831: Saving Your Solar Project From Cancellation, with Amanda Foley of Kiterocket

Jul 3, 2025

Amanda Foley, CEO of Kiterocket, leads a PR firm that specializes in clean energy and technology. In this insightful discussion, she reveals the biggest communication hurdles clean tech companies face, from overcoming community opposition to mastering press releases. Amanda emphasizes the importance of tailored messaging for engineers, policymakers, and consumers. She also explores how the evolving media landscape, including AI and YouTube, is reshaping PR strategies. You'll learn when to invest in marketing leadership and how effective storytelling can elevate your clean tech project.

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INSIGHT

Education Speeds Solar Adoption

Many promising solar projects get canceled due to community pushback and misinformation.
Faster and clear education at industry and consumer levels accelerates adoption.

ADVICE

Craft Clear Multi-Audience Messaging

Get your messaging crystal clear so anyone understands what you do instantly.
Tailor messaging to multiple audiences including engineers and policymakers for effectiveness.

ADVICE

Hire Marketing Before Agency

Founders should avoid handling marketing tasks themselves, especially if engineers lead it.
Hire a full-time marketing person before engaging a PR or marketing agency.

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Solar projects getting canceled? Clean tech CEOs burned out doing their own PR? Amanda Foley has seen it all.

As the CEO of Kiterocket, Amanda leads one of clean energy’s most influential PR firms, helping clients go from misunderstood to market-ready. Recorded live at CleanPower 2025, this conversation dives into why even great technology companies struggle with messaging—and what to do about it.

From overcoming community opposition to engineers writing their own press releases (spoiler: don’t), Amanda and Nico explore the gaps that often hold clean energy companies back from widespread adoption. They also unpack how today’s media landscape—from YouTube creators to AI-driven news cycles—is reshaping how clean tech companies need to communicate.

Whether you’re an early-stage founder still wearing the marketing hat yourself or leading a growth-stage company ready for scale, Amanda offers real-world advice on when (and how) to invest in PR.

Expect to Learn:

🔹 The #1 mistake founders make when scaling their marketing efforts

🔹 How to craft messaging that speaks to engineers, policymakers, and consumers

🔹 The real role of press releases—and why most quotes are throwaways

🔹 Why the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a communications goldmine (if you know how to tell the story)

🔹 When founders should finally let go and hire real marketing leadership

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.

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Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus