Fostering growth

Starting a new career can be intimidating, and starting a new career in an unfamiliar industry can be even more so.

Whitney Bullion joined the recycling industry as a nonferrous metals trader at Fort Wayne, Indiana-based MetalX a little less than a year ago and, despite a background in trade, metals recycling was completely foreign to her.

“I’m still very much in the integration phase, and there’s a lot to learn,” she says. “I have a commodities background, so some of the thinking makes sense, and the thinking is something that I’m used to. But the nomenclature, the acronyms, the materials, plus building those relationships, I’m very green in that with MetalX and in the metals industry so far.”

Bullion wanted to start making industry connections early in her recycling journey, so she jumped at the opportunity to join the Washington-based Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) Women in Recycling (WIR) mentorship program.

ReMA’s WIR Council was revived in 2018 with some of its core objectives focused on raising visibility of women in the recycling industry, increasing knowledge, promoting networking and mentorship and increasing the number of women in leadership roles within the association.

The council aims to empower all individuals in the recycled materials industry and cultivate a diverse and inclusive community within ReMA, according to the ReMA website.

Recycling is and historically has been a male-dominated industry, and according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022, women made up only 11.7 percent of refuse and recyclable material collectors. As the recycling industry’s workforce becomes more diversified, groups with a vested interest in helping newcomers with their professional growth are critical—not only as an employee retention tool but also to foster development within the recycling industry as a whole.

Although Bullion has experience in male-dominated industries, including lumber and grain trade, the opportunity to connect with and learn from other women in the industry drew her to this mentorship program.

“Our company has women in it, but in my role, there are not a lot of female traders, especially in my direct environment,” she says. “I thought it would be a cool opportunity to make some female connections and get some advice as to navigating [the industry].”

The 2024-2025 program

Now in its fourth year, the WIR mentorship program is trying something new. Led by Sandy Pierce, Bullion’s mentor and Midwest territory manager at Iselin, New Jersey-based BASF Environmental Catalyst and Metal Solutions, the current iteration of the program includes new events and a shortened mentorship term.

“Rather than a 12-month commitment, we actually shortened it to a nine-month period, so it’s almost like a school [year],” Pierce says.

The summer now serves as a reset period for program coordinators, allowing more time for the application and pairing processes. Applications for this year’s program were due in August 2024, with pairs revealed before the ReMA Roundtables in September. Pierce says the coordinators made a concerted effort to finalize the pairings before the Roundtables so those in attendance could meet in person before the program really kicked off.

Interested participants submit a questionnaire, and coordinators pair them based on similar growth interests. Coordinators intentionally avoid pairing individuals whose companies work in competition with each other to ensure the pairings are not a conflict of interest.

In the past, Pierce says the program typically was hands-off. Pairs were matched and given discussion questions to engage in over the mentorship period but otherwise were left alone.

“This year is the first year where we’re intentionally guiding each pair,” she explains. “When you’re hands-off for a long period of time, sometimes it could feel like you’re kind of lonely, just you and your mentor pair, but this mentorship is so much bigger.”

To combat this, program coordinators have developed online programming called Enliven Events, which bring participants together to reconnect with the larger group. These two events not only serve as a networking opportunity but also provide education for participants.

The first Enliven Event, hosted in November 2024, focused on honing soft skills, such as communication and leadership, and the second event, hosted in February, covered hard skills, such as recycling industry best practices.

The first Enliven Event also sparked interest in some who missed the original application deadline.

“Through our Enliven Event, we also have a couple people who reached out to me and said they were interested in joining, [but] obviously applications had closed,” Pierce says. “I actually started a very small mentoring group, and this is the first year we’ve ever done anything like that.”

At the end of the mentorship period, a “graduation ceremony” is held for those participants who successfully complete the program. Pairs have to record the number of times they meet within the term and attend at least one Enliven Event to receive the graduation certificate.

Being heard

This year, the program partnered with ReMA’s Young Executives Council, which has brought more young men into mentee roles within the program. Pierce says the WIR mentorship program seeks to serve anyone interested in participating, regardless of gender.

“In the beginning of this program, we’ve always had men involved as mentors,” she says. “This year is the first year we have more male mentees and young executive mentees, … which is good because it really does allow our female mentors that have graduated from that mentee experience to give back.”

While mentor status is determined by years of experience, there’s no limit to who can be a mentee.

Nina Grimes, operations manager and trader at Odessa, Texas-based Grimes Iron & Metal, joined the program as a mentee last year. She is no stranger to recycling and grew up working on and off for her family’s business.

Despite her industry experience, the program piqued her interest.

“Even though I’ve been in [and] around the industry for a number of years, I think that we never quit learning,” Grimes says. “My goal last year was just to try to learn from other women. What are some issues they’re having, and how have they overcome [them]?”

As a mentee, Grimes sought to develop her leadership skills, grow her confidence and step out of her comfort zone. She explains she wanted to learn how to have her voice be heard “without shouting over the crowd.”

Through her involvement with WIR, Grimes put some of these skills to the test at the 2024 ISRI (ReMA’s previous name) Convention & Exposition in Las Vegas. Grimes, along with Antonia Biggs Fuenzalida, Mary Wardle and Susie Burrage, participated in the session From Visionaries to Leaders: Breaking Barriers in the Recycled Materials Industry that celebrated the contributions of women leaders in the recycling industry.

“That was something I don’t think I ever would have done before going through the program,” she says. “You can step out there and be heard.”

The mentorship program also helped Grimes plant some seeds in her family’s business regarding new technology.

“It has helped to migrate us towards the technology side more,” she adds. “We’ve never relied on technology in the past, but seeing how so many other companies and individuals are using technology, that was probably one of the biggest eye-openers I had.”

This year, Grimes is giving back to the program as a mentor.

Finding balance

Kat Orona, director of business development at New Braunfels, Texas-based Comal Iron & Metals, had a similar trajectory within the mentorship program, joining last year as a mentee and this year as a mentor.

She says she initially joined the program “to see what other women were doing within the recycling industry” and hear different perspectives. At the time, she was a new mom and wanted to learn how women in the industry balanced work and family.

Her connections with other women and mothers through the program helped her compartmentalize and better develop her idea of work-life balance.

Bullion says she and Pierce also have discussed work-life balance in their mentorship pair, specifically through the Japanese concept “ikigai,” which refers to a passion that gives value and joy to life. According to ikigai, when people can combine the four principals—what they love, what they’re good at, what they can be paid for and what the world needs—they can find balance in their lives. This resonated so heavily with Bullion that, after their discussion, she says she bought and read a book about the concept and even shared it with her boyfriend.

“The reality is that [the areas of your life] all bleed into each other,” she says. “When I’m doing well at work, and when I’m pushing to grow and succeed and taking care of things and fostering those relationships in a healthy way in work and outside of work, it creates that perfect recipe for a happy life.

“It’s really cool that the mentorship program extends beyond just the metals industry. It’s a life guideline. To be able to talk to a woman who is so wise in not just the metals industry but in life in general—I feel incredibly fortunate.”

The author is digital editor of the Recycling Today Media Group and can be reached at tkazdin@gie.net.