Hi all,

While it was wonderful to restart the newsletter least week, I have to admit that I still want to hide. I feel embarrassed. My life isn’t exactly perfect. (Spoiler alert: I’m a perfectionist to some degree.) 

I feel embarrassed because I haven’t just picked something and stuck with it. I feel embarrassed because things keep changing, and when I share that we’re going to do this and then we do that, it feels like I didn’t follow through. 

I also feel like hiding because I don’t feel like I’m a good person to be around. I’m not cheery all the time. Or rather, I’m not cheery very much at all. I put on a good face for a conversation, but it can be exhausting.

I don’t feel productive. I’m depressed. I don’t even go outside much. 

My partner is also experiencing a lot of personal growth, but it’s been challenging. The lows were lows. 

I’m sharing all this to acknowledge mental health. Undoubtedly, we all will feel some strange emotions as the world opens back up. It’s ok to have feelings. Feel them. COVID is a trauma that we all will carry with us through our entire life, like the Great Depression did for everyone who was alive during it. We know the kids are going to be different. We have to acknowledge that we are different. 

All of this is to say that I am trepidatious about “catching up” with people. People I care about. I’m embarrassed. I go silent. 

Talking about it publically, to the whole world, via this post is much easier for me than an individual conversation. Maybe it’s because I think that the other person might pick up on the fact that things aren’t perfect, and I’d have to explain myself. Or maybe I feel that the last year I haven’t accomplished anything. Stepping away from things as a form of self care is an accomplishment, but my heart doesn’t believe it yet. I’m beginning to acknowledge that this time is valid, as in, a valid use of my time. 

Everything is on purpose. Or, I am exactly where I’m supposed to be. I don’t know what’s coming up, I can’t think much beyond next week. 

What I DO know is that I’d like to start working part time, whether advising, or helping people build their personal websites, or consulting, or coaching startup founders. I look forward to speaking engagements again. 

Thank you for listening. 

BTW - I’m in St. Petersburg, Florida. If you find yourself around here, let me know. 

I really like making websites. I also really like helping people discover and tell their stories, from the professional to the personal. 

This website, that you are viewing right now, has served me for years. Having a website and being “discoverable” is crucial for professional and personal growth. Make it easy for the people who could want to work with you. List out your skills and experiences. Have links to what you’ve done. Put it all in one place, and link to it from all your other profiles. 

What this package includes

• 2 hours of 1:1 time, including talking about what you’ve done and how to describe it. There are many ways to say what you’ve done and what you want to do. I make it more impactful.
• I will make your initial website and show you how to update it. I will also include a custom video walking you through how to edit the site so you always have it as reference. It’s as easy as using PowerPoint. 

What you’ll need to do:

• start listing out your skills, and projects
• find pictures you want to use, otherwise we’ll use pretty open source pictures. There is a lot of strategy to this. 

Ready to get started? 
Email me at emfoukes at gmail dot com. 
​

To give a broader update: Much has changed.

Let's see... the past 3 yrs...

• Bought a high-end condo in Jack London Square
• Camped for the first time
• Scaled Model 3 delivery in North America, ran Tesla's war room 
• Elon told me "good job"
• Scaled vehicle deliveries in Europe, living in Amsterdam
• My husband sexually assaulted me and I divorced him
• Went to Burning Man

And then...

• Finalized the terms of my divorce
• Sold the condo in Jack London Square
• Managed material flow development for the Shanghai factory
• Bought a convertible Mazda Miata and drove it along the coast
• Launched inventory control software in California and Shanghai
• Bought 1.6 acres near Groveland, near Yosemite

And then...

• Spent the first 2 months of covid in a van on property near Joshua Tree
• Built tiny houses near Joshua Tree (draft website here)
• Was furloughed
• Joined the B2B energy operations team
• Grandma died, alone, with covid, however she died of old age. Went back to Detroit for a memorial service in July
• My partner had hand surgery in LA
• Shared my story about my ex-husband
• Went on leave

Priorities changed, so I...

