Clay Ezell - The Business of Large-Scale Composting in the Southeast

Clay Ezell is the Co-owner and President of The Compost Company, a Middle Tennessee firm that converts organic waste into high-quality compost and soil blends. He also serves as President of the Tennessee Composting Council and is active in regional environmental and recycling networks. As a USCC-Certified Site Operator, Clay trained through New York's EarthMatter program.

In this episode…

Impactful industry changes often begin with small observations that spark bold ideas. Yet turning those ideas into a real business brings unexpected challenges and tough decisions. How do you know when to take the leap into something new?

An expert in large-scale composting, Clay Ezell left a stable career in book publishing to follow a calling that blended purpose and impact. Inspired by childhood memories of early recycling movements and the stark waste realities he witnessed, he trained in New York before bringing his knowledge home. Together with his brother, Clay learned by trial and error, navigating mistakes, zoning challenges, and the complexities of running a hauling service and a production arm. He maintains that real progress comes when you stop trying to do everything yourself and start building systems with the right people in the right roles.

In this episode of The Decision, Robert Hartline and Eric Jackson sit down with Clay Ezell, Co-owner and President of The Compost Company, to discuss the challenges of industrial-scale composting in the Southeast. Clay talks about treating hauling and product sales as distinct businesses, how food waste in landfills creates methane, and the leadership lessons he gained from EO's Catalyst program.