Meet Andy Jo

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andy Jo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Andy, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us today. We’re excited to dive into your story and your work, but first let’s start with a broader topic that might be stopping many of our readers from pursuing their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. How have you managed to persist despite haters and nay-sayers that inevitably follow folks who are doing something unique, special or off the beaten path?

I have found hope in connecting with people committed to sustainable lifestyles and living their values by caring about the planet and about each other.
We started Soilmate in 2022 with the mission to bring to South Florida an accessible and easy way to compost from homes and businesses. And, after countless online interactions with nay-sayers, I can confidently say we’re on the right side of history. There will always be people who don’t see things the way we do – and we both understand and appreciate it. They make us challenge our environment and of our assumptions – it helps us keep growing.

I have found the best way to persist in our mission is to remember why we do it. How? By talking to the families who struggle to find composting solutions, to the business owners who have long been frustrated by the lack of alternatives, to the government staff struggling to find ways to scale green initiatives. We’re all in this together, and there is power in this community. We persist because we are not alone.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My co-founder, Jessie, and I created Soilmate back in 2022 out of our individual frustrations with the lack of composting alternatives in South Florida. Over the last two years we have met many of the sustainability leaders in our community and experienced first hand the boom in demand for composting services.
Today we are a small composting operation, with primary focus in Miami-Dade and Broward County, serving residential, commercial, and event-based members. We are committed to diverting food waste and compostable products from landfills and to making nutrient-rich fertilizer that can be utilized in agriculture and gardens instead.
Our services allow anyone in South Florida to recycle their food waste from home or their business – we provide education & training, Soilmate bins, impact reports, and are proud to have an extremely active and responsive customer service. New customers can always start with a new customer discount or with a free trial for businesses!

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 firmly believe success exists at the intersection of preparation and opportunity, which leads me to summarize the key qualities I believe are helpful in these three:
1. Discipline: no matter the size of the challenge in front of you, you must commit to staying true to yourself and taking small steps in the right direction. Stay the course!
2. Passion: make sure what you are doing makes you come alive, it is how you know it is worth it.
3. Adaptability: there’s no sugarcoating possible here! There will be challenges, as always in life, and success will come down to how you react to those challenges and find resources available to you to overcome them. Assess, prioritize, push through!

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

We call our fellow South Floridians who are looking for sustainable practices to reach out to us for collaborations, educational events and activities. There’s plenty out there to do, from beach clean-ups across our coastline to the Zero Waste Miami coalition meetings and events.
Soilmate is always looking for organizations, businesses and residents to find ways to bring composting to more homes, businesses and events. If you know of a family, business owner, or event planner looking for green practices make sure to recommend composting!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.your-soilmate.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoursoilmate