Introduction:
Christopher Gersch is the CEO of Verde Solutions, a leading clean energy firm that specializes in commercial solar, battery storage, and EV development projects across the United States. Under his leadership, Verde Solutions and sister companies like Navigate Power have completed more than 2,800 projects in 48 states for major clients such as DHL and Southwest Airlines, earned repeated Inc. 5000 recognition, and served over 100,000 customers nationwide. Christopher is a serial entrepreneur who has founded more than a dozen businesses, serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago, and was named one of Crain’s Chicago Business 2023 Notable Leaders in Sustainability; he also holds an executive MBA from Northwestern and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois. With a passion for both innovation and storytelling, Christopher brings a unique perspective on how personal experiences and business challenges can inspire action — whether in the classroom, on national news, or through the many companies he’s built.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [2:37] How Christopher Gersch’s childhood experiences shaped his serial entrepreneurship and resilience
- [4:54] Why building multiple businesses by 40 is possible for anyone
- [7:10] How to create synergistic companies that work smarter together
- [11:07] The secret to transforming client pain points into new ventures
- [15:35] Why having the right partners is the key to scaling
- [18:48] Why is hesitation more costly than making mistakes in business
- [22:41] How teaching sharpens storytelling and reveals the power of truth
- [28:25] Tips on building confidence and branding through TV appearances
- [36:45] Why sharing failures makes your stories memorable and relatable
In this episode…
Some people seem to have an endless supply of energy, curiosity, and ideas, turning their passions into thriving businesses across multiple industries. But what does it take to not only start companies, but to build a network of ventures that support each other — and still have time left for family, teaching, and storytelling? How do you bounce back when your best-laid plans go awry, and what makes the stories of your journey truly memorable?
Christopher Gersch demonstrates how strategic vision, resilience, and authentic storytelling can transform setbacks into springboards for success. Drawing inspiration from his entrepreneurial mother, Chris built twelve businesses before age forty, cleverly linking them through a parent holding company to maximize synergy and minimize risk. He shares his journey from humble beginnings, through early failures — including a hedge fund collapse — to a thriving portfolio in clean energy, trading, and technology. Chris reveals the importance of taking action in the face of fear, finding and trusting the right partners, and reinvesting in growth rather than succumbing to complacency. His approach is rooted in self-awareness, transparency, and the humility to learn from both success and failure.
In this episode of Sticky: Stories That Stick, Amelia Forczak talks with Christopher Gersch about building interconnected businesses and the art of impactful storytelling. They draw out practical wisdom on entrepreneurship, leadership, and personal growth. Listeners will discover how Chris structures his companies for efficiency, hedges against business volatility, and cultivates strong teams by empowering ‘lieutenants’ to drive ventures forward. The conversation explores how teaching and media appearances sharpen his storytelling skills, and why the most powerful stories are those that capture both triumphs and pivots. Amelia and Chris delve into the value of peer groups for leaders, the necessity of action over hesitation, and the power of vulnerability in creating stories that truly stick. Whether you’re a founder, creative, or aspiring storyteller, this episode offers actionable ideas and inspiration to help you navigate crooked roads — and share the lessons learned along the way.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Christopher Gersch on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophergersch/
- Verde Solutions – https://verdesolutions.com/
- RxSun – https://rxsun.com/
- Navigate Power – https://navigatepower.com/
- Fresh Coast Solar – https://freshcoastsolar.com/
- Pithy Wordsmithery – https://pithywordsmithery.com/
Quotable moments:
- “Entrepreneurship is about starting with nothing, being told you can’t, and still finding a way to build something that matters.”
- “Adversity is the down payment on resilience — it is that tough time that builds the foundation.”
- “Hesitation is more expensive than a mistake.”
- “Action and fear can’t coexist; if you take action, you’ll find the fear starts to fade.”
- “Stories that stick are not just about your success, but about the mistakes and pivots you had to make.”
