This Mom Entrepreneur Isn’t Afraid to Get Her Hands Dirty
With a major in Biology, Mary Stucklen has always been a self-proclaimed “nerd” interested in composting. Still, after her son Tommy was born in 2020, she felt the urge to help leave a better world for him and saw composting as one way of making a measurable difference locally. Tommy’s Compost is a small, mom-owned business that provides food-waste pickup for residents and businesses in the Berkshires.
When she decided to take the leap into starting her business, she knew that the EforAll Berkshire County Spring 2021 Business Accelerator could be really beneficial. “I wanted to come out of it with a strong foundation for my business. To make it legitimate and strong, a healthy entity,” she recalls.
The bond created between the entrepreneurs from the cohort, meeting them during the weekends, and sharing their doubts and knowledge was her favorite part of the program. “Knowing that I wasn’t alone, not to feel afraid to say I don’t know something, having someone to boost me up, made me understand I didn’t need to be perfect.”
Since graduating from EforAll, Tommy’sCompost has been growing rapidly. With the prize money she won at the final presentations, she bought a new trailer, was able to launch a new website, became an LLC, and tripled the number of clients. And Mary couldn’t be happier. “EforAll gave me the approval I needed to build a successful business when family and friends discouraged me. It made me believe in myself and my business.”
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