clary, Jimmy Esparza

 

00:03

Welcome to spinsters a basketball podcast about basketball. I’m Haley O’Shaughnessy, and I’m Jordan Mulligan. Each week we bring in guests that range from our very best friends to former general managers to actors and directors to current and former players, or the girlies as we were talking about trade rumors and game breakdowns, yes. But also this doesn’t really care about like the cow crews my bleaching his hair actually derail his time with the Lakers. Listen every Tuesday and Thursday to spinsters wherever you get your podcast.

 

Scott D Clary  00:36

Welcome to success story, the most useful podcast in the world. I’m your host, Scott D. Clary. The success story podcast is part of the blue wire podcast network, as well as the HubSpot podcast network that’s about Podcast Network has other great podcasts like marketing made simple hosted by Dr. Jay J. Peterson. Now Marketing made simple brings you practical tips to make your marketing easy, and more importantly, make it work. If you’d like any of these topics, you definitely want to go check out the show how to write and deliver a captivating speech, how to market yourself into a new job, how design can help and also hurt your revenue, creating a social media ad strategy that actually works. If these topics resonate with you. Go check out marketing made simple wherever you get your podcasts. Today, my guest is Jimmy as far as Jimmy was born in Los Angeles after his family risked everything and came over from Mexico after working for major companies in the solar industry since 2017. Jimmy created the company, renewable power USA, renewable power USA has expanded to include several service areas and warehouses ready to serve its customers in Arizona, Southern California, Ontario, Dallas, North Carolina, Orlando and Miami. Now Jimmy didn’t just build any other renewable power company. Jimmy built renewable power USA to the point where it appeared in magazines such as Forbes, wealth insider, American weekly, and Ink Magazine. And during the 44th position of inc 5000, the 5000 fastest growing companies in the USA. So I sat down with Jim and he spoke about his entrepreneurial journey we spoke about some things to do with solar and renewable energy. We spoke about replacing traditional energy sources with solar we spoke about how the solar industry has evolved, how he’s basically been on the bleeding edge of the solar industry ever since he started renewable power USA. We spoke about whether or not solar can even replace 100% of existing power options. And then we spoke about business. So how did he differentiate himself? How did he grow his company so successfully, and hit the Inc 5000 list and hit pretty high up on the Inc 5000 list. We spoke about building an award winning sales team. Some of the strategies he uses to close deals, which obviously allowed him to successfully scale his company. And then we spoke about how he used community niching down and customer service to succeed at sale something that we may not always explore but some different strategies and some tactics that he used to build a multi million dollar renewable energy behemoth so let’s jump right into it. This is Jimmy as far as he is the founder and CEO of renewable power USA

 

Jimmy Esparza  03:39

so a little bit about myself where we come from. We come from actually my family is from Mexico. My mom is from Tijuana Mexico. My dad is from Sinaloa, Mexico. And a little bit of of their background. My dad, my dad comes from construction. So he’s a construction worker, labor worker. My my grandpa from the side of my, my mom, he’s actually he was a business owner, he still have a body shop in Mexico in Tijuana. So I never actually I met him once when I was a baby. But then I can’t really recall too much about him. So it was a small business. You know, he we didn’t really have a background from, you know, from, you know, scaling a, you know, multimillion dollar business or nothing like that. I would just hear stories from my mom talking about Yeah, my, you know, your grandpa was so cool because he was on business. And then when I was and then as we grew up, we my mom, my mom crossed with legally to the United States, but my dad and my grandma, his mom actually crossed illegally to here to the United States, to obviously, you know, find a better opportunity compared to how it was in Mexico.

 

Scott D Clary  04:51

Why they have to do that though. Why? Why could one cross legally and the rest couldn’t?

 

Jimmy Esparza  04:55

Um, I believe that the reason that they took that initiative is Because I my my grandma was running away from from my, my grandpa, you know, I guess it was like a chaotic situation. You know, she she didn’t want to be in that position anymore. And he walked away as well. So she needed a race and two kids, you know, so it was tough where where she was from, it’s a small village in Mexico. So there’s, there is work opportunities, but it was just extremely hard for her to to raise two kids, you know, so all my respects to my grandma, honestly, I love her. And she’s such a hard worker, and, you know, so she made the decision, you know, somebody asked her, do you want to come and work out here into the United States, you know, and you could really raise your child’s and, you know, provide for what they need. And she decided to go, you know, she’s

 

Scott D Clary  05:43

rescued and go and just, yeah,

 

Jimmy Esparza  05:45

yeah, she decided to make a risk and come to United States. And then she started, like, she literally became, you know, she became legal. And then, you know, my dad did as well, you know, my dad lived in Mexico. And then when he was older, and he was able to actually work, then he came to the United States, after my grandma, and, and this was in Los Angeles, California. And that’s where he met my mom. So that’s, my mom came across from Tijuana, Mexico, and that’s where they met. And that’s where I was born, actually.

 

Scott D Clary  06:18

Amazing. So that’s, that’s why so that’s why your, your dad and your and your grandma, there was pure risk, it was pure risk. They didn’t know like, what was gonna happen, what was going to end up, it was just, you know, trying to make the best decision for the family at that point.

 

Jimmy Esparza  06:33

Absolutely. She was in a point where it’s like, I have two kids, you know, and I’m responsible for them. So I don’t see a way where I could really give them what they need, you know, what the jobs opportunities that were there, smaller, mentioned that it was a town where it’s in the mountains, you know, there’s just a few things that you could do there. And she she really wanted the best for them, you know, so she had to make the risk and just

 

Scott D Clary  07:00

go for it. And what’s so what’s the opportunity once you get to La so what are they what do they do now?

 

Jimmy Esparza  07:05

So she she was a she was working in a manufactured they? I believe from the conversations I have with her she will used to work with Lacoste. So it was like, you know, the polo shirts, yeah. So they were actually manufacture the, the some of their clothing and other brands as well. So she was in the manufacturing area. And then and then my dad was once he was able to work he was in making they will make it was manufacturing. So that will create a parts for airplanes, and helicopters and all this stuff in them. And Los Angeles when he was able when he was around, like I will say like 22 years old. And then that’s where my mom and dad actually met, you know, on his engine. So

 

Scott D Clary  07:50

did you now, learning this story, the impact? Did it impact you at a young age, in terms of understanding the opportunity that you had, and, and how you wanted to carve out your career and the different things that you wanted to try out. Like when you hear the story of somebody risking their whole life? To give you the best possible opportunity? What does that imprint in your mind?

 

Jimmy Esparza  08:14

100% man, and I could I could remember this conversation I had with one of my family members, actually my cousin and now and we were discussing how, you know, sometimes in business things are rough. Right? You know, we, at the time when I had that conversation with him, we were doing door to door sales, right? So it’s like, it’s tough, right? It’s not easy. And we just heard we’re having a couple of drinks and we’re just like, hey man, like you know, it’s we deal with customers we deal with building a team we build with you know, some of the business aspects. And I don’t want to say complaining we’re just discussing, you know, some of the issues and it was a you know, it was tough. And I remember like going back to you know, to to the history of our family tree and I remember I had a conversation with him I told him Hey man like to be straight to really straight up with you like I think we’re just whining and we’re complaining because we go back to you know, to look at our family and what they actually went through to actually just for us to be to be from the United States you know, like it’s it’s insane and for us to be sitting here now and and talking about like oh man, things are tough things are wrong. I

 

Scott D Clary  09:19

didn’t close a sale while you’re over drinks at the end of the day, right?

 

Jimmy Esparza  09:22

Exactly. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So yeah, you know, I think I go back to that story is like man like you think you have a tough like No, no, like get your ass to work and you know what in some work and stop complaining, you know, and get it done. So I think that that’s something that that does pushes me and it gives me like a relaxed reality check when I think things are, you know, a little complicated then.

 

Scott D Clary  09:44

It always sort of it always centers you like, like, first of all door to door sales. By most people’s standards is like the the hardest job you could possibly do. But I think it’s because a lot of people were born not from hard circumstances because to have Have the have the proof. It’s so it’s so incredible. Like, are you think about where your grandma and your dad came from? And what they risked? And now, like, the risk that you’re having at your age is like, and and with your business, it’s not like, should I change countries to save my family? It’s like, Okay, should I put x, you know, hundreds 1000s of dollars into this campaign or that, and completely, it’s a one ad. And it really is. It’s like it gives me like, it gives me like goosebumps to think about like, like, some of the things that other people went through. And I don’t come from this background so I can only I can only commend because I don’t have the experience. But it’s it’s very, it’s, it’s, it’s incredible. It’s absolutely incredible. How as you as you went out into your career, you started you started with door to door solar. Why? Why in the world, would you ever take a door to door solar job? That sounds horrible. It sounds like a really shitty job.

 

Jimmy Esparza  11:08

It is man. It is, honestly is not the most appealing job.