Action Steps:
- Build complementary businesses that address real pain points: Create related offerings under one structure to diversify income and increase operational efficiency.
- Identify and empower key team members to lead: Delegate daily operations to trusted leaders to scale effectively without burnout.
- Take bold action despite fear or uncertainty: Make timely decisions to create momentum and unlock new opportunities.
- Reinvest in your business and personal development: Allocate resources toward growth, hiring, and learning instead of lifestyle upgrades.
- Seek feedback and surround yourself with peer support: Engage in groups and mentorship to gain perspective and avoid leading in isolation.
Transcript:
Sticky – Chris Gersch
SPEAKERS
Amelia Forczak, Chris Gersch
Amelia Forczak 00:06
Welcome to sticky stories that stick. Join me, Amelia Forczak, as I sit down with master storytellers to explore what makes some narratives unforgettable. Let’s get started. Hi. I’m Amelia Forczak. The host of sticky stories that stick, where I sit down with successful executives, entrepreneurs and thought leaders to uncover the pivotal moments that shape them and explore what transforms personal experiences into stories that truly stick with audiences. Whether you’re crafting your next keynote, writing a book, or simply want to connect more authentically with others, you’ll discover the psychology behind memorable storytelling and learn how to turn your own life experiences into narratives that resonate and inspire action. Today, I have a very exciting guest with us, but first, I just have to let you know that this episode is brought to you by pithy word smithery, a Chicago based boutique firm founded by yours truly. I’m a New York Times bestselling ghostwriter, and I love helping people write and publish their books. My team and I have helped many authors turn their stories into bestsellers and their brands into thought leadership platforms. Our readership is in the hundreds of 1000s, so even if you haven’t heard of us, there’s a decent chance you’ve read something we’ve written. If you’ve ever thought about writing a book, check us out online at pithy wordsmithery.com today, I have Chris Gersh with me. Chris is a clean energy leader with over 20 years of experience founding 11 businesses, including Verde Solutions, Navigate Power, RX sun and Fresh Coast Solar. He serves on several nonprofit and industry boards. Teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago, and he’s a frequent guest expert on major news networks. He’s recognized as one of crane Chicago Business 2023, notable leaders in sustainability. And He also holds an executive MBA from Northwestern and A, B, s in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois. So many accomplishments, that’s a lot. Chris, thank you so much for joining me today.
Chris Gersch 02:09
Happy to be here. Thanks, Amelia.
Amelia Forczak 02:12
so we met because you’re interested in writing a book, and I thought you’d be a great person to interview, because you’ve had such an interesting life, and as we’ve talked through all your stories that could potentially be in the book. There’s so much that we can include that I feel like the biggest challenge has been figuring out, like, what stays and what goes, because there’s just so much so you, you’ve done, you’ve done a ton of stuff. Like, you’re a pilot. I feel like we didn’t even include that in the intro. You got a lot going on. So tell, tell me about that, like you, you have a ton of passions.
Chris Gersch 02:42
Yeah, no, I think, you know, if you were asked my parents, it started off at a young age. I can never stick in like one sport. I wanted to try them all. I hear I hold this weird stat at my high school about lettering in the most amount of different sports. And so I did four years, three seasons each, and like I was, you know, every year was different in the sports that I ended up playing. And just like to be involved. And I really owe it to my mom, I believe or not, she just gets the most out of life, and she’s a great storyteller, and I felt like, you know, watching her be an entrepreneur. She had a shop, you know, cutting hair that was kind of attached to our house, and hearing the stories that she told, and really the pride that she got from discussing all the different things that my brother and I were doing, it made me really happy to kind of do different things and and hear those stories that she would, you know, she might have embellished a little bit here and there, but overall, they were incredible ways to encourage My brother and I should even know she was doing it. And so experiencing life, getting out there, is something that I really owe to my parents.
