So what is it like to participate in CDP? For Berenice Lopez-Dorsey, owner of Home Energy Life Performance Group, a design-build home performance contracting firm, becoming a trade ally mentor came naturally. For years, before participating in CDP, Berenice was mentoring colleagues and employees seeking to launch their own businesses. Questions like “How did you do it?” and “How did you get started?” were common. “I would help them get their business going, provide them with leads and even use them as my subcontractors,” she says.
Berenice often thought about all the challenges she could have avoided had a program like CDP existed when starting her business. Signing up to become a mentor was her way of giving back and formalizing her mentorship through the CDP program. “It was a very organic way for me to transfer […] I learned so much from the program and being the mentor.” The value that CDP provides for her professional and personal growth is valuable. In her own words, “That’s why I keep coming back.”
In time, Berenice found that she had gathered “a very good, solid pool of subcontractors.” The relationships she had nurtured through the mentorship allowed her to establish trust and “take on more projects because they’re reliable,” helping her grow her business. She created strong, meaningful relationships not only with subcontractors and contractors but also “with the main players in the industry,” organizations like Energy Trust, Earth Advantage and others.
“The connections have not only helped my for-profit business but also helped build the nonprofits and services that we’re providing to our community,” says Berenice. “In any industry, I think the connections are really important, but especially in this industry, in home performance, energy, green jobs. I think it’s extremely important that we continue to build those connections and programs like CDP that allow us to do that because you are always connecting mentors and mentees. I hope that never goes away.”
Berenice believes that CDP’s ability to connect contractors with other industry leaders is essential to continuing to build a workforce. What better way to do that than pair seasoned contractors with new ones? Doing so “continues to build capacity, continues to build the market and continues to provide lead generation,” says Berenice.
Additionally, CDP’s willingness to listen and adjust left a strong impression on Berenice, making it easy to feel supported throughout the experience. The CDP program “provided me with all the right tools,” she says, “and I appreciate that the team was very engaged in the process and accessible. Often enough, we do programs where it’s their way or the highway. This one was more personal. I always felt like my comments were welcome and that the team would listen even if it was something they couldn’t fix in the moment.”
On the personal side, Berenice finds that mentoring feeds her soul. She recalled a time when she ran into Juan, a former mentee from over a decade ago, and his son at the grocery store. Juan told his son that Berenice had been the person who had helped him start his business. She was moved when his son told her that he was thinking of following in his dad’s footsteps by joining the business she had helped launch. For Berenice, it’s moments like this, seeing the fruits of her labor, that keep her committed to doing the work.
If you’re interested in becoming a mentor and learning whether this opportunity is right for your business, you can watch our previously recorded information session or get started on an interest form. For any additional questions, please email the CDP team at cdp@energytrust.org.