Episode 149: Turning Food Waste into Community Power | Monique Figueiredo | Founder of Compostable LA
Monique “Mo” Figueiredo never planned to be an entrepreneur, but her passion for composting turned into CompostableLA, a thriving community-based composting company. She’s on a mission to change how Los Angeles handles food waste. She wants to show that composting isn’t just good for the planet, it’s essential for food sovereignty, environmental justice, and economic health. Mo shares why waste is a human invention, how composting can restore farmable soil, and why growing your own food should be a right, not a privilege. She explains how her work connects climate solutions to community resilience, and offers practical steps for reducing waste at home. This is a must-listen for anyone ready to reimagine how we handle resources and build a more sustainable future.
“Waste is a human invention. It’s not something the planet ever had. Composting is the way the planet deals with so-called waste.”
-
-
Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
00:00 – From Sustainability Student to Compost Entrepreneur
05:40 – Why Sorting Is the Key to Reducing Contamination
06:57 – Composting as the Most Accessible Climate Solution
09:06 – Seeing Waste as a Resource, Not Trash
14:40 – How Current Agriculture Threatens Our Soil Supply
18:00 – Farmers Farm Soil, Not Just Food
22:00 – Why Growing Your Own Food Is a Human Right
28:32 – Learning from Leaders at Soul Fire Farm
33:00 – Composting as a Tool for Environmental Justice
38:00 – The Role of Community Composters in Local Change
42:00 – How to Start Composting at Home or in Your Neighborhood
47:00 – Building Economic Health Through Resource Recovery
52:08 – Redefining Power and Leadership in Sustainability
Because of our current agricultural practices, we will run out of farmable land. And so there is a huge need for soil creation. And soil I don't think is often talked about because it's, it's invisible. We like to make waste invisible 'cause we're uncomfortable with waste and we like to, who looks at the ground?
Food is something people connect with. That's Monique Fido. And this is The Powerful Ladies podcast. Hey guys, I'm your host, Kara Duffy, and in this episode we get to talk about dirt, well technically Soil with Monique Fido, the founder of Compostable la. It's a community-based composting company. She'd never imagined she'd be an entrepreneur, let alone having a business and composting and. In this episode, we discuss why it matters so much to have composting and how this business is checking all of her boxes for fulfillment and purpose.
I hope you enjoy this episode as much. I enjoyed chatting with her. Don't forget to visit the powerful ladies.com/podcast to leave any questions or comments about this episode and to see all the links in our show notes to connect with Mo and compostable la.
Well, Monique, I am very excited to talk to you today.
Yay. I'm excited to talk to you. I've heard so much about you.
Well, and what you are doing, I'm so fascinated by, so I wanna jump right in. Let's just tell everybody. Your name, where you are in the world, and what you're up to.
Um, my name's Monique Fiorito.
I live in Los Angeles, California, and I'm up to a lot of things, but professionally I'm up to composting
and for everyone who's like, wait, what's composting? Like, it really is the composting of organic material.
It's the recycling of organic material. Yeah. Yes. So it's really the most ancient form of recycling that exists.
Mm-hmm. I wanna make sure nobody got confused. If that's like a new term for like a producer or something in la Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah.
So this is something I'm fascinated by. I've lived in lots of cities and states and, and also in other countries, and how people treat compost and recycling and everything that we can do to lighten or improve our impact is so different.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
How did you get into your. Career being composting?
Yeah, that's a great question. So I'm from Boston originally, and um, I was in mental health for eight years and I loved it, but I was so burnt out. Um, and I moved to Los Angeles because I kind of had figured I love Boston. Uh, I've, I've just taken it all in and it's not giving me any new data.
If I stay here, I'm gonna stay in mental health. I don't know what else to do really. And so I was dog walking in Los Angeles, just letting stimulus hit me and taking like an information. And, um, part of that experience was, you know, setting up my life here. And one of the things I did at Home Compost. You know, living in LA is very different from Boston.
There's not a lot of access to green space. You know, people don't really have yards here. And if you do, it's a privilege. And so, um, I was trying to find an easy way to compost. Um, and, you know, these pickup services exist all throughout New England, but they didn't really exist here. And so, um, kind of, you know, had that in the back of my mind.
And then went to the UCLA extension. Um, I got a sustainability certificate there, and compostable was kind of a final project. So, um, it, it was really this kind of, you know, it evolved. It wasn't like I'm gonna be in compost. Um, it was like, this is what my community needs here. It's still in a caregiver role.
You know? Mm-hmm. That, but is less demanding than mental health. Um, and, uh, it's something I love and I'm really passionate about.
I would say that most people who are listening to this episode have never composted in their life. Oh, yay. I'm saying that not based on, you know, anything negative about this audience, but because statistically most people haven't Yeah.
Or don't realize that they've been participating. Um, so let's just go back to the origins of, of composting before pickup existed. Like, yeah. What is the origin story of composting?
Um, that's a great question and I'm so excited to help people get introduced to this concept. So, um, composting is nature.
It's a natural process. There is no, the origin story of composting is the origin story of our planet. So it's, it's the way planet deals with. You know, waste, um, waste is a human invention. It's not something the planet ever had, um, because the planet has mechanisms and the waste of one system is the food for another.
So the waste of the trees is the food for the fungi and the food for the fun. You know, the waste of the fungi is the food for the soil and the, and that, and then that feeds the trees and it's this whole cyclical thing. And so, you know, um. Indigenous people were doing, you know, biomimicry is what we call it now, but really just kind of watching the planet, seeing how it worked and doing something similar to that.
And so, uh, composting has been around since really, you know, our planet's been around. And then of course, indigenous people as they do really honed it in and, um, figured out how to make that work within communities. And, um, I think we got away from it for a while. Like a lot of people I talked to say like, oh, my grandfather used to compost.
And then there was this kind of distancing, and now I think people are coming back to it. Mm-hmm.
Um, I live in, um, orange County and mm-hmm. Where we are, they have trash and recycling's all combined, which always makes me very suspicious.
Mm-hmm.
And then composting is separate.
Mm-hmm.
And that I think is great because we can keep so much out of the other trash bins, but I know that some people aren't using it and aren't doing it.
And I always wonder like. Are there fines, penalties? Like what are we doing to actually engage people to take this sorting step other than being like, here's a bin and here's a pale. Bye. Yeah. Yeah. I don't
know. Um, that's a great question and, and, and I appreciate your suspicion because I think that's important.
Um, you know, there's a reason why other countries sort everything. Mm-hmm. Uh, uh, because sorting means less contamination and less contamination means a cleaner end product. And that's particularly important when you're talking about soil that potentially is being used, grow your own food. Um, so a lot of the green bins, um, usually only take yard waste.
