[24] JOHN KOLLMEIER: The uncompromising entrepreneurial journey of a toxic mess cleaner

The Entrepreneur Next Door 🏡

Stop and think for a few minutes.

Everything we consume goes through a process that requires machinery and ingredients, which generate waste (solid or liquid) that is left behind and has to be disposed of. We call it toxic waste, industrial contaminants that can't go away independently.

Here's the thing: We have many of them under our kitchen and bathroom sinks, but we don't drink them. In contrast, industrial toxic waste makes its way into underground water sources that we end up ingesting, getting sick, and could cause us to die.

Disposing of waste, especially hazardous waste, is regulated and costly. From a regulatory standpoint, the message is simple: "if you don't clean up your manufacturing mess, we'll do it for you and charge you for triple damages."

Meet John Kollmeier, who used to ride his dirt bike in NJ around a lake that was later deemed one of the worst superfund sites, or in plain language, one of the country's largest and most contaminated sites.

John's childhood dream was to build something of value, and he found himself in the environmental business by identifying and cleaning hazardous waste sites.

His college journey was unexpectedly interrupted for family reasons, and he had to work full-time to pay for his education. His biggest lesson after working in restaurants was, " I learned a lot about working with humans."

John joins an environmental cleaning company and starts a career in the hazardous waste identification and removal industry with a simple mission: Identify the toxins, cut the ecological exposure and make it safe - a process that requires expert knowledge in chemistry and toxicology.

Years later, as John prepared to say goodbye to his daughter, she looked at him and said, "You don't like going to work anymore. Why don't you stop going." Unbeknownst to his daughter, the entrepreneurial bug has already been planted.

"With a stay-at-home wife and two kids, I had to decide to go from one income to no income, but with an incredibly supportive wife who had confidence in me and what we could build together," John forms his own company.

John starts to do fieldwork, and his wife, Debbie, manages back-office operations. With Debbie by his side and the no-income drive, "when you have no income, you're hungry, and you take things seriously," he grows the business and assembles a team of talented scientists, "we were those people who liked science class back in high school."

John is smarter than he cares to admit and displays a sense of humility, which is also the hallmark of great leaders. In his words, "I know what smart looks like; I'm not the smartest guy in the company, but I hire and surround myself with people who are smarter than me, and we provide them with a healthy culture that makes a difference in how a company can thrive and grow. "

John finds himself fulfilling his childhood dreams - his company, Brownfield Science & Technology Inc. (BSTI), is building something of value -- a better and cleaner future for all of us.

About his decision to become an entrepreneur, he's unequivocal:

• If l had listened to my friends and attorneys about the risks, I would have never done this
• If I had looked at a spreadsheet of pros and cons about doing this, I would have never done this

I needed my wife's vote of confidence and how well we work together building stuff. John's only fear was that the business world would catch up with him and may have to "become like everyone else," but, again, in his own words, "after twenty-three years, I have never had to compromise on anything, internally or externally."