 

Scott D Clary  11:13

You didn’t You didn’t you weren’t born here, like, oh, I want to I want to graduate high school and college or whatever, and go go door to door selling solar panels? Yeah, no, absolutely

 

Jimmy Esparza  11:23

not. Man, that was not my dream, I thought I was going to be like, you know, like this iconic, maybe like, I was gonna be an artist. And I was gonna sing like, my brother taught me a couple of things in music. And you know, so like, like most of people want to have right like this fame and all that stuff. But the main reason I actually join door to door sales is because I didn’t have too many choices. You know, as we go, we go further on the story from the background. I did go to college, I did go to a community college to study business. But I had to pay for my own college, I remember the story where we’re actually my mom took me to, to university because I wanted to learn business. And I was like, you know, I want to understand a little bit more about business. They give me a grand tour of the university. And I was like, oh my god, yeah, this is a place. Right? And, and I remember when, when they told my mom the price, it was 100 and something $1,000. And my mom just looked at me and she’s like, she’s like, nope. And I was like, Whoa, and that to me was like, like, What do you mean? Like, what do you mean? I’m not a no, like, I’m trying to do something good for myself, you know, and try to educate myself, so I could have a better future. And she’s like, No, I mean, once she was really stood out, like, I don’t feel like you’re responsible enough that you’re going to graduate, you barely graduated, you know, through high school, and which I felt like it was a little offensive at the time. But then I was like, You know what, I understand my mom. And then. So it’s like, well, so I guess I don’t have a choice to go to university as of right now. Right? So you know, so I didn’t have too many options. And, and I had to build my way up, I had to build that street credit, right, which is in business is like going into cells, understand ourselves as much as you can and go through the experience and go through that corporate ladder as much as you can. And during the time, this opportunity presented to me. I wanted to make more money I was at the moment I was making. I was making 30 Actually two grand a year. And I remember looking at a magazine for homes and I was like, Well, man, like a quarter of a million dollars homes half a million dollars. And I was like, I’m making 32 grand. And I think I have a quote unquote, good job, right? Like, I was like, I build my way up to being a supervisor Get

 

Scott D Clary  13:38

out now. 32 is like, barely can afford to live. Right? It depends on where you’re living in the US, but like my God, that I always wonder, like, I always wonder how people survive in me. I don’t think they do. I don’t think they do like I know. Just a point. So in Vancouver, again, this is a Canadian reference, but I know one big issue. So if you have a city that has incredibly high real estate prices, what’s happening in Vancouver right now in Vancouver is on par with like New York, LA Miami in terms of inflation for real estate. So you have city cores and you have all like entry level jobs, where you’ll have like servers and like people that work in retail and whatnot, they can’t staff the jobs because the people that work for those jobs can’t afford to live within commute distance to the actual like city core where those jobs are actually located. So now you have now you have now you have like an actual employment problem, because nobody can afford to work those jobs. Nobody can afford to live in proximity to actually work those jobs. So 32 is like yeah, it’s it’s it’s virtually nothing with Excel prices are in any major city and even in smaller cities. Yeah, you’re making 32 You’re looking at a house for 250 to 500 which is still like now a steal. Yeah. If you look at what’s happening, so you’re like okay, this isn’t gonna work so you want to go work and sales make good money there. Yeah.

 

Jimmy Esparza  14:57

So I you know, I heard from this door to door guy had knocked on my mom’s door and he was trying to sell her the product. And it’s like, Hey, man, it’s like, at that time, I was looking for a job as well because like, Man, I gotta, you know, I gotta get out of here. I used to work for prison, actually. So I was, there used to be a call center inside of this prison that I used to, you know, work at, and I was literally enter prison and making 32 grand risking my life, right? It was it was funny. That’s that’s a whole different story, but, and I was I was like, Hey, man, I gotta look for a different way. Like, I cannot survive and build a family on 32 grand, right? And this guy came to my mom’s door and door knocking with shorts, faded hat, you know, working for Solar City Tesla, which is now Tesla and I can’t manage like, wow, how about this? Well, how do I get your job? I was like, Are you kidding me? Man? Like I still going to tie to my, to my other job. You know, like, in a call center? Yeah. And back then I thought it was all cool. is like, Man, I’m gonna go door knocking like it’s not appealing at all, you know, like, whatsoever. And he’s like, what pays pretty well. And I was like, okay, so what is, you know, what is pretty well, yeah, what is pretty well, right? Like, well, how much we’re talking about? And I did the whole Wolf of Wall Street type of thing where it’s like, okay, all right, man, like, and he was hyping it up. You know, it’s like, man, it’s so exciting. This cool. This company is so cool. You know, Elon Musk is the Chairman. And I was like, I don’t even know who Elon Musk was. At the moment. I was like, I don’t care, man. I was like, Who the hell is that? And I don’t I don’t know what it’s like, well, you make money or not? It’s like, yeah, it’s like, yeah, it’s okay. Let me see a paste up. And he show me a pay stub. 70 grand, you know, at that time, I was like, All right. Yeah, my boss, boss, boss. I think that’s what he made. Because I remember I, as an assistant, as well, as a system manager, you know, some of my duties were to do some paperwork. And I remember I did a, I scan his W two form, you know, and I seen 70 grand. And I was like, Oh, shit. So I got an opportunity to actually make, you know, more than, you know, the director. Yeah, of the place that I was working at. I was like, wow, I was like, let’s do it. When did you give me an interview? You know, so it was like, so at the time I was, I was, it was way beyond the job being, you know, like, an appealing job or something where, you know, something where I didn’t really think about this, my mom’s gonna be proud of this, or my friends are gonna like you just following the money at that point. I was a money, man, it was like, I needed I needed it. And, and I felt like it was a good product, too. I think that was a big point, too. Because I pride myself on the things that I that I saw, like I was selling, so I was like, that’s a good product, technology. I was like, it’s technology space. I was like, Okay, it’s like it’s evolving. I was like, okay, it kind of makes sense. But I mean, the money is sounds great, too, you know, so that’s how I, you know, really got into it. And that’s one of the first things that drive me towards, like taking that door to door job. Because I didn’t have any other option I didn’t have. Also, I didn’t have a degree, you know, like college dropout, you know, from business. So, I was like, I don’t have a degree where I’m gonna get hired right away with a good salary, or in plus commission and things like that. So I was like, hey, it’s either this or I don’t know what else was gonna be. You know what I mean?

 

Scott D Clary  18:01

But how did you? So it’s funny, because at that point, when you were like, it’s this, and I don’t know what else. That’s a very traditional mindset. That’s not an entrepreneurial mindset. That’s where most people just figure Okay, so how do I find the best possible paying job? And that happens to like most people, I think the COVID has forced people to think outside the box because of layoffs and furloughs. And the job that they thought was safe was no longer safe. And I think people are thinking outside the box and trying to diversify and maybe get like side hustles, or more entrepreneurial. But you didn’t, you didn’t start thinking like that. So as you’re working this job. If you continued on that path, you’d be like, Okay, how do I find another job that pays more? How do I move up the ranks? So how did you pivot that mindset from working for somebody finding the best possible salary to which always will have some sort of cap on it to, I want to start my own company in this space, and I know the things that I have to do, and I have to execute this and it and eventually, it’s all worked out. And now I think it’s what were you 44th on the Inc 5001? Year, right? So that which is like that’s, that’s a huge, that’s a huge, completely different person that hit that 44th Ray, versus the person who took the solar panel sales job. Absolutely. So evolution of you in solar? Where did that what was that path?

 

Jimmy Esparza  19:21

Yeah, so you know, at the time, I was the I was 21 years old, and I needed some money, but after when the when my ship, this tip came up, right? And I was like, hey, you know what I feel like I want to actually create my own business. I guess it comes from came from my mom to like, I think she engraved that into me, like, Hey, you should you know, open up your own business. So I always had that in the back of my head. I just didn’t know how right I’d never had an investor. My mom was a she was a she was an employee of the business. So she really she didn’t really scale the business. But she did give me like the visuals like you know, you kind of have your own time and stuff like that. So once I Once I got to six figures like doing door to door, and I had some capital, how long did that take? It took me like, took me like seven months, so it didn’t take shit. Yeah.

 

Scott D Clary  20:10

Really quick. Okay.

 

Jimmy Esparza  20:12

All right. Yeah. So, you know, once I started making, you know, some, some good amount of income and my eyes right at that moment, I was like, Oh, shit, so I got some extra cash. Yeah, I got I never seen this into a bank account. So it’s like, now I started thinking like, as an investor, right? So what am I going to do? Like, I want this to keep on, I want to keep on you know, creating this type of income, even better income. So what should I do? And that’s where I started to get into like, self development. Really deeper, I started reading tons of books, and you know, that it really transformed, transformed and like, my mindset, one of them. The first one was a secret. Shared, like, yeah, attract. Yeah, yeah, that was like, one of my basic one is like, really, you can really want you know, you can really like set a goal and you can really actually accomplish it. And if you really believe into it, and you put the right actions, just sounded pretty crazy. But you know, at that time, but it’s like, I believed into it, believing in myself, I had some income. And I just started to set those goals. I was like, I’m gonna create my own business. I don’t know how, I don’t know how much money he’s going to cut, how much? How much money, I never really went through all those, you know, those details in from a business, right? Which was, you know, which I’m grateful, and I’m glad I really didn’t really get too much into those numbers. Because if I would have evaluated all the whole thing, like I would have never done it, it would have scared you it would have Yeah, it would it like it was like dude, like what the hell are you thinking about just go ahead and you know, create and make a quarter of a million just selling and you know, and that’s it. And I love everybody that

 