They don't always take food waste, and that's typically turned into mulch. Um. You know, once you start adding food waste in it, then it becomes that whole kind of a different composting process. Mm-hmm. Um, but I do, I do really feel like it's important to, um, source separate. And then I think education's really the key about like, why is it important?
Because I think once people understand all the different, um, systems, it impacts the, and it's like, oh, this is really easy. Like, I might as well do it. You know? So yeah. I think it's just an introduction. It's just like, why, you know, why people didn't recycle before. It's 'cause they didn't really understand it and didn't know it.
And, and maybe people don't recycle now because they don't fully trust it because of everything that's happened with recycling. Um, and um, but composting still hopefully has a lot of trust around it.
Well, I think compost is. An actual, like a really easy access point to someone making an impact. Because if you have property, you can compost in your own backyard.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Right. So it's, mm-hmm.
I always call it one of the most accessible forms of, uh, of a climate solution possible. And the reason I say that, I don't think, you know, I'm not saying it's the most impactful or that I'm just saying it's really the most impactful, accessible option. Um, so if you are at home and you're looking for some way to make like a really big difference, composting is really the thing I would encourage you to lean into.
Um, and the reason for that is because it affects how clean our air is. It affects how clean our water is. It affects how clean our food is, which affects our bodies, which, you know, it helps with drought and flooding and, and food sovereignty and environmental justice. And it really kind of, it's this, you know.
Hits all these major points, and somewhere in there you're touching on a point someone cares about. Mm-hmm. Whether that's, you know, um, public health or environmental health or economic health, you know, um, why would we throw away a resource and then buy soil? It's like, you know, soil's really expensive and you can make it for free in your backyard.
Um, and it's, and and so there's all these different things they can kind of touch upon.
Well, and um, you know, speaking to what's free, I was reading an article in the New York Times about, um, like free or trade groups on Facebook.
Mm-hmm.
And how this one man was offering up his, um, old fish tank water every time he'd clean out the fish tank.
Oh
my God. And his wife is like, nobody's gonna want that. Why would you put that on here? And sure enough, people were fighting for it because it's all this nutrient dense. Stuff that you can put into the compost heat. You can, you can garden with it. And he was like so excited as we were talking about before we started recording about like, told you so.
Yeah. And you, we forget that everything that's in our house, somebody else is gonna want. Mm-hmm. Even if it sounds totally insane.
Yeah. Yeah. And that, you know, um, I love that story and I'm on my buy nothing group and the stuff that people, um, really go for is so fascinating. I, I really love it. Um, but it's true, you know, when you start looking at things not necessarily as waste, but as a resource, it becomes a different, a whole different conversation.
Um, and if you're looking at something purely as waste, the question is why does that thing maybe exist, uh, in the first place? Um, and maybe that's something bigger than us and we can't really answer that right now. Um, but I try and the way I live my life is bring things in. That, um, that someone will continue to find valuable after I'm done with it.
Mm-hmm. So you come out to la you get the certificate in sustainability, you do this project, and then where's the tipping point from like, oh, this is a, you know, really interesting school project to, oh, this is my new business.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I was dragged, like, I was like, I'm not gonna do this, man. This is like so much work and, uh, you know, I like this.
I was not set out to be an entrepreneur. That was not something I was, um, going to do. But honestly, there's this, you know, you hear different versions of this quote all the time. Like, if not who, if not me, who? Right? Mm-hmm. Um, if not now when, or like be the change you wanna see in your community. You hear different versions of this thing.
But, um, but honestly like. Once you, once you are confronted with a situation that is so fat, that is that kind of cheesy, maybe like something that we've heard all the time, but it's like, oh no, this is that moment. Um, it's hard not to respond. Um, and it's hard not to be that person that that makes that change.
And I understand people who don't and who, who aren't called to it. But, um, for me it was hard not to, to step up and become something I thought my community might need.
So let's tell everybody how does it actually work? Are you yourself driving trucks around picking up compost? Yeah. Like how do, how does the process work on your side?
Yeah. And for the customer side.
Yeah, that's a great question. So it was me for a, a long time, you know, um, as most small business owners, you really like, you strain yourself to the point, and then you're like, alright, now time to upgrade. And then you, you really break yourself, break yourself, and now time to upgrade.
And so, um, for a long time it was just me. Um, and yeah, I would, it was just in, um, the west side of Los Angeles, my community, this is where I'm, and, um, I would drive around to people's houses on different days. Every neighborhood had their own day and they put out their full bin of food scraps. And I'm gonna take that full bin and leave you a clean one and I'll take that full bin, tough farm for you.
And so it saves the person in that, you know, as a con, as a, as everyday citizen interacting with this, um, this service, all you're doing is sorting. That's it. Instead of putting your banana peel in the trash, you're putting it in your compost bin and you're leaving that bin out once a, you know, once a week.
Um, but on my end, you know, what happens from when I take that bin off your doorstep is I'm gonna bring it to one of my partner farms, so I'm not doing all the, the processing myself. Mm-hmm. Um, because there is, you do have to do a lot of maintenance, um, on a compost pile to make sure it's healthy and, um.
Breaking down the food evenly and that kind of thing. And so I'd bring it to a local urban farm no further than 10 miles from where the food is being generated. And, um, then that farm either gets to keep the soil and grow food with it and maybe sell it at their local farmer's market. Or it goes back to my members, you know, if they wanna grow some food at home.
So, um, you know, now I have goodness, I really should know how many employees I have. I have seven. I dunno, I never know. I think I have seven employees, but I have three drivers, um, two people who are washing bins and prepping things in the warehouse space. You know, one person who is doing all the customer service and like mm-hmm.
Billing and that kind of thing. And then me and my co-owner, um. And so now we're a whole team and I'm out of the van and I'm doing things like this where I'm educating people, and this is really what I love now mm-hmm. Is talking about why composting is important, why community composting is important, hyperlocal food systems and that kind of thing.
Mm-hmm. Well, and I think what, you know, I have to press preface this by the fact that I am totally obsessed with food agricultural and like whole system documentary. So if there's one that exists, I'm like, okay, let's, like, I wanna watch it, I wanna read it, and they really can't make enough for me to consume fast enough.
Yeah. Um, but I think what part of what people miss, right? There's, there's a lot of conversation this Black Friday about. If you don't need it, don't buy it. Mm-hmm. Just because it's on sale doesn't mean that you need it.
Right.
And I think part of what people miss in the closed system conversation is the soil piece of it.
Mm-hmm. And that, okay, we're talking about organic or this or that, or, you know, no one's talking about the fact that we're having major soil issues in the US
Yes.
And how the scary that part is.
Yeah. Yeah. So, um, for people who are listening, I mean, we're losing topsoil at a, at an alarming rate, a third of our farmable land globally has turned, has deserted.
Mm-hmm. And so, um, you know, this is kind of the scary part of the conversation, but like, we're going because of our current agricultural practices, we'll run outta farmable land. Um, and so there is a huge need for soil creation. Um, and, and. Soil, I don't think is often talked about because it's, it's invisible.