Amelia Forczak 04:10
That’s awesome. I actually hear from entrepreneurs a lot, if they had a parent who owned their own business, that that sort of is like in their blood, almost like, I don’t know if it’s like, yeah, they’re just inspired by seeing, like, their parent have the freedom and creativity to get that started. And so I see, like, how many businesses do you have right now? I feel like I’m losing track 11.
Chris Gersch 04:33
I think I was just trying to someone. I was on a panel, and they were joking and messing around with me a little bit, but they had done some research and figured, I think it was 12 different businesses, but I’m active in five as either the chief operating, you know, CEO, you know, or managing partner of five different businesses right now.
Amelia Forczak 04:58
Yeah. Okay, awesome. And for you guys who are listening, you might think that to have so many businesses, maybe Chris is like in his golden years, that is not the case. You had all these businesses by the time you were, what, like 40.
Chris Gersch 05:12
Yeah, I had the businesses by the time I was 40, and I started off early. And, you know, just, you know, typical, are you here? This? Probably entrepreneurs and just, you know, working very early on, and I was working an hourly wage, but then on the side, I was listening to what Warren Buffett called back in the 90s, mailbox money and ways that I could get residual income. I knew that that was something that I wanted to create. And so while my mom the entrepreneurship side, she was very transactional. She every haircut, perm, color that she did, she got a fee for that right. And I understand understood that model, and I understood my dad, who was a blue collar, you know, mechanic, that every car that he fixed he would receive, you know, an hourly wage and things like that. So I thought like, well, we we aren’t really getting ahead. And at times, my family unfortunately dealt with some food insecurity based on injuries to my dad from racing and things like that, so I wanted, you know, some security, and how do I create wealth where you know my family, whether it be my parents at the time or my kids that I eventually wanted to have. Now I have four, and I’m done with that. I might start another business, but no more kids, but in terms of really creating a life where you can, you know, be independent from that paycheck to paycheck, that was a clear motivation for me at an early age.
Amelia Forczak 06:57
Yeah, I think that’s something that a lot of entrepreneurs are interested in is like the how do you get the company where you’re not trading time for money? That’s a big thing that a lot of people are trying to figure out. So it sounds like you’ve done that with a couple of businesses. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what you have going on with that?
Chris Gersch 07:15
Yeah. So I so at the top is a parent company called Ultimate capital that I used to run my trading strategies out of and really morphed into a holding company of different businesses that I invested in over the years. And the portfolio companies are many, but the ones that I folk focus on mainly are is verde solutions. So verde Solutions is a commercial solar battery storage and EV development firm. So we do everything from the engineering of the rebate filing and actually bringing in the investment, whether we invest with ourselves or bring in a Blackstone Blackrock Bank of America to invest in these behind the meter solar projects. Mostly behind the meter means, you know, on top of a building or adjacent to a building, not those huge utility scale, but we’ve done projects now in 48 states, a little over 2800 projects. And you know, great brands like DHL and Southwest Airlines. And you know, we’re doing, you know, communities throughout the country we’re currently building, from California to Maryland right now, wastewater treatment facilities, big box stores, many that your listeners have heard of. So it’s been great. And how I got there, we kind of talk about that story later, because I used to be an oil and gas trader. So besides various solutions, we have navigate power, which is really the energy trading and hedging we service, I believe, over 100,000 customers now nationwide, which, which is great, and growing on an annual basis. You’ve got fresh Coast solar, which is a company I purchased a majority stake in and acquired, didn’t acquire the majority stake in, in 2019 then you’ve got our son. I’m sorry. Fresh Coast solar builds all the systems for verde solutions and our sun. Our sun is a residential solar company. We do work primarily in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Florida, and then you’ve got your portal. We do a lot of online SEO and website development for new businesses with a focus in medical spots. So a little bit overall, all the board, most of them, have an energy focus that your portal is somebody started in 2007 with my good friend, one of my best friends, Ryan palano, and he’s really independent on that. And then as the CEO and chairman. Of ultimate capital. And this is how I suggest I made a lot of mistakes, but this is how I suggest entrepreneurs set it up, is have that holding company where your accounting, your legal, your operations, can really, you know, set the standard to all your portfolio businesses, reporting, banking, all that sort of thing being at that top, which allows you to really simplify and have each portfolio business focus on what they’re good at in their individual, you know, Silo.