Scott D Clary  21:42

I know, I love the I love that sometimes like, like being being naive, actually enable success. And I actually think that’s actually a really smart point. Like sometimes like a little bit of, because nothing’s ever going to work out the way you want it to work out. And nothing’s ever going to be 100%. I think that almost goes into a little bit of like, like, what’s the what’s the word? Like, you’re just like, the bright eyed and bushy tailed or whatever the saying it just like when you like look at something very optimistically versus pessimistically. And I think that that’s exactly what you do. And it’s actually what you have to do to be successful because if you’ve ever evaluated the risks required to be successful, I don’t think anybody would ever build their own thing. I just want to take a second and thank the sponsor of today’s episode. HubSpot. Now, baking a pie, taking candy from babies, both things that are theoretically easy, but anyone who’s ever made a pie from scratch or attempted to pry a lollipop from a screaming toddler knows that these things are in fact very difficult. But you know what is easy? Integrating automating and scaling your business with HubSpot. The HubSpot CRM platform seamlessly transforms customer data into usable insights. Like what’s the average time it takes us to respond to a customer service request? And how can we get better at it? The HubSpot service hub brings all your data and support channels into one place, so your team can spend less time hunting for information and more time delighting customers. Plus seamless connectivity with marketing and sales hubs means every person on your team has a crystal clear picture of your customer. Easy as HubSpot. Learn how HubSpot can make it easier for your business to grow better@hubspot.com. So you have to have that personality as an entrepreneur, regardless of whether or not you manufacture it. Or it’s just because you haven’t put as much thought into the thing as you need to. I think that’s what it’s actually led to success sometimes. But usually you jump into it. Okay, sorry.

 

Jimmy Esparza  23:36

Go ahead. Yeah, no, yeah, I did totally just jumped into it. And I said, you know, what, I think I have what it takes, you know, I love you know, dealing with people, I love to talk to people I love and my previous positions, I was always in a, you know, I was started in sales, and then they promoted me to be a supervisor or manager. So I’ve done some of some of the, you know, dealing with people and managing people and coaching people. So, like, Yeah, I think I’m pretty good at it, you know, I think I’ve, you know, develop a few teams and you know, help them grow and help in, you know, and transfer some of my skills to them. So, you know, I liked that side of the business. So I was like, Okay, if that’s what I have to do in the beginning, then, um, that’s what I’m going to be doing just I’ve already been doing it for, you know, for a few companies, I could, I think I could do it for myself. And then I was, I mean, and I think I will, you know, to me, it’s you know, I believe a lot and God tools like I think was the right time and he opened up a door for me as well, at that time. I met one of the at the moment right now he’s one of the biggest installation companies in the nation, you know, as far as solar goes, so they had like a year and a half in business when I met him so they were not as big as you know, they are right now. And they recruited me off of Solar City, which it was it was Tesla at the moment already is already bought off by Tesla. So and I was like, You know what, I think I’m able to do this. You know, there’s some things I don’t like there’s some people that like I recruited a bunch of people, family members, positions and to sell to sell. Yeah. So there are some things that this guy had some issues at the scene. And so I came in well, you know, we don’t get enough attention, you’re the only guy that’s really training us, you’re the one that’s like helping us close a lot of deals, and identify some issues. And I see I seen how I can actually improve them. And by me, having the chance to create my own business, you know, excited me to like, help, you know, my family members, because I got them off their jobs. I got some some, some of my family members from San Diego from other places to work in Arizona, so I felt like a responsibility greater than, you know, then then me wanting to be in business just because I wanted to be in business. You know what I mean? It was more of like,

 

Scott D Clary  25:45

force yourself to have responsibility for other people. Yeah, exactly. That’s super stressful.

 

Jimmy Esparza  25:49

Yeah, it is. It is. And, and at the time, I was thinking, man, like I this guy, he moved down from LA, he moved down from San Diego, this guy came from, you know, this call center that he was working on. And you know, he he stopped working there. So now I was like, shit, they are looking? Yeah. They’re, they’re asking me questions, and they’re worried about their future, you know, so I was like, shit, so I gotta do something. And I have to create something, you know, better than what what’s going on here? Because, you know, seems like things are not going to be the same. And, you know, in a month or two months, that’s when Tesla acquired Solar City. Yeah, so there was a lot of changes going on at the time, too. So, you know, everybody was like, Hey, man, like, they were looking up to me and saying, like, are we going to do and I did some research research in the market, I put myself in front of the right people. And, and that’s how a little bit about how it started.

 

Scott D Clary  26:39

Okay, so then, so when you start this business, so I’m unpacking like, the first steps you do to sort of make yourself successful? Is it? Because you obviously don’t have you’re not manufacturing solar panels, you didn’t get like a $10 million investment, and then go and start manufacturing. So you’re reselling product? Yep. So what’s involved in this business? Now it’s building brand, you have to build a brand. They don’t have boots on the ground, like knocking on doors? What how do you differentiate yourself so that your, your sales reps and your brand is going to close deals that, like, Tesla could not close?

 

Jimmy Esparza  27:21

Yeah. So there were some investments, initially, right, but not crazy, not seven figures, you know, seven figures, investments, there was quite a few. I mean, the first year, I will say it was a good six figure investment where we could really push the brand, we could, you know, hire people as well on salary basis and things like that. Were to be honest with you, I was doing this without knowing I was doing it. So I had this saved up. So I made my own LLC, and I actually, I got, you know, I sat down with, you know, West Fargo, they taught me how to actually even create some of the things I don’t even I wasn’t even aware of, and, you know, I just went as I, you know, there was a problem that arise, I was okay, I’m going to fix it. And I’m gonna just just little by little by little. So one of the big things that actually set us aside differently is that, that I was, we were there, right there with the customer. So we give them the face to face. Interaction, right? connection, and then we really build on the community to which that was huge Ray, like, people want to have some local, right, and I, I some of the, the analysis that I did with the customers. And you know, I think an overall look, I see it, and many places that we build teams, and we build our brand and we sell is people like local, but they don’t want you they don’t like they don’t like for you to be small, right? Like, they’re like your logo. But if you’re too small, then it’s a little risky for me to go with you. Right? It’s fun, like, I liked the local vibe, but you’re just a little too small.

 

Scott D Clary  28:48

What is local mean?

 

Jimmy Esparza  28:50

I mean, local mean is like, where the person is that’s really running that division, or that, that team, it’s from there and know some people lives there, right. And most of the, his team is from there, right? Or they, or at least they interact with the community, they go to, like, for example. You know, there’s a lot of chambers of commerce, you know, where there’s little bands, like you see them all the time, they’re there, they’re involved charity events, you know, little things like that, where it’s like, they’re really involved, right. So one of the things that I’ve noticed, in that definitely set us aside is like, you know, we are local, which, you know, it kind of kind of checks that check mark from our customers. You know, we’re involved in the community, you know, so you’ll see us around. And then also, you know, we are pretty big company as well, right? Not a massive Corporation. But we are like, for example, just like you said, like, you know, we’re in 5000 companies, you know, from we’re from the southwest, we were from number 44. So we’re getting to be more

 

Scott D Clary  29:50

that’s pretty big. That’s and that’s like pretty massive growth, too.

 

Jimmy Esparza  29:53

Yeah. And so tell people like, yeah, I felt I feel like we really work hard on that. You And they like that, you know, once you you sit down and the guy is present and the guys offer the products like yeah, man like we’re locally we are going to treat you like, like somebody who’s local. And we’re also going to give you that big brand service. Right? Yeah, great customer service and also that great experience as far as product. Like we have a, we also have a partnership with Tesla, which we could offer their products. We have Tesla, you know, give us some, you know, some training as far as their products, you

 

Scott D Clary  30:27

can resell theirs as well. So, so it’s like the person who’s delivering the product. So you’re like, Are you Are you pure reseller? Are you because you’re not producing?

 

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Scott D Clary  31:34

So you’re not manufacturing yourself. So you’re so it’s like it’s like the the sales, the support the actual installers. that’s those are the pieces that you control.

 

Jimmy Esparza  31:43

Absolutely. So we we do the resale, we do the agreements, we do the whole operations, we have the relationships with, you know, major installation companies, and also with finance company. So that’s one of the things that we handle on the back end and on the operational side of it. And yeah, so that’s pretty much what we do.

 

Scott D Clary  32:01

And then you and then the sales strategy was like, so it was like geotargeted regional sales strategy, but like emphasis on customer support, and that’s yes. And then okay, so then when you when you first started you obviously like the manufacturing’s not in the business, but the other pieces are. So did you take on? Like, how did you find the installers? How did you find the right support to actually service customers? How did you give them like that premium experience? Did you hedge that risk yourself and higher on salary? Or did you find other like other agencies that could fill that or independent third party contractors? I find it just really interesting how you build like such a labor intensive business and deliver that excellence in like a relatively new industry? Yeah, because I can’t imagine there’s it’s not like, there’s, it’s not like people like if you’re hiring like a no US roofing contractor roofs have been around for a long time. It’s probably a lot of just thinking roofs because of solar. But I mean, the solar engineers or installers, there’s probably very few to pick from and they’re probably you’re probably trying to pick from other companies already have them.

