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Publish Date: February 10th, 2025
As we celebrate our 20th anniversary as a business, it made sense to put the spotlight on Blake Jones, one of our founders. Even though his role has changed over the years, Blake remains the heart of, a shepherd to, and an inspiration at Namaste Solar.
Without further ado…
One of our core values is “Come as you are” and part of that is working to build a culture where people feel able to be their full selves at work. How have you experienced “come as you are” at Namaste Solar?
That's one of the things I'm most grateful for at Namaste Solar is how we support that and how we've nurtured that over 20 years. We're not always perfect at it but before Namaste Solar I would go to one place to work and make money. I'd go to another place to hang out with friends. I'd go to another place to do community service. And another place to push my boundaries and learn new things. And I was a different version of myself in each of those different places.
I love how at Namaste Solar all those things are available to me and I enjoy them all under one roof. I still do things outside of Namaste Solar, of course, but instead of being different versions of myself and having to keep them separate, I can be my full self at Namaste Solar. I just love that.
There’s so many examples of what looks like. But I think one of the things that I don’t want to take for granted is that it’s not uncommon for someone to cry at Namaste Solar. When I talk with other people about their workplaces, they’re surprised by that. And I think in a lot of places it’s frowned upon and considered unprofessional for messy human emotions to come out. They’re often swept under the rug, thought of as awkward, or the subject is changed quickly. Whereas here we encourage people to share things that are hard, like if a pet passes away for example, and to share the human emotions that come along with it. Then, we can all empathize and know that’s where they’re coming from. We can know why someone might be acting differently this week and hold space for that. And I really love that.
For me, a really personal example is when my twins were born. They’re 14 now. But after their birth, I had extreme postpartum depression, and I was feeling a lot of embarrassment and shame about that. And the environment at Namaste Solar made me comfortable to share that with everyone. I wasn’t sleeping, and I wasn’t my best self, from a work perspective. It was so relieving to be able to share that with everybody so they knew where I was coming from and why I was having a hard time. I got a lot of support from folks sharing that they had a hard time too in postpartum, or giving me resources to check out and holding space for me to experience that. It was a wonderful gift. I’m really grateful I was able to bring my full self and be supported by Namaste Solar and its culture. I’m really grateful that we talk openly about mental health here.
What’s your current role at Namaste Solar?
My title is co-founder. But my role can change week by week or month by month. I like to use the baseball term of utility player. Whatever someone might need help with, especially Jason, our current CEO, I can help with. I like it when there’s a special project that someone needs help with or someone needs a sounding board. The job description is fluid, but I’m really grateful to still be here and to still be able to help out in a wide variety of ways.
And one of them is highlighted with us turning 20 years old. I’m often turned to as the Namaste Solar historian or archivist. Folks will bring questions or issues to me asking if we’ve dealt with it before, and I’m able to recall a time that we did and share how we dealt with it. It’s surprising how that can still be useful today when something similar pops up.
Speaking of being a co-founder, why did you start this company?
That’s a long story, and I don’t know how interesting it is. It was kind of an accident to be honest. I and the other two co-founders didn’t see ourselves as entrepreneurs and never thought that we would be entrepreneurs. It was the right place at the right time in so many different ways.
I was living in Nepal and working in solar, with Surendra Thapa, and once I returned to Colorado, I was unsure what my next steps would be. For the other two co-founders, Ray and Wes, it was perfect timing in their lives, too. And we decided to go for it even though we had no idea how to start a business or be entrepreneurs.
We thought, if we were going to start a company, it’s going to be totally different than the way we’ve seen it done in all our previous jobs. It’s got to be employee owned. It’s got to be a flat hierarchy. It’s got to be team oriented with a very transparent culture. A lot of the things that are still around today we were thinking about when we started it.
We’ve always been passionate about solar. I’m a renewable energy geek through and through. But the more we did it, we became just as passionate about taking an unconventional path with our business model. It’s fun to see how 20 years later all the transforming business things have blossomed in the right direction.
Now that Namaste Solar is turning 20, how does it feel?