We like to make waste invisible because we're uncomfortable with waste and we like to, who looks at the ground? Food is something people connect with. Mm-hmm. And food, you know, there's this huge connection to locally grown food. People love their farmer's market. And what I'm trying to teach people is, is farmers farm soil.
They don't farm plants. All the farmers I, I'm gonna talk to, and all the growers know the importance of soil. Mm-hmm. And it's the people who are consuming the food, who maybe are a little bit more disconnected with that. And so if you care about. Community based agriculture. If you care about, um, local ag, if you care about global ag, if you care about food in general, the starting and ending place for that food is compost, is soil.
Um, you're gonna compost your food scraps, you're gonna grow. Compost is a soil amendment. It helps heal sick soils. Um, and then you're gonna grow that food in that really nutrient dense soil. And, um, that's the beginning process again. So, um, this, this conversation about ag cannot really happen without a conversation about soil.
And I feel like, especially in the, in the West, where we already have a, a desert climate that we really like to pretend we don't have. Mm-hmm. I, you know, I feel like it's even different. There's that great book, um, animal Vegetable Miracle
mm-hmm.
Where the family has to move from Arizona to Tennessee or Kentucky.
I forget which one, two. Have property that they can year round, live off of.
Yeah.
And being the, you know, fruit and vegetable basket of the us Like, you know, I, it always catches me off guard that this is, that California is where that landed versus Yeah. Other places that have just rain. Like Yeah. You know, after soil, it's water.
Like those are the two things we have to have.
Those are the life that's our lifeblood. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, and, and you know, California is a Mediterranean climate. It's, you know, there's only like five places in the world where this climate exists and it was quite lush on, you know, this, on the, the west side of the mountain range.
And, um, you know, this, this conversation can lead a lot into colonialism. So. You know, when, um, settlers came here, basically what happened is they brought their, their agricultural practices here and the agricultural practices that worked in rainy Europe do not work in a Mediterranean climate like California.
Um, and so things like tilling or monocropping, those are things that do not work for actually all soils, but because of the rain systems and, and mm-hmm. Um, the uk it's a little bit more forgiving so they, they can heal quicker. Still isn't good for the soil, but it's like having constant antibiotics versus California is a bit more of a, a sensitive ecosystem and those practices don't work here.
And you know, this kind of goes back to indigenous conversation. They were using farming practices that worked here and it was a really lush. Green, beautiful environment. And that's what tending the wild is really about. That's a, a book. Um, and it's about like, what did it used to look like here when we used agricultural practices that were native to here?
When you started to do this, what was the reaction to the community? Were they like, what are you talking about? Why do I need this? Or were people like, oh my gosh, where have you been?
Zero, 0%. Whatcha are talking about Why do I need this from my community? My community was like, thank you, thank you. This is like, and my partners were like, get ready.
This is gonna get crazy pants. Are you ready? And I was like, absolutely not. I'm not ready. So, um, you know, I would say in California that there is policy and regulations that are less supportive of what I would call community composters. Mm-hmm. And, um, not in a villainous way or not in a. Um, like we're against them way, it's just like as California, um, tries to develop policy and regulations that enforce composting, usually that takes the easiest path forward, which is large scale waste haulers.
Right. Um, that is, you know, but when you're talking about ecosystems, we're talking about complex systems. These are systems that, um, they're cyclical and they kind of intertwine and in fact impact one another. And so linear systems that try and like have one solution that fits all the needs mm-hmm. Tend not to work.
There tends to be unintended consequences to those things. And so I would say while my community was like, oh my God, thank you, um, I, I do have to do some bobbing and weaving around, um, regulations in place that, uh, are not intended to be used for community scale composting.
Yeah. 'cause obviously if California's huge, even LA County is huge.
So when we are looking at just the, the size of what we're dealing with, having to manage one system is way easier than a bunch of micro systems. So I get it. And that also leads to all the things that you're trying to avoid, which is hauling dirt, all sorts of places that are just adding things that we didn't need to add to it.
Yeah. Yeah. And you know, while it might be easier to enforce, I wouldn't say it's necessarily easier operationally. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, there are. Of shades of gray and beautiful colors that can come outta these like hyperlocal, um, systems. And so the, the way I connect people, because I can feel myself getting a little more nebulous, the, the way I really can like tangibly connect people with this concept is, um, something like Amazon or ikea.
Um, people love to villainize Amazon, right? And I'm like, Hey, you know what? Amazon serves a purpose for some people. Mm-hmm. Accessibility, affordability. You know, if you are someone that's trapped in your house or has a hard time leaving Amazon is a beautiful thing for you. And I'm so happy it exists. Um, the issue is when people with privilege or ability or mobility heavily rely on Amazon, um, it's like, oh, that's where the problems.
Community of the things that made a community once vibrant, like the local bookstores. Um, and so what I like to say is we're not saying get rid of Amazon. We're saying make sure you support your local bookstore too, if you have the ability to do so. Uh, we're not saying get rid of major waste haulers.
We're saying, Hey, you know what? Community-based systems are super important. And, um, they make the community vibrant. Mm-hmm. They make sure that soil is staying local and going back to local farmers and waste to staying local and not impacting other communities. And it's like an antidote to nimbyism and, um, you know, environmental justice concerns we see.
So, um, I'm all about like, let's not take a black and white photo. Let's have this be the most vibrant motherfucker we've ever seen. Yeah. Let's like, let's paint a beautiful picture in Los Angeles of. All sorts of different community based systems. You want your local furniture store and you want your Ikea, you want your local, um, farmer's market and your Ralph's, you want your local waste person, you know?
Mm-hmm. Your local resource recovery person and your major one. Um, the, the power is choice and ability.
What, what's the impact of taking compostables out of landfills? Like Sure. How does that impact all the other waste that we're generating?
Yeah. Yeah. That's a great question. So I like to say that there's two things to talk about when it comes to organics recycling.
So the first is removing something from a landfill. So when an organic item ends up in a landfill, um, it enters an anaerobic. Condition because all the oxygen in the landfills used up really quickly. I mean, they, when you steal a landfill, they can build housing complexes on them. It's so stable. So that's how compact it gets in those.
So mm-hmm. When organic materials enter anaerobic conditions, they release methane in methanes 84 times, um, worse than carbon dioxide within the first 20 years of its existence. Um, so carbon dioxide has a longer impact, but methane has this really powerful immediate impact. So if you're thinking about how do we reverse climate change in the next 20 years, you have to address meth.
And, um, organics and landfill is a huge cause of methane emissions. So that's one important thing about composting. You're removing, um, this organic material from a landfill where it doesn't really break down. I mean, if you put an apple in a landfill, it's gonna be there 20 years later. Um, it will break down.