 

Jimmy Esparza  33:06

Yeah. So some of the things that we did is, I think the biggest thing that has helped us as a company is that when I started I build my name as much as I can, like, where I was selling tons of this equipment, right equipment for, for Solar City, for Tesla and for the other installers. So you know, I just build it, I build tons of installs for installations with them. So you know, now it’s at a point where people was like, hey, we want to work with you, man, what can I do? So you could distribute your product? What can I do so so you could I got, you know, when will will give you this price we will provide you with this will give you So, there’s a lot of perks nowadays, you know, which we’re thankful to, that we’re able to receive from

 

Scott D Clary  33:44

others. And first, so you built the brand first? Yeah,

 

Jimmy Esparza  33:46

exactly. We build it. And then I think that the numbers talk by themselves, right, like, you know, selling, you know, a over eight figures, as far as you know, solar, you know, it goes a big, you know, big long way, and people want to be part of that, or they want me to help out and support on that side of the business. So I think that’s one of the biggest things that has definitely helped us out a lot and

 

Scott D Clary  34:05

and then the industry as a whole. Like, I’m, I’m just curious about solar. I’m curious about renewable. So where is the industry now? What so I’ve seen solar panels on homes for forever? That seems like forever, for like a considerable amount of time. But it’s not obviously mainstream. I mean, I It’s mainstream when I feel like someone’s grandma has solar panels on their house or your own grandma has on her. Yeah. So where’s the industry now? What what’s the what’s the benefit of putting solar panels on homes? Who’s doing it? Why are they doing it? How much is it evolved? What’s the market size? Like how all these different things that people are interested in solar instead of renewable? Wanna know?

 

Jimmy Esparza  34:45

Yeah, I think the I don’t think I know that the market it’s really untapped as of right now. Right. I’ve been doing it for seven years already. And, you know, start off when nobody really knew what you were talking about. They’re like, You’re crazy. Like, yeah, there’s another way of generating electricity. Already a scam, like people were really like skeptical about it. So at this point, like people have a better understanding, right, and they’re now looking for the, for the right company to actually install solar panels on the roof. So I believe that we’re like at 5% of what this really is going to be right? Because also work in our government is pushing it pretty hard, right? There’s federal tax credits, there’s state credits, there’s rebates in some states. So they really want everybody to go solar, right? Not only not only because the customer is going to save tons of money, but also because it’s a noble cause where it’s going to be helping out and impacting the environment, right, because I’m sure if some of you guys heard about the Clean Air Act work, you know, all the world got together, and they said, how they talked about how they’re going to put their part as far as global warming through renewable resources and things like that. So that was a, you know, that was a big thing for us too. And, and that’s how they’re trying to push it, you know, where it’s like, Hey, Mr. Customer, if you go solar, you get all these cool incentives, like you’re going to be saving money, you know, you’re inflation free, right? As far as your your power goes. And as far as, as far as that’s the customer side of it, as far as the industry. There’s, there’s so, so much more to it that, you know, like, for example, for renewable power us like we are constantly training and onboarding people, you know, to be part of the, you know, what we’re doing as well with the same structure with the same this

 

Scott D Clary  36:26

easier to find talent now, because you find the industry is evolving.

 

Jimmy Esparza  36:29

Um, but yes, yes, you know, what, we, we actually have a lot of people coming in from the roofspace, realtors, like, you know, people are catching a lot of interest as far as a soldier and being involved with what we’re doing. And the reason why is because, you know, it’s, it feels I feel, and anybody that’s been in sales, it’s an easy product to sell like, right? Yeah, all you got to do is just capture the customer’s interest and just sit in front of the customer. And if you’re good at sales, it should be at at, you know, 80% closing ratio, which is not, which is pretty good.

 

Scott D Clary  36:59

That’s not normal, ya know, it’s like a standard for like, a, you can benchmark a 20% in most industries. Yeah. 80% is insane.

 

Jimmy Esparza  37:07

Exactly. So, you know, so I feel like in me coming from sales to like, from a from a background of sales, you know, once I experienced this product, you know, my first month coming in, I was like, you know, I was one already one of the top producers just like, oh, no, I mean, it’s like, it’s not that complicated. I remember pushing cell phones, I sold quite a few things. And to me, this one was a, you know, pretty much a no brainer, so I catch, I see how it’s, it’s really appealing to you know, good closers out there to you know, wanting to be

 

Scott D Clary  37:34

moved into the industry and walk me through like, the financial So the premise is, you’re, you’re putting solar panels on people’s roofs, and that’s, that would completely replace the power that they use from the city or no,

 

Jimmy Esparza  37:48

um, we what we try to do we try to provide with what’s called an offset, right, so let’s say the customer uses 10,000 kilowatts, right? Like, if we compare what the with the with the car Alexa, there’s six gallons of gas, right? So we provide a 20% more of what they need that week, you know, they don’t have to use the utility anymore and they’re a little bit more self independent. The only reason a customer will rely on their utility will be if they using more power than what the system actually produces. So they tapped into you know, the city grid again to see the grid again so but for the most part, you know, is not too common you know, when they do tap unless, you know, unless maybe the customer just went overboard as far as their production and it does happen but it’s not too common.

 

Scott D Clary  38:40

And do you mind going into like the unit economics on like, if you put I’m curious like what does it cost to put on your house and versus what does that actually make the customer

 

Jimmy Esparza  38:49

Yeah, absolutely. So for example, there’s there’s tons of ways where the customer could benefit from especially on the financial side you know, we go in and just give them analyzed like how much they’ve been paying for example the path we go in a customer’s house and he’s been there for like 10 years already so he he’ll probably already spend like almost 18 grand you know, on electricity right? If not, you know, maybe 5% less or maybe 5% more you know, so depending on the customer but that’s usually the case. So we know we go in is like stink about it, you’re gonna probably go with five years more or 10 years more in this home you know, and you’re gonna end up paying overall like 38,000 to $40,000 of electricity if not more right depending on inflation and inflation is been insane through the past couple years. So you know what we do we caught we go in and start saving saving you now Right? Like, in the most part like it gives them like a 30% savings like on a month to month basis. And then it gives them a credit a tax credit 26% tax credit. So the lawsuit average is anywhere from $7,000 for customer so when you file your taxes

 

Scott D Clary  39:53

when he said 26% tax cut on what on

 

Jimmy Esparza  39:56

on whatever the system cost. Wow, yeah. So let’s say, you know, within an average, I’ll say 7000, depending on the state, but you know, $7,000, tax credit, average rate per customer. So they’re already in the economic side, like they’re saving right off the bat, right. And then they’re also once they file the taxes, they get that credit, which helps them get that money, you know, receive the money or get a credit, right, all depends how they file taxes. But those are some of the immediate economic savings that the customer get. And then also, it gives them that peace of mind, because you’re also going to be able to actually be on a fixed rate, you know, for depending on the loan amount, right, or whatever the contract is, like, this is not this production that we’re giving you this power that you’re receiving from the sun is not going to go up on you like it is with other utilities, right?

 

Scott D Clary  40:49

Yeah. So you lock in a rate that and that’s usually like somebody could pay cash to put solar, but normally, someone’s going to finance it a fixed rate, you put it, you install it, and then they’ll pay that off over a period of time. And then that almost makes it a little bit easier, because now I have a fixed rate. So that could subsidize and basically replace the monthly electricity. Okay, I understand. Okay.

 

Jimmy Esparza  41:08

Yeah, most of the most of the time we replaces the utility bill, like I’ll say, like, 90% of the time, you know, like, it’s like, yeah, the whole point is like, we’ll eliminate that. Now you have your own production, and you have them just in case of an emergency, or, you know, let’s say you use more power, you have a family members and home or you through a crazy party, I don’t know. Right? And you would just, you know, use that. That small percentage, you know, from the utility, so which is still in so

 

Scott D Clary  41:32

what’s it like? What’s the average, like breakeven for a customer?

 

Jimmy Esparza  41:35

The average breakeven? What do you mean? Like,

 

Scott D Clary  41:40

oh, no, like I say, you say, I’m like, subsidizing my utilities. And then I’m, instead I’m doing as opposed to is paying utilities? I’m financing like solar. Okay. So when do I start to recoup the costs? Is that when has the solar paid off? Like, say, like, five years or something like that? Or

 

Jimmy Esparza  41:56

the ROI? Yeah, right. Is an average from six to seven years. So okay, that’s, um, let’s see, the customer will pay the same amount as they’re paying for the utilities right now, for seven years. They’ll have a system paid off

 

Scott D Clary  42:10

smart. And then after that, then it’s just pure, it’s pure savings. Yeah.

 

Jimmy Esparza  42:13

Yeah. After that is pure savings. And, you know, they have that add some value to the home too easier to sell, you know, whenever it comes to, like, you know, maybe they want to move out, there’s some value already in the home. And then people that want to buy a house, maybe show him a house that doesn’t have solar and a house that has solar, it’s a lot more appealing, because you already know you’re gonna walk into maybe no bill, or maybe a really small bill compared to walking into one of the second highest bill that the average homeowner has, which is electricity, right, especially in this hot places, like, you know, we’re here in Miami, Arizona, you know, it’s and then we move to like the East Coast, their high bills are usually on the winter. So, you know, you know, you won’t have those, you know, winters or summer bills, right? Because those are the high ones like whenever, depending on where you’re at, or what state it’s either you have high summer bills, or you have high winter bills. So, you know, don’t know like, oh, yeah, God, I don’t have to go through that $300 summary bill or 300, or winter or 400, depending right on the on the on the customer, but you know, gives them peace of mind too, is like, I’ll be able to, I would prefer to do this than do this home where it’s like, probably going to get hit by this big bill.

