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When you talk about “team players,” one name comes up repeatedly at Transparent Energy, Patrick Batallones, Sales Support Analyst, and the subject of our latest “Meet the Team” profile.

How did you get started at Transparent Energy?

Transparent Energy has really provided me my education in energy. I started with the company back in 2019, back when prices on the natural gas spot market averaged $2.57/MMBTU compared to the $8.00+ prices we are seeing today.

But to be honest, back then I didn’t know a therm from a kilowatt hour. I was pursuing my MS in business analytics, and the team here valued my intelligence and drive and bet that with time and patience, I would learn the energy business and contribute to the team. I am very thankful for their confidence in me.

While I hadn’t studied energy in college, I was a science and data nerd, and I wanted to work in a market that really mattered. Energy fit that bill. I also became intrigued with something called the Kardashev scale, an idea for measuring a civilization’s technological advancement based on its energy use. So, I guess I was destined for energy.

But for the first year or so at Transparent Energy, I was kind of terrified. I thought everyone expected me to know everything about retail energy. What I found over time is that I had so many mentors who always had my back and always were there to answer my questions and help me grow. It’s funny, though, at first I was too afraid to even ask questions, not understanding that asking questions isn’t a weakness, it’s a sign of curiosity, something welcomed here. I did learn that lesson over time, however, and once I truly understood how much everyone here wanted me to succeed, I was off to the races.

Tell us a bit about your role at Transparent Energy.

I am a Sales Support Analyst, a role I absolutely love. I am empowered to do everything it takes to help our Business Development Managers work efficiently and effectively with prospects and  clients and eventually transact on their behalf in a way that helps the customer’s business. I take a lot of pride in that work and mission and, because of that, put a lot of myself into my work.

I like to say that I provide the sales team everything it needs – all the data and context necessary – to help tell the right story to their prospect or customer, but that I don’t tell sales how to tell that story – I provide data and information that they can craft their way. I get to dive deep into market intelligence and pricing, leveraging my deep understanding of data and retail energy markets to deliver meaningful charts, graphs, and insights that make the complexities of energy, and procuring it, easier to understand – and act on.

How has this recent period of extreme market volatility, high prices, and high transaction volumes at Transparent Energy impacted your work?

This has definitely been an intense, challenging, and highly satisfying period of work here at Transparent Energy. The big thing for me is that we work well as a team and encourage each other to perform our best. We are all united around doing what’s best for the customer, and that starts at the very top with Dustin, Paul, and Luke, and really permeates everything that we do. It can be very demanding, but it’s fun and exciting, too, when every minute, hour, and day counts in terms of getting our customers out to market quickly and helping them successfully secure new energy contracts that make a difference to their bottom lines.

The last few months have been a period of “all hands on deck,” and we do great work in that mode, because we care for each other and have each other’s backs. We aren’t the biggest team in the industry, but that’s actually a good thing, because it makes us nimbler, and that’s what our customers really need. I’ve worked at bigger organizations but found them to be impersonal. The strength of a smaller team is that you have to trust each other. At Transparent Energy we do, and the results speak for themselves.

Any last thoughts to share?

I’d just like to say thank you to the team here at Transparent Energy. I’ve never been surrounded by so many people who care so much about what they do – and each other. From the top down, people are willing to share their experiences and answer your questions to make you a better person and energy professional. I love that.

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