This is crazy, hundreds of years. But, you know, people don't understand that. They think, oh, I throw it away and it'll break down, and that's just not the case. Now, the other side of this story that isn't often talked about, but I really wanna talk about is the soil creation. So when a lot of people focus on getting organics out of landfills, sometimes they focus on things like waste to energy.
Um, so burning waste and making electricity out of it, or anaerobic digestion where they create methane with it on purpose, but capture it and use it to fuel trucks. Um, so that is dealing with the first problem, problem, but that's not helping. The second issue, which is this global soil loss that we're experiencing and the need to heal soils.
And so soil creation, I feel like is really the most powerful part of composting. And I'll talk about why number one, healthy soil in relation with plants pulls carbon dioxide out of the air and stores it on the ground in the ground. So this, we have too much carbon dioxide in our air. The solution is soil and plants.
That is it. It doesn't have to get much more high tech than that man. So, um, you're removing methane by not putting in a landfill and you're removing carbon dioxide by creating healthy soils. Um, it can hold 10 times its weight and water. So for some place that's drought, um, experiencing horrible droughts, like California, you need soil that can be holding its weight and water.
Um, and then it also purifies water. Mm-hmm. So, because it's so carbon rich, when storm water pollution goes through something like compost, all the pollutants are captured and filtered out. So when that water hits your underground aquifers, it's cleaner. Mm-hmm. Um, so that's, that's the air, that's the water.
And then talking about nutrient-dense food, you know, when, when we use artificial fertilizers to prop up our food system, the food that you're eating might look delicious, like a big, beautiful carrot. But when they do test on that carrot, it's really nutrient poor. Mm-hmm. So you're eating the sale of thinking, I'm doing the best thing, I'm putting nutrients in my body.
But if that salad was grown in dead soil, which we call, which is dirt, you know, um, it, it's not feeding you. And so, really not all soil is created equally, and that's something important. So if you want to get the most. Delicious vegetables. The most healthy salad you want it to be growing in really nutrient dense food.
Um, and that nutrient dense food is for the plant is soil. Mm-hmm. So, um, one person once told me, um, soil is geology plus biology, you know, and when we take away that biology, it's just rocks. What minerals and nutrients are you really gonna get from rocks? You know, you really need the microbes in there and the foil, soil, food, web in there, living and, and existing.
So that's just, that's just a touch. I didn't even talk about food justice. Um, that's a whole nother conversation, which I'm happy to have with you if you want, but I don't wanna take over this question too much.
No, but, and we've had, um, a really great guest on here from Soul Fire Farm in New York. Which one?
Um, so Leah and I actually went to college together 'cause I'm also from Boston. Yeah. Is Leah from Boston. She's from New York, which is where the farm is. Okay. But we both went to Clark and Worcester.
Oh my God. Yeah. That is so funny. Oh yeah. I almost went to Clark. I wonder if I would've met you guys. The whole world would've been different, man.
Wow. Uh, if you guys don't know SoFi our Farm yet, if you're like listening to this and you haven't listened to anything Leah has talked about, like please just, just stop listening to me. Go listen to Leah. It's so amazing.
Yes, Cheryl. Okay, so we, Cheryl, I dunno, Cheryl, Cheryl will be of Soul Fire Farms and she was amazing.
She's one of the people that just like, makes it all happen and supports the system there. But,
uh,
we talked a lot about, um, you know, food justice and farming justice and how, you know, we don't realize the impact of the, the system of slavery and what it's taken away from people color. Because why would you wanna go back to what you were forced to do when it was a natural thing that you would have done?
'cause it's natural for all humans to want to farm and grow their
own food. Yeah.
Yeah. And um, so yeah, so they're amazing. And how does great soil and composting tie into this whole space?
Ugh. I love that you talk to them because that just gives such a great, so I agree. Growing your own food is a human right.
It's the human right. And access to soil is prohibitively expensive. If anybody on here has bought one bag of soil mm-hmm. Please, it is so much money. High quality soil, you can get low quality soil for cheap. But you know, if you want nice quality soil, which you deserve, it is your right. Um, it's really expensive.
And then on top of that, what if you make a mistake? Garden and you get blight or something that's a soil based fungus and you have to re get all new soil. Mm-hmm. You know that it's a privilege to make mistakes in this, in this industry. And, and that to me feels wrong. Um, it should, it, it shouldn't be a privilege to make mistakes and learn how to grow your own food because that's how you do it.
Mm-hmm. No one knows how to grow their own food. Right. Right off the bat, we all kill plants and then we compost them and we learn again. And so having access to soil is the entry point to access to growing your own food. Um, and so what we are saying is our communities are, are producing the material needed to make your own soil, which is food waste.
And our communities also deserve the right to make their own food. And so by keeping these resources local and giving them back to the community for free, we are helping. Um, that, that beginning step and the, the process of learning how to grow and make mistakes and learn and invite other people to your space to grow together, and it's, it's a whole ecosystem.
Um, but that begins with soil. It really does. And, and, um, soil, like you can buy it or you can make your own with compost. Mm-hmm. It's great.
Yeah. But I'm sure many people listening have seen where they've like taken over, um, abandoned lots in Detroit and tried to make a community farm. Yeah. Which is amazing.
And speaking of like good soil or bad soil, like who knows if anything can grow on that lot? Yeah, yeah. Like great effort and like, who my backyard is in is barely growing grass right now. So
Yeah.
I can't guarantee anything else will ever come out of there. Yeah.
And you know, that doesn't also talk about like the, um.
Contamination that might be in the soil. Mm-hmm. Compost like I was talking about. Right. It serves as a, as a filter, a pollutant filter so it can help remediate soils. And another thing that it can do, if you apply a layer of compost to that whole ground and grow a cover crop, maybe that cover crop some, some plant this, a thing called bioremediation, sunflowers can remove lead from the ground.
Um, so, uh, but again, that means your first year. Of growing is spent re, you know, remediating the soil. And again, that shouldn't be a privilege. That's part of the growing process. Um, and it's so strange. Like we've outsourced everything to the point where we've lost our connection with it. We've outsourced waste and food and clothes.
Um, and um, again, I'm not saying we all become homesteaders and have our chickens and you know, but if you can reestablish a connection somewhere with one of these things, it'll really have a perspective shift for you. And you'll start looking at different ways you can heal the ecosystems around you. And not to mention we just touched on, but all your clothes, soil, baby, you know, if you wanna have a hundred percent cotton clothes and you're trying to go zero waste, what do you think that's grown in?
You know? Mm-hmm. So yeah. Soil, it all comes back to it.
Well, and I'm someone who notoriously on accident murders, like my basal plants and everything else. Yeah, of course. I just. Can't, I can't, I don't know what my problem is. Yeah. Um,
there's no problem. That is part of the process. We do it all. We all, I'm like, you know, I'm like this hippie composting and I'm like, oh my god, my tomatoes got again.
