Thinking Green

Do you remember your first meaningful interaction with a customer? Mo sure does--and he's invited him on to today's episode. Kevin was not only his first meaningful interaction, but his absolute first client--and his wife, Mary, made a lasting impact on Good Faith Energy. Their caring support helped the company become what it is today.

Kevin Caldwell was a business owner involved in stock and bond management before he retired in Dallas, Texas. He met Mohammed at a renewable energy conference as he was getting more involved in sustainability--and he became Mo's first customer. He's here today sharing his sustainable lifestyle, from rainwater harvesting to battery cells.

On this episode of Thinking Green, Mohammed invites Kevin, his very first customer, to walk him through his journey to a sustainable home. They're talking windows, encapsulation, hot water heating, you name it. Kevin estimated that about half of his household's energy needs could be met by the renewable sources in his home--an estimate that turned out to be very low. His family's success came with Mohammed's help, and they're here today to help you design your own sustainable home.

What You'll Learn:

• How Mohammed and Kevin met, and how Mo helped outfit Kevin's hand-built home with sustainable technologies

• Why Kevin's business was so meaningful to Mo, and how it helped launch his business

• What an install time frame is, from the inception of the project to its completion

• And so much more!

Favorite Quote:

"You've gotta honor and respect people. And you've got to do the right thing, to give people the opportunity to come together and create something new." - Kevin Caldwell

How to Get Involved:

You can find Kevin on LinkedIn.

If what you heard resonated with you, you can find Mohammed on LinkedIn or his website.

And don't forget to visit us on Apple Podcasts to leave a review and let us know what you thought! Your feedback keeps us going. Thanks for helping us spread the word!

Why is passion necessary in entrepreneurship and building a thriving business? Jason points out to Mo, saying, "I'm sure this passion for having clean energy, taking care of our planet, love for mankind, are what triggered you into this field, which is awesome."

Mo's quick accession to the apex at the age of 31 years only is extraordinary. He always had a clear vision to determine what he was up to. As he says," I just felt distributed power was sort of this next wave that would take over the world and just like distributed cell phone and internet architecture, and everything's kind of moving to this decentralized nature, Power will do the same thing."

Mo's love for nature, sustainability, and green planet propelled him to shift from an oil and gas landman to a renewable energy entrepreneur. He is now the Founder & CEO of Good Faith Energy and its subsidiary solar provider companies.

In this episode of Thinking Green, Mo is the guest in Jason and Steve's podcast, No Bull Business and Brews. He engages with the hosts in a fascinating conversation giving insights that contributed to his success story. Tune in to follow Mo's 'roadmap' to reconsider your steps to your entrepreneurial journey.

What you will learn:

• What bent Mo on creating a secure future for him, his family, people, and the planet at large.
• Why Jason and Steve address Mo as 'the epitome of a true entrepreneur'.
• How small, consistent steps pushed Mo ahead to the manifestation of his dreams that didn't happen overnight
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

A big takeaway from your point is the consistency. There's so much success in consistent effort. Those small steps every single day leads to where you want to go.

- Jason Graybeal

Connect with Jason and Steve:

Jason on Instagram

Steve on Instagram

No Bull Business and Brews

How to Get Involved:

Mohammed Abdalla is the Founder & CEO of Good Faith Energy and its subsidiary companies. He has grossed over $30m in lifetime sales – building his business from a minor, $40,000 loan into the 50+ employee company it is today. He has a lifelong passion and dedication to the pursuit of renewable energy and its social impact.

If you enjoyed this episode, head over and visit us on Apple Podcasts - leave a review and let us know what you thought! Your feedback keeps us going. Thanks for helping us spread the word!

The question of manufacturing garments in a sustainable way is one that's come up more and more in recent decades. Sherri Barry and Angela Johnson, co-founders of FABRIC incubator, are here today to give us their answer--which involves roadmaps, technology, and, of course, conscious choice.

