Katrina Spade

GUIDED BY FREEDOM. Katrina Spade’s journey to becoming a pioneer in ecological death care has been shaped by a unique sense of freedom—a freedom not to conform to societal norms. “Over my whole lifetime, there’s been this weaving of being queer and not being expected to do the normal,” she reflects. This outlook has guided her toward creating Recompose, a company that offers human composting as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional burial and cremation.

Growing up in rural New Hampshire, Katrina was an outgoing child who loved team sports and socializing. Her parents, both in medicine and avid gardeners, instilled in her a fascination with the natural cycles of life and death. Initially considering a career in midwifery, she was guided by her mother to study cultural anthropology at Haverford College, an experience that gave her a solid foundation in understanding human rituals and cultural practices.

After college, Katrina moved to San Francisco, where she embarked on her first entrepreneurial venture—a T-shirt company. “I’ve always liked to jump into something I know nothing about,” she admits, reflecting on the challenges of the fashion business. Her career path then took her to the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, where she worked her way up from finance assistant to finance manager. During this time, she and her partner decided to start a family, eventually moving to Massachusetts, where Katrina pursued a graduate degree in architecture at UMass Amherst.

It was during her architecture studies that the idea for Recompose began to take shape. “Architecture is not just about buildings; it’s about systems that humans have created and do create,” Katrina explains. She started to view the funeral industry as a system ripe for reimagination. Inspired by the natural burial options available in rural areas, she wondered why city dwellers didn’t have access to similar eco-friendly options. “I got obsessed with the idea of some nature-based way of caring for the dead in cities,” she says. Her thesis, “A Space for the Urban Dead,” focused on adapting livestock composting techniques for human remains—an idea that would eventually become the foundation for Recompose.

BUILDING FROM THE GROUND UP. The journey from an academic thesis to a fully operational business was anything but straightforward. “Composting humans was not legal in any of the 50 states,” Katrina reveals. Undeterred, she partnered with Tanya Marsh, a law professor specializing in funeral and cemetery law, to work on changing state laws. Thanks to their efforts, human composting is now legal in 12 states. This legal breakthrough allowed Recompose to begin operations and bring its vision of ecological death care to life.

Beyond the legal hurdles, Katrina was determined to ensure that every aspect of Recompose was designed with intention. “Recompose was created with a design mindset. Everything we do, everything we put out in the world, really matters,” she emphasizes. From the serene, plant-filled environment of their Seattle facility to the use of fonts and colors in their branding, every detail is a reflection of the company’s commitment to creating a meaningful and intentional experience for its clients.

Katrina’s journey has taught her the importance of remaining intentional and focusing on genuine opportunities. She also emphasizes the value of finding joy in your work. “What’s the ratio of joy to the other stuff? I think I’m at 80/20, which feels about right for me.” For Katrina, the key to success is finding a balance between passion and practicality, and understanding that not every shiny object is worth pursuing. “For some people, the idea of Recompose is just a little too out there, but honestly, being queer gave me the guts to go right ahead and try it anyway, and I’m so glad I did.”