 

Scott D Clary  43:25

No, no, the financials make sense on it. The industry is evolving. So if I look at so I just I don’t know anything about solar, not on a lot. So I was like, Okay, what are pros and cons of solar and like, obviously, like pros are pretty straightforward. I think they’re pretty well known, like you reduce dependence on fossil fuels. It’s like a very green and pollution free option. Obviously return on investment, the only things that I could find, and I’m curious about your opinion on some of the cons of solar. And I want to get your perspective because you’re in this industry. So the number one con, and also something that I think is trying to be solved for is storage. So what I think storage is because if you don’t have like sun, then you don’t have power. Is that is that? Yes, no, correct. Incorrect.

 

Jimmy Esparza  44:13

I mean, we don’t have son I think we have a bigger issue.

 

Scott D Clary  44:17

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Jimmy Esparza  47:01

Could it be a negative? Yeah, depending on the customer, right? Like, we have all types of customers, which is, you know, like, if they’re more on the, you know, upper middle class like customer, then you know, the like, they’ll find it, you know, which is it wouldn’t be a worry for them. But usually your typical average customer, like we do a recommendation or if they ask us those questions, like I mean, yeah, you could go ahead and have it just for a peace of mind. Right? It was something you want to add. It’s definitely is not a necessity just yet, right? It’s not something that you need to have, if you have solar. It’s more having a peace of mind, right? Just in case of there’s just in case of an outage like you have you have power, right? You have some juice in there.

 

Scott D Clary  47:39

If it’s if it’s cloudy, do you get still some power?

 

Jimmy Esparza  47:42

Yeah, yeah, actually is not the same as is the full sun is actually out. But it’s still penetrates the clouds and figure deal. There’s still some production and by the most part, depending on the area, and in the design systems that we have, like we we take these things in consideration, right. So to make sure that the customer actually gets the production that they have, like, like the we have the production guarantee from, you know, from our equipment. So you know, we guarantee that they’re going to produce this amount of power, and electricity. So and buy in, wherever we’re at, we do an evaluation of, you know, pretty much weather wise and things like that. So the customer could get what you need. But I mean, if they add storage, I mean, it’s it, it’s a safety net for them to you know, maybe we didn’t evaluate, you know, like, I don’t know, something crazy to happen at that city or state. And then if you have a battery, then you know, you’ll have the peace of mind that you have enough juice in there. So, so come in, it’s it’s, as far as pricing goes to I mean, it has they have dropped a little bit. There has been there’s different options now before there was just the LG batteries. And there was Tesla, which is, you know, one of the one of the big ones that we have, but now there’s also you know, solar edge came in with, you know, some new batteries a little more affordable.

 

Scott D Clary  48:59

So this is like an ever moving industry, obviously. Yeah. And that’s the only and I don’t mean to say that like a batteries at the end of the world it just so as an industry evolves, you’re going to notice it all like I’m sure a battery in like five years is going to be $500 or something a lot like very, very inexpensive, right. And it’s going to be the same battery or probably a more advanced battery. Same with like cell phones and any other piece of technology that we’re that we’re creating. I was just curious as to if that was something that was like a major issue with the industry right now because you can’t really see a lot of other issues outside if you have proper storage, then it would be pretty hard to argue against this being like a, like the best possible replacement for fossil fuels.

 

Jimmy Esparza  49:44

Yeah, absolutely. But yeah, it’s not a big issue. You know, it just depends on the customer budget, right. Like it depends if the that’s something that they want to add. You know, we could do it. Have they they’ve reach maybe The best pricing potential, I believe there’s there’s room for opportunity, but it’s going to take some time. But we don’t, as far as areas that we work on, like, it’s not a necessity for the clients is more of a doesn’t come up a lot. No, it doesn’t is more of a peace of mind for the client that we’re doing a battery and adding a battery for them. Okay, so yeah, I think we don’t we really don’t have those big issues.

 

Scott D Clary  50:26

So what are the problems as a CEO of solar company? What are the problems keep you up at night, like industry problems first, and then I’m gonna talk about business problems you’re trying to solve for

 

Jimmy Esparza  50:36

industry problems. I guess one of the big one was pricing, there was a price increase, you know, as far as with all this logistic, crazy things that are going on just supply chain stuff, supply chains, right things that are going on manufacturers. So you know, I think one of those things is, you know, just analyzing how we’re going to be able to adapt, you know, how are we going to be able to provide it with the customers pricing? How are we going to be able to, you know, to do a profit and losses and things like that, right? How are we going to be able to adapt during those these changes. And as far as the industry, there is incentive, so we got to prepare yourself for the times where maybe there’s no incentives, right? It’s going to be so common and so popular that everybody’s going soda, right, so we got to be able to prepare for that. And, and that’s pretty much it, man. Other than that, I think the industry it’s, it’s, it’s moving, it’s growing fast. You know, which is good for us as well.

 

Scott D Clary  51:35

Are people are people lobbying governments right now, for more incentives? Are the big groups that lobby on behalf of solar? Are the big groups of wolves? Are they lobbying on behalf of solar companies to get more incentives for consumers? Is that something that’s happening?

 

Jimmy Esparza  51:49

I believe so? Yeah, I’m not too involved in that area. But but it is, it is something that’s going on, right, they want to, they want to open up different areas, or different opportunities where they can be more incentives. And it also it’s by a state state level, it will be more in the state level and federal level. So but yeah, listen, some of the things that you know, as a business owner and solar, we like, we got to look out to go out look out for Yeah. And yeah, that’s pretty much

 

Scott D Clary  52:16

and then who’s like things is, I know, like, obviously, Tesla is probably one of the main innovators in this space. But who else is like focused on evolving? And I guess creating more efficient if that’s a that’s the right term solar panels, like who else is innovating on this right now?

 

Jimmy Esparza  52:33

Um, well, Tesla is a big one. There’s also big manufacturers, solar edge is one of the crew, they have inverters. They also have batteries, optimizers, all type of technology. So I think they’re one of the leading guys as far as manufacturer goes. And they’re also a publicly traded company, you know, as far as a manufacturing space. But other than that, I don’t see any I mean, there is also you know, so fab is American made, they manufacture panels are some good panels, Q sells. German, and they’re typically Germany, designed in Germany, and manufactured here, too. So I think those are one of the big players, I think solar edge is one of them solar, right, and then Tesla and then Tesla. And then yeah, and then on the, I guess, on the division from the install side, and from the sell side of it, you know, there’s big players Sunrun, it’s a pretty big, you know, they’re been in the game for quite a while. The same, same as sort of SolarCity, which is Tesla now, yeah, it’s combined, it’s combined now. So I think they’re one of the big players, but I believe Tesla is not really too interested in their, in their solar division, they’re more under,

 

Scott D Clary  53:45

they don’t, they don’t have advanced, they don’t create new stuff or not as not as frequently as they used to, or

 

Jimmy Esparza  53:51

not as much as they used to. When I used to be there it was, there was a lot more involvement, there was a lot more things going on as far as that division went, but as far as what I’ve been seeing from them seems like they stopped some of the things that they wanted to do, they, you know, seems like the manufacturer of it outside of it didn’t come as well as they thought that we’re going to be so the past some of the products and things like that. So I do see, you know, new companies innovating or companies trying to like find, you know, the best way to serve as the best way to manufacture the best way to, to, you know, for aesthetics of panels to improve that and things like that. But he also won one of the big players,

 

Scott D Clary  54:33

okay, no, okay, let’s go back to you and building business and some of the things that you’ve learned building this company out. And I also actually I want to ask you to some of the problems that you’ve solved for like, you know, biggest things keeping you up at night as a CEO. But I also I always like to understand the mind of a content creator because you also are content creator, and I feel like it’s funny like you I’m a big fan of the celebrity CEO putting themselves out there personal branding obvious The I mean, this is how I grew the show. And now I grew my own personal brand. But not a lot of people subscribe to that idea. A lot of people feel like, oh, the industry isn’t sexy enough, or the industry isn’t cutting edge enough. To me, you’re a perfect example of how it doesn’t matter. Like what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter what business you’re building, it only makes it easier when you put yourself out there. Yeah, I mean, how many? So I guess the other solar CEO would be Elon Musk. But outside of that, not a lot of them do, and not a lot of CEOs do. So why did you choose to do that you mentioned earlier, you had a lot of success building a brand. And that’s what allowed you to gain trust with your customers. And that sort of allowed you to grow the business? Why did you in particular feel like personal branding, putting yourself like putting yourself out there? Do you do interviews? You have a great Instagram? You don’t have to have a great Instagram to grow solar business. But you did it? Why?

 

Jimmy Esparza  55:57

Yeah. I believe one of the biggest things that says asides from these big players, right, Elon Musk, and, you know, other big CEOs is, you know, they have a lot of investors too, you know, so they, they play a big role, you know, as far as decisions and things like that, you know, so when it comes, we’re privately owned, you know, we get to really dictate, you know, what’s, what goes on as far as you know, marketing and as far as branding and things like that. And, and, and that’s what people want, right? That’s what people do. People want to know, you people want to know, who’s behind the brand. People want to know, what are some good things that you’re doing? You know, what are some things that are innovating people? You know, there’s the now nowadays, like the TV is social media, right? Like, it’s, that’s what it is now. So if people want to see you there, then that’s what I’m going to do, you know, you know, trouble doing

 

Scott D Clary  56:43

that at the beginning?