It feels great. Weird but great. When we first started, in those early years, we weren’t thinking 20 years ahead. We wanted the company to always be employee-owned and to have a lot of those values that we co-created in the beginning. So, I’m just really happy and really proud that we are. We’ve evolved a lot and there’s no doubt that we’re different, but those most important threads are still the same common threads as when we started.
What did you envision for Namaste Solar 20 years ago?
We envisioned being independent and employee-owned. And I’m glad we’re still that way. We have gotten lots of offers to purchase the company over the years, and I’m glad we resisted the temptations to do so, even when we could have made a lot of money. We never envisioned starting this company, growing it, and then selling it to make a bunch of money. That was definitely not on my mind, so I’m glad that it never happened.
Which brings up the power of choice. There’s no way to get to where Namaste Solar is today without consciously choosing it, over and over again. What motivates you to do this work?
There are so many things. A passion for our mission and our core values and the way we do things. I love not just what we do but how we do it. I love the why we do it. And I love who we get to do it with. I think one of the things that has motivated me all the time, but especially times when my motivation has waned, is the love that I have for teams. And I love that Namaste Solar is more than just a team. We’re all in the same boat and sometimes there’s stormy weather and stormy seas and sometimes there’s smooth sailing. But we together chart our course.
I love looking to the right of me and to the left of me when things are tough and seeing people paddling their butt off towards that same common goal of our mission despite different perspectives or despite having disagreed on how we were going to chart the course.
So, seeing how passionate other people are, how hard they’re working, how much they care about what they’re doing and how they’re doing it, that’s what motivates me the most.
In some arenas, Namaste Solar and the Namaste Solar way is “famous.” Do you have thoughts on that?
We all want to have an impact. And not just in the systems we’re installing. We want to have an impact beyond that. We want to set a positive example. I definitely remember in the early years some people would say, “Oh, you’re doing this weird employee-owned structure thing. You’ve been doing it for three years and you’ve been successful so far.” But we didn’t have much credibility when we had only been doing it for three years.
Doing it for 20 years, we’ve achieved long-term success on a day-to-day basis through economic downturns and through all kinds of stormy weather. To have done what we’ve done then starts to have more credibility, be a more positive example, and help us with mission fulfillment outside the organization. And so that feels really good.
I remember reading this Harvard Business Journal article about competitive advantages and it saying that if you have one big thing, like a patent, special product, or special idea, you’ll have success in the short term. But you’re leaving yourself vulnerable to other companies just copying what you’re doing. Whereas when your competitive advantage is a whole bunch of small things spread out through the entire company that are happening day in and day out over a long period of time, that’s very difficult for competitors to replicate.
And I think there’s a strong analogy with the way Namaste Solar does things. What we do, there isn’t one big thing you can point to. It’s all these little practices in the way we do things day in and day out spread over so many people over such a long period of time. That’s where our competitive advantage comes from. Maybe that’s why we’re “famous.” It’s the secret sauce to how we got to where we are today and it’s not something that’s easy to replicate.
What’s one thing about Namaste Solar that most people don’t know?
How close we came to selling the company once. It was right before the Great Recession. We had a bunch of competitors moving to Colorado. I think we were scared of the competition, had been growing so quickly, and didn’t know if we could continue doing what we were doing. And then we got really tempting offers to purchase the company, and we all would have made a whole lot of money. The first straw poll, overwhelmingly, was let’s sell the company.
And then we had a series of mini retreats as we called them where we talked about it. And on the other side of that, we did another vote, and we chose to not sell. We chose that this is the path we were going to take, and we weren’t going to sell out. We didn’t take the money. It’s not what we wanted to do. It’s not what we were here to do. We decided to double down on our original vision and looking back on that, it gives me goosebumps. I’m so grateful that we didn’t sell.
There actually was a case study written about that decision at one point and it was used in business schools.
What has been one of your proudest moments working here?
I couldn’t choose just one. I was definitely really proud when we decided not to sell the company. I’m proud of when we converted to a cooperative from our custom employee ownership model. I was proud when we got to introduce President Obama and the signing of the American Reinvestment Recovery Act. I was proud of how the community showed up to support us after the big flood of 2013. We couldn’t have gotten through that without the kind of support we had from the community.