Sherri Barry and Angela Johnson run a fashion incubator called FABRIC out of Arizona. Sherry is an entrepreneur whose experience in sustainable revenue growth has supported her work at FABRIC, and Angela has won awards for her fashion design and championed eco-friendly industry standards in Arizona. They're here to talk with Mo today about their unique business model.

On this episode of Thinking Green, Mohammed jams with Sherri and Angela about a different side of sustainability: the side of fashion entrepreneurship. These women have created a technological fashion utopia to help designers learn, test, and manufacture their own fashion lines in a green way. Tune in today to hear them talk challenges, projects, and the ultimate disruption of the fast fashion bubble.

What You'll Learn:

• How eco-friendly fashion solves the problems of excess product, unfair labor practices, and destructive sourcing

• Why low garment costs are now expected by consumers, and why this practice needs to be disrupted

• What all goes into creating a sustainable fashion line, and what FABRIC is doing to support domestic entrepreneurs who want to go the distance

• And so much more!

Favorite Quote:

"Green manufacturing goes beyond what happens to stuff that you can use--it goes to when those things become unusable. The closer we can get to that fully circular environment, the more sustainable we can be."

• Sherri Barry

How to Get Involved:

Learn more about FABRI on their website, and find both Angela Johnson and Sherri Barry on LinkedIn.

If what you heard resonated with you, you can find Mohammed on LinkedIn or his website.

And don't forget to visit us on Apple Podcasts to leave a review and let us know what you thought! Your feedback keeps us going. Thanks for helping us spread the word!

How do we best apply sustainable energies to our daily lives? How do we integrate renewable technologies to daily chores like laundry, pool maintenance, or sim racing? Leif Peterson is here to answer with his own experience, advice, and green thinking.

Mohammed and Leif met two years ago. Leif is an electric vehicle enthusiast who's adopted the solar and battery lifestyle. He started in the renewable industry in the 80s, selling solar hot water systems to homeowners. Recently his interest in cars has led him to his Tesla Model 3, and because of that, to Good Faith Energy.

On this episode of Thinking Green, Mohammed interviews Leif about his experience with renewable energy. They're running through Lief's renewable energy setup and talking about daily sustainability: the present and future of EVs, surviving freak Texas storms, and storing power cyclically. Tune in to hear about the lifespan of a battery, the benefits of reducing energy consumption from the grid, and the benefits of "shedding loads" from your sustainable system.

What You'll Learn:

• What practical renewable energy looks like every day

• How Lief found a way to cut his power usage and use net-negative energy with just one power wall and a 5-kilowatt system

• Why EVs are much more cost-, energy-, and carbon-effective than traditional internal combustion vehicles

• And so much more!

Favorite Quote:

"We're in an exponential age. Everything is getting faster. And humans aren't really designed to think exponentially. Yet."

• Leif Peterson

How to Get Involved:

Find Leif Peterson on LinkedIn.

If what you heard resonated with you, you can find Mohammed on LinkedIn or his website.

And don't forget to visit us on Apple Podcasts to leave a review and let us know what you thought! Your feedback keeps us going. Thanks for helping us spread the word!

If you've ever contemplated how to reduce your energy bill, the chances are that you have seriously considered solar energy. With cost-effective options, tax breaks, and at-home installation, residential solar energy is becoming more common globally.

However, what about commercial buildings and companies? Can solar energy handle the exponentially higher energy needs of companies, and if so, how? Plus, if solar batteries can't take extreme heat and cold, how will solar energy ever be a scalable energy solution in the long run?

Omeed Badkoobeh is hard at work solving all of these questions. As a solar energy innovator and the CEO of Yotta Energy, Omeed is the leader in small to midsize company solar energy, has successfully created a solar energy company that produces power at scale, and designed and built a solar battery that can withstand extreme temperatures.