I dunno why you
part of the process. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Well,
and I love that you mentioned sunflowers pulling lead out of the grounds. Like we, you said it earlier that we think there needs to be some super technological, like the only person who must have an answer is Elon Musk, right? Yeah. No. Like everything need, need the planet
given us answers,
man.
Yeah. For
thousands of years.
It's all there. It's all there. Yeah. And I had this really, you know, again, very hippie moment the other day in the grocery store and I was just like, it's so crazy. Like this whole section that I'm in, in the produce section, like this is all just outside. Depending where you are in the world, you can just walk up and eat it.
Yeah. And here I am in a store, which makes me crazy when you see like, why was a cantaloupe in a plastic wrapper? I'm like, ugh.
I don't know. Yeah. Because, well, I mean, this is, this is when you get away from your hyperlocal food systems, they're trying to make it last long to the transportation. And it's like, you know, if you buy local, if you buy what's in season, if you have the privilege to do so, you know, because I know it's more expensive, um, then it, it, it all impacts the other thing.
Yeah. So plastic wasting gets impacted or, you know, and so, um, I, I like to make sure that people understand and remember that we're complex systems, we're complex humans, but our brains like to be simple. But it, you know, when our brains are like, we have so much, you know, stuff coming in and they just wanted the simplest solution.
But that doesn't, it just really never works. And if you allow your brain to be messy, if you, if you allow your brain to just go with the complexity of each system and hold all these paradigms in, in your ponds, you know, it, you just have a little more of a relaxed way of, of dealing with the world around you.
Now do you work with, um, private residences or do you also work with restaurants or other, like schools that are having much larger, in theory, compost pales that they would need?
Yeah, right now we work with private residences and there's a couple reasons why. One that was easiest for me and I was just alone doing this and I was like, I can do this in my Toyota.
Let's go, um, two regulations and policy. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, who owns your waste? It's a really weird question, you know, but there is ownership of your waste and it's not you. So, um, you know, so I wanna make sure I'm not stepping on any toes and upsetting anybody. I wanna be, uh, something that's a benefit to the community.
Um, but also when we're talking about, and we've touched on this and, and now I'll kind of hone it in. We've talked about all the players and the. Waste world. Right. Um, so what I would love to see is this, you know, this tiered model that the Institute for Local Self-Reliance has put out. And it's beautiful and it's like ways to reduce waste while building community.
That's what it's called. And it's lovely. And it's like the first thing, source reduction, then composting at home, then composting with your neighbor, then dropping it off, then having a small scale hauler, then having a large scale hauler. Uh, you know, and so it's like, I don't want to be the only person moving material in la.
I, I wanna be one of many players, and so, mm-hmm. Um, I think that restaurants and hotels and schools, I think they should use a major hollerer. That's a lot of material. Or they should, well, no, that's a lie. I think they should compost on site if they can right there, use it. But if they can't pull that off for whatever reason, because I'm not here to judge people, you know.
Um. Then use something that's up to scale and local residents use your local thing, you know? Mm-hmm. And use your community based thing. Maybe that is sharing with a neighbor who compost because you don't want you, you know, composting isn't in your blood like that, you know? Mm-hmm. That's totally fine.
It's of all about having options that people can choose that works best for their values, their lifestyle, their bank account, you know, all those things. Yeah.
Well that's the cool part about composting as well. 'cause you've already bought the food. Yeah. So as you're just choosing, like you said earlier, it goes in this bin or this bin, like it Yeah.
There's no cost to you on where you sort it. Um, I just, I dunno if you've heard of them. I just, my team and I volunteered earlier this week at Brackens Kitchen in Orange County. Haven't, and they're like a go between of. Like food waste at restaurants and supermarkets and people who have food scarcity
and so Oh, awesome.
Well, and I'm thinking about them like they, they're someone who's kind of broken a lot of the systems, right? Because it's crazy to me the food waste of what restaurants and grocery stores can or can't do with stuff that mm-hmm. Like the box is broken or it's one day old, or whatever the rules are from, from re regulatory perspective and how he's like found this middle ground because I'd be really curious what they're doing.
'cause when we were there peeling carrots the other day, everything was going into one bag and I was sitting there peeling like, my heart's broken, but we're helping people. Like what? Yeah. Yeah. It really was this internal conflict of where is all this going? Because at my house, someone would get yelled at if they put this in the regular, you know, trash bag.
Yeah.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. You know, and one thing is you're still doing something beautiful for your community and, um, uh, I think there's a lot of pressure to be this like eco perfect person. And, um, I really hate that because it's like not humanly possible. And then all it leads to is infighting within the eco community, and it really should just be a mutually supportive thing.
Um, but that's a great question. I have no idea where it's going. Mm-hmm. Um, food recovery organizations, a lot of them are trying to figure out composting systems because not all the time is the food that's donated to them, edible still, you know, by the time they get it, maybe it's, it's gone. And so I consider composting the goalie.
Mm-hmm. It's like the last resort to the landfill, but the first resort should be feeding other people and then feeding animals and then composting. Mm-hmm. Um, and of course all that starts with source reduction, right. It's like, you know. Did you make way too much for Thanksgiving and can you make less next year?
Probably. Yeah.
Yeah,
yeah. We all do.
Well, and, and I like how you kind of broke down the tears that, um, earlier, because I think we forget that, as you said, humans are complex, but simple when it comes to choices. Mm-hmm. And we forget to layer on Maslow's hierarchy of needs into like all things. Mm-hmm. Right.
So it's, it's really hard to have a conversation with somebody about, you know, saving or being out of debt if, like, they just can't get through a week. Right. Yeah. And I think the same thing is true with people who are dealing, who are first stepping into being responsible global citizens of mm-hmm. Start with this, start with this.
Like, here's the next layer. 'cause we tend to just jump extremes and we see this, I think from nationwide policies or perspectives or the, you know, the division that we're getting in a lot of news and media. It's like, it's either this or it's this. And it's like, there are so many steps in between. It's, it's the same concern I have with how people talk about being entrepreneurs.
Like the option is not start Facebook or live on the street. Like there's so many things. Yeah. In between. And I think that we, because we take away the, the tier. Yeah. It makes people feel like it really is a, a black and white option.
Yeah. What are you touched on? Oh, go ahead. No, no, you go. Oh, I was like, you just touched on so many concepts that I find important, you know, one being.
Sustainability is first and foremost, probably practiced most by people in impoverished situations. Yeah. They're scrappy and resilient and making it work. Um, and, uh, just because they're not buying their milk in a glass bottle, they're probably buying something else in bulk or, you know, like it's, you know, carpooling or walking or whatever.