Amelia Forczak 10:31
That’s sort of the strategy when we were thinking about what is your real niche, because you’ve done so many things like, what’s the thing that really stands out a lot is like, at least, I think, is you created all these businesses that work together, and so not just creating one business. Because a lot of entrepreneurship advice is like, focus on that one thing. Stay focused. It’s like, you want to experience it all. So you’ve created all these companies, but they’re connected. So there’s a smart way to do it where you are actually saving time and money and still creating the businesses underneath. And I think that’s so clever. Yeah, yeah, tell me. Tell me more about like, how did you come up with that idea?
Chris Gersch 11:12
You know, entrepreneurship is about starting with nothing, being told you can’t, and still finding a way to build something that matters. It is absolutely about that first action that you need to take. So you need to have that first good idea. But when you are building this, I’ll give you a for example, when we were my first business that ended up selling to private equity was based on it was a very similar business to what navigate power does, and navigate power does energy trading and hedging and locks in con you know, electricity and natural gas contracts for commercial businesses across the country. And what I found was that a lot of our clients wanted to understand and how, not only to buy and secure better energy rates, but how I would suggest, as their professional energy consultant, and the consultants and my business was suggesting and utilizing that power and making sure that they use less than they need. So lowering that demand and understanding that was a pain point. I was like, You know what? I’m going to put going to create a business around that, and that’s where verde solutions came about. So I was like, You know what? Not only do I have a market because I know the solutions they need, whether it’s building controls, solar lighting, all sorts of things that I used to focus on at Verde, but I also know that all the other navigate powers of the world out there really need a partner that can handle all that for their clients. And they have a ton of clients themselves that are looking for this. How can I create a warm introduction where I can refer them? You know, our services, and they can be paid, and then we get to service their clients. And it’s, it’s a real, you know, partnership between me and the other business, but also partnership between me and and their clients, as well as our own clients. And so once you kind of create the vehicle of the the value that’s needed, what’s the pain point of the customer? And then the vehicle to get introduced, and in front of that, you know, prospective client with a warm lead. That’s a business, right? And then the next one was, you know, fresh Coast solar. Fresh Coast solar, we are subcontracting all of our work around the country. And when you subcontract, quality control goes by the wayside. And as an entrepreneur, is your brand and your name is everything. So if you were to ruin that with poor execution or shoddy work, well that’s something that was out of our control, and I just hated that. So I knew that we were busy enough to bring in and acquire a business that focused just on a construction and that was there. And then once I acquired that business, I was like, man, well, commercial is like, really, feast or famine, up and down. What do I do to kind of, you know, shore that business up and make sure that there’s continuous work. Oh, we’ll get into residential solar, lot more transactions. We can keep our top people busy so that we can retain them, and so one just feeds off of the other. And when you’re in a business and you you know you can execute, it gives you that confidence to go about and start these other businesses. And I’m happy to say now that, as you mentioned, these businesses have been on the Inc 5015 times and still growing. So Inc 5000 is really about a high rate of growth. And you know, we keep on betting on ourselves and reinvestigate in those businesses.
