Meet Kristen Baskin | Compost and Solar Enthusiast

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristen Baskin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristen, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
I love this question. My favorite professors taught me that when you do community change the right way, you actually have to let go of the project for it to really work. The goal of helping a community is that it’s theirs – they take over. When I started my composting business, Let Us Compost, Athens, Georgia didn’t have a food scrap composting facility, permit to haul food scraps, a place to drop off food scraps or anywhere to buy compost. Working with the local government and neighbors to create all of those pieces was goal #1. Then we got to dig into that infrastructure we helped create and use it to grow! 8 years in, when all those pieces finally existed, I gave my commercial composting route to the local government and 2 people that worked for me created their own composting businesses. The local government also created a spot where residents could drop off their food scraps. The community, awesome bike haulers and drivers that worked for Let Us Compost, and everyone that supported it over the years made such an impact, that I didn’t need to lead composting in Athens anymore – and that was exciting to me. It definitely wasn’t received that way though – it’s hard to communicate that letting something fly on its own is a good thing. The moment I “gave up,” the business was running smoothly and we had more clients than ever. The times I didn’t give up but could have – when I delivered 3 yards of compost to the wrong house, had to bag 250 bags of compost by hand as the sun was setting, figuring out how to shovel a truckload of rotting meat into a pile with ten minutes before the compost facility gates closed, or learning that the compost facility manager had spread all of the compost we were going to sell into a field, giving us zero inventory that spring. I think that you keep going towards the sun, and when you give up, make sure you’re giving in TO something, and towards something more meaningful.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I remember being in a modern art museum, and there was an exhibit where you were asked to lay on the floor. There was white paper all around and a fan. When you looked up, white papers were swirling all around you. My rejected resumes and cover letters (if they weren’t sent over email,) would fill a small room. Getting rejected, recovering from it and trying again defined my career. My skillset was odd and sparkly but not the right fit. Starting incredible things and unraveling from them has also defined my career – and this is incredibly difficult. This used to be a source of epic pain, but I see it in a different light now – anytime there is an unraveling, something new and beautiful is growing. I burn bright and fast, and communicate this early to people that I work with – some people adore that energy, and some are terrified of it. I work well with the people that can play in it and be open to possibilities. After closing Let Us Compost, I knew that a good pivot was important – there were so many amazing people whose hard work created Let Us Compost, and I needed to transform it into something even better. Getting composted myself seemed like a much better option, but it wouldn’t honor the hard work of my community. Instead, I funded my own position at a recycling app company until I realized she was never going to pay me actual money, ever. She actually told me “you have so much value, I just can’t monetize it.” After a year of that, I called my friend who is a public service commissioner, on a really dark day, and asked him for advice on what to do next. 1 day later, I got an email from the CEO of a solar company, saying that my friend had encouraged her to interview me for a solar sales position. It had NEVER occurred to me to sell solar panels – my whole focus was the ground, not the sky. In fact, my religious upbringing stopped me from taking a number of science classes. Before the interview, I prayed in the car, saying that I can’t do this alone and if this is what I’m supposed to do, I’ll do it, and if it’s not, that’s okay. I basically agreed to do whatever God wanted me to do in that moment. The owner hired me on the spot. She believed in me. It turns out you can help the world and get paid at the same time – it might even be the wisest way to do it!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would go to all of the swimming holes, have lots of picnics with snacks from a co-op, go to used and indie bookstores, read a lot, bike a little, make lots of fires and take a ton of naps.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My friend Kali just had a baby and she’s been on my mind lately. We met in Philadelphia and were instant friends. One day, I collected a bunch of scraps of fabric off of the street, finger-crocheted the scraps together and made a scarf out of it. She went around telling people “this is my friend Kristen. She makes scarves.” I had only made one scarf, but to her I was a person who made amazing things. So I kept making them! She brought me tons of food that she rescued from the Trader Joes dumpster, taught me how to compost in ball jars on the windowsill, save graywater for plants by putting a bucket in the shower, and brush your teeth with baking soda to use less plastic. When she was sad, she would put on a tiger costume and read books. She believed in me, and like a plant, I went towards that sun and became a better person. She made me love the earth because she made it fun and easy, and when I told her about a dream I had, she believed it would happen. A month after I closed my compost business, and a year after my divorce, she came to visit, and our community’s favorite donut shop, Ike and Jane, had it’s last day too. We braved the longest line ever and she insisted that we buy a massive display-only donut the size of a basketball and have a tea-party with it for my daughters. When we went to sit down, a man had his arm over a chair and said “I’m saving this for my wife.” She put her arm around me and said proudly, “we’re nobody’s wives!” and we walked out of the donut shop on its last day with the world’s biggest donut and my three small daughters following behind us, proud too. She transforms the gray into sparkles, and kept me walking towards the sun.

Website: http://bettertomorrowsolar.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/letuscompostga

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-baskin-111ab698/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/letuscompost

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEqSpRvMLRjPw20UxMiGCOA

Image Credits
Jason Thrasher, Caroline Singletary, Athens Banner Herald