When I was the CEO, I got outvoted a lot at the end. And when I would tell people in my CEO group or people at other companies what was happening, I felt some embarrassment. That kind of thing doesn’t happen at conventional companies – the CEO just doesn’t get outvoted or overturned. And I ended up stepping down from the position because of this. And in a strange way, this made me proud.
We started as an employee-owned cooperative that’s intended to be a democratic workplace. A place where people can come as they are and be frank, open, and honest. It made me proud that people were willing to tell the CEO that the direction I wanted to go in wasn’t what they wanted. Instead, they shared the direction they envisioned, and we voted on that.
We still have power structures at Namaste Solar. No matter how hard we try, we’ll never be able to fully counterbalance those. And democracy isn’t just about voting. It’s about so many other things like transparency, all voices being heard, and checks and balances.
When it comes to checks and balances, it’s pretty on track when a co-founder and CEO says, “Let’s go in this direction.” And employee-owners, can say, “No. We want to go in a different direction.”
So, I’m really proud that that could happen at Namaste Solar, even though it led to me no longer being CEO. Being challenged in this way and stepping down proved that what we’re doing was working.
The last thing I wanted when we started was for the company to be dependent on me, any one person, or any small group of people. And so for Namaste Solar to be successful for 20 years, when I haven’t been the CEO for almost half of that, that’s a wonderful thing. It means that it can sustain itself beyond needing me. You know, the company doesn’t need me anymore. And I’m proud of that, too.
What advice would you give recent new hires?
You’ll get out of it what you put into it. I think one of the disadvantages of us being bigger now is that it might be easier for a new hire to get lost in the shuffle. We have things in place to help out with that, but that’s one of the things I’m always worried about. Does a new hire feel included? Do they feel like they can get what we call the Namaste Solar MBA? Do they feel welcome?
I think for some folks it might be against their natural inclination to step forward or volunteer for things or try to proactively engage in things. But that’s what I would recommend new hires do. It might feel really, really awkward, especially if you’re a shy person, for example, to try to get involved in some new things or join a committee. But no matter how awkward it feels, you’ll be well received. Our culture does a good job of embracing that awkwardness.
Whether you’re going to be with us for a short period of time or you end up being here for a long period of time, we hope that the things you learn here will benefit you and your career. And if you go somewhere else, that you’ll take it with you to those other places.
So, yeah, I would say, we’re glad you’re here. The water’s warm. Jump in head first.
Namaste Solar invests in its people and has contributed to the personal and professional growth of so many people over the years. How has your growth been impacted?
So, so much. I’m 50 years old and Namaste Solar is 20 years old. I’ve grown up at Namaste Solar. I’m still growing up at Namaste Solar.
There are opportunities that I’ve gotten to do that I never would have gotten elsewhere. Sometimes I wish I had an MBA. But I have friends who wish they had started a company and learned it on the fly. They helped me to realize how green the grass is on this side.
I’ve learned so much professionally at Namaste Solar. And also by spinning off four other cooperatives. They’re all related and slightly overlapping but still very, very different. I’ve had an amazing, amazing career because of Namaste Solar.
And then personally, I’m more of the person that I want to be because of Namaste Solar. Sometimes when I’m straying off a path of who I want to be, the people and the culture will put me back on track. It’s hard to put into words, but I think the best way to say it is that I’m a better person and I’m more of the person that I want to be because of Namaste Solar.
Is there anything else you’d like to say about Namaste Solar and its 20th anniversary?
I'd like to say something about all Namastaliens, past and present. Not just those of us who are currently here, but also all of the former Namastaliens, or alumni, so to speak. I hope that they're also feeling proud that we're turning 20 years old. One of the neat things about Namaste Solar, and about how we do things, is that everyone - truly everyone who has ever worked here - has helped contribute to our success and has helped co-create this company. Everyone's fingerprints are on it. I would hope that former Namastaliens are celebrating our 20th anniversary, and I'd want them to hear us say "thank you" and "congratulations" to them as well.
Thank you to all Namastaliens, past and present, for the part you played in helping us get here and in becoming who we are today.