• Moved out of the Bay - put all my stuff in a shipping container near Joshua Tree
• Stayed in Phoenix for 2 months
• Got engaged to a wonderful person
• My dog hurt her knees and needed surgery
• Bought a 100+ acre off-grid property, with a house and garage, on a mountain in southern Oregon. 
• Advised social entrepreneurs
• Bought a Ford F-250 to haul building materials and so we could get up our "driveway" during the winter (dirt road climbing 1000ft with 20% inclines)
• Finally feel financially secure  
• I got married
• I quit Tesla

With the new year:

• I made my first angel investment
• Bought a 46’ catamaran in Florida
• Many things on the boat broke, so we’re getting it fixed in St. Pete, FL. 
• Writing a cookbook one recipe at a time.

As I said, things are little different. 

I'm figuring out what's next, but my goal is relaxation and focusing on what matters. With all the change in the world, I’m sharing my story in case it can help anyone. 


What the email used to be:
When I moved to the Bay Area, I didn't know many people so I went to interesting events to meet interesting people. I've been sending out an aggregated list of events in the Bay Area related to clean energy and technology for three years now. It's something I do in my "free time" so sometimes the formatting and notes are quite casual. Hope you enjoy it! 
 Below is my last post from April 12th, 2018:
"I joined Tesla's Leadership Development Program this week. It's a two year rotational program where I'll work on 6-month projects, eventually landing in a role where I can make the most impact to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.  

  
Me outside Tesla's Fremont factory on my second day at Tesla, in 2018. 

It’s a custom 46’ Watercats sailing catamaran. It is 62’ tall and 24.5’ wide. 

We picked it up in Freeport Florida, 3 hours inland from the gulf. It’s already been an adventure. This post is about all the pretty pictures. I’ll write more about the challenges later.

Yes, we’ve seen dolphins. They were swimming all around us. 

We bought 150 acres in southern Oregon, on top of a mountain (technically a butte). We have views in every direction, including Mt. Shasta. 
​

• Power is supplied by ground mounted solar and lead acid batteries. The system is from 2009 and it supplies all the power we need. 
• Water is rain catchment
• There is a septic tank, but the flushing toilet uses so much water! We bought a composting toilet and still need to install it. 
• Heating is only by wood fire stove, however the thermal efficiency of the home is tops. Windows face south, and the home is sunk 3 feet into the ground. During the winter the loft can easily reach 90 degrees. We have to keep the window open during the winter. 
• Wi-fi is via a $40/month unlimited data SIM card from Vision mobile. We have it in a great router and our internet is better on this mountain than in Oakland. Zoom calls and streaming are great. 

Our home perfectly frame Mt. Shasta. 

​My husband sexually assaulted me on March 16th, 2019. Today marks the one year anniversary of my telling him that we were getting a divorce. It took me six weeks to convince myself and gather the courage to pursue divorce.
 
I described what happened to me to a therapist and she said it was physical and sexual assault. He attempted to force himself in me and he hit me when I resisted. After, he explained to me why it was my fault. I made him feel that he “was not a man”.  A week later he hit Pepper, our dog. It’s sad that it took him hitting our dog for me to truly take action. The week in between, I tried to figure things out. One should never have to google “should I stay with my husband if he hit me?”.
 
With therapy, I can now say that he sexually assaulted me prior to March - he would push inside when I told him to wait, and it hurt. Because being intimate with him hurt. I’m sharing this because this is a type of sexual assault that is not often shared.  
 
We were married for 5 years, 8 months and were together for 8. The previous 2-3 years were emotionally abusive.
 
For previous years, he diminished me in so many ways, including my femininity. He convinced me that his love was dependent on my weight, and that broke my mind. I could not process it. That’s not love. It’s not the kind of love I wanted. He even diminished my business decisions. He couldn't understand why my startup didn't have a successful exit in 2 years. Meanwile, he was making just above minimum wage as a journalist.
 
We went to couples counseling and he ignored the therapist’s feedback. We stopped going. We would talk about it again and again, and I felt carved out and in agony. He would stare at skinny young women and would deny it when I noticed. He took my confidence. I’ve reclaimed it now.  I’m finally happy for the first time in years.  
 
He decided to go to AA and to get a psych evaluation. He hoped for a bi-polar diagnosis, but the psychiatrist said he wasn’t, and in not so many words, said that he was just an asshole. That’s how Scott described it. I didn’t think it was the alcohol, but other things, such as self loathing and anger that surfaced when his inhibitions were lowered.
 
