Archive for November, 2008
Interview with John and Katy Weiss of Chickity Doo Doo
November 24th, 2008 by Judy Lawrence
Chickity Doo Doo first caught our interest due to its attention-grabbing brand name. But behind the name is a company that has transformed something you might think most people wouldn’t want (chicken doo doo) into a mass market product - an organic fertilizer made from 100% chicken manure, that’s being used as a replacement for synthetic chemical fertilizers in farms and sold in retail stores.
In this interview, John and Katy Weiss reveal the inner workings of their business and share the story of where the product idea came from. Who knew doo doo could be so interesting?
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
- How a waste material was turned into a useful product
- Creating a branding strategy for products sold at big box stores vs independent retailers
- Why higher oil prices means better business for Chickity Doo Doo
- How education plays a key role in Chickity Doo Doo’s marketing efforts
- How Chickity Doo Doo attains certifications in order to back up its product claims
LISTEN NOW (press play below)
TRANSCRIPT
JUDY LAWRENCE, GREEN BUSINESS INNOVATORS: Hello. This is Judy Lawrence from www.GreenBusinessInnovators.com, and I am here speaking with John Weiss and Katy Weiss from Chickity Doo Doo, located near Madison, Wisconsin.
Chickity Doo Doo is an organic fertilizer made from well, chicken doo doo, 100% organic chicken manure. I actually heard about your unique company while I was back in Wisconsin visiting some family and friends, and Katy, your mother-in-law told me about this young start-up company, and I was intrigued by the idea that the novelty of it, the practicality and the recycling aspect of this business. As you begin, I’d love you both to share the story of how Chickity Doo Doo was conceived, your backgrounds. I believe you grew up on a chicken farm, which seems like a natural fit, and then how the company is succeeding in growing. Welcome John and Katy.
JOHN WEISS: Well, thanks very much for having us. I can kind of give you a start, and Katy can jump in too with her thoughts on where we got to this point. My father specifically has been in the poultry industry for about 40 years. His name is Ray. And he and my mom owned a chicken farm together. We technically didn’t live on that farm, it was actually away from where we grew up, but we knew about the farm growing up and the farm they purchased back in 1975. My father and I, in 1999, decided to form a partnership and buy my mom out in order to refinance and do some other things on the farm, and that’s when I got involved. My background is actually in teaching and coaching basketball, and I decided in 1999 that this might be a little nice side investment, and it’s actually been running my life ever since then, thankfully happily.
Interview with James Sheppard, President of Vetrazzo
November 8th, 2008 by Janis Mara
Here’s a company that can provide you even more motivation to recycle - the bottles you toss into your recycling bins may end up as the centerpiece of your kitchen! Vetrazzo collects discarded glass from recycled bottles and decommissioned traffic lights and and transforms it into beautiful, eco-friendly surfaces such as countertops and tabletops.
James Sheppard, President of Vetrazzo, reveals the details of their products’ sustainable design (85% of the product is from recycled glass) - and how their unique combination of sustainable design and aesthetic design is giving their products an edge in the marketplace.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
- Drive your marketing efforts by featuring unique sustainable design to stand out from the crowd of look-alike products
- The flip side - the challenges of being amongst the first companies with a unique product feature
- Vetrazzo’s strategies for growing the company’s sales and reach
LISTEN NOW (press play below)
TRANSCRIPT
JANIS MARA, GREEN BUSINESS INNOVATORS: Hello. This is Janis Mara from Green Business Innovators. I’m speaking with James Sheppard, Chief Executive of Vetrazzo, a 3 year-old business that makes countertops with glass, salvaged from sources including traffic lights, curbside recycling containers and the manufacturing plant of Sky Vodka. The 35-employee company is part of a cluster of green businesses in a former Ford assembly plant located just off the freeway in Richmond, California.
Tell me James, how did you get the idea to recycle glass and into countertops?
JAMES SHEPPARD: Well Janis, I’d like to take credit for thinking of the idea, but Vetrazzo has actually been on the market since 1996, as the original recycled glass surface. I got the idea to purchase the business and relaunch it on a national level a few years ago, when my business partner showed me her gorgeous Vetrazzo countertops that she’d had since 1999, and I knew the time was right to take this product to the national stage.