Kayla Harris

My support system has been everything. My parents prioritized education above all else, making sure we attended the best schools in our area. In the 90s, they enrolled us in the PAC program and secured college funding early, laying a foundation that I've built my entire career on. They always imagined I'd become a lawyer, and honestly, I understood why. But my heart was never in the courtroom. It was in books, writing, art, and music. Anything rooted in the liberal arts felt like home. And even though their vision for me looked different, they never wavered in their support. That meant more than they probably know.

That same spirit of support followed me into my professional life. Three of my closest friends work alongside me at DCE: our HR manager, our senior PC, and our operational specialist. We are, without question, each other's people. Everything I bring to this work, they uplift. And I'd like to think I do the same for them.

That matters deeply to me because I've navigated depression and anxiety throughout my career. Having people, both at home and in the workplace, who genuinely show up for you isn't something I take lightly. I've been incredibly fortunate, and I don't say that casually.

Be yourself. I know that sounds almost too simple, but I mean it sincerely.

I am a creative working in a company full of engineers. Jeans and plaid are practically the unofficial uniform around here and I respect it. But every single day, I walk in wearing exactly what I want, and that choice gives me confidence. It's a small thing that isn't really small at all. When you show up as yourself, you carry yourself differently.

It's easy to get lost in the rhythm of what everyone else is doing. Life has a way of pulling you toward the path of least resistance, and before you know it, you've blended into a version of yourself that doesn't quite fit. Being intentional about who you are, even in the little things, is how you push back against that.

I'm actually leading a Lunch and Learn on burnout prevention for our team, and one of my core strategies might surprise people: decorating your space. We work in a bullpen-style office, and my area is full of plants, photos of my partner, my dogs, my best friends. That is me. Plants, people I love, color, life — that's what makes me genuinely happy. So if I can bring that into my workspace, I'm going to bring that energy with me too, whether people notice it directly or just feel it in passing.

Positivity has a way of spreading when it's authentic. And authenticity starts with being unafraid to take up space as exactly who you are.

Don't be afraid to stand up and speak at the table. I share that with every young woman, and honestly, it gets me emotional every time because the stakes are real. Women make up roughly 30% of the solar industry workforce. Not renewables as a whole. Solar specifically. That number matters, and so does every voice attached to it.

I wasn't always someone who commanded a room. Early in my career, I was shy, genuinely reserved. My boss, Bill, played an instrumental role in helping me understand that my perspective had value, that my voice deserved space. That kind of encouragement changes a person. I carry it with me.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that at every table where decisions are made, a woman should have a seat. That quote lives rent-free in my mind, and probably always will.

But the piece of advice that has shaped me most profoundly came from the woman who raised me, Miss Hattie. She taught me to respond, not react. As an Indigenous woman, I was often conditioned to stay quiet, to not draw attention, to blend into the background of a room. Miss Hattie challenged that entirely. She didn't tell me to be louder; she told me to be thoughtful. To pause. To consider how I wanted to be heard, and how my words would land with the people around me.

That distinction has carried me further than almost anything else in my career. It has built relationships, diffused tension, and earned trust in rooms where I was already navigating being the minority. Because it is completely valid, human, even, to have strong feelings, especially in those moments. The wisdom isn't in suppressing them. It's in choosing how you show up with them.

Stand up at the table. And when you get there, respond. Don't react.

The biggest challenge we face is misinformation, and I'll be candid about that. Public perception of renewable energy is being shaped in real time by a political climate that remains firmly pro-oil, despite what the science continues to tell us about the consequences. That's a genuine obstacle. But our team has chosen to treat it as a challenge worth rising to.

Since 2021, our CEO Bill and I have been advocating for renewables with renewed urgency because the facts demand it. Oil is a finite resource. That isn't a political position; it's a scientific one. The transition to renewable energy isn't a matter of if, it's a matter of when, and the sooner we move with intention, the better positioned we are as a planet.

What's surprised me most along the way is how much influence proximity has. Before I immersed myself in this industry, I didn't have a single friend I'd describe as environmentally focused. Now, the people in my life recycle, ask thoughtful questions about how solar, wind, and hydrogen actually work, and come to me when they hear something that doesn't quite add up. The conversations we have aren't combative, they're curious. Someone might say, "Hey, I heard this on the news, is it true?" And instead of dismissing it, we unpack it together. We separate what holds up from what doesn't, and we do it without anyone feeling defensive or talked down to.

That kind of conversation is where real change happens. Misinformation thrives in the absence of dialogue. Our job, my job, is to keep showing up, keep educating, and keep the door open. That's exactly what Bill and I have been doing, and we're not slowing down.

Integrity. In my line of work, it's everything.

I hold myself to a strict standard when it comes to anything customer-facing or public-facing: if it isn't true, I'm not putting it out there. Marketing carries real influence, and I take that seriously. We have competitors, every industry does, but I have never believed that elevating our brand requires diminishing someone else's. We're all working toward the same goal in this space, and that shared purpose deserves to be honored. Integrity isn't just a personal value for me; it's a professional one I protect fiercely.

That same standard extends into my personal life. I'm not someone who asks for help easily, that's a flaw I'll openly claim. But when I do reach out, when I make myself vulnerable enough to say I need support, I expect people to mean what they say. Not perfectly, not without circumstance — but honestly. Tell me you can, or tell me you can't. Either answer is fine. What doesn't sit well with me is a commitment that quietly disappears.

Honesty is harder to find than it should be. But I genuinely believe we practice it at DCE, in how we treat our customers, in how we show up for each other, and in the reputation we've built around transparency and service. Integrity isn't a talking point for us. It's the foundation everything else is built on.