Lillie Cameron, a brand new mom who also runs her own business. She started EcoSafe Spaces with her now husband. The company provides design and building services for green, eco-friendly construction. She also works with Rackspace, which has recently revamped its policies for maternity and paternity leave.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The Advantage, with its six-question model
What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk
Favorite online tool? — Trello

Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Surround yourself with people who lift you up. Don’t be afraid to fail.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:13 – Nathan introduces Lillie
01:50 – Green construction
- 02:10 – They had a friend who lost a child during pregnancy because of construction chemicals
02:30 – EcoSafe Spaces
- 02:40 – Design and building services
03:10 – Their recent project in downtown Austin
03:50 – Around $500000 jobs
04:15 – “The most energy efficient homes in the city”
04:30 – The sales pitch
- 04:50 – People in Austin understand sustainability
05:35 – Opened in 2007
05:45 – Margins vary – fixed rate vs. cost plus contract
- 06:10 – Fixed rate
- 06:45 – The contract is much more flexible
07:20 – Fixed rate deal that went bad
07:35 – Now they do mostly cost plus contracts
07:50 – Up to 7 projects at a time
08:30 – The plan for EcoSafe
- 08:55 – There are benefits to being a small business
09:20 – Lillie also works with Rackspace
09:25 – Recruited in 2009 by a former boss
09:55 – She did project management work, but wore multiple hats
10:45 – It is utility-based computing
11:10 – How this type of service was first received
12:30 – There are many different types of customers
13:20 – They have a unique angle
13:35 – Rackspace is a great place for new parents to work
14:10 – Maternity leave in this country
- 14:45 – Canada does a year of leave
- 15:00 -- Paternity and maternity leave needs awareness
15:55 – ecosafespaces.com and Lillie Cameron on LinkedIn
17:50 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Find a business idea that solves an important problem.
Consider maternity leave in the US and how it needs to improve.
You can balance it all, as a business owner and a parent.

Resources Mentioned:

Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Trello – Lillie’s favorite online tool for staying organized

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 373: $1m+ On Green Contracting Company and Tech Executive

SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders