Meet Alyson Schill

We were lucky to catch up with Alyson Schill recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alyson, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I haven’t! Every day, I ask myself, “who put me in charge?” I think that’s a lot healthier to chuckle at than to decide that I somehow am the “right” person to always get things right.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
You have something that I need. But you won’t know that I need it, and I won’t know that you have it until someone helps us find each other. Apps have been great at matchmaking. I met my husband on one, actually. And I’ve thoroughly enjoyed things like Buy Nothing groups, Craigslist, real estate apps, and restaurant finder apps. Each one of them connects those that have to those that want or need. It’s no surprise that anyone who knows that America wastes 1/4 of food we intended to eat wants to find an easy solution to stop it. It is insanely surprising though that at least 1/8 of us experience hunger, or what my industry calls, “food insecurity.” As the richest nation, how could our people possibly go unfed?
I’m one of probably thousands of people who thought, “hey, we should have an app for that.” However, I’m also one of just a handful of people that pushed up my sleeves, dropped everything (and every dime), and got ‘er done.
My company, Careit, is service and software that connects nonprofits, businesses, governments, and corporations. It is the stunning work of our technology team, led by the most inspirational tech guru I’ve ever known, Ben Arledge. Without them, I’d just be a frustrated person full of ideas without being able to help anyone.
Currently, out of the $428 billion dollars worth of food that gets wasted every year in the US, we’re only rescuing about 2% of what we could. Leading experts place food recovery as one of the top 4 actions we need to address to mitigate climate change. It’s exciting, and stressful, and feels like progress moves painfully slow to work on this project. I mean, dear reader, how annoyingly hard is it to use everything in your fridge before it goes bad? I’m pretty sure I’ve got some blueberries molding in mine right now.
The good news is, change is happening. More and more businesses, farmers, and politicians are becoming aware of our food waste vice and the steps needed to nip it in the bud. Several states, including California have adopted mandatory food donation and composting policies. Careit has contracted with over 200 jurisdictions in CA to assist in the widespread adoption and implementation of this policy, also known as Senate Bill (SB) 1383. We’ve also been helping businesses and nonprofits throughout the state comply with record keeping requirements in the bill, and have even been working with stakeholders from the state level to identify stress and success points.
What is really exciting to me today, as it is totally uncharted territory, is our new Animal Food Rescue pilot. You see, Careit is free for businesses and nonprofits to use and donate/record donations. So with that same model, we’ve been tapping into a whole different category of food waste, and saving farmers money for feed. At the time of writing this, dear readers, we have four farmers rescuing food that is no longer edible for humans, but is perfect for poultry and pigs.
If you’re feeling inspired by anything you’ve read on this little article, please feel free to reach out to us, sign up a business or nonprofit that you know. With over 7000 users in almost every state across the US and Canada, and over 70 million pounds of rescued food logged through the app now, we’re eager to welcome new, free users to the network.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I tell anyone who is looking for their path in life, walk down the path of what interests you and find a gap, something annoying that you can fix. Then fix it.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
I calm my mind with Sudoku. Part dopamine, part total focus needed to complete a puzzle, the numbers help my neurons find the right connection path they were looking for. I let myself take 10 minute breaks often to keep myself sharp.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Brad Bongiovanni, Alyson Schill, Preston Thalindroma

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