Amelia Forczak 14:53
Yeah, that’s that stat is crazy that you got. To have been on that list so many times. And so as we’re thinking about the like, what, what stories to tell in the book? It’s kind of like, how do you, how do you teach other people to do what you’ve done? You know, it sounds like some of the like, creating the different companies. You’re kind of also thinking about, like, hedging risks, right? Like, so if you see like this certain business, like you said, is like, feast or famine, how do you find one that’s a little bit more stable? I feel like sometimes entrepreneurs are trying to build that out within their own company, like having some services that that do that, but having it as a different company, you’re saying is like, is even better, because that hedges the risk even more,
Chris Gersch 15:39
I think the biggest thing is about finding your key man or key woman to kind of be your ride or die on those ideas with. You might find them internally. You might find them through different networks, but each of these businesses I knew where coming up with the idea, finding the value, creating that package, was what I was good at, but then finding those column lieutenants, and they end up being equity partners to really run the day to Day, that’s that’s key, right? So being able to really, whether it’s not necessarily through a bug, but that’s what I’m finally doing, something I wanted to but being able to sit down and communicate your vision, your dream, with someone, where they buy in enough, and they see the upside, and, you know, you know that their skill set, kind of, you know, be very transparent with them, know them, let them know that this is what I’m good at. This is what I’m going to do in this partnership, and this is what my expectations are for you. And once those two things are set, you can, you know, start, start the system, and let them run with it, but knowing that you got to take care of them, right? So if you want to maintain your equity in a business, you got to let these lieutenants, you know, they got to get a salary. They they’ve got to, kind of doesn’t have to be much, but you’re going to have to sacrifice and so while you’re creating that hedge, sometimes you’re, you’re, you know, you’re going really lean on yourself, which is something that I’ve had to do time and time again. And you know it’s not for the faint of heart, but if you can do it and you believe in yourself, you can carry that momentum through that you’ve done with one business, you’re able to really build on that business’s momentum and add these others and just betting on yourself over and over again, that’s what entrepreneurship is all about.
Amelia Forczak 17:48
It sounds like one thing that you are good at is being able to start something, trust someone to run it and so and not having it suck up all your time. I think that’s like the trap that a lot of people fall into is like, how can you start a business and not just be so busy, right? Finding the person to run it and just trusting them and just backing off and letting them do their thing, to some extent, 100%
Chris Gersch 18:16
Yeah, Adversity is the down payment resilience like it is. You know that tough time that you’re talking about with those partners. You know, if you can be resilient with someone else that sets a foundation and those key relationships is what you it takes to build a fast growing business,
Amelia Forczak 18:38
so you had that work with a bunch of businesses. Have you? Have you had trouble with any of them? I know we always talk about, like, all the great things that happen, yeah? Tell me about a time where maybe you, you tried to do this and it didn’t work quite as well. Yeah.
Chris Gersch 18:52
So I think that kind of gets into my origin story a little bit in that I had a hedge fund. And the hedge fund, you know, it was like the trading pit. It really taught me that, you know, valuable truth is that hesitation is more expensive than a mistake. I remember, you know, not getting on trades and, you know, jumping into things that you know I could figure it out, like I always pride myself with being able to figure things out, but when you finally go on your own, I jumped in. And I’m like, Okay, I had worked for you know, large firms like Merrill Lynch and archer Daniel Midland. And I’m like, All right, now I’m gonna go on my own. And I was 20, I think 2627 somewhere on there. And I went through my savings like i. I had done pretty well. I made more money at the time than my parents had in their life, and saved up. And I was so excited, and I thought that if I could trade, I could run a business, and that was completely wrong. And I saw, you know, this huge amount of money start to tick away that I had saved up to start this business, by hiring the wrong people, having the wrong goals, not aligning expectations, all these things, you know, that were really expensive, but was really just I was paying for my education and how to run a business, and it ended up failing initially, and then just on costs alone and different ideas and giving people equity that probably shouldn’t have had equity. And then when I did did a reboot, things were going really well for more than two years. And then some of the risk mitigation that you know, around the flash crash. And I, I want people to read the book, so I’m not going to go into too much detail, but long story short is it wiped me out almost completely. I was able to, you know, crawl and and fight my way back. But you know, and, you know, my faith came in, and as I made a deal to get out of oil and gas trading for coming back and being able to survive that career ending, almost re ending, you know, trade. And so those are two examples of, number one, not knowing how to run a business and throwing money at a problem that is not the solution. And number two is that you know markets reward those who can adopt faster than you know they panic. And with trading. If I were to panic in that sort of situation, it would have failed. But because I had gone through these lessons beforehand and having that failed business, I was able to kind of climb my way out of it and pivot into renewable energy, away from oil and gas.
