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Sonia St-Arnaud is aware of a win-win state of affairs when she sees one
Sonia St-Arnaud is president and chief government officer at Evlo Energy Storage. This interview has been edited and condensed for brevity.
How did you find yourself on this profession path?
After graduating, I labored at PricewaterhouseCoopers for a yr earlier than shifting to Hydro-Québec, North America’s largest renewable power utility. I started working in accounting, finance, and strategic planning, and I realized that to supply higher recommendation to the VP of operations and the venture workforce, I wanted to grasp the technical points. I labored carefully with many engineers, asking them to assist me perceive {the electrical} grid.
Eventually, I determined I wished to be extra concerned within the core enterprise and develop tasks. I switched to a venture growth director place, the place I developed energy vegetation and transmission traces between Canada and the USA, and negotiated energy buy agreements with wind farm builders and Hydro-Québec.
One day, the president of the era division requested if I wished to commercialize innovation on a international scale. I accepted the problem as a result of I thought my mixture of finance and technical understanding was a nice system for achievement. I examined all of the improvements at Hydro-Québec and selected to give attention to battery power storage techniques as a result of they’re essential for the clear power transition, serving to combine intermittent renewable power and bettering grid resilience.
What’s the perfect piece of recommendation you’ve ever obtained?
That it’s actually essential to take care of your skilled community. That sounds quite simple, however once I began as a manager, I received this recommendation and it has been invaluable, as a result of when you have got a skilled community, you may share recommendation and expertise once you want it. You can say, “I’m having a powerful day, and I want your perspective.” Sometimes in modern product growth, you may encounter issues that must be resolved rapidly. With only a name or a textual content, you may ask, “Have you seen this earlier than? Do you have got a contact?”
What is a barrier you confronted and the way did you overcome it?
Whenever I carry a new option to do one thing, some individuals may even see it as a barrier, particularly relating to innovation. In actually conventional sectors like engineering, individuals may say, “We don’t know that,” and it will probably hinder your means to maneuver quick on a sure venture or initiative.
I feel the answer to this barrier is to have open discussions. It’s essential to say, “I feel you don’t really feel snug with that, can we put one thing in place that may make it simpler so that you can settle for?” The answer is to talk up, take time, and set up belief. And whereas variations could be a barrier at the start, they’re additionally actually essential as a result of when you have got completely different individuals across the desk, you have got completely different concepts. This atmosphere creates the likelihood to be extra inventive.
