Origins and Principles: Luminary Strategies
This Substack will feature writings and research related to my professional work consulting for U.S. and foreign energy companies on market strategy and regulatory solutions.
The name of my firm, Luminary Strategies, has several connecting origins.
The drive to jump out into the world and mentor companies, professionals, and mission-driven regulatory teams comes from my career experience working with dozens of luminaries in the energy industry. I’ve had some of the best mentors, teachers, advisors, and colleagues one could hope for, across the natural gas, power generation, nuclear, renewables, political, and regulatory institution sectors. The integration of knowledge and learning acquired from this goldmine of shared experience, is a critical output I can uniquely offer into the world of energy systems, strategy and policy.
The term ‘luminary’ evokes something of my own personal origins and character. My name means the “red dawn” in Sanskrit, or “first light.” Its closest cousin linguistically is one many readers will recognize - Aurora. In terms of my personal energy, I do tend to light things up figuratively by illuminating concepts and ideas for others I work with, and sometimes literally (I love lighting, and have a history in setting up some pretty rad lighting effects for bar setups, classical dance shows, plays, and haunted houses). Of course, this pattern carries to my engagements as an educator as well; I think that more time spent providing knowledge and experience to those who seek it to better themselves, is a path to create more luminaries in this industry.
Lastly, the term creates specific meaning. As described by the logo artist whom I commissioned for this project, Emma Zahren-Newman:
The Luminary logo represents an ancient concept, embodied by the goddess, Durga. The sun shape in the Luminary logo is not the sun, but rather a characterization of the power of our pure, passionate, authentic, informed actions.
The sun motif is shown reaching out with its many arms, connecting to the Earth with intention. The sun rays that come from the sun do not behave like normal light. The reach out with intention, making connection with the ground in many places at once.
The Luminary logo has proportions which showcase a stylized chart, reminiscent of energy mix charts that show the emergence of renewables and the decrease of our reliance on fossil fuels. As the Earth reaches up and the sun (our pure intentions and passion) reach for the Earth, the sliver in between shrinks.
The tremendous work Emma did in capturing these concepts means it is easy for me to now explain foundations, motivations and objectives:
Help companies and stakeholders I work with engage in well-informed, intentional, passionate actions to embolden the path for a sustainable energy future and a healthy Earth.
Employ integrative problem solving skills to get companies and regulators out of silos and progress ruts - help them make and leverage connections to many ideas, techniques and resources at once, massively expanding the realm of possibilities and solving for difficult problems that urgently need integrative problem solving approaches.
Thanks for reading, and look forward to new ways to engage your mind in this fascianting field.