Deke Welling, Co-founder, and CEO of CLS Sustainable, is a seasoned leader in the energy business with 16 years of experience. He saw the need to shift existing practices. He looked into the renewable energy field for sustainable solutions and to turn fresh modern concepts into reality.
Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Deke Welling:
Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader. What challenges did you have to face to get where you are today?
My journey as a business leader started at the age of 26 (18 years ago). I started an oil and gas exploration and production company at the height of the natural gas boom in shale gas fields, where fracking was a huge part of extracting natural gas from tight formations. I did this as a transition from an oil and gas company I was working for, where I served as a Vice President.
I then made a transition into the renewable energy space in 2014, working with a local solar company in Fort Worth, and started my first solar company in 2016. That company was primarily focused on the residential marketplace, and I sold that company in 2021 to focus on CLS Sustainable.
The challenges that I had to face in the renewable energy industry were not as vast as those experienced in oil and gas. However, the biggest challenge we faced as a company, and also as a nation, was the COVID pandemic. For residential solar, people did not want others to visit them in person for fear of the unknown. The country was shut down and we were not allowed to visit families in their houses. We overcame this by immediately pivoting our sales team to perform online and over the phone presentations to show homeowners exactly what solar could do for them. The families we worked with appreciated this process, and we actually outperformed our sales during this shutdown compared to what we did the previous year.
Describe CLS offerings that address the needs of your customers.
CLS started out as primarily an EPC for commercial solar projects. We worked directly with project developers to construct their projects. We then became developers ourselves, where we would architect the solar projects directly with the end-user. It was through this process that we identified reasons why a facility’s consumption levels were high, or higher than what they should be. So, we started taking a more holistic approach to a company’s energy usage and implemented strategies that would compliment renewable generation by also finding energy-efficient solutions to also help reduce their consumption. We also started to implement energy storage solutions and cogeneration technologies that would also reduce their demand costs from their utility, which also alleviated stress on the power grid.
Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in this industry through your expertise in the industry.
I think it is through our holistic approach. My partner, Kevin, and I both look at a facility or property as a whole. Our approach is to first identify areas where we can make a significant improvement that positively affects a company’s bottom line. both from an environmental perspective and from a financial perspective. Our primary goal is to facilitate the goals and needs of our clients and also help educate them on what these improvements do, how they’re cost effective, and how it will decrease operating expenditures.
Most of our competition is only focused on solar as a service, but rarely looks at the complete picture to best benefit the client.
What are the challenges you and your team at CLS Sustainable come across in your day-to-day operations?
Some challenges we incur on a day-to-day basis are more centred around having the manpower to enable our growth. We have been very fortunate with the partners we have that hire us to assist in development, installations, or to take over a project with our resources and expertise, and we pride ourselves on giving each one of these partners our undivided attention. These relationships have been key to our growth, and we value them tremendously. With that, we get referred to new work that, at times, we have to turn away due to current commitments. We have, and are currently hiring to help fill these roles with individuals who are right for our team and have an aligned mindset and goals that fit our culture.
What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you?
The person who has had the greatest influence on me was my dad. When I was younger, I thought I knew more than what I did, and I made some of the wisest decisions. One of them was to drop out of high school. When I told my dad about my decision, he was, of course, disappointed, but gave me life advice and encouraged me to get into sales if I truly felt school was not for me.
I took this advice and got into sales, which I believe has helped prepare me to be a business owner. As in sales, you get rewarded (paid) for your time, effort, and ability to help others. Sales and sales management have given us invaluable tools and assets that translate well into entrepreneurship.
Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drive CLS Sustainable.
Our values are simple. We have two primary values under which everything else falls under.
Our first value is integrity. To us, integrity means what we do when no one is looking. Are we always looking out for our client’s best interests first, before anything else.
Our second value is accountability. Our clients expect us, as they should, to be responsible and justify any recommendations we make to assist them in their sustainability efforts and goals.
Where do you envision yourself being in the long run and what are your future goals for CLS Sustainable?
My vision is to continue to serve businesses and organizations that have a desire to do their part in making this a better place; now and in the future. This means being outspoken and educating others to take responsibility and do our part to conserve the resources that God has given us. Our goal as a company is not to necessarily be the biggest, but to be the most impactful and effective at what we do. This means we look to expand upon our current foundation to include project ownership and acquisitions in the very near future.
What would be your advice to budding business leaders?
My advice for up-and-coming business leaders would be to lean into everything you do with a purpose. As a business leader, do not waste your time, effort, or resources on tasks, projects, or people who do not help you accomplish your primary business goals. However, invest your time, effort, and resources into things that will have a significant positive impact on your business and on the audience that your business serves, and do this with purpose.
