Pack light and listen deeply:

An interview with Cass Marketos

November 20, 2024

Simon Denis, “Cloud Study (Early Evening)” (c. 1786)

Editor’s note

I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from Cass over the years.

The way that she has repeatedly changed paths and always found what seemed like an even bigger, more exciting adventure at every turn has been a real motivating force. Having written a book, launched several non-profits, been the first employee at Kickstarter, and served as the deputy director of digital outbound during the Obama administration (to name just a few of her accomplishments), she’s had precisely the kind of dynamic career that I know many — myself included — have hoped to build for themselves but rarely saw modelled.

As Cass writes in this interview, “I’m a big believer in the idea that whenever you arrive is right on time.” It’s a form of hope I’ll be carrying with me as we collectively navigate the months and years ahead.

Jana M. Perkins
Founder, Women of Letters

Cass Marketos is a Los Angeles-based compost artist, writer, and community volunteer. She works in her neighborhood to divert food waste from landfills, build and maintain composts with neighbors, and educate students on decay. She frequently reflects on how rot is essential to life.

How did your childhood shape your ideas about what work looked like and what was possible for you?

Cass Marketos: I really respect people who know how to answer this question. I do not.

I spent a lot of time alone as a kid, because I had two working parents (my Dad worked at Sears and my Mom was a flight attendant, so she would be gone for long stretches). I guess my worldview was shaped by the fact of work, period.

But also travel.

The nature of my Mom’s job probably impacted me more than anything else. I was able to fly for free if I traveled space available, so I was empowered at a very young age to explore widely in a very independent way. It was hard to plan travel with others, since I was never guaranteed a seat on a flight, so I always ended up going solo.

I think I learned to pack light and listen deeply, and certainly I had a certain attachment to motion. Airplanes shaped my youth. Sometimes I say they broke my brain, ha. They implanted a deep curiosity in me that needs to be fed robustly at all times or I feel crazy, so I definitely strove to build a work life that would accommodate that.

Fast-forward to today. How did the path to what you’re doing now unfold?

CM: My path unfolded in the most convoluted way imaginable, yet somehow (also) the only way possible. It was definitely not obviously linear — just a lot of small things adding up. You could tell the story twenty different ways and each way would be different, yet still true. It makes no sense.

Here are a handful of the data points, though:

I fell into an objectively successful career at a young age, which looked good on paper, but did not make me happy in terms of how I spent my days (indoors, at computers).

I had an enormous amount of anxiety about climate change.

I was exposed, through working in government, to inspiring community leaders who were working at hyper-local levels, and decided I wanted to emulate them.

I wanted to spend all day outside and in the dirt and not ever worry about looking ‘nice.’

All of these things conspired to bring me to where I am now, which is leading a group of volunteers every week at a community compost hub in Los Angeles, plus teaching, consulting, and generally working with my community to eliminate landfill and create beautiful fertilizer from our waste. I also write about decay.

“Airplanes shaped my youth. They implanted a deep curiosity in me that needs to be fed robustly at all times or I feel crazy, so I definitely strove to build a work life that would accommodate that.”

Did you have any mentors along the way?

CM: Oh, about a million.

The people who have most impacted my current view of the world generally fit one profile: older women who work in service to their communities and seem very at peace with themselves. It seemed to be that there was a clear connection between this inner peace and working in service to others. (Go figure.)

I wanted to be like them.

Tell us about some of the projects, ideas, or questions you’re currently working on.

CM: I’m working on a book. It’s a follow-up to a small chapbook I created last year called “Compost This Book” and will (of course) also be about compost. I’ve been describing it as a “primer on decomposition.” It’s being released by Timber Books.

I’m partially decomposing some clothing for a local plant store that also makes clothing. That’s been interesting.

I’m consulting at various community garden projects across the city, helping educate teams and communities on how to run their own compost systems.

I’m reading a lot of books, all the time.

I’m taking my dog on walks.

“The people who have most impacted my current view of the world generally fit one profile: older women who work in service to their communities and seem very at peace with themselves.”

What do you wish you’d started doing sooner?

CM: Nothing. I’m a big believer in the idea that whenever you arrive is right on time.

I wanted to be a writer from day one, but I let myself get discouraged and wander off into other things almost constantly, which I used to beat myself up pretty hard about. I felt undisciplined and not good enough. You know, all the standard self-loathing stuff we have when we’re young.

I eventually ‘gave up’ on the idea of being a writer when I started working in gardens and on compost, which is when (ironically?) I stumbled into being a full-blown author. I had to trick my brain into letting it happen, though. If I was trying to be a writer, I felt like a gross imposter. But if I was just trying to educate people and share information, there was less pressure and I found myself able to write more freely and fearlessly.

I ended up developing a practice. I wrote and self-published every week for a few years. Then suddenly… I had a book. It can sneak up on ya. But I’m glad it happened now and not one second earlier.

What book have you most often gifted to others?

CM: The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich.

When you think of women who have inspired or influenced you, who comes to mind?

CM: My best friend, Caitie.

Our Dads grew up together and then had us around the same time, and then we grew up together. She’s a scientist and her life has always seemed so amazing to me. She is constantly traveling to remote and unpopulated areas to, for example, study penguins and camp in tents. She is so adventurous and also, also!, she is doing stuff that actually matters to the future of the world.

She really inspired my pivot into more science-related work.

“If I was trying to be a writer, I felt like a gross imposter. But if I was just trying to educate people and share information, there was less pressure and I found myself able to write more freely and fearlessly.”

Outside of your work, what’s something you feel you’ve thought about more deeply than most other people?

CM: Decay, which (of course) then became my work.

What’s a commonly shared piece of advice that you disagree with, and why?

CM: “Don’t quit your job, it’ll look bad on your resume.”

Life is way too short. Quit the damn job.

What keeps you going?

CM: My dog, ha.

At the end of the day, I am a very simple creature. I like to come home and hang out with my girl and give her some big hugs and we just vibe. If she is happy, I’m happy. I don’t need anything else in the world.

Is there a project, initiative, or cause you’d like to highlight?

CM: Seeds of Hope is the food justice non-profit that stewards the land where I run a community compost. Over the years, I’ve gotten to know their team very well and my work with them has really expanded to include shifts at their food bank, consulting for many of their gardens, and more.

I have been so impressed with how their tiny team leverages so few resources to help so, so, so many people across the wider Los Angeles area. I love everybody I’ve met there so much and am just blown away by how much they do.

Where can our readers find you?

CM: @cassmarketos on IG and therot.beehiiv.com on Beehiiv. : )

We corresponded with Cass over email. Our exchange has been edited for clarity.