Um, so I, you know, it's important to recognize, um, that no matter where you, who you're talking to, they're probably doing something sustainable. Mm-hmm. Even like, you know, your uncle that drives you nuts. Maybe he's hanging his laundry just because he's like, maybe because he's just like, doesn't wanna pay the money to dry it, or something like that.
You like. I see you, I see you doing that thing. I'm not gonna even bring attention to it, but I see you. Um, but also another thing you touched on is like middle ground is like, I, I'm having a hard time seeing that. Mm-hmm. Um, lately it's like we either have, or the way we talk about it is yeah. That you are grassroots and you are like, you know, um, stretched so thin and blah, blah, blah.
Or like, you are franchising and growing and you have venture capitalists. I'm like, I don't speak venture capitalists. I don't speak money like that. Does that mean I'm, I don't have a right to start my own business and live a happy life? Like, you know, like it doesn't, you know? Mm-hmm. But I think a lot of the things I face as an entrepreneur is this, like, am I in the way of my business's own growth because I don't know how to speak money that way and I can't get it to scale or whatever.
And it's like. I mean, am am I living a comfortable life right now? Yeah. Are my employees happy? Yeah. What's the problem? You know, it's fine. Like, why do I have this pressure to like, you know, um, but I, I do I agree with you that I see this kind of dichotomy in, in life about all or nothing mentalities.
Well, it, it's honestly why I have a business and a livelihood because people see it that way.
And people forget that, that a small business in America means less than $40 million. Oh my God. By the small business association of, of the us, which is asinine because the average That's crazy
pants.
It's so crazy because the average, um, single member owned business is making $45,000 a year. Yeah. So to go from $45,000 to 40 million in my mind.
I can't process that. When I can't process something, we have to break it down into smaller pieces. And there's, so, like we talk about small business or micro business, and I'm like, you guys are joking yourselves. There's like 10 levels of small business in that. Like so many of the people I'm working with on a day-to-day basis, it's like, let's just make you replicate your, your corporate income.
Mm-hmm.
And then you're good. Like, yeah. Why, why are we chasing, I need a million dollar business and, and a million dollar business in reality is not far away. If there's a few things in place, it allows you to hire more people. Like, it makes it a little bit more relaxed from a mm-hmm. A business, uh, owner's perspective.
But it like, it does not need to be like, you don't need investors. Yeah. Everyone's always asking me, do you need 'em? I'm like, what for? Yeah. Like, so you have more people telling you what to do and you have to worry about debt and all this other stuff now, like, I don't know.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's just, it's that, it's that pressure to grow, grow, grow, grow, grow.
And I mean, talking about cyclical concepts that always enter, you know, and this could happen at length throughout this whole conversation, but that mentality has impacted our environmental wellbeing. Mm-hmm. This desire to continue having a growing GDP in a planet that is, uh, restrained and cannot continue to grow in that capacity, um, it's destined to fail.
There's just like, we don't live on a planet that continues to grow. That's not how this planet works. This planet works with homeostasis, so our g needs to match that concept or else. There's just, we're gonna continue cutting down the rainforest and, and or continue buying the next thing and having more landfills, or continue buying them more clothes and shipping that off to India and having them deal with those repercussions, um, because of that almost addiction to productivity and growth and next and more and what's next, and not just, yeah.
This peacefulness with, um, I think I, writing Sweetgrass is the most beautiful book if people haven't read it yet. And, and she talks about how, um, contentment is a revolutionary and radical mm-hmm. Choice, you know, um, in this kind of consumeristic and capitalistic society.
Well, and I, I have a lot of clients who they've done well.
Right. The game I was playing for 2021 was, we're all gonna double our business because you all can without, you know, having negative impacts. Right. Because it's, it's about thriving. It's not just about doing more. Doubling your business is actually, it's just math. It's not magic. Mm-hmm. There's ways to do it without having to work double.
And people achieve that, you know, like most people in, in my circle did, which is amazing and I'm so proud of them, but yet I still have people calling me, being like, when am I gonna feel rich? Mm-hmm. And so it's opening up this whole other conversation of how we don't align what we're spending all of our time doing with the things that actually matter to us.
I had a client who hadn't taken any money out of the business, so very privileged that they were living off of her husband's salary.
Mm-hmm.
And she's like, my only goal is to own a home. And I'm like, you know, you can pretty much buy one with cash.
Oh my. Yeah.
Yeah. And she's like, oh, I'm like, just do it.
Yeah. And she did it. And like her whole thing shifted of like, oh, now I feel good about. The work I'm putting in and the results I'm producing because it's actually aligned with what I care about. Right. And we don't double just for doubling.
Right. And reciprocity, you know, there of like, if I'm gonna put in, I want something back.
Yeah, I do. And I deserve something back, you know? Um, and anything in life and our relationships and the ability to receive is just as important to learn as the ability to give. And I think small business owners give, give, give, give, give. Mm-hmm. And you know, it's like this person being like, it's okay to receive this.
It's okay to take this out and let myself be, enjoy for the reception of my hard labor.
Well, it goes into all things we do. And for sure business is a love language. Yeah. And love languages, just like what you're talking about, are supposed to be cyclical.
Yeah. Yeah. Like
if, if your business and your team and your customers aren't making you feel equal to what you're giving them, there's something missing in the system.
And. I think that's what's so beautiful about what you're doing is you're pointing out to people like, look, we can like close this, the loop again. Like
Yeah.
Yeah. There's so many opportunities I think for people to just look at where can I close the loop?
Yeah. Yeah. And you know, what I love about this stuff I do is it's, it's all based on community building.
You know, it's not like, um, and I'm not against this. It's just not my love language. I, I'm not selling a product and then you leave and I don't necessarily see you again. It's a service. Mm-hmm. And it's a, it's a membership service. So they're with me. I have some members that have been with me since I started and one of them, it's so funny, we had a farm day.
We have biannual farm days that members can come and they can all about transparency, right? See where your waste ends up. See what it becomes, see what it grows. We, I need this to be visual to you, and I need you to connect with this. Yeah. But one of my members came who I hadn't seen since the beginning, and I was like, I recognized her face, but I couldn't place her.
But I was just like, all I could feel was a flood of happiness and warmth. As I saw her face, I was just like, why do I feel so amazing right now looking at you? And then I realized who it was and that she's like, number 22 of my members out of like, I think I have over 700 now. You know what I mean? It was like, hi, I missed you.
You know what I mean? They, you know, there's a relationship there. Mm-hmm. Um, and I could have very easily been transactional based, but that's just not the way I operate. That's why I have events where my members come out and I can talk to them and meet with them, and I'm always available. Like, if they ever wanna talk to me, I'm like, yeah, I've had them interview me for class or, you know, ask me how they start their own business.
And I'm like, sure, let's talk. Let's do it. And so I think that's also really fun mm-hmm. About being, um, the, the type of work I do. Um, and it, it is just like, it's given me an ability to connect with people so deeply.
