Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

How Rising Stars are tackling energy's challenges

Honestly, my favorite days are the ones spent in the field just listening. You have to listen first if you want the story to resonate.

The goal is well-informed decisions. When expectations are clear, confidence follows.

Lucia Game, Senior Specialist, Con Edison

Maile Resta, Communications Manager, rPlus Energies

From information to agency Ultimately, clarity matters because it changes how people feel and what they believe they can do. “I want people to feel like they’re not powerless,” Kristina says. “Clarity gives people agency.” That sense of agency sits at the heart of Kiana Michaan’s work as a climate storyteller. Facts alone, she argues, rarely move people. “People don’t respond to data alone,” says the Climate with Kiana podcast host. “They need emotional connection to feel called to action.” For Kiana, storytelling is about restoring a sense of participation in systems that often feel remote and politicized: “We’re all stakeholders in the energy system, whether we want to be or not,” she reflects. Maile reframes that participation as pride: “Solar and wind are just another resource our land provides,” she says. “Using them should be a point of pride.” Together, these perspectives point to a different kind of leadership – less focused on control, and more focused on credibility. Less about certainty, more about honesty. These Rising Stars are not waiting for uncertainty to disappear. They are designing clarity within it, helping teams, communities, and customers move forward with confidence, even when the path is still taking shape. Trust, after all, is the hardest infrastructure to build. And the most valuable once it’s in place.

developer, because I work in-house with people who are boots-on-the-ground every day. Honestly, my favorite days are the ones spent in the field just listening. You have to listen first if you want the story to resonate." The most effective work, Maile argues, often doesn’t look like branding at all. “The most effective branding often feels really quiet,” she explains. “It’s just showing up.” This idea of presence – consistent, human, accountable – comes up repeatedly. Lucia sees its impact directly in adoption rates. “If people don’t trust that solutions will work for them,” she says, “they simply won’t electrify.” And at Fervo Energy, trust is treated as something that can be built painstakingly, and lost instantly. “Trust is built bit by bit, but can be lost so quickly,” Nour reflects. That’s why transparency, from publishing results to naming trade-offs, is a non-negotiable.” The message is clear: in energy, trust doesn’t come from persuasion. It comes from proximity. Making complexity usable without losing credibility. Energy is complex. These rising leaders don’t deny it, but they refuse to hide behind it.

The challenge, as Kristina sees it, is not dumbing things down. It’s understanding them deeply enough to make them accessible: “You have to fully understand something to explain it clearly,” she says. “If I don't understand something, I'll keep asking the right people questions until I can explain it with ease.” That approach is grounded in respect for the audience. Jargon can create unnecessary distance. “The second you start throwing jargon around, people tune out,” Kristina adds. Lucia tackles the same challenge structurally, designing tools and processes that let customers engage with complexity at their own pace. Rather than forcing people to commit upfront, she focuses on creating entry points that reflect real-world constraints – cost, timelines, and trade-offs. At Fervo Energy, narrative plays a role too but with guardrails. “Narrative lets us pull on what people care about right now,” Nour explains. “But without changing the truth.” The goal isn’t to remove complexity. It’s to make it navigable and to give people a way through that builds confidence rather than creating confusion.

We’re all stakeholders in the energy system, whether we want to be or not.

Kiana Michaan, Podcast Host, Climate with Kiana Podcast

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

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