331: Sustainable Composting in NWA with Ricky Ludeman of Ozark Compost and Swap

Summary: Welcome to another great episode of Startup Junkies! On this episode, hosts Victoria Dickerson, Jeff Amerine, and Caleb Talley sit down with Ricky Ludeman, founder of Ozark Compost & Swap, an environmental protection organization on a mission to make composting mainstream. Ozark Compost & Swap makes composting convenient by offering pick-up services at your doorstep. Throughout this episode, Ricky discusses his entrepreneurial journey and how Ozark Compost has grown over the years from another idea to an actionable concept that promotes sustainability to the NWA community.   Show Notes: (0:47) Introduction to Ricky (2:17) About Ozark Compost (7:22) Ricky’s Vision for the Future (9:19) Supporting Local Businesses (11:31) What Items Can and Can’t Be Composted (15:21) Implementing New Processes (20:23) Ozark Compost’s Marketing Strategy (26:43) Advice to Younger Self (29:41) Closing Question   Links: Victoria Dickerson Jeff Amerine Caleb Talley Ozark Compost & Swap   Quotes: “They talk back and forth and the plant tells the microbes what it needs. The microbes bring exactly what the plant needs back to it and in exchange it gives it carbohydrates and sugars. So it’s this really cool relationship, and you get these really beautiful gardens with this worm casting.” - Ricky Ludeman, (5:06) “There’s this quote that I love and it's, ‘Either my business is growing or I’m growing.’ And I think it’s this really cool, positive way to look at entrepreneurship as it’s awesome when your business is growing, but when you get in some ruts, that just means you’re growing.” - Ricky Ludeman, (14:01) “...when we talk about sustainability, there is this huge leadership aspect. Like let's get the big leader in the community to help with this and show that they can do it and it’s easy. And that kind of trickles down with the employees and then the rest of the community. So businesses are a huge focus for us right now.” - Ricky Ludeman, (23:19)