In this episode of the Thinking Green Podcast, host Mohammad Abdalla and Omeed Badkoobeh discuss the solar energy landscape, the difficulty of producing solar energy at scale, Yotta Energy's unique installation advantage, and why technology with proven value will always prevail.

What You'll Learn:

• How an off-grid house in college piqued Omeed's interest and inspired him to go into the solar industry
• Why the best strategy for increased energy use over the next 5-10 years must include solar energy
• How Omeed's company has solved the perpetual issue of scalable solar power and batteries being unable to operate in extreme temperatures
• What a thriving company culture looks like, and why culture is so essential if you're looking to scale
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

"Naysayers will come and go. First, it was people who said that electric cars were incomprehensible. Now, those same people are saying that you can't put power electronics on a rooftop. But the fact of the matter is that technology always prevails. If there's a drive to create technology, and your product brings value, then it will always win."

• Omeed Badkoobeh

Connect with Omeed

Linkedin

Yotta Energy

How to Get Involved:

Mohammed Abdalla is the Founder & CEO of Good Faith Energy and its subsidiary companies. He has grossed over $30m in lifetime sales – building his business from a minor, $40,000 loan into the 50+ employee company it is today. He has a lifelong passion and dedication to the pursuit of renewable energy and its social impact.

If you enjoyed this episode, head over and visit us on Apple Podcasts - leave a review and let us know what you thought! Your feedback keeps us going. Thanks for helping us spread the word!

How exciting can it be for you to invent something new for this world? Especially when you know, that's going to make a big difference. It can be painstaking initially to establish a new thought or start up a whole new business with an unusual commodity, mostly when the world is prejudiced against it.

Bernardo Carreira, the guest, has made a strong impact in his pursuit of manufacturing 'shoes of hemp', which are the first of their kind and eco-friendly. He opens up on how they had been misconstrued by many at the preliminary stage. Finally, Bernardo confesses, saying, "People misjudged, we're on drugs, hemp is not good, this is all cannabis, we are all going to die, the planet is going to die." So, immense courage, patience, and a lot of trial and error methods went into making a true entrepreneur out of him.

Bernardo Duque Carreira is now the Founder and CEO at 8000kicks, the world's first shoe brand, making quality hemp footwear durable and water-repellent. Bernardo had always been fascinated with the idea of sustainability. As a result, the shoes are the world's first kind to have insoles made exclusively from hemp. Plus, its other upcycled elements make them ultimately environmentally- friendly.

In this episode of Thinking Green, Bernardo helps Mo walk through the path of his making this spellbinding journey come to pass. Mo and Bernardo dig deep in the various aspects of industrial hemp, its durability, sustainability, acceptance in legal terms worldwide, and the ins and outs of technicalities connected to its processing. So tune in for a riveting and informational episode that drives you to gritty actions as you embark on a new venture.

What you will learn:

• How Bernardo was initiated with an idea of hemp as a base material, took his first move, and launched his brand through crowdfunding campaigns.
• Why Bernardo feels his grandmother played a very significant role in the entrepreneurial journey of his business and what decisions of hers took them to another level.
• What technicalities are associated with making hemp products, and what minute details are looked upon to weave the best fabric and produce the best quality shoes.
• And many more!

Favorite Quote:

"Hemp is a very new thing, and we are relearning how to work with hemp every day. So what we prefer to do is wait, work and learn at the same time."

- Bernardo Carreira

Connect with Bernardo:

8000kicks website

LinkedIn

Instagram

How to Get Involved:

Mohammed Abdalla is the Founder & CEO of Good Faith Energy and its subsidiary companies. He has grossed over $30m in lifetime sales – building his business from a minor, $40,000 loan into the 50+ employee company it is today. He has a lifelong passion and dedication to the pursuit of renewable energy and its social impact.

If you enjoyed this episode, head over and visit us on Apple Podcasts - leave a review and let us know what you thought! Your feedback keeps us going. Thanks for helping us spread the word!

