Welcome to our newest event, presented by the Women In Business Council. The Woman Effect is a virtual podcast-style interview with women who have made it, in a male dominated industry. Guests will be CEOs and/or executives from various industries all over the US. The entire event will be one hour, from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. The first 30-minutes will be the guest telling her story on FB Live while the second 30 minutes will be an intimate discussion with up to 20 women "offline" in Zoom. 

July 7th Interview: Michelle Salas, Founder, Lady Green Recycling Co.

Michelle is a minority-owned small business owner in the waste management and recycling industry since 2010.  The waste industry is known to be a male dominated industry, but she was never intimidated by that; she knew she was capable. Michelle had bigger challenges to focus on, like helping solve the broken recycling industry in the U.S. with little resources to start with and zero experience in the field. Since Michelle was a little girl, she dreamt of doing 'big' things like helping the planet, owning a business and learning how to be a skilled fighter. From the little girl's eyes, she might have technically achieved that, but being where she is at today, Michelle feels like she is just starting to scratch the surface. 

Michelle Salas founded Lady Green Miami Recycling Co in 2010 with a goal to protect the environment and help people and businesses through waste reduction in our communities. Currently, Lady Green Miami provides waste pickup and recycling services to over 1,000 locations throughout Miami-Dade County.

Michelle brings 19 years of management experience, including 11 years of executive management working with top business leaders. Prior to founding Lady Green Miami Recycling, Michelle was part of a successful start-up company that is now a leader in the U.S. for deploying greenhouse gas reduction projects and renewable energy projects.

Michelle received a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration in 2007 from Jones College and later pursued her Master’s in Environmental Studies at Florida International University. During her first year in graduate school, Michelle found much inspiration from her professors, peers and education, that she felt it was time to launch her recycling dream. She decided to drop out of grad school and fully invest her time and resources into creating her vision. Understanding the real value in education, Michelle continued to ‘sit’ in classes to learn the material without having to pay the cost of tuition.

In Feb 2019, Waste360 announced Michelle as a recipient of the 40 Under 40 Award due to her inspiring and innovative contributions to the waste management and recycling industry.

Scheduled dates/speakers for 2021:

• January 6th - Erika Larsen, National Geographic Photographer
  • ​Making It In the World of Photography
• March 3rd - Cara Smith, E.I., PMP , Manager Project Management –T/S; Power Delivery, Florida Power & Light Company
  • ​​Making It In the World of Electrical Engineering
• May 5th - Summer Piep, Owner/Operator, Lost Harbour Spirits
  • ​Making It in the World of Distilleries and Spirits
• July 7th - Michelle Salas, Founder, Lady Green Recycling Co.
  • ​Making It in the World of Waste Management & Recycling
• September 1st - Krystyna Krakowski, Firefighter, City of Palm Beach Gardens
  • ​​Making It in the World of Firefighting
• November 3rd - Pamela M. Rauch, Vice President, External Affairs and Economic Development, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL)
  • ​​Making It In the World of Energy