I told him I was going to file for divorce on May 5th and paperwork was filed on June 2nd. We agreed to our asset split in August, sold our condo in September, and the divorce was finalized on December 2nd.   Scott Lucas is a journalist and editor at Buzzfeed. 


​_______
All of this occurred  while I worked at Tesla full time,  supporting the Shanghai factory, inventory control, and  pilot builds for Model Y. It was not easy.  I'm thankful to the teams I was a part of for their understanding.  Early on in the divorce process, I would stare at my screen and want nothing more than to crawl under my desk. 
 

We've been living in Wonder Valley for 17 days now. I'm continuing to work at my day job, while helping build during breaks and in the evenings. 

We've made tremendous progress, with Rus doing most of the heavy lifting. 

We finished most of the exterior of the tiny house, and started sealing the untreated wood. We installed the doors and re-leveled them. We figured out how to rekey the locks in a very simple way. Very exciting. 

The tiny house is 120 square feet, which allows it to be unpermitted. The footprint is 120 square feet and we've added 200 square feet of deck. The queen bed loft will also count as additional square footage for living space. The livable space is now larger than my first place I lived in San Francisco.

A week into staying here, we had our first shower at a campground in Joshua Tree. For us to stay here more than a week, I asked for running water and our own place to plug electronics in. Up to this point, we were going to our neighbor's house to fill up water jugs and charge what we needed. With this request, we asked our neighbor if we could run a hose and an extension cord, and they agreed to it. It'll be minimal use, but if there is a noticeable different in their electricity bill, we'll chip in. They have a well and can draw unlimited water. 

We stay away from the news, though I scroll through Twitter frequently. My Twitter feed is informative, and also uplifting. It keeps me updated on what is happening in the Bay Area, Tech, and Clean Energy. My Twitter is also diverse. 

I've been becoming more relaxed out here. It's an hour-by-hour experience. I'm finding a new role in my day job which will use more of my skillset. The journey has been up and down because the business is cutting operational costs where they can to extend the cash runway. 

Six months ago, I wanted to check out of work and society. In March 2019 my then husband sexually assaulted me. A week later he hit our dog. It's sad that it took him hitting our dog for me to make the final decision on divorce. Once should never have to google "should I stay with my husband even though he sexually assaulted and hit me?" 

I told him I was going to file for divorce on May 5th and paperwork was filed on June 2nd. We agreed to our asset split in August, sold our condo in September, and the divorce was finalized on December 2nd. 

We were married for 5 years, 8 months and were together for 8. The previous 2-3 years were emotionally abusive. He couldn't understand why my startup didn't have a successful starting in 2 years. His love was dependent on my weight. 

All that being said, a break would be nice. Now here we are sheltering in place with Covid-19. I'm staying on pretty undeveloped land in Wonder Valley, 5min from the Eastern entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. It's beautiful here. The weather is sunny to puffy clouds, with highs around 70 and lows around 45. 

The desert is quiet and healing. We've been busy working on building this place out and there will be more healing as we settle in here. 

Until next time, 
Elena

This is a stream of consciousness.... enjoy!
 
For the past two weeks, I’ve been living offgrid in Wonder Valley, 5 min from Joshua Tree National Park. It’s 9 hrs from my apartment in Oakland in the Bay Area. I’m working remotely on my devices and joining zoom video meetings.
 
It’s been great to be here: so much more relaxing than being in a city surrounded by people who might have Covid-19.
 
I feel very fortunate that my bf already had this land, and we were already designing and building the second tiny house together. We also got a container to put on the property so that we could secure out equipment.
 
It’s peaceful out here. There are no lines at grocery stores. It’s easy to practice social distancing on raw land, and neighbors a ¼ mile away. Luckily, our neighbors have a well and were willing to let us run a hose to our property, as well as a power extension cord. With power and water, albeit at a minimum level, staying here is sustainable.
 
I visited this property back in January to help my boyfriend build tiny houses. There are two tiny houses that are both about 80% done.
 
I’ve put some thought into what it would take to create another homestead property from scratch. It takes three things:

1. Property
2. Shelter
3. Water
4. Power

 
Homesteading (stream of consciousness):
Property:
Around Joshua Tree and Twenty Nine Palms, It’s possible to get more than an acre, with no utilities, for under $10k. It typically takes about 30 days to finalize a real estate transaction, but with cash, it could be done faster. The extra cheap properties can be pretty far out and most likely are only accessible by dirt roads. Not all dirt roads are made the same, so ask the listing agent about the road quality.  
 