How important is it to make the power distribution system more resilient? It is a primary concern considering this era you live in. There's always going to be a rise in demand for electricity with the technological advancements in various, rather all, sectors of living.

Mo, our host, makes it poignant that the power grid might collapse and fail to support. But, at the same time, there's a high demand for energy supply, as he says," The grid simply might not maintain itself because of its age, because of its fragility, because of its poor overall design." And that is why you might want to look for immediate solutions and recovery.

In this episode of Thinking Green, Mo digs deep into the need for a distributed power system that can operate independently of any more significant grid force. Prior precautions might save you from an unforeseen, miserable situation that severe weather conditions might cause, a sudden increase in power consumption, and the resultant long-standing power outage in your place if the grid doesn't support its supply. So, tune in for an illuminating episode that puts light not only on the need for increasing energy resilience but also the alarming situation you might land upon if you are not alive to its difficulty.

What you will learn:

• What consequences cropped up as the Texas ERCOT energy grid collapsed due to inclement weather conditions in the near past.
• What resulted in a "tight grid condition" as announced by ERCOT recently and what was being demanded to be done in such an alarming situation.
• How distributed solar and backup energy would help sustain a balance between the supply and demand of power.
• What are the threats electric vehicles might pose on the power grids once the former get into the mainstream.
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

"The key to being a long-term player is to create a new distributed nature of a power grid that allows people to put rooftop solar and battery backup systems with suitable financing mechanisms at affordable rates with five-star services.

- Mohammed Abdalla

How to Get Involved:

Mohammed Abdalla is the Founder & CEO of Good Faith Energy and its subsidiary companies. He has grossed over $30m in lifetime sales – building his business from a minor, $40,000 loan into the 50+ employee company it is today. He has a lifelong passion and dedication to the pursuit of renewable energy and its social impact.

If you enjoyed this episode, head over and visit us on Apple Podcasts - leave a review and let us know what you thought! Your feedback keeps us going. Thanks for helping us spread the word!

Humans never stop innovating. And while most of us only hear about the latest products or techniques when they come onto the market, there are those out there who know that we can best appreciate new tech when we understand how it works - and how it might change our lives tomorrow.

Ricky Roy is an Aero/Software/Mechanical Engineer, YouTuber, and founder of 2 Bit Da Vinci, a brand that seeks to marry art with technology and engineering, and inform viewers about topics covering energy, tech, transportation, and more.

In this episode of Thinking Green, Mo and Ricky dive deep on the inception and growth of Ricky's YouTube channel and his transition into solar-focused content, the ins and outs of emerging electric vehicles and power distribution from the grid to different types of power storage and the average home, and the need for standardization if electric vehicles are to thrive in the future. Listen in for an interview that draws back the curtain on the power sources we use every day, and what tomorrow might look like for us and for the biggest names in the energy industry.

What You'll Learn:

• Why Ricky made a $10K investment in some solar panels, and how the data those panels gave him has shaped his YouTube channel
• What the future of electric vehicles has to offer homeowners in terms of backup power, and the economics of EV in that role
• How companies manage building their power supplies according to demand and incoming updates, and how they may have to change their ways as EV tech advances
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

"People are very curious. And it comes from either caring about the environment and/or our impact on the environment, self sustainability, right, or saving money. So, between those four buckets, solar is for everybody."

• Ricky Roy

Connect with Ricky:

Two Bit Da Vinci on YouTube

Two Bit Da Vinci on Twitter

Two Bit Da Vinci on Facebook

How to Get Involved:

Mohammed Abdalla is the Founder & CEO of Good Faith Energy and its subsidiary companies. He has grossed over $30m in lifetime sales – building his business from a minor, $40,000 loan into the 50+ employee company it is today. He has a lifelong passion and dedication to the pursuit of renewable energy and its social impact.

If you enjoyed this episode, head over and visit us on Apple Podcasts - leave a review and let us know what you thought! Your feedback keeps us going. Thanks for helping us spread the word!

