2022, what a year. As I reflect on the past 12 months, so much has happened, and almost none of it planned. The year stretches out and feels longer than it was, and I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, it’s been a year of many celebrations and I am excited and hopeful for what will come next.
January started as Chuck and I settled back home after visiting family in the US. On the work front, I joined my fellow executives at Clir Renewables for annual planning. We gathered in the office together for the first time in a while. Somehow I was still finding time to write in my D&D blog, though not as often as 6 months earlier.
My friends and I on the BCSEA Vancouver steering committee were rejuvenated after some time off. In February, we started planning for WISE (Women in Sustainable Energy networking and mentoring event). It was great to reconnect after 2 years, both with the planning committee and mentorship network.
The spring was a blur as conferences ramped up
I presented (pre-recorded) at American Cleanpower. Chuck and I took to the road, work-cationing. We drove through the Canadian Rocky Mountains, spent Easter with family on the east coast, and unplugged for a week to bike-pack on the Olympic Peninsula.
Coming back from a jam-packed conference (they’re always super busy), I had a conversation with my boss at the time. It was on that video call, we were both in our respective homes after a crazy travel week, I realized it was the right time to try something new. To try the thing I always told myself I would someday, but never today. And with that, June brought a lot of change. I left my job as Director of Customer Success to start my own business. A rescue puppy came into our lives. And Chuck decided he too would be leaving his job to find something more aligned with his values.
In July, I built and launched a website for my new business, and landed on using my own name, erinjquon.com and EQ Consulting. The focus, services to help organizations combating climate change.
August was dedicated to reconnecting with my local network
The past 2 years I’d spent on video calls across the Atlantic and all over the Americas. I needed to get back to having conversations locally, solving problems I can have a bigger impact on. Grid technology, Indigenous-led renewable energy, emissions management, electric vehicle infrastructure, net-zero strategy, solar energy development. These are conversation topics I’ve had during the past few months. Phone calls, video chats, and an increase of face-to-face meetups at coffee shops. And started a couple of pro-bono projects, focusing on sustainable energy project management and development.
I committed to doing ‘proper sales’ in September, and quickly realized it is the part of working for myself I least enjoy. Haha. The discovery sessions and proposal writing is kind of fun, but cold reach outs and making that first point of contact is nerve-racking.
I set up a ko-fi so folks can support my blog writing and promotion of honest dialogue to solve climate change problems; issued my first proposals; and EQ Consulting received it’s first official rejection.
Then, reach-outs and patience prevailed
In November I ramped up two contract engagements and EQ Consulting received it’s first financial award. This included onboarding as a coach/mentor, joining Foresight‘s ecosystem forwarding cleantech innovation in Canada.
Currently, I’m working with a small company to implement a product management system, ramping up their software development. And partnering with hundreds of female and non-binary entrepreneurs, working on ‘the World’s To-Do List‘, as a Coralus Activator. Thanks to Shopify and the democratic voting process for accepting my application!
I have ideas for what 2023 could bring EQ Consulting; but I have no clue what reality will come to pass, or what surprises will spring out of nowhere.
Stay tuned, and have a happy new year!
