Episode 13: One Person’s Trash is An Entrepreneur’s Treasure
Have you ever wondered about the origin story of a company that initially focused on trash enclosures and outdoor storage solutions and evolved into a beacon of innovation and urban beautification?
In this latest episode of the More Elephant podcast, we are in conversation with Liz Picarazzi, Founder and CEO of CITIBIN, a company that designs, manufactures, and distributes trash enclosures and other outdoor storage solutions. Liz started CITIBIN because she couldn’t find a durable and attractive enclosure for her trash.
Our conversation delves into her evolution as an entrepreneur, the pivotal role of customer insights in her product development journey, and CITIBIN's innovative solutions to unique challenges, such as space constraints in cities and package theft. Liz also shares her insights on the pivot from a knowledge worker to a creator and the value of adapting in business to maximize one’s strengths.
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Show Notes
CITIBIN was created by serial entrepreneur Liz Picarazzi, who couldn’t find a durable and attractive enclosure for her own trash. She didn’t like the designs of existing enclosures on the market, so she created her own. CITIBIN became a neighborhood sensation, and what started as a pet project in her Brooklyn backyard is now a national brand that designs and manufactures outdoor storage solutions for trash, recycling, packages, strollers, bikes & more.
Prior to CITIBIN, Liz founded Checklist Home Services, the highest-rated, woman-owned handyperson company in New York City. In her former lives, Liz worked as a marketing executive at American Express and on U.S. democracy assistance programs in Russia and Ukraine (yes, you heard that right). Liz likes to make and start things that engage her head, heart, and hands simultaneously. Besides being an entrepreneur, Liz is a mom to a teenager and the wife of the COO.
More Elephant Moments in this Episode:
Liz discusses the importance of listening to customers’ needs to build a business by falling in love with a problem and creating elegant solutions that make for better urban living.
Liz discusses the versatility of CITIBIN's design foundation and how she has extended the product line to solve more pressing issues, from package theft to bear containment.
We learn how CITIBIN is addressing the existential rat problem in New York City and how Liz knew her product would be a game-changer as the city focused on containerization.
and more.
More About CITIBIN:
LinkedIn: Liz Picarazzi | CITIBIN Instagram | Website
Liz is also a regular panelist on the 21 Hats podcast
Transcript
More Elephant Intro
[00:00:37] Jason Rudman: Welcome to the latest edition of the More Elephant podcast. And we've been talking about this thing called entrepreneurship. The reason entrepreneurship is important because that's where ideas get generated, and change happens. And I think entrepreneurs are the bravest people on the planet because they have an idea, and then they've got to stitch together resources and funding and somehow make that great idea come to life.
I am so thrilled today to invite Liz Picarazzi to the More Elephant podcast. Liz is the founder and CEO of CITIBIN, and we're going to get into CITIBIN. I don't want to steal her thunder. We're going to get into what CITIBIN does, how she got to create a really fascinating and interesting solution. What it's taught her about herself and about the path to entrepreneurship.
Equally important, how she got there and the importance of agency and impact in her own life and that of the people that surround her. So, Liz, welcome to the More Elephant podcast.
[00:01:50] Liz Picarazzi: Thanks for having me, Jason. Thanks for inviting me.
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