 

Jimmy Esparza  56:47

Yet, not necessarily. I mean, there is.

 

Scott D Clary  56:51

No, I ask because like, it’s like, it’s tough to put yourself out. Like, I’m like a huge student of Gary Vee, like, you know, he puts everything out there. And I preach this all the time. And I always say, like, just put stuff out there, and it’s gonna suck at first, and then iterate and improve. And eventually, it’ll turn into great content, but you’re not going to get the great content unless you, you know, you just put out shit for, you know, 100 posts. And a lot of people have a hard time doing that a lot of people don’t want to put up a post. It’s not, it’s not great. It’s not perfect. You said the wrong thing. The Edit wasn’t great, the lighting wasn’t great, you looked off, whatever. But you’re not going to get that perfect post by never posting. But yeah, so how was it like day one posting stuff? And what was your strategy? How did you get? How did you get the confidence to put yourself out there was just natural.

 

Jimmy Esparza  57:40

I think it was not necessarily natural, but I think Nana is not just in business, but you know, I’ve I’ve posted it in the past before, it’s like, you know, I kind of mess around a little with the social media. And not necessarily in the business aspect. You know, when I was single, you know, I put I have to put myself out there. So, you know, so you know, before I met my wife, my wife can beat me and things like that. So I did that. And I think I kind of added a little bit on the model is like, now I got to expose now. I’m no longer single, right? I’m very, so I just adapted that model and put it did it into my business. So I could sell it look appealing, it could look alright, so we could tell people what we’re doing so people could get to know me, right? Because now we are we’re not just doing business in one state, right? We’re doing business in multiple states. So if I want to reach a route, a bigger crowd, then, you know, I have to you know, it’s I feel like it’s something that I have to do it. Yes, it is within me. It’s something that I think I enjoy doing as well. It’s not easy. You know, some some of the times there is that self doubt. It’s like what are they gonna say, you know, that I say the right thing that is my, you know, ways, there’s tons of things that go go behind all this stuff. But at the end of the day is just just like you said, just throw it out there. People are gonna say, you know, like, maybe he’s not perfect. He’s not that but who’s perfect, right, like no one. Absolutely no one you know, so but yeah, I think that that was the model to at the beginning I was just put it up there. You know, my customers want to see it, you know, people that work with us, or employees or contractors, employees,

 

Scott D Clary  59:06

employees, like they’re comfortable, like being part of like an Oregon like put stuff out. I saw like you build in public, like you events that you throw, you’re posting that, like all that stuff you’re posting, you’re putting it all out there and like the team is like cool with that they like it, they get behind it.

 

Jimmy Esparza  59:18

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Even actually, the leaders in the company, they adapt the same model to, you know, they and I seen even other competitors to like, you know, apply that and, you know,

 

Scott D Clary  59:28

now they’re now they’re learning they’re doing, like, you’re making money, they’re like, oh, shit, like, maybe I should ask,

 

Jimmy Esparza  59:33

but I gotta do it. Right. I even have, like, you know, some of the competitors like being on the, you know, watching everything that we’re doing and even to what their other leaders as well. And they adapt to it. Yeah. Or employees or contractors adapt to it. And they’re like, oh, man, I see. I liked that, you know, like, I want to show it I want to, I’m proud of what I’m doing too, you know, because that’s another big thing to let you know, I tell them to like yeah, man, you gotta be proud of what you’re doing. Like even though maybe been Being in sales or you know, uh, you know presenting to the world what you’re doing, it might not be the best thing you would want to do you much rather want to put a photo of your family, which I understand, of course, that’s primarily the thing, right? But if people don’t know what you’re doing, how do you expect to get more clients? How do you expect to get more business? Right? How do you, you know, and this is the thing that people want want. And so it’s like, here it is. Yeah, this is who I am. You know what I mean? So, yeah.

 

Scott D Clary  1:00:28

Okay, I want to so i want to go into a couple like, like rapid fire, and to pull out some last career insights. But before I pivot, and Alas, some of the challenges you’ve like, overcome and some of the things that you’re worrying about now. But anything else that like, where do you want to? Where do you want to go in the future? Like, where do you want your company to go? Where do you personally want to go? What’s the next 510 years look like for you?

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:00:52

Absolutely. So the biggest, the biggest thing to me is like I every time, like I’m a really competitive guy, right? I want to be the best at whatever I do. Right? Which it kind of drives me crazy sometimes. But I but I enjoy it. I like to, you know, perform at the best level that I can. So obviously be the best at what I do. Man, that’s, that’s primarily the the thing, keep on growing, keep on growing my business, keep on providing opportunity to people, one of the biggest things now is like, I want to help other people. The same way that I was help when I joined the solar industry, like you said, like, there’s, there’s a lot of people out there that, you know, there’s no other options, right? Like, you need the money, and you but you want to make money in a place where you feel good about what you’re doing. Right. So I just want to continue to help you know, many, many, many people that want to create more income, and they want to do it the right way. Right. So, you know, for example, if I go back to, you know, where I was at, at that time, when I started, like, to me, and to be really honest with you, it was either, you know, I only knew people that were making money that, you know, I didn’t really know, all the CEOs, or all these big players, investors and all that stuff, right? Like, I only knew people that were doing bad stuff, making money, you know, like, on the streets and all this stuff, right? Not cutting corners in business and you know, not paying taxes, not reporting, getting cash and all these little hustles right, and, and that’s only people that I knew at the time, but once once, once I got presented as opportunity, and I got to man, like other people’s like, oh, man, that’s not the way to do it, the way to sustain it and actually to grow is to do it the right way. Right. And so I want to keep on doing that for 1000s of people, if God allows me to do it, you know, I want to be, you know, I want to keep on growing myself, I want my peers to keep on growing as well, you know, my co workers, my employees, for them to grow from them to feel proud of what you know what they’re part of, and then make it one of the number one company in the nation like literally be, at least in the top five in the nation, we have already been through through some of our distributors, like we already been in the top one, top two,

 

Scott D Clary  1:02:54

if you’re hitting the Inc 5000 list, then you’re already up there. Yeah,

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:02:58

so we’re definitely getting there. But I also have this big vision where where I want to structure my business where like, why not, if we could probably trade it, maybe in the future, you know, down the line and just make this massive solar company, like, let’s do it, you know, I think I’m up for that challenge. And also, you know, I want to be I’ll be typing in other businesses that are revelant are there that actually are match what I’m doing, you know, that kind of makes sense on the solar space, and, you know, experiment that side of it, and just keep on learning more, man, I think that’s the overall vision and for my people to grow, because that’s big, I want them to grow. I want them to experience them. You know, that higher level of, of work ethic of income of, you know, just some of the good things that solar has done to me, I just want to share it with tons of people and add more value to them and their families as

 

Scott D Clary  1:03:52

well. So yeah, no, it’s good. It’s good, man. And just want to take a second to thank the sponsor of today’s episode swag.com. Now, you know, if you’ve ever received a corporate gift or swag in the past, how many of those gifts did you actually keep? Probably not many, which is probably because the stuff that you got was not so great. I’ve gotten like a lot of stuff and trade shows, and from companies in the past that I’ve just thrown out the second I get it. So this is why you need checkouts. why.com I’ve been on the receiving end of getting garbage gifts. I’ve also worked in companies, where I only had access to a really, really small inventory of stuff that I wanted to give my customers, my employees, and I knew that it wasn’t going to resonate. I knew that was going to suck. So what is swag.com? Well, it’s like swag upgrade. It’s the best place to buy custom gifts and swag that people will actually want to keep so they sent me a box because obviously they’re sponsoring the show and I wanted to see what it’s all about, uh, you know, I’ve worked in businesses, I want to make sure that the quality of their stuff actually was up to my standards because I can tell you right now that when I get garbage, it goes right into the trash. It’s like a really goes right into the trash is that gonna get back from the tradeshow or the conference or whatever. So I received one of the custom swag boxes from swag.com. I loved the unique packaging. So it was a beautiful unboxing experience. I love the actual products they sent me. And there’s a whole bunch more that obviously they didn’t send me. But the stuff that they did send was absolutely beautiful, it was very high quality. And I can only imagine that if I actually got this when I was working for companies, I probably would have actually used it. And to be honest, I’m going to start using them for people that work on my show. And in my company as well, because I know it this isn’t just a novelty gift that somebody’s gonna throw it, it’s stuff that they can actually use, they have so many unique and customizable gifts that I’ve never seen anywhere else. They have custom yoga mats, they have custom Apple air pods, they even have branded kayaks, which I did not know was a thing. So they carry all these premium brands like North Face, Yeti, Nike, and more. And it’s all customizable with your company’s logo or artwork. So you’re even able to create custom swag boxes full of great branded items. And then you actually deliver them in a custom unique box. With swag.com. They take care of all of your swag at their warehouse, and they ship it to individual addresses. Or if you prefer, you can just send it to a bulk location in one single shipment. It’s easy to manage from their online portal, which you obviously get access to. So if this is something that you think would benefit you if you have clients, or customers or a team, and you want to go the extra mile and you actually want to give gifts that people appreciate, which is the whole point of giving these gifts in the first place. Go to swag.com for the perfect swag and custom gifts. Right now they’re giving everybody who’s a success story, podcast listener special offer, it’s 10% off your entire order, but only when you go to swag.com/success and enter promo code success 10. Remember, for 10% off, go to swag.com/success and use promo code success 10 Where do people where do people reach out and connect with you?