Ironically, land in Joshua Tree and further east to Twentynine Palms and Wonder Valley, do not have Joshua Trees. Much more of the land to the west and north has Joshua Trees, from Yucca Valley up to Landers. The further east and north you go, the land becomes more basic and generally only has scrub bushes. With water, anything will grow. The foliage is only limited by water. When a property has water, there are generally big trees and plants surrounding it. Grey water will also enable plant growth.
 
Shelter:
Basic tent, van, or adapt a shed for a bed setup
 
My bf got a 2019 Ram ProMaster 2500 high top in Arizona for $20k in January. The high top means that we can stand up straight in it. It’s a big deal for back health. We haven’t had a chance to build it out to a gorgeous VanLife van, but we spend $100 on a very basic functional conversion. We have black and yellow storage boxes plus some trimmed plywood as a platform for a full-size bed. We used the remnant of the fancy plywood (a $35 1in sanded plywood 4ft by 8ft board) to create a table, which is supported by more storage boxes. We already had a foldable mattress from Ikea, but Amazon as a memory foam mattress for under $200. We also purchased handing shoe racks from Ikea as convenient storage and hung the racks from the ceiling. It was a cheap build-out hack!
 
We use the van for shelter and transportation. If you have another vehicle, but it’s not big enough to sleep in, a bell tent, will do well. Amazon has them for $400-$600. On our property, we made tent platforms with reclaimed pallets and cheap plywood. The platform can be used as a deck or you could put the tent on it. We finished the plywood with
 
There are sheds that are a good basic structures from $500-$2,000 at Home Depot or Amazon.
Another option is Jamaica Cottages, but you’d have to wait for delivery and then build the structure.
Other prefab structures are actually way more expensive than you think. The cool basic prefab studios or 1-bd homes are $300k+. Yikes.
 
If it’s a permanent structure, you’ll have to permit anything that has a footprint of over 120 square feet and 12 feet tall. As far as I know, anything that isn’t permanent is fine to put on a property.
 
Water:
Super basic: With some detective work and diligence, you can find a place to fill up water containers in town. One gallon per person per day is the standard measure for portable water for drinking, food, and dish cleaning.
 
If it’s an option: run a hose from a friendly neighbor. Our neighbor’s water is delicious, even tastier than city water.
 
Big water tank: A 2500 water tank, plus a basic water pump, plus delivery and hookup, is $1300. And water delivery of 2000 gallons is $125 in Wonder Valley.  There is one water tank guy and one water delivery service in Wonder Valley. 125 gallon food grade tanks are also available, but water is only delivered in 2000 gallon increments, so a 2500 gallon tank allows you to have a little left while calling in another water delivery. It’s not completely off grid, but it would work to some level for some time. Tractor Supply, in Yucca Valley, also has water tanks, but I believe we’d have to figure out delivery and we’d have to rig the system ourselves.
 
Dig a well: In the more rural areas without a water system, about 10% of people have wells. Wells cost $10-15k to drill, with water pumps and storage containers on top of that. In the desert, there is some risk that the water could be brackish (too salty to be potable).
 
Electricity:
We started with 4 small solar panels, only $12 from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Oakland. It allowed us to charge anything via a USB: our phones, a 2012 MacBook pro with the lightning adapter, the iPad we watch Netflix on.
 
I have a 3-prong laptop charger for my clunky work laptop, so running a line from my neighbor made sense. If we wanted something more permanent, there are power lines on the property so we could have PG&E drop a meter on the property, but we think this would be about $2k. Not too bad, but we dug out conduit under the road from our neighbor, plus some extension cords, and that was under $300. It’s our Minimum Viable Product.
 
In the next year or two, we will figure out a solar + wind offgrid electricity system. GoalZero has kits from a few hundred dollars to $2k that could solve all our power requirements.
 