Amelia Forczak 22:16
So, yeah, trading sounds like it’s not for the faint of heart. Like if you’re thinking about, like, high stress careers, I feel like that’s like, pretty close to the top when you’re talking about, like, how much money is on the line, different things. And so I can see how maybe that’d be something that you’d want to not do forever, but it’s something you’re good at, and it’s something that you currently teach at University of Chicago, right?
Chris Gersch 22:43
Yeah, yep, I’ve been there. I’ll just my 11th year teaching of course called applied algorithmic trading. I’ve really enjoyed my time with the students. I feel like I learned more from them, and it’s also created a big passion. I hope to continue to teach at the collegiate level and mentor as much as I can. And just like, You know what, I really focus on it. It’s kind of in parallel to what we cover in the book. But you know, ideas don’t just build trading systems. Ideas don’t build businesses, but action really does. And so putting all your theory, all your you know, years of of academia, and then creating it your own trading system that you can present to head traders, employers, or just go on their own and start on fund. It’s kind of cool to see some of my past students now running their own own business and getting investments and looking to Me for guidance afterwards. And I think that’s the biggest credit you can ever have as a professor, is that your students continue to engage with you, reach out and text you and things like that. And so I find that really rewarding, and I’ll share some of those lessons within the book.
Amelia Forczak 24:02
Yeah, I think that’s super cool. And also I feel like teaching college students would give you very good back on how good of a storyteller you are and how interesting you are based on just like, what the audience looks like as you’re teaching, like, what? What has that been like in terms of, like, learning how to, like, improve your presenting skills, or improve the way you’re telling stories like, what? What have you? Have you said that’s really like, made people lean forward in their seat and listen, versus like, things that are like, Oh, that’s going right over their heads.
Chris Gersch 24:38
Yeah, I think it’s applied nature of everything that I think a good story is one that is truthful. It’s known that truth. There’s a different energy that permeates from you when you are telling a story that’s based on fact, and to you know, for them. Them that go through years and years, and now they’re at one of the top institutions, especially for quantitative finance, in the entire world, and they’re trying to figure out how they’re going to apply that they’re just taking interviews to take interviews sometimes, because it’s still, you know, now that they’ve spent all this money and time and effort to get into this school. And, you know, a lot of people get, and they’re, they’re they’re get their masters and and they’re like, Okay, this is I’ve done everything. I’ve checked all the boxes. Now what’s next? And so as a professor, I try to help them understand where they see themselves in the triangle of quantitative finance, whether it’s trading, are you a client? You’re more theory based in building models, or do you want to be on the execution on the trading side, which you know you alluded to, is not for everybody. So there’s a lot of work that is done just to kind of put the hat on, you know, the whole outfit. You know, it’s just like you put everything on. You’ve done everything now. You just gotta, you know, finish it off with, really, one last, you know, we call like a capstone project, that can take in all the things you’ve learned and to make something unique, something that what is on a blank canvas and isn’t based on something that you just read in a book. And so being creative, especially in the world of AI and everything going on, having your own individual voice and viewpoints, I think, is really key. And I’m glad that universities like University of Chicago really encourage that.
Amelia Forczak 26:39
So yeah, it’s probably also inspiring for your students to hear about all the companies that you created and all the success that you’ve had.
