Featured Member: Meredith McAllister of Compost Collective
Words by: Maggie Laubscher | Music by: Abby Yemm
Image credit: Meredith McAllister
Meet Meredith McAllister -- entrepreneur, mama of one (with #2 on the way), and Nellie.
Meredith is changing the world one bucket at a time. A few years ago, she founded Compost Collective KC (CCKC), a local compost collection subscription service. She started with 20 customers - mostly neighbors and friends - and now runs a growing small business with nearly 1,300 customers, a warehouse, and full staff.
We had the chance to chat with Meredith about growing a small business and living in Kansas City. We also signed up to start composting immediately after our convo! Couldn’t help ourselves. Enjoy the read, Nellies…
Where are you from originally?
I always say Kansas City, since I've lived here the longest. My family moved around when I was growing up, and I moved around after college. But between my time in the Southwest and Northeast, Kansas City is my home.
What makes KC home for you?
Definitely the community. Anytime we've considered leaving, it's our incredible network of family and friends that keep us here. We spent the winter this year with my in-laws in Arizona, and while it was nice to escape the bitter cold, we can't wait to get back.
How did the idea for Compost Collective come about?
My husband and I were living in Boston and were subscribers of a similar service. When we moved back to Kansas City about six years ago, I couldn’t find one here. I have an entrepreneurial spirit and it was always in the back of my mind: what if we started something like it here? Life continued and we were both busy with our jobs, but after a few years, I felt it was time.
Initially, we put feelers out in our Brookside neighborhood, asking if people would be interested in a compost collection service. And they were! We had about 20 people in our pilot program back in 2017.
Was it a side hustle or full-time at first?
It was definitely a side hustle. It was my husband and me out on Fridays collecting compost, one day a week for a few hours. It was small, slow and steady, which gave us enough time to get our feet wet and understand what we needed to do to grow. Almost exactly three years ago, we hired our first driver, Coco, and she is now our director of operations. Today, we have close to 1,300 curbside customers across the Kansas City metro.
It's just wild, how much food waste we collect every single day. Three and a half years ago, it was all going to the landfill. And now, it's a little over 2,000 pounds every day that we're collecting from our customers.
That’s amazing growth. How do you get new customers?
Word of mouth has been our biggest thing. We didn't spend any money on marketing for the first couple of years. Even now, it's very limited. I think a big reason for that is in the Midwest, it’s a hard sell to tell somebody they need to pay $20 a month to throw their food scraps in a bucket for pickup. Instead, we found that when people tell their friends or they see our little bucket on their street, it piques their interest more.
Do you like being an entrepreneur?
Oh my gosh, I LOVE it. Running a company truly is what sets my heart on fire. I also love that as a mom, I can show my children that a small idea can turn into a successful business.
What’s an obstacle you encountered early on and how did you overcome it?
Hmm. I think as an entrepreneur, you realize really quickly what you're not good at. Your weaknesses are revealed very quickly. And if you don't accept them and humbly ask for advice or outsource certain things, your business isn't going to grow. Just realizing that you can't do it all is an obstacle that I overcome again and again.
In a similar vein, what would you say your proudest accomplishment is?
I would say running this business and then in the time that we started Compost Collective, I had my first child. We had him in May of 2019, when our business was growing rapidly. So, raising a baby and now toddler while running a company is so challenging and definitely one of the things I'm most proud of. And then doing it during a pandemic! Nothing can prepare you for that.
What is your long-term goal for Compost Collective?
Our biggest goal will always be to reduce overall waste, whether you're a CCKC customer or not. As for the direction of our company, we have some fun expansions planned and hope to have a few additional offerings in the next year.
Where do you envision yourself in five years?
Still as an entrepreneur. I know that Compost Collective won't be my only venture. I am thinking over what my next venture would be and what that looks like. I'm actually expecting our second child now. I feel so, so lucky.
Switching gears a bit, who is a person that inspires you?
Ah, this changes day to day. Oftentimes, it's seemingly ordinary people who are just going after their dreams. You hear stories of different people doing incredible things and hard things. There are a lot of impressive people in our world.
What charities or causes are near and dear to your heart?
Looking at the food system as a whole is important to me. There are a lot of organizations that are doing things to improve it. Looking just in Kansas City, After the Harvest is doing great work. They take produce from farms and give it to people who need it.
What aspect of The Nelle are you most excited about?
I'm really excited to be a part of an incredible group of women and other entrepreneurs. I love people and getting to be around a diverse group of people and lifting up our city and community, that is so exciting.
Name three brands that define your personality.
1 Hotel, Patagonia, Ancient Organic Ghee
And finally, what is your mantra, if you have one?
Nothing good or bad will last.
An Abby Yemm playlist for you…
A playlist created by Abby Yemm
Disclaimer: We love having these conversations. We hope you love them as well. As a peaceful reminder, all views, opinions, statements, feelings, and vibes posted on Nelle News are solely those of the beautiful individuals involved. They might not represent any other person, agency, organization, employer, or company’s views, opinions, statements, feelings, or vibes. Nelle profiles are meant to entertain and show a real-life conversation; nothing more or less.