Our Story began in Portland, Maine where the salty sea meets quaint cobblestoned streets and  Jame Beard awarded restaurants. Growing up in Portland Ashleigh, the CEO/Solar Advisor of Urban Sol Energy was always surrounded by strong values. Values of supporting local businesses. Values of helping the environment (her mom always taught her how to recycle and compost). Values of hard work and grit (thanks to her dad, the hardest working man she knows). 

Ashleigh always had a passion for sustainability, community, and travel so when she went to University it was natural for her to pursue a Bachelors's Degree in Sustainable Tourism Development. While on campus she was active in the local sustainability group called Eco-Reps where she worked on RFP processes (Request For Proposals) to help her university go solar. One of her internships brought her to Cuba (where she lived on a tall ship!). While in Cuba Ashleigh worked on a Sustainable Tourism Initiative helping a local fishing group, who taught underprivileged children how to utilize sustainable fishing tourism as a trade. After university Ashleigh worked for a Community Development Organization working on a Brownfields Project, helping redevelop the land for a community garden, a community center, and new sustainable housing.

Ashleigh's passions lead her to pursue a career in the renewable energy field, the solar industry specifically. It was an accumulation of things that pushed her to start her own company, Urban Sol Energy. She first was motivated to bring honesty and transparency to the solar process for homeowners, so she could have a greater impact. Second, she worked for a few years for other people (some very great people) but realized she was a bit limited on what she could offer her clients in terms of products and programs. She wanted to be able to give her clients more options to customize a solar solution that fit their lives. 

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