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:07:10

Yeah, people get, they could go to Instagram, and they could follow me Jimmy as Barsa official, they could also go to Facebook, Jimmy Sparsa. And they could also go to our websites renewable power usa.com Pretty simple right here. No power us, USA. And that’s where they connect with. They could connect with me directly, the more they could also visit our website and request some info. They need anything from us. But Awesome.

 

Scott D Clary  1:07:38

Yeah, good. Okay, well put that we’ll put that in the show notes too. So, thank you. Okay, so there’s a couple rapid fire, but I think you know, you’re, you’re a CEO and an evolving space. So it’s five, if I was gonna say five things that are keeping up is that too many? I’m sure there’s probably I’m sure there’s actually probably more than that, to be honest. But on the spot without prepping you think of five things that are keeping you up at night that are like right now stressing you out? It doesn’t have to be solar related. It could be HR related, it could be investor related. It could be sales related, it could be revenue related. But why are those five things keeping you up?

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:08:16

Yeah, one of the things I will say, it’s, I will say investors, like I’ve been reached out for a couple of investors, I’ve been reached out to, you know, different partnerships and to grow, right. And the one of the things like man, you know, what is the next I know exactly what I have, where I’m heading towards which that’s the, which has given gives me comfort, right, number wise, revenue wise, growth wise, like, strategies wise, like, I know what I have to do, right? As far as that goes, and I just keep on, you know, I just got to push forward. And I try to keep my eye, I think the biggest challenge is just keeping myself focused, right, and not getting distracted by all these other opportunities that are presenting that, that are that are getting in front of me. Because yes, I do want to grow fast. Yes, I do want to take it to the next level. But I also want to do it the right way, right. So I’m just careful about the decisions that I make. And I want to make sure that there’s no nothing bad gets in the way of those things that I’m working towards. Right. So that’s one of the things other thing is too is like, yeah, we’re growing. You know, there’s, there’s levels that I’ve never reached in my life, you know, so it’s like, whoa, like, well, how much we gotta invest there go, who do we have to hire? Like, what you know, so those are things that, you know, that sometimes it holds me back a little bit, you know, and, but then I, then I meet people, which, you know, which they’re, like, you know, not too long ago, I was, you know what this conversation would now now he’s becoming a good friend of mines. Like he sold his company for over a billion dollars. And then he talks numbers and I’m like, Oh, my God, like, you’re gonna, you know, he’s talking billions and huge investments, and I’m over here. You know, like, you know, kind of, to a certain point, like being a little scary as far as making some of the decisions. So it kind of gives me a little bit more peace of mind where I’m Meet people like that. But, but those are one of the what else. One thing that keeps me up at night is like, providing the time to my family. So I think that’s, that’s huge, right? Like, every time I jump, I know I’m going to jump into a different stage in the business, I know is going to require tons of work, right, it’s going to require, you know, we’re I have to like study, I have to, like, just be a lot more disciplined than I was last year, I have to wake up earlier, I have to still stick my, my routines right, still be connected with the higher up because that to me, it’s like, you know, the main thing that, you know, helps me and opens tons of doors. So, you know, when there’s another challenge and other things coming up, like I have to, that’s one of the things like I do not want to lose a family during this, this, this, this next level, right? And, and the good thing is, like, I’m learning from other people that still kept their family through all this process. And that’s that the things that definitely keeps me up,

 

Scott D Clary  1:11:04

how do you how do you how do you do that? Because, and I asked, because I know a lot of people that are successful, a lot of them are divorced. Yeah. Like most that I know, are divorced. Yeah.

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:11:15

How do I do that? I tried, for example, this, this business trip that we’re all here in Miami, I brought my family, you know, I brought my babies, she’s three months, you know,

 

Scott D Clary  1:11:25

that’s young. That’s very, I didn’t realize you.

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:11:29

Yeah, man. She’s three, she’s three months. So it was a scary thought out, we’re gonna put three, three months, baby in the plane, you know, and I’m bringing my wife and she’s going to be, you know, a little bit alone in the in the hotel. But I was like, you know, I researched I was like, Who has done this before? You know, and I can ask questions, and I call and so I guess I’ll this guy didn’t know, this guy was up, man, this guy’s did it. They’re doing it. You know? So I’m going to do that. So that is the effort to do it. I made the effort to do it. And, and again, I asked people that are not divorced, right, people that have their family, you know, and I asked them, you know, what are some things that they could? How did how have you been able to maintain it. And I think I’m grateful, because I have an amazing wife to you know, that she understands that, you know, I want to grow, and I have this insane vision, and she, she helps. But I just try to, you know, keep it as balanced as I can. You know, as far as that goes, and, and I will always put myself in check. Whenever I’m not, you know, delivering with my family. Like, I’m the first guy. I always say there’s like, I have this general in my head that tells me Hey, Jimmy, what are you doing? And then I was like, okay, okay, I need to get back on track, and I need to invest my time, you know, or I need to wake up an hour earlier, or I need to sleep a little later, you know, to really spend time spend the time? Yes, so those are the those are some of the challenge. That’s one of the biggest one that keeps me you know, awake, but you know, there’s a solution for everything. It’s like, just, you know, like, like, just work smarter. Educate yourself as much as I can. And which is not easy coming out from the DF student in high school and college, I had a I had to be in business classes. So

 

Scott D Clary  1:13:12

I don’t I actually don’t find that I don’t find the school is very useful for if you if you are a self taught person, I don’t find the school is very, it’s good for setting you up with soft skills that are important. Yeah. But at this point, I don’t think you could ever correlate your success or your lack of success to any anything that you’d ever have been taught in school because you’re so far beyond. Listen, you have a successful business. I think people that have failures are still so far beyond just like one business, figure it all the aspects and you fail, and you still learn more than you would in national MBA. Yeah, absolutely. It’s it’s the growth curve. And just doing is x like it’s exponential. Yeah, I think that’s actually a big issue. You probably talk a lot about why I think school and education is broken and why I think that it’s it’s outdated legacy institution that hasn’t kept up with the times. But yeah, I mean, I think you’re probably you’re probably more prepared to, to learn whatever you need to learn now, because of what you’ve accomplished than than not.

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:14:15

Yeah, no, no, absolutely. I mean, I will say the classes that I took, I was like this close to getting my associates in business. I think it was like three credits down. So, you know, the way that I did it, I just grabbed the best out of those courses. And yeah, applied it, you know, and, and, I mean, we never stopped growing, right, like, even to the day like, you know, I go to mentors, like read books back to back, you know, as much as even

 

Scott D Clary  1:14:42

you’ve been profitable since early on as a business. Yeah, yeah.

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:14:46

That I’m grateful to be in a, you know, an industry which the ACA has made me you know, pretty profitable to you know, from the beginning. I mean,

 

Scott D Clary  1:14:53

that because not every business is profitable from day one either, like you can if you get investment you can, you can run, you can run out are unprofitable for a period of time before you start to turn things around. But you’ve been profitable from early early on, I think if I understand your, your success. That’s awesome. Okay, that was three. Do you want to do two more? Or do you want me to keep going?

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:15:16

Yeah, go ahead, man. I’m having fun. Okay, good. Okay.

 

Scott D Clary  1:15:20

Okay, biggest challenge that you’ve overcome in your own personal life? What was it? Had you overcome it?

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:15:29

Yeah, on my personal life, one of the biggest challenge recently, actually, that I have is just being more disciplined. Because I got it to a level where I was comfortable. And it was a little comfortable as I Okay, I think I got it to a level I’ve ever been in my life where my family has. And, and then what was during COVID It was a mixture of it was a mixture of spiritual and personal and business. So it was, it was, it was a combination of everything. So once COVID hit, we, we actually had some news from the doctor, my wife was pregnant, we had a it was not it was not a miscarriage, she we had something where, you know, the baby or baby was growing, she was pregnant or first baby was growing. And then they said that he was going to pass. So the doctors he was going to pass my, my wife decided to make the bravest decision to keep the baby you know, and for the baby to grill. So we went through all the nine months, the baby kept on growing, the doctor was, you know, iffy about, you know, Kim being alive. So that was challenging, that was tough, you know, you know, it was it was really intense. And then during that time, COVID hit, you know, so COVID hit at the time, so it affected me personally, it affected my family personally, and then it affected the business as well, you know, all at the same time. So, you know, the that path that happened, you know, our baby passed, you know, now he’s in heaven. And then CO and then I had to deal with that personally, right? So I was like, how am I gonna deal with this with my wife and my family. So I have to really, really look deeper into my spirit spirituality to really come out of this, right. So that was a challenge. So you know, I had to go really deep on that. And then, and then and then at that point to my business, my business started dropping, too. So there was COVID. So there was chaos in the business at this at the same time, so I was like, wow, like I had, I had to figure this out. And I can’t let this you know, put me down because I go back to my family trees, how do you solve, you know, situations in my world, right? It was, you know, just drinking them out, just, you know, there’s no, you know, going to the psychiatrist and you know, talking about are getting medications, I don’t just having a drink with a buddy and just figuring it out. Right. And hopefully you make it through, you know, so when there has been Oculus, aka hit our goal as an organism in my, in my family and things like that, right. So, you know, those are some of the ways that in my world is like, Hey, man, that’s how you solve problems, right? Or go that route because, you know, it is what it is, you know, so. So, you know, I had to say, You know what, I’m gonna, I’m gonna, I’m gonna decided not to take that route. And I’m gonna see how I can, you know, just deeply connect more into my spirit of spirituality and really add more discipline into my life, you know, to get out of this, like, big, big problem, right? And, you know, and grateful enough, you know, and thank God, like, we went through it. It was a extremely hard year, where I had to come back emotionally, and I had to come back business wise to because we did have some, we did have a downside. Downside of staff as well, you know. So I had to bring, I had to bring people back, I had to train people back, I had a bring myself back, my family back. And we didn’t and I’m great. And we did and thank God, we’ve been able we had a newborn. You know, God blesses with the new baby, you know,

 

Scott D Clary  1:19:08

graduations amazing. Yeah. Thank you. And you survived. And businesses now coming back?

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:19:15

Yes, yes, we survived. We survived. We survived. So thank God, you know, we did we did survive. As far as business, we had a 248% growth after that kickback yet, it kicked us back for a couple months. But, you know, the following year, we had a 248% growth compared to where we were at. And personally, I just, you know, feel like I’m a lot more disciplined in my life. I feel a lot more energetic and I feel like a lot more clear as far as some of the things and my purpose here in life. So amazing. That was yeah, that was a little long. Sorry. But

 

Scott D Clary  1:19:52

no, don’t apologize. It’s a good story. If you had to choose one person who’s had a major impact on your life, There’s obviously been many, but pick one person. And what was that person? What did they teach you?

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:20:08

One personal life?

 

Scott D Clary  1:20:10

I will say, No, I was gonna say like, a lot like in your life, like they could be alive that could be past. Like, it could be any anyone who’s impacted you.

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:20:20

I will say my mom, she has been a huge part of my life. Because she has always guided me with good principles in life, right? My spirit to reality, she’s always on me, like, you know, make sure you have that connection. And then business to she always, she always, she always pushed and pushed me and made me believe that I was able to do great things, you know, and I think I’m really grateful with her. You know, and I seen her, you know, starting up her own small business, you know, it’s she cleans houses, like I cleaned houses with her for a bit too. You know, so I seen her like, go through that. And she I seen her like how she wanted me to push, she wanted to show me an example how I’ll be able to make it and that it was possible. So she has been a huge influence in my life to the day, you know, thank God. And I wouldn’t be able to be where I’m at if it wasn’t because of for

 

Scott D Clary  1:21:20

raising. Pick one book, podcast, audible. Someone to book you’ve read. What was that? How did it impact your life? What did it teach you?

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:21:33

Wow. Yeah, absolutely. So a book. I will say the first one in the book. And I always say one of the most famous book is the Bible. And there’s all the facts are in there. The other everything that they’re very spiritual, you are spiritual. Yeah, thank you. So I think a lot of the self help books, you know, come a lot of information comes from from there. But I think a big a big book that really kind of blew up my mind a little bit it has Gelsey, Grant Cardone. 10x. That’s, that’s one that

 

Scott D Clary  1:22:03

helps sales or business.

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:22:06

Sales. But as far as business goes, and more of the CEO book, it is the ride of a lifetime. And this is from, from the CEO of Walt Disney. It’s a super amazing book, man. I love it.

 

Scott D Clary  1:22:22

I love it. What is it the ride of a lifetime, the ride of a lifetime? Never heard of that book? Yeah, that’s the one that I have to get now. I’ve never heard of that.

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:22:30

Yeah, I got I love that book. And it talks about his background, you know, his story from him being in, you know, in business and having to travel all over the world. And the perspective that this different countries gave him and the understanding of people and how he he’s been, he was able to grow and get to a position where he was he was a CEO of one of the biggest brands in the world, right. And then him talking about how he solved some of the problems. Like for example, he talks about he talked about, the first thing he talks about is where he had to publicly talked about an alligator eating actually here in Florida. Eating a a little kid. So that happened at a resort here in Florida. So I went to the Disney Resort, one of the Disney Resort. So, you know, I guess his kid was running around, and you know, an alligator came came by and he just ate it, kid. She’s so it was intense. And that’s that’s how he started off. And, and it’s like,

 

Scott D Clary  1:23:36

the first week. Like, it’s not easy. It’s, it’s I mean, it’s a it’s a very privileged position to be in to be a CEO of Disney. But I mean, that’s sure he has a story. Yeah, very smart guy

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:23:50

is crazy. So I love that book, just like, you know, just by listening to his, I mean, just reading his story and everything else like wow, like, and now we’re here complaining about, you know, a little dumb stuff. And this guy had to. It’s

 

Scott D Clary  1:24:03

funny. It’s actually funny how you always like, I think it’s a great personality trait you have you always center yourself, based on what other you realize, like, the stuff that I’m dealing with right now really isn’t that big a deal. Compared to what this person compared to not only what my family went through coming over from Mexico, yeah, that was a difficult life. And now I’m privileged to have the life that I live right now. But also, as a CEO, you’re like, I’m trying to deal with these small issues. And then this is the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world that has to deal with things at such an extreme level that it’s also like, my current situation is difficult. But I think that that lens in which you look at everyone else’s life, it sort of centers you and it helps you sort of I don’t know it just helps you make smarter decisions helps you with your composure helps you with your thought process, because it makes you less stressed because you realize what people have figured out much, much more serious things and they’ve also come from much less privileged places. Yeah. Ah, you’ve mentioned that twice. No, I actually think it’s a really great. No, I think it’s a great. I think it’s a great trait. I think it’s something that’s actually allowed you to always center yourself and to always make smart decisions and to almost like, remove the stress and the emotion out of decisions because you realize that every problem that you’re facing, it’s a problem, but it’s not going to be the end of the world.

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:25:21

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I think that you mentioned

 

Scott D Clary  1:25:25

it twice in an hour. Like, it’s like, it’s an important thing. And I think that’s something that you should do a lot. Because regardless of what problem it is, you’re facing right now, realistically, it’s not going to be a problem in most likely even a month, or six months or a year from now. Sometimes they are, but I can’t remember the quote. It’s like never, never stress about problems that aren’t going to be around in 10 years.

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:25:45

Yeah, that is true. Honestly, I don’t know where I get that from, but I think just trying to always be be grateful for what I have. Right? Because, like you said, like, you know, my, the background that I come from a family, you know, I shouldn’t be where I’m at right now. You know, so at the end of the day, all this is

 

Scott D Clary  1:26:01

everyone’s supposed to be exactly where they are, man. Everyone’s supposed to be exactly where they are. There’s Yeah, yeah. Okay, if you could tell your 20 year old self one thing, what would it be?

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:26:11

Oh, man, like, my 20 year old.

 

Scott D Clary  1:26:16

Were you at 20? Were you still in the call center? 20. Door to Door. Yeah,

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:26:20

I was in the call center. He was a Phone Guy, man. I’ve no doubt. No doubt. Oh, my God, what I tell what I tell him. I will tell him to just just, I mean, he I love my 20s Man, I think it was a great time in my life. Uh, what would I tell him? That’s a really good question. Just say, you know, just, you’re gonna be great, man. Just just keep on going. Do your thing. Keep on having fun. And you know, and eventually you get to the, to the other to the other stuff, but I really enjoy my 20s I don’t know what I was told my 20 years old self. You just said it. Just keep on going. Just keep on going.

 

Scott D Clary  1:27:04

Yeah. Alright, last question. What does success mean to you?

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:27:11

Success to me means being serving a lot of people. I think that’s, that is what success is like, I you know, like, I think one of the greatest things that I’ve that I get is from from serving, you know, from just being being around people and just, you know, being able to connect with people and being too and just learning itself. Man, I think overall success to me is just, you know, just serving, you know, being a professional, what I do get to the highest levels possible. You know, as far as you know, whatever is it that you’re doing. Right, and just having fun. I think that that’s the biggest success, obviously, yeah, like, I’m not gonna lie, like making big financials, you know, financial numbers. It’s yeah, I mean, yeah, God, that’s

 

Scott D Clary  1:28:03

an additive, you’re in business. It’s

 

Jimmy Esparza  1:28:05

fun. Yeah, you you have to write like, it’s life, like, didn’t cause things like you want to be live, be able to live a more comfortable life. So, you know, that is part of the success. But the biggest thing is serving, just serving at the best at the, at the best that you can, and just having fun, man, like, just having a good time being genuine and, and just being able to serve, you know, many, many, many lives and, and just, and just, let’s say if you will die, who knows, within the next 24 hours, like you, you’ll feel at peace that you can say, and what I was what I I mean, I did everything that I could like, I have no regrets. You know, I feel like every minute I had every every, you know, hour, I spend it the best that I can with the best attitude and I think that to me, that’s the best success you could ever have.

 

1:29:12

Hey, everyone, welcome to comeback stories, a new podcast with the goal of reaching as many people as possible to remind them that they’re not alone and that everybody has a comeback story within them. I’m your host, Donnie starcoins. And I’ve witnessed countless transformations in my time as a mindfulness teacher and high performance coach and one of these inspiring stories was born from a connection that was made from one of the best friends I have in the world. And now my comeback stories co host Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller together, Darren and I want to help you and others experiencing mental health struggles or any other setbacks in life by telling our own comeback stories in drawing other athletes and celebrities to open up to share their own personal success journeys. Our first episode will drop July 11.