Yeah. If, if we go back to you as your 8-year-old self, would she have ever predicted that this is the life that you have today?
Oh my God, she would be so happy. She wouldn't have predicted it, but dang, she would be happy, man. Mm-hmm. Um, my mom was a gardener and I used to garden with her all the time. And, um. To think that I would professionally be spending my time in, in, in, in a space that is organic and with people that share those values, ugh, ugh.
She would be so happy. Um, but no, I don't think she would've predicted it. Uh, I never knew what I wanted to do. I mean, still, like, you know, that's why I moved to la right? I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I was always kind of this kid that had lots of different interests and, um, it was hard to pin down really, but I was always a caregiver.
Mm-hmm. Um, but that was always in my DNA.
Yeah. When you hear the words powerful and ladies, what do they mean to you separately and does their definition change when they're combined? Oh, interesting.
You know, I don't really identify the word, the word ladies. So because I'm, I'm very gritty and vulgar and loud.
And so, like, when I first think of Lady Alone, I think of proper. And, um, reserved and polite, and it's just not who I am. Powerful. I immediately identify with, because power is some of those traits. Power is, um, I, I got the feedback once, which was meant in a negative way, but I have since it, it wasn't entirely meant in a negative way, but someone once said, um, people feel like they can't really say no to you.
And I was like, oh, that's something I have to wield carefully is what I, I learned. It was like, I better make sure that the way I'm rai things, people have the autonomy to choose what's best for their life. And to know that I have that power, um, was important for me. So I do identify with the word power, um, and, but when I put them together, the ladies changes for me immediately.
Mm-hmm. It's no longer, it's like, it's taking like these, these things that in my head are two separate things and putting them together so they're allowed to be both, you know, so powerful people. Can be more, um, contrite or reserved or quiet. And, um, ladies are allowed to be a little bit more forceful. And so I do love that combination.
I didn't even think about that until now. And when I think of them together, I think of my team. Um, we have one male on the team, and he's so, he's like such a trooper. We are, um, a, a tough, tough group of ladies. Like we are fierce, fierce ladies. Um, we lift 65 pound totes together. We compost together. We, you know, drive around the city together.
We manage difficult situations together. And, um, so they, to me, in my mind, are the epitome of a powerful lady.
Yeah. Um. You know, it's, it's been such an interesting name and it took so long for me to launch what Powerful Ladies is today because I was, I didn't like, I have my own struggles with powerful ladies as a phrase.
I liked it with people who got it and I didn't like it from the openness of all the things people put on it. So I find it so fascinating having done so many of these podcasts now, like how people define that. Yeah. And how, you know, we think about that traditional word of lady and I'm always like, yeah, but behind closed doors, they weren't like that.
Oh, they weren't? No, no, no. That's, I mean, that is what Jane Austin was doing. She was like, look at these chicks. Look what these chicks are doing. You know, they feisty. Um, and it's so funny because like when I look at the, the matriarchs in my family, um. You know, so my dad was from Portugal originally, and you know, it was this crazy story, but basically, uh, his mom had to bring the two kids here alone.
The husband had to stay behind, and so she immigrated here alone, no English. And she was like quite wealthy back in Portugal. And like here she worked at a hotel and mm-hmm. You know, with two 13-year-old and a 10-year-old. I'm like, dang. Yeah man, what fierceness And like you, it's like, I don't always think of that with women back in that era, but when I think of both of them, they both were fierce ladies.
You know what I mean? I'm like, man, when I think of ladies, I think of them being bridge, you know, back in that era, you know, like making tie. Neither of my grandparents were like that. They, my grandmothers, they were, yeah. They were hustling and living their life. And you know, the other one was an epic gardener had seven kids, like just ruling the house and was a cafeteria lady.
And like, just putting kids in their place when they, I was just like, it's in my DN. Just like, yeah, I'm gonna handle this shit.
Yeah,
yeah. Yeah.
I think when we really look, um, many people have similar stories of, yeah. Like the, the TV and movie version of what women were has never been real, it's always been like a shadow of, of what ladies were really up to.
And
it's what the, the men wanted the ladies to be up to. Yeah. It's told from their perspective in some cases, you know. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah. And I think probably the stories that are most compelling to us are the, the ones where that's not the case,
you know? Mm-hmm. Yeah. There's a book back here, it's like Badass Bygone Ladies of Bygones or something.
Yeah.
And it's just all these stories of women in history doing like rebellious, fierce things that like didn't get credit essentially. Yeah, yeah. Or may have, like, we all hear of Joan of Arc, but like why was she naked and Yeah. Like
what's, what's all, yeah. It's all tied to religion too, of course. Like, you know,
you don't
hear about some of the other people.
Yeah.
Yeah. And there's always, there always have been. Um, but so as you've been going from your life journey and for sure entering into this business, how have other powerful women or powerful people supported you and helped you get to where you are today?
Um, well the reason, it's so interesting that you asked that question.
Um, wow, I could answer this in so many different ways. Um, you know, I didn't really have a close relationship with my dad. He was in the house for sure, but, um, it was contentious to say the least. And all of me and my siblings have a very, very, probably like, you should relax a little bit, close relationship with my mom.
Um, so she was just always this picture and she just did everything, you know, to the point where I'm like, looking back, I'm like, man, you should have just like, been like, nah, I'm not doing all this stuff. But she did it all. Um. And so from some early age with her. But even like the reason I went to UCLA extension is because one of my friends told me I was worth it.
And it was just a woman who was in my network. Actually, two different women introduced me to that. And were like, you are worth investing in yourself. You should do this. You know, and so there's just been little micro moments like that versus bigger moments like my mom that have impacted me throughout my life.
And I think if I like spent, you know, an hour reflecting, I couldn't even recall all the, the women that have impacted me in my life. And you know, the, I even thinking back on my favorite teachers were all women, you know? So I think I've always been pretty drawn to women. I mean, there's a reason why my business, why I hire mostly women.
Um, I just always wanna be in a, a role where I'm uplifting them. And I mean, honestly, I feel like men have a, a very long journey to come on to walk right now because they've been dealt this hand of they have their own things they have to deal with of a toxic masculinity and that kind of thing. And, um, honestly, I, I don't know if I'm the person to steward them on that journey.
Uh, and I think it's important for me to recognize that of like, you guys have your own journey to walk and that's an important journey for you to take. And I am not, I'll be a friend, but I'm not the best ally in that journey. I wanna, I wanna foster the journey for women and that journey that they have to go on.
And so, um, recognizing the roles I also cannot play in different lives.
It's, it's been really interesting to see all the men who reach out, who are like secret listeners of the podcast. Yeah. Because ultimately we have like 20%. Identify male listeners based on all of our stats. Um, but it's caused other things to come up because I have, I coach male clients and a bunch of guys demanded that we did a men's mastermind because they're like, this is horseshit.
