Kristen Schmid brings finance discipline to scrap metal recycling

Kristen Schmid is CFO at Denver Scrap Metal Recycling and Houston Scrap Metal Recycling, where she oversees financial strategy, forecasting, and internal controls across multi-state operations. Her career spans accounting, waste management, and the U.S. Navy, and she sees growth ahead for the recycling industry as environmental pressures rise.

Why it matters: - Kristen Schmid’s role puts financial leadership at the center of a recycling business that depends on tight controls, accurate forecasting, and scalable systems. - Stronger financial visibility can improve operational performance, audit readiness, and decision-making in an industry tied to environmental demand. - Schmid also represents a leadership path for women entering finance and industrial operations.

What happened: - Kristen Schmid serves as Chief Financial Officer at Denver Scrap Metal Recycling and Houston Scrap Metal Recycling in Denver, Colorado. - She oversees financial strategy, forecasting, and internal controls across multi-state operations. - Influential Women profiled Schmid on October 13, 2026. - More information is available through Kristen Schmid’s profile.

The details: - Schmid focuses on building efficient, scalable financial systems that support business growth. - Her work centers on strengthening financial visibility, ensuring compliance, and supporting data-informed decision-making in recycling and waste management. - She has built a reputation for improving efficiency, strengthening audit readiness, and delivering actionable financial insights. - Before her current role, she was a Controller Advisor at Level10 CFO. - In that role, she helped clients design and implement accounting processes and financial controls. - She also held finance roles at New Age Beverages Corporation and 5280 Waste Solutions. - Those roles gave her experience in financial reporting, accounting management, and operational finance. - Schmid began her career in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear mechanic. - Her Navy training included chemistry and radiation protection before she moved into accounting. - She earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Colorado Denver. - She also earned a master’s degree in forensic accounting from New England College. - She is a member of REMA and the Colorado Recyclers Association.

Between the lines: - Schmid’s path from the Navy to accounting and finance suggests a leadership style shaped by discipline and technical training. - Her emphasis on honesty, ethics, and hard work lines up with the control-heavy demands of finance roles. - She advises young women entering the industry to take notes, ask questions, and say what they want from their careers. - That advice points to a practical view of advancement: learning fast and speaking clearly about goals. - Her view of the scrap metal recycling industry is bullish because she sees room for growth and expansion tied to environmental issues.

What’s next: - Schmid expects the scrap metal recycling industry to keep expanding as environmental concerns increase its importance. - She sees the field as a place for professional growth alongside broader environmental impact. - Her continued focus is likely to stay on financial systems that support scaling and operational performance.

The bottom line: - Kristen Schmid is using finance to help a recycling business run more efficiently while positioning herself in a sector she believes has long-term growth potential.