Publish Date: October 20th, 2025
Desiree celebrated 11 years with us this year and in this spotlight, she speaks candidly about her tenure, how she was recruited to Namaste Solar, and how her time here has developed a deep and robust skillset.
What is your role at Namaste Solar?
I am a lead builder new construction (BNC) designer.
Would you like to speak about your journey through roles in your tenure?
Sure. I started back in 2014. I was actually recruited to come to Namaste Solar. I was working for a home builder and the company closed. One of my co-workers at that company received a call from Namaste Solar informing them that they were starting this new design team and they were looking for designers. My co-worker got hired, and he gave them my name when Namaste Solar asked if anyone else was interested. And so they reached out to me and recruited me to come on board and start this new design team. That’s how I started. And I was a designer in that role for about five years. And then in 2019, I was promoted to the lead designer role.
So, you didn’t know much about Namaste Solar when you started?
I’d never heard of Namaste Solar before. I had no experience or really any knowledge in solar. So, when they called me up and asked me to come work here, I really didn’t know what I was getting into. I’m an architectural drafter by trade, so this was not something I had any experience with. So, definitely a steep learning curve, but I think in the last 11 1/2 years I’ve learned an incredible amount.
What motivates you to get up and go to work?
My co-workers, definitely. We have such a great group of designers on our team, just a really collaborative and supportive team. And yeah, that’s my favorite part of my job is the people that I get to work with.
What’s something about your job that most people don’t know?
While all of the designers on my team are here in Colorado, everything that we design is new construction homes being built in California. Back in 2019, California started requiring every new construction home to have solar on it. So, we work with energy partners and home builders to put solar on every home in these big neighborhood communities that are being built with solar at the time of construction. So very large scale.
What’s been one of your proudest moments working here?
I think one of my favorite moments was becoming a customer of Namaste Solar back in 2019 and having the design team be a part of the installation. That was a really unique experience, getting to see everything that we draw in person. For those of us that didn’t come from the install world before we came to this team, it really just gave us that first-hand experience and knowledge to know what we’re actually drawing instead of it just being a bunch of squares and boxes on a paper. That was definitely a core memory for me getting to do that.
Desiree’s solar installation with the Namaste Solar team in 2019
How has it been having solar?
Oh, it’s fantastic. My husband just got an electric car, so that’s definitely been a huge plus having the solar to really offset charging his car. And we’ve definitely had several months where our power bill was $0. It doesn’t get any better than that.
What’s been the most unique part about working at Namaste Solar?
I think the employee ownership model is something that’s just really unique and sacred at Namaste Solar. I know there are other companies that do it, but I think the way that we do it is often the example for other companies trying to become an employee owned cooperative. You know our retreats, the check-ins, everything that we get to do at retreat is very unique. And anytime I mention that to somebody working outside – what we do at our retreats – it just kind of blows their mind that we get to have those conversations with our company leadership and everyone’s on the same level. It’s just a really special and unique experience.
How has Namaste Solar helped you develop your skills and career?
Like I mentioned before, I’m an architectural drafter by trade. Doing that work, I never really had the opportunity just to have the time to explore any additional things that I wanted to learn in CAD. Back in 2019-2020, I took over the management of our AutoCAD templates. I really wanted to make them easier and more effective for teammates. Even shaving off a couple seconds here and there just really adds up and makes the work go that much faster. And so, I spent so much time just researching things in AutoCAD that I wasn’t aware of that I could do to make things better. Namaste Solar and my managers have really given me the opportunity to do that and to spend the time to search and try and figure things out. Sometimes things didn’t work and other times they made a huge difference in the way that the team gets to design because we make something better. It was really special for me to be given the freedom to go and do that, go and learn what I need to learn to make the work more efficient on the team.
What advice would you give to recent new hires?
Get involved as much as you can and at least go through the candidacy period. I waited seven years to become a co-owner and I really, really wish I had done it sooner because it’s such a unique experience being a co-owner at the company. We can kind of have a tendency, especially with so many of us working remotely nowadays, to not really know what’s going on in the company outside of your own team unless you get out there and get involved. So, I would definitely recommend any new hire to get involved as much as they can, meet people on other teams, and get out of the bubble of their own team.
One of our core values is “Come as you are” and a part of that is working to build a culture where people feel able to be their full selves at work. How have you experienced this at Namaste Solar?
I worked in the corporate world for about five or six years before coming here, and everything was just very structured. It didn’t give you a lot of freedom to be yourself. One of the biggest things for me was dress code. I remember at my corporate job it was Saint Patrick’s Day. I have a pair of Vans with shamrocks on them, and I wore them trying to be festive. I got in trouble for wearing shoes that didn’t follow the dress code even though it has nothing to do with the way that we work. I think being comfortable and being who you are is the most important thing. And I think when you’re comfortable in yourself, you’re going to do your best work. I think it’s freeing not having to worry about repercussions from not following some ambiguous rule.
What parts of our mission do you most connect with?
Propagating the use of responsible solar is the one that really strikes me the most. I think it’s really important that we’re not just going to put solar on somebody’s house because they give us the money to do that if it doesn’t make sense for their home. If it’s a bad roof design that we can’t really generate enough power for them or there’s too much shade, for example. Namaste Solar doesn’t have a problem saying solar is maybe not right for you in your home, whereas other companies would just put it on there anyway and take the money. The homeowner may not generate any power from it, but the company would do that anyway, even though it’s not the responsible thing to do. So, I really like working for a company with a conscience about that.
What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
I have three kids that keep me very busy outside of work, so I’m typically driving them around to dance classes or karate classes after work. We try to go to Disney World as often as possible. My husband and I are from Florida. So, we like to go there and see family. And we’re a big Disney family, so we like to go there as much as possible. I’ve also been trying to learn to play the drums. I don’t have a whole lot of free time to do that, but when I get time, that’s what I try to do.
If you could pick one superpower, what would it be?
Teleportation. Definitely. I would love to be able to go anywhere that I want without having to drive or fly and just be there instantly. I’d get to see friends and family on the East Coast a lot more often than I do now, and that’d be great.
What’s your dream vacation (that you’d teleport to)?
Probably Germany. I grew up in Germany. My dad was Air Force, so we lived in Germany for about 3 years when I was probably ages one to four. I don’t really have a lot of memories there, so I really want to go back and experience that as an adult.
