Nashville Post Q&A: Autumn Ryan Q&A on National Women's Day

Autumn Ryan, founder of a Nashville-based cleaning product company, started out in the janitorial business herself.

She first built and scaled Southern Comfort Cleaning to a multi-million dollar business. But, during that journey, she became frustrated with the kind of cleaning products on the market and decided to challenge herself to create something better.

Ryan developed a patented sodium chlorite oxidation platform, which purports to kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses in seconds, neutralize narcotics on contact, and rapidly decontaminate chemical irritants like pepper spray.

For International Women's Day, the Post spoke with Ryan about her innovation and entrepreneurial spirit as a female founder.

I did not invent SoRite sitting in some ivory tower. I was a single mom of two running a cleaning company, working side by side with my employees every day. I watched my team struggle with the same ‘home brew’ chemical combinations the industry has relied on for decades; bleach mixed with one product, ammonia with another. Meanwhile, my own hands and skin were feeling the effects of constant exposure to harsh fumes and chemicals, and I kept thinking, there has to be something better.

So, I went looking for it. I researched, talked to chemists, studied what was on the market, and the truth shocked me. There wasn’t a safer solution that actually worked the way people needed it to. That’s when my personality kicked in. I don’t take no for an answer. If I believe in something strongly enough, I will figure it out.

That journey led to SoRite, but the mission is bigger than a product. I truly believe this is my divine purpose. I am here to change the standards in the cleaning industry and to educate consumers on the truth, because it is a scary and dirty fact. Toxic chemicals can and do harm people. I’m simply a real person who saw the problem up close and decided to build a better solution.

SoRite was important for me to create because I truly believe I was called to do this. I shared my own journey above, sharing what those chemicals were doing to people who were just trying to do their jobs. Again, that’s when it really hit me. The very products we trust to clean and protect our spaces can actually harm us.

The more I started digging, the more disturbing the truth became. It’s not just cleaning chemicals. It’s the air we breathe, the food we eat, the soil our food grows in, and the water we drink. Toxic chemicals are everywhere, and many of them are tied to serious illness, including cancer. Once you see that, you can’t unsee it.

oRite was created to disrupt what has been accepted for far too long and to pioneer safer technology for future generations while still solving real problems. I’m extremely passionate about this and very emotional about the responsibility that comes with it. I will not stop pushing this mission forward until we start addressing the toxic exposures that affect our homes, our environment, and the future of our children.

The values behind SoRite are simple for me: innovation, education, truth, and trust. I built this company believing we could do better than what the cleaning industry has accepted for decades. Innovation matters, but education matters just as much. People deserve to know what they are using in their homes, around their families, and in their workplaces. If we don’t educate people, nothing changes.

I also believe in being real, raw, and transparent. That’s just who I am. Not everyone likes that. The truth can make people uncomfortable, especially when it challenges products and habits people have trusted for years. But I would rather tell the truth than play it safe.

As a woman, I’ve learned that when you speak directly and stand strong in what you believe, some people label you as too aggressive. I don’t see it that way. I’m passionate about this mission, and I care deeply about the impact of what we’re doing. I’m not afraid to say what needs to be said, and that honesty is something I’ve built into the culture of SoRite from day one.

Being a woman in business has shaped SoRite in a big way. I built this company with heart and conviction. As a mother and someone who started out cleaning buildings myself, safety has always been personal. I think about the families using these products, the workers handling them every day, and the long-term impact on people’s health. That perspective guides every decision we make.

I also believe it’s time for leaders to step up and lead with heart and emotion, not greed. For too long, this industry has been driven by profit margins instead of people. SoRite was built to challenge that.

My passion shows through my voice. My voice is strong, and sometimes people say it’s too much. I see it differently. That strength is an iron fist when it comes to this mission. I’m not someone who gives up. I’m here to make a difference, shake up the industry, and bring real disruption to a space that desperately needs it.

The Nashville business community has played a big role in my journey. This city has a strong entrepreneurial spirit, and I’ve been fortunate to be recognized and supported along the way. Being named to the Nashville Business Journal 40 Under 40 and receiving the Nashville Business Journal Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award were huge honors and meant a lot to me because they came from the community where I built my first company.

Before SoRite, I started a woman-owned cleaning company called Southern Comfort Cleaning right here in Nashville. I worked our way up from small jobs to large accounts, cleaning schools, corporate offices, residential homes, construction sites, and even courthouses. I also worked with Metro government, which was a proud moment for me as a local business owner. That work grounded me in the real world and gave me firsthand experience with the challenges people face in this industry.

Nashville also opened doors for me in ways I never expected. I was highlighted as a success story in Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Makeover book, and I had the opportunity to go on “Good Morning America” twice with Dave Ramsey to share my story. Those moments, along with the support from the Nashville business community, helped shape my path and gave me the confidence to keep pushing forward with bigger ideas like SoRite.