I Didn’t Set Out to Become an Inventor, I Set Out to Solve a Problem
How a problem solver became an inventor by refusing to stop learning and never asking for permission.
I Never Set Out to Become an Inventor
People often ask me when I decided to become an inventor.
The truth is, I never did.
For most of my career, I simply considered myself a problem solver.
Long before The Compost Collector®, I spent more than twenty-five years in property management, helping residents, managing communities, and finding practical solutions to everyday challenges. Even outside my day-to-day work, I naturally found myself stepping into leadership roles through the many professional associations I belonged to.
I have always believed that if something can be improved, it is worth trying to improve.
Looking back, I realize that mindset — not the title of inventor — is what prepared me for entrepreneurship.
I did not wake up one morning and decide to invent a product. I simply encountered a problem I could not ignore.
When the idea for The Compost Collector® came to me, I was not thinking about patents or manufacturing. I was thinking about making composting easier for everyday people.
It never occurred to me that I was becoming an inventor. I was simply trying to create the product I wished already existed.
That experience taught me something important:
Innovation does not always begin with someone trying to invent something new.
Sometimes it begins with someone asking:
"Why doesn't this already exist?"
Learning an Entirely New Business
Starting a product company has been unlike anything I have done before. My previous business was a service-based business.
Creating a physical product meant learning an entirely different world: research, product development, manufacturing, and distribution. Every step introduced something I had never done before.
One thing became very clear very quickly:
You do not know what you do not know.
There have been many failures along the way. But I do not see failure the way many people do.
For me, FAIL means:
Frequent Attempts In Learning.
Every mistake taught me something I could not have learned any other way. Every challenge forced me to become a little more knowledgeable than I was the day before.
That is the reality of entrepreneurship.
You do not begin as an expert.
You become one by refusing to stop learning.
The Journey Takes Longer Than You Expect
Perhaps the biggest surprise has been how long everything takes.
In my previous business, we experienced rapid growth. I assumed this venture would follow a similar path.
It has not.
Bringing an entirely new product to market requires patience. It also requires educating people about why the problem exists and why the solution matters.
The Compost Collector® is not just another product entering an established market. It is introducing a different way of thinking about food scrap collection.
That takes time.
Of course, there are days when I question myself.
Every entrepreneur has those moments.
But I have never questioned whether I should give up. I believe in what this product can do for all of us.
That belief keeps me moving forward.
Being a Woman in a New Industry
People often ask whether being a woman has influenced my experience.
I do not spend much time thinking about it until someone asks.
I have always believed that being a woman presents challenges in life generally.
What has surprised me is just how male-dominated this industry remains.
Rather than allowing that to discourage me, it has motivated me to continue showing up, learning, contributing, and proving that good ideas are not defined by gender.
Innovation belongs to anyone willing to solve problems.
You Do Not Need Permission to Begin
One of the biggest misconceptions I hear is that people believe they need specific qualifications before pursuing an idea.
I do not believe that is true.
If you love what you are doing, you will become qualified along the way.
Experience comes from doing.
Knowledge comes from learning.
Confidence comes from continuing.
I had an idea for a product that I wanted for myself. I could not find it.
So I created it.
Sometimes that is exactly where innovation begins.
A Lifetime of Solving Problems
When I look back over my career, I realize property management prepared me better than I ever imagined.
Not because it taught me manufacturing.
Not because it taught me product design.
It taught me how to become a solution maker.
If I had not spent decades looking for practical solutions to everyday problems, I do not believe I would have created The Compost Collector®.
The lesson reaches far beyond composting.
Too often, we convince ourselves that someone else is more qualified, more experienced, or better positioned to solve a problem.
Sometimes they are not.
Sometimes they are simply the person who started before you did.
If there is one thing I hope other women take away from my journey, it is this:
You do not need permission.
You do not need every qualification.
You do not need to know everything before you begin.
Start with a problem you care about.
Be willing to learn.
Accept that failure is simply another lesson.
Keep moving.
You may not begin as an expert.
But if you are willing to keep showing up, learning, and improving, you just might become one.