Our wives or girlfriends or partners are coming home with things like, we want it. It's like, okay. Like,
yeah.
It's really interesting for me to see who's, and it doesn't matter what gender you are, but like, who is standing up to say like, I want more. I want different, yeah. I want to be, 'cause all of this is ultimately whatever alignment looks like, right?
So mm-hmm. If alignment with the planet looks like composting, if it looks like creating space for women, if it, to your point, like we're on a spaceship hurling through space, there's nowhere else for us to go. Mm-hmm. You cannot hide. So what are we gonna do about that?
Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's important is like recognizing that everybody.
Needs their own particular resources and has a right to those resources. Mm-hmm. And there is more of a voice for people of color and women, um, because we've been historically disenfranchised and we need those networks. But that's not to say to take away networks from other people. Um, it's just that there's more of a focus on that because, 'cause we finally getting it, we're like, hell, so yeah, there's a podcast about powerful ladies, like we needed that you, y'all have enough role models, you know?
But that's not to say like, take away those role models from men or white individuals or anybody of privilege, you know?
Yeah, for sure. So we ask everybody on the podcast where they put themselves in the powerful Lady scale, zero being average everyday human, and 10 being the most powerful lady you can imagine.
Where do you put yourself today and where would you put yourself on average?
Oh my goodness. Oh man. Um, you know, I would, I would say I'm feeling actually pretty powerful this week, um, because I've done this podcast and I did a panel last night, um, and I had a great meeting yesterday and I like turned a compost pile for like six hours on Tuesday by myself.
And so I'm like, right now Mo today is at like an eight. She is like, dang, you fierce girl. Yeah. But I would say on average, um, I think kind of, I think I unconsciously exude a lot of power and that's, um, feedback I've received. And so I would say mm-hmm. I probably, uh, higher than average, maybe at a six or something.
Um, but I wouldn't say I look at myself as always powerful. I think other people probably see me more as powerful than I see myself.
Well, I, I think I have to, whenever this podcast journey culminates, turn over all that data. To psychologists and sociologists. 'cause I'm sure it's just like a bounty of like, what are they like?
Yeah. It's so fascinating to me what people say. Like there's no wrong answer. It's so personal. Yeah. And I think it's, I should just have my team one day count and like see where things are falling. Oh yeah. 'cause well, I just, stats are fascinating to me anyway. But it's, it's really interesting. You know, we had a, a group, uh, session yesterday and the whole month of December is talking about celebrating you or like, we don't stop to acknowledge the incredible things we've done.
Like even for you, like what's the, like what are you most proud of from this year?
Oh my god. From this year?
Mm.
What am I most proud of from this year? Um, honestly, it has nothing to do with work. Yeah. Um, I found the dopest apartment. For me and my partner and our two dogs, I manifested the shit out of this apartment.
And I don't mean manifest like I sat behind. I mean, like, I was like, I had a goal. Yeah. A very clear goal of what I wanted, and this is gonna sound morbid, but one of my dogs is 14. This dude needs a yard to lay in, in his last years, okay? Mm-hmm. I was not gonna have him pass away in an apartment. Okay. I was like, I want my retired dog to have a yard.
And I found like, what is my home in la? Yeah. And so, and I take full credit for that in case my partner knows. He's like, this chick did it. I, I, I, I, the landlord is obsessed with me. I was the first one here to view the place. I was like. Get the checks, put down the thing we're having this apartment and it was such a good deal.
Um, so I would say I am pretty dang proud of the home I created here. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Thank you.
Yeah. But it's like, you know, it's, it's uh, it's important for everyone to remember that like, what makes an amazing life is so much more than the things everyone asks us about.
Oh yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Um, so there, my friend Kelly at Refiller la, if you guys dunno her, you should follow her. I was hanging with her yesterday at the panel, and she's like, how are you?
You, you mo Yeah. And I was like, oh dang. How am I? I'm great. Okay. Okay. Because I think I feel a low grade anxiety about compostable all the time. Mm-hmm. Um, it just is always there. Um. But when I took Compostables anxiety out of the picture, I'm straight chilling. I love my dogs, I love my house, I love my partner.
I'm like, mm-hmm. I love where my community, I'm like seeing, okay, alright. Yeah. But it took someone being like, no, no, no. Remove that. Remove that. How are you doing? Yeah. Yeah. So
I'm glad that you have someone in your life that's asking that for you.
I, I'm too. Yeah. I love her. She's so great.
Yeah. Well, for everyone that is in love with you and wants to either become a member or learn how they can support you and share or have you come be a speaker, where can they find you?
Follow you and connect.
Yeah. So, um. Compostable La com's, our website, um, compostable LA is our Instagram handle. Um, please reach out with compost questions. Like, I don't care if you're not using this service. I don't care if you live in Ohio. I will tell you where to find composting resources near you. I will get you composting because that's all I care about.
You know, I've literally, people have canceled my service 'cause they're starting a compost at home and I like, couldn't be any proud, more proud. I'm like, uh, I'm so happy for you. You know what I mean? So like, please reach out. I'm happy to talk about like, deeper dive in any of the things we talked about or help you get started.
I would love to hear from you.
Well, it has been such a pleasure to talk to you today. I'm sure we could talk for hours about all sorts of things. Yeah. Um, so we'll have to have you on again, but just thank you so much for what you've created and for being the change that you wanna see in your own community and for making it happen.
'cause. You know, you took a chance to be brave and do it, and I just wanna acknowledge you for, for being brave and being a powerful lady in that example.
Thank you. Yeah. It, it is scary. It is scary. But I am glad, I'm glad every day. I really am. So, but thank you for hosting this and having an opportunity for people to talk.
I think that's so great.
I mean, I, it's literally my love language, so I'm happy to do it. Yay. Yeah. Yay.
Yay.
Thank you for listening to today's episode. All the links to connect with Monique, earn our show notes@thepowerfulladies.com slash podcast. There. You can also leave comments and ask questions about this episode. If you want more powerful ladies, come follow us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, there's even some free download to start being more powerful today.
Please subscribe to this podcast and let us connect with more listeners like you by leaving us a five star rating. End a review wherever you're listening to this podcast. If you're looking to connect with me, please visit kara duffy.com or follow me on Instagram at Kara Duffy. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode.
Until then, I hope we're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
Related Episodes
Episode 162: An Accidental Journey Into Sustainable Entrepreneurship | Kelly Murphy | Founder of Refillery LA
Episode 318: A Brand Built on Sustainability and Community | Linnae O’Neil | Co-Founder of Chug Water
Episode 164: Proof That One Person Can Change the World | Lauren Ferree Bash | Sustainability Creator & Storyteller
Instagram: compostable.la
Facebook: Hello.CompostableLA
Website: www.compostablela.com
Email: hello@compostablela.com
Other: volunteersignup.org
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