Other basics:

• Wifi/phone: We have better cell phone service in Wonder Valley is better than what I have in Oakland. I have service via Visible. It’s $40/month for unlimited data. I’m able to do zoom meetings via my phone and my bulky, dated work-assigned computer.
• Good quality audio: I have a small, portable Bose speaker that is a CHAMP. It was under $100, and sometimes it goes on sale. It’s lovely. Great audio, low power consumption, and 4inx4inx2in.
• Shower: Now that we have water, we let the water warm up in the hose, then use that as a shower. There are camping showers that warm up with the sun during the day, and work well. A pail with 2gal of water, plus a rechargeable pump with a shower head does an amazing job. It’s best to take showers during the heat of the day.
• Toilet:  A 5 gal bucket with a toilet lid, plus a place to dump it, downwind on the property.
• Trash/recycling – take it into town when getting food and supplies
• Kitchen: we have a Jetboil and a two-burner Coleman propane stove. We have two AmeriGas propane tanks, which are available widely for purchase and refill. We use adapters to connect the big propane tank to the Coleman stove, and an adapter to refill 1lb propane canisters. There is another adapter for the 1lb propane tank so we can use it with the Jetboil. Jetboil fuel, propane + butane, isn’t available online anymore due to coronavirus and local stores that stock them are closed. Now we have multiple ways to heat food.

 
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/elenafoukes/

Networking can be daunting. It can be awkward. 

It is also rewarding. 

Networking can help get you the career you want by meeting the right people: 

• Find out what it's like at other companies
• What's happening in an industry
• Direct connections to people inside companies that could be customers, or you want to work at

Most jobs are never posted online, so you need to know people at the company you'd like to work at, which means networking is a key part to finding the role you want.

I used to be terrible at networking. It took a lot of practice to figure out how to do and, most importantly, not waste my time.  

When you go to an event, any event, ask yourself why you're going. What's your goal? Is it to learn things? Meet people? Meet a specific person? It'll focus you while you're there. 

Learning
If you're there to learn things, the talk will be useful, but so will the other attendees. For example, if you want to learn about clean energy software and you're at a cleanweb event, as other attendees 

"Hi, I'm John. This is my first time at a cleanweb event. Have you been to their events before?"

Follow up: "I'm here to learn more about the industry. Are there other events or resources you recommend to learn more?"

Or - 
"What brings you to the event tonight?" is a great icebreaker. 

Meeting people, or a specific person
No matter what type of person you're looking to meet, whether at a specific company or a specific individual. find the organizer. They're likely to know some of the people in the room and they can connect you to the right person, even to people who could be hiring.

If it's not the exact person you're looking for, that's ok. Have a conversation with them, and mention that you're at the event to meet "a person from X company" or "other people in product management", then they can point you in the right direction. 

Meeting a speaker
If you're looking to meet the speaker at an event, do your research ahead of time. Know what they look like. Go up to them before the event, because afterward, there will be other people who want to talk to them. Be short with your conversation. Say why you want to connect with them, get their contact information, then follow up with them that night or the day after. Many people take the contact information of people and never follow up. 

Getting out of a conversation/making the most of your time
Don't spend too much time with any one person. You'll know within a few minutes if the person you're talking with is someone you'd like to connect with. Options for ending a conversation: 

• "Is there anyone else here you recommend I talk with?"
• "I'm going to get some more water/beverage. It was nice to meet you." Food and bathroom work as good exits as well.

If you're having a good conversation with someone and you'd like to continue it, suggest that you connect (exchange contact information) and have a phone call or get coffee with them. 

Follow up
Follow up with people you met the sooner the better. 

Happy networking! 

This is the running list of  events happening in and around SPI 2017 in Las Vegas.

Monday, September 11th
CivicSolar & Aerocompact SPI Happy Hour 3-5pm

Tue, September 12th
Research Findings from the Solar Workforce Diversity Study
Industry Trends Booth 4434, 11 am-12 pm

Orange Button Investor Panel: Using Standards for More Efficiency in Solar Finance
12:30 pm - 1:00 pm, Industry Trends theatre

Best Practices in Building a More Diverse Solar Industry
Industry Trends Booth 4434,  2-3pm

Orange Button Live Demonstration,  Hall H, 2:30 - 5:30 pm

 Celebrate with WRISE  at SPI  booth #1114, 9/12 4-6pm, toast at 4:30

Tweetup    5:00 PM – 6:30 PM PDT

Orange Button Networking Mixer,  5:30pm-6:30pm,  Ballroom H

Sungrow SPI Cocktail Party (Live Music | Entertainment)  6:30 PM – 9:30 PM