S01:E10
Experience is often reduced to job titles, certifications, or years on a résumé. But in the real world especially in construction and solar experience is something very different.
In this episode, Alexis Lewis, founder of Wadadli Solar LLC, breaks down what real experience actually looks like and how it is built long before someone ever installs their first solar module.
Alexis shares how growing up in a construction family shaped his understanding of how things are designed, assembled, and maintained. With a father working in the construction trades even before he was born, and educators within his family, exposure to building principles started early not in theory, but in practice.
He also reflects on his secondary education in Antigua, where students receive a broad, hands-on technical foundation. Subjects like metalwork, woodwork, drafting, architectural drawing, home economics, and typing are not electives they are core parts of the curriculum. That early exposure builds material literacy, spatial awareness, and an understanding of systems that directly translate into carpentry, electrical work, construction management, and eventually solar.
The episode explores how time spent in carpentry teaches structural logic load paths, tolerances, fastening methods, and long-term risk. Time in the electrical trade builds respect for power flow, terminations, sequencing, and safety. Experience inside the building envelope reveals how early decisions ripple forward and how misalignment between trades creates downstream problems.
Alexis also explains why consistent time on active construction sites matters. Repeated site exposure builds situational awareness: understanding hierarchy, communication, pace, pressure, and how work actually flows not how it’s described on paper.
This perspective is especially critical in New York City, where construction environments are demanding, unforgiving, and shaped by decades of hard physical labor. These conditions sharpen judgment, strengthen communication, and enforce accountability quickly.
The core message of the episode is simple but often misunderstood: Experience is not time served it is capability earned through exposure.
In solar, the strongest professionals are rarely “solar-only.” They are builders, electricians, and construction veterans who bring their full history to the roof.
This episode is a reflection on how experience is formed, why early exposure matters, and what truly separates competence from credentials in the built environment.