Susan Luster

An Interview with Maria Kingery, co-owner of Southern Energy Management, Cary, NC

Maria Kingery is one of the most positive and optimistic women I’ve met. Her idealism and enthusiasm are infectious. The vision she and her husband, Bob Kingery, have for their company is to make an impact on global warming by providing green building solutions to builders, developers and homeowners. They focus on making homes energy efficient, reliable and economical. With the improvements, these homes use less conventional energy, (which is typically generated by coal in North Carolina) and therefore contribute less to the greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems that power plants create. Their holistic approach to making the home energy-efficient first and then installing the solar systems is the right way to do it.

Bob started Southern Energy Management working out of a home office. Maria was home too, primarily spending time with baby Zach. Bob focused on growing the business and Maria focused on family life. But Maria was too driven by their shared dream of making the world a better place by using renewable energy and conservation to stay home long. When Zach was ready to be in pre-school at age 3, she chose to become an active partner in the business. She explains, “I’ve often thought that we were both ready to ‘leave the nest’ at the same time – that the time was right for us both to go out into the world and take on new challenges.”

At first she was not sure what her role would be with SEM, but she knew she wanted to contribute to what Bob was building. The business had grown to a size where she felt her contribution would be valuable. While Bob had done a great job on his own the first few years, it had reach a point where he needed her help to keep it growing.

Maria (middle), husband Bob, son Zach kneeling and SEM staff

She started as office manager and handled day-to-day needs. Unsure if she was horning in on Bob’s turf, that worry was soon dispelled when he told her early on that “everyday you are here makes it easier for me.” Nice feedback. While they divvy up the workload, they work closely together as a pair, making all the big decisions together. Maria describes it this way: “We have a unity of purpose that is rooted in our commitment to our family and extends outward to the world we live in.”

Maria is now applying her energy and vision to determine how to make theirs the biggest and best renewable energy and energy-efficiency company in North Carolina. What she sees is the potential for major impact on reducing energy use and global warming. Maria continues to push the company to get bigger, meet higher goals, and grow the team to make it happen. Southern Energy Management has twenty team members now, and she anticipates it will continue to grow.

The company offers a variety of services and the list keeps expanding. Installation of solar water heating and solar electric systems started out as core services. The focus has expanded to work with builders and developers in an effort to make a bigger impact than one home at a time. Their newest client is a developer who is building several hundred homes that will be built to the highest national green building standards. SEM offers a wide range of services to impact the home in the design stage or during construction to make it the most efficient possible. Their trained staff perform Home Health Audits, Energy Star Home ratings, green building consultation, HVAC system sizing and energy demand management systems, and indoor air quality solutions. Taking care of the whole house and not just patching one problem is their philosophy. Bob and Maria see it as the only way to make a difference in the big picture.

While Bob’s focus is on quality installations and customer relations, Maria is managing human resources and working on the promotional angles. She describes her job as “relationships.” The most important thing for her right now is getting the right people on board, and making sure they stay. She describes their management style as leading by trust, consensus, and mutual benefit. Her feedback from employees is that they love working for Southern Energy Management.