Water is life. It sustains us and helps us advance our lives as individuals and as a collective - and in places where safe, available drinking water just isn't a reality, the whole community suffers from its absence. How, then, do we bring life-giving water to communities like these?

Scott Linebrink is a former MLB player and the stewardship director of Water Mission, a Christian nonprofit based out of Charleston and centered around serving millions of people in dozens of countries worldwide through clean water projects.

In this episode of Thinking Green, Mo and Scott break down the principles and processes through which Water Mission provides clean, stable, and reliable water sources for rural communities and developing countries, what it takes to get functional water systems up and running from start to finish, and how Scott and his team are working to emulate God's love in every project they do to change lives, one person at a time. Tune in for an enlightening look at the power a little water has in so many places worldwide.

What You'll Learn:

• What clean, dependable water and sanitation have to do with the overall quality of life of entire communities, from infrastructure to healthcare to education and beyond
• How to walk the line between shedding entitlement to serve others and the temptation to "show off" your good deeds (and why the latter mentality is sometimes just a part of the journey
• Why a lot of the current water solutions being installed across the world, no matter how well-meant they are, aren't sustainable - and how the industry can begin to step up their efforts and their impact
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

"I think that's the way God wants us to live, knowing that he loves all people, and knowing that he wants us to treat our neighbors - not just the neighbor across the street, but the neighbor across the world, too, somebody that may look very different from us culturally and from a belief standpoint - but, you know, one of the great ways to show love for someone else is to give them a drink of water."

• Scott Linebrink

Connect with Scott:

LinkedIn

Water Mission

How to Get Involved:

Mohammed Abdalla is the Founder & CEO of Good Faith Energy and its subsidiary companies. He has grossed over $30m in lifetime sales – building his business from a minor, $40,000 loan into the 50+ employee company it is today. He has a lifelong passion and dedication to the pursuit of renewable energy and its social impact.

If you enjoyed this episode, head over and visit us on Apple Podcasts - leave a review and let us know what you thought! Your feedback keeps us going. Thanks for helping us spread the word!

Is your energy the best energy? Most of us don't think twice about our energy company or the impact their practices and policies have on sustainability. And most of us never realize there's a better option...

Vincent Battaglia is the founder and CEO of Renova Energy, an organization that exists to provide sustainable, efficient energy and building practices to California communities - and better policies to the whole country - all while seeking to undercut the current nationwide energy monopoly held by centralized utilities.

In this episode of Thinking Green, Mo and Vincent break down the birth and family atmosphere of Renova, how Vincent and his peers are fighting the hold that significant utilities have on energy across the country (plus how they're taking the fight to Washington), and why Vincent puts so much of his focus and effort on providing resources to nonprofits and mission-driven organizations. Listen in for an interview that will revolutionize the way you see your light bill - and the effects of energy on every corner of your life.

What You'll Learn:

• How Vincent has structured his organization to give proactively to its employees and their futures, even if they should leave the company
• Why keeping a successful solar business running has as much to do with knowing how to navigate the significant players in the industry as it does with the dedication to sustainability
• What customer expectations can do for your organization, for good or ill, and how to manage them properly
• And much more!

"We walk, we talk, but the best thing to do is to bring people and grow your organization because the most powerful voice is a concise message that comes from one single organization organizing under the renewable energy flag."

• Vincent Battaglia

Connect with Vincent:

LinkedIn

Renova Energy

How to Get Involved:

Mohammed Abdalla is the Founder & CEO of Good Faith Energy and its subsidiary companies. He has grossed over $30m in lifetime sales – building his business of a minor, $40,000 loan into the 50+ employee company it is today. He has a lifelong passion and dedication to the pursuit of renewable energy and its social impact.

If you enjoyed this episode, head over and visit us on Apple Podcasts - leave a review and let us know what you thought! Your feedback keeps us going. Thanks for helping us spread the word!