,
According to the National Women’s Business Council, from 2019 to 2023, women-owned businesses outpaced the growth rates of men-owned businesses by 94.3% in number of businesses, 252.8% in employment and 82.0% in revenue. In New Mexico, women-owned businesses make up just under 50% of all businesses, according to the New Mexico Small Business Association Office of Advocacy.
Two successful Albuquerque businesswomen took these trends seriously and joined forces to run Soilutions, a commercial composting company that is now one of the largest sustainability businesses in New Mexico. Dawn Dewey and her husband Justin acquired Soilutions in 2021 when Dawn was Senior Vice President of Dreamstyle Remodeling. She joined Soilutions full-time last October. Trishelle Kirk was CEO of Everest Cannabis, Inc. and led the successful acquisition of Everest. After consulting with Soilutions, she decided to join the team full-time as a partner in late 2023 and, together with Dawn Dewey, is driving significant growth and taking Soilutions to new heights as a technology-enabled sustainability company.
Both women achieved great success in corporate America: during Dewey’s tenure at Dreamstyle Remodeling, the company’s annual sales grew from $20 million to $200 million, ranking it as one of the largest home remodeling companies in the U.S. Under Kirk’s leadership, Everest Cannabis grew in four years from a $5 million company with four retail stores to a $22 million company with 14 retail stores and in-house manufacturing.
What inspired the two women to leave their corporate jobs was the opportunity to be part of a growing, sustainable economy. Soillutions developed a unique landfill diversion program where businesses and households send their food and organic waste to Soillutions, which turns that waste into compost and products instead of sending it to a landfill. The company currently diverts more than 200,000 pounds of food waste each week through corporate partners like Whole Foods, Walmart, Bueno Foods, and Pinon Coffee. Dewey and Kirk plan to significantly expand the program in the future.
“That’s the heart of this business,” Dewey explains, “diverting organic waste that would otherwise rot in a landfill and using scientific processes to turn it into something useful – essentials for Mother Nature’s garden: compost, soil, mulch.”
“We’re helping to protect New Mexico’s depleted soils by providing healthy, chemical-free products for home and commercial use,” Kirk added.
Soilutions has been on a strong growth trajectory, and the team expects it to continue. When the Deweys acquired Soilutions in 2021, sales had averaged about $700,000 per year for several years. After implementing marketing and sales efforts, they expect to finish 2023 with $2.2 million in sales, with plans to grow to $10 million by 2026.
One of Soilutions’ early successes in improving the availability of its products was a partnership with Just Sprinklers to sell bulk compost, soil, and mulch products. This meant that customers could pick up Soilutions products at six locations throughout the metro area rather than having to travel to Soilutions’ production facility in the South Valley. Soilutions also developed an online store to make it easy for customers to order delivery to their driveway.
As working mothers, their children are often given the opportunity to experience and participate in Soilutions’ sustainability mission, which includes helping with test plantings, digging through soil piles, and looking at beneficial microorganisms in the compost under a microscope. Dewey is 38 and has a daughter, age 7, and a son, age 4. Kirk is 35 and has a daughter, age 12, and a son, age 9. Both are passionate about showing their children that they can be both successful entrepreneurs and successful mothers.
“They don’t have the concept that women can’t be successful in the workplace,” Kirk said.
“We’re both moms and business leaders,” Dewey added. “It’s absolutely possible to do both.”
About Soilutions
Soilutions was founded in 1996 with a bucket and hose in Albuquerque’s South Valley, New Mexico. What began as a regenerative compost company helping local farmers increase soil vitality has now grown to become the largest private compost and soil company in New Mexico, diverting millions of pounds of organic waste from landfills each year and providing high-quality compost, soil and mulch to discerning growers, landscapers, contractors, gardeners and farmers in the enchanted earth.