Chris Gersch 26:49
yeah and the feedback we do this thing called SeaTac it so last 11 years, I tell you, when people are paying that amount of money to go to school and get a master’s degree from University of Chicago. Most are great. Lot of very positive feedback, and some have gone to extent, to give me, you know, reviews on LinkedIn because they’ve enjoyed so much. But some really give critical feedback with what they want and needed, and being able to communicate that in a way, I think, is people hide behind emails, and so what I always ask is, you know, reach out. I’m always trying to get better at my craft, and I take those to heart and try to and it’s good to see that over the years, you know, the 20% of students that are giving like, you know, I wish it would have done this has drastically gone down. So I think getting constructive feedback is important, whether you’re an entrepreneur, Professor, author, so that you can, you know, as long as it’s polite, yeah?
Amelia Forczak 27:59
I mean, like, tough, tough crowd. I’m sure teaching so hard that’s always like, seemed like something where I’m like, Oh my gosh. I don’t know if I could do that, yeah, but yeah, it would definitely be a way to just, like, hone your your skills over the years. So you you also do a lot of storytelling on TV too, right? Like your interview, you’ve been interviewed on TV a bunch of times. Yeah, yeah, tell me a little bit about that. Yeah.
Chris Gersch 28:26
So I started back in 2008 doing business commentary for CNBC, Fox, Business News, CNN, WGN, really all over the board. Whenever they need someone to talk about energy, natural gas, oil, trading, currency, crypto, all things that you know I have expertise in, they will call me, and it would be great get back on the floor, which I hadn’t been on since 2004 2005 and was at the old board of trade. It’s no longer there. They shut it down during covid, but I really enjoyed a lot of that. And now it’s all studio time. More of a business analyst now with with the businesses around renewable energy, that’s tries to be my that’s my main focus. But it was always entertaining. I got to meet some really cool people throughout the process, everyday names and, you know, like Sandra Smith on Fox became a friend of mine. We, you know, would have barbecues lived close to each other in Lincoln Park. And so, you know, just getting a text from someone that you see on TV every day just to wish you happy birthday, it was cool. But really, when it comes down to, what did I learn from it? You learn how to brand yourself. You learn what it takes to feel. Comfortable in front of a camera. I’m still learning that, but it really gives you confidence in that your abilities. And I feel like so much of entrepreneurship is having the confidence to just take action. And when I was asked to come and do it, and I was able to turn around, and I was a fill in for someone else. Take that risk, take that step. And if you know you’re nervous, that’s that’s a good thing. That means that you’re growing and so what I would suggest, and what I’ve learned is from that instance, is like, take that opportunity you don’t know. In 15 years of paid commentary. So it was really a cool thing that I miss a little bit now that the floor is done, but something that I always look back on fondly,
Amelia Forczak 30:51
yeah, one of the topics that we’ve talked a little bit about is how action and fear, like action, is the way that you get over the fear, because otherwise, if you’re if you’re afraid of something in business, you’re kind of just stuck and taking that action and then getting momentum, like any kind of momentum, feels good. Yeah, yeah. And that’s good advice, not just for entrepreneurs, but for anybody, right?
Chris Gersch 31:16
I think 80% of everything is like action, right? It’s just like, whether you’re doing a cold plunge, whether you’re getting up to like, you know, I think people that are my age and are building their businesses so often get caught up in the everyday ups and downs, and you forget sometimes what got you here and it was just action, doing the thing, and getting paralyzed as a leader in your organization can really, you know, in action, things can happen really rapidly, so really taking that you have to have the personality that you’re going to take it, you know, take the reins and lean into the fear you have because everyone’s expecting you to be that person you have to be just like when you’re running a family, like you’ve got to be that man or woman that is going to lead people through everything and momentum once it kind of It’s about reinvesting in that momentum and so so many times I’ve seen businesses come and go. They have a good quarter, and then they’re starting to buy things they, you know, upgrade their lifestyle. They buy a new house instead of reinvesting in the business, hiring, you know, three more sales people or something like that. And I’ve seen those companies, you know, dependent on one or two individuals, and one, when one of those people leave their their business shatters. So you’ve got to make sure, as you had mentioned before, you have a hedge on all that.
Amelia Forczak 33:09
Yeah, I can see how that’s scary too. When when things are going well and you’re finally making money to be like, I know, let’s spend it immediately. But like, spending it in a smart way is actually, like, safer than trying to save it or not, you know, trying to play, yeah.
Chris Gersch 33:28
I mean, take, you know, for your instance, right? Like, so your name business. You’re an excellent ghost writers, my my plug for you, but you’ve also reinvested in this now you’ve are learning through this podcast, like you’ve doubled down you you’re reinvesting in yourself instead of, you know, maybe buying that Restoration Hardware, you know, table that you wanted, something like that. But it’s those small choices that add up over time and allow you, you know, true independence, but you have to make, you know, you have to follow through with it. It’s just not about, you know, just throwing darts at the board. You know, get mentors as much as you can. I’m in this organization called YPO, where I meet with a cohort once a month and we talk about our problems in business and how we can, you know, we get shared experiences and on how things could potentially look different if you approach it through a shared experience that we had, and so it’s been a really great avenue. And I suggest, whether it’s YPO, EO, Vistage, there’s a lot of peer groups, groups like f3 I’m a part of you find. You know, those bonds and those peer groups are people you can go and talk to about things, that you can talk to people in your organization about, and that that is super important to have, that those groups as a frame of reference for things
Amelia Forczak 35:11
definitely and for entrepreneurs, especially when you can’t always get into the nitty gritty with the people that work with you, because they report to you. So it’s a little bit to find that separate peer group, and that’s probably true for like leaders as well, right? Like is you don’t want to vent like within the organization, but being able to have people that you can talk to Awesome. Well, I had one last question, but before I ask it, I want to let people know, how can they find you online if they want to stay connected with you?
Chris Gersch 35:44
Yeah, people just connect with me on LinkedIn. It’s linkedin.com, forward slash. I think it’s Chris Gersh, Christopher Gersh, and I’m sure we can put in the in the link. That’s a great way to get a hold of me. I do check it as much as I can, and always open it to networking. And then there’s our contact information on ultimate capital.com if you want to get into renewable energy, investing in battery storage and Ev and want to talk about that, I’m happy to do. So I also am a guest speaker at a lot of different events. I’ve done several keynotes. So if you want someone to talk on entrepreneurship or renewable energy, I’m happy to do so awesome.
Amelia Forczak 36:34
Okay, so my last question for you, going with the theme of the podcast, your best advice for telling stories that stick with people?
Chris Gersch 36:42
I think that the best advice, and it’s funny that, like, when trying to come up for years, like, what’s a book like people want to read, right? And what’s sticky in my experiences that I keep on going back to, I think stories that stick are not just about your success, but it’s about the mistakes and the pivots that you had had to make. I think that being because, you know, people see themselves as everyone’s human, people make mistakes. They go down the wrong road and and have to get back on track. And I always think of this quote from a friend of mine, never cursed the crooked road. And it’s something that I remind myself of a lot. And when I tell a story, I always ask, would this still matter 20 years from now to my kids or my team? If yes, then that’s a story we’re sharing. And you know, if you can tell story to a visual person’s face, the lodge is a memory. And you know the memories that I remember, I remember whether it’s me looking back at myself in the mirror or the faces of the people that affected. You know, whether it was tears or fear, those are the stories that I remember most, and I think those are the stories that you and I are sharing in the book.
Amelia Forczak 38:21
So don’t be afraid to be authentic. Share the humbling moment, the moments where failure is a feature, as we were talking about in the book. It’s not something bad, but something good that you can learn from. So yes, I agree all that stuff is interesting for people and sticky in the memory. So Chris, thank you so much for joining us again. This is Chris Gersh, clean energy leader, serial entrepreneur, Professor, pilot all the things and thank you for joining us. Thank you. Thanks for listening to sticky stories that stick. We’ll see you again next time, be sure to click Subscribe to get feature episodes you.