Speaker 1: 0:30

So, colin Wheeler, I'm in the junk removal business. I'm a junk man and we I make a living by sending strong men into people's homes or businesses to pick up and haul away their unwanted stuff. So we're like a moving service that gets rid of your stuff. I love that, and what's unique about our process which I'm sure we'll get into is what we do with the stuff after we've loaded onto our trucks.

Speaker 2: 0:53

Yeah, I'm definitely going to ask you about that. That is a process that I saw. I would like to know a backstory of how this all got started for you and what led you to where you are today.

Speaker 1: 1:01

Well, ever since I was a little kid, I just wanted to grow up to be in the junk business. I'm kidding, no one says that. I don't think I was working for a moving company my first job out of school. My first job out of school, I was a move consultant. So I was the one that would go into your home tell you how much it costs you to move.

Speaker 1: 1:21

I wore a tie and I would sit across the table like this from a customer and we talk about all things pertaining to a move and almost what seemed like every other conversation included Please don't include these items in the quote, because we're trying to figure out what to do with them.

Speaker 1: 1:34

We're trying to, you know, uh, donate them to a family member. Um, we don't want to pay a moving company to move these items. Um, and I was having enough of those conversations that eventually, uh, I couldn't ignore what I thought was obvious demand for the services, and so I reached out to a couple of now competitors, um, and, looking to you know, form some sort of a partnership. So I had somebody to refer to them and I got crickets and I thought to myself that, you know, that was either an indicator that they didn't see the value in somebody like me to refer them business, which was a reason to maybe consider getting into the industry. Which was a reason to maybe consider getting into the industry. And so I just decided to put in my resignation and bought an old truck and the company was born. So it wasn't the most well-thought business plan. I kind of got into it by accident. But I was young and had very little to lose.

Speaker 2: 2:30

So that's the story. I love that. I love how you branched out and went on your own and you're like you know what? I'm just going to get this landscaping truck and just do my thing. I'd like to know how the red trucks came to be and how did you choose your company colors?

Speaker 1: 2:45

So I mean, we didn't start that way. Our first truck had wooden sides.

Speaker 2: 2:50

Yeah, I saw the picture?

Speaker 1: 2:51

Yeah, it was. It was manual transmission, so that limited the, the, the um number of people that could drive it. Obviously, um, and it wasn't, uh, it didn't represent us in the way that our current trucks do, as you can imagine. Um so, um, as we were growing the business that first year, um, that truck was pretty much all we had and it was almost embarrassing, but, um, we didn't deserve the referrals that we had. We showed up, you know, looking like Sanford and Sons. I don't know if you know that reference, but I've come to learn it being in this business.

Speaker 1: 3:20

It's an old show about the trash business, basically, and so one of the motivators for growth was to get out of that truck and to get something that better represented the brand that we were trying to build. And so the red I don't know that it had. There was a lot of intention behind it other than red's, a color that pops, and we knew that we were going sort of the green eco route, but I thought that playing into the green theme might be a little bit over the top, and I thought of companies like Coca-Cola that have those big red trucks on the road, and so we just wanted to be seen far away and further. I think we wanted our trucks to all be identical so people couldn't tell if we were a two-truck operation or a 200-truck operation, and I think we've managed to accomplish that.

Speaker 2: 4:09

No, I love that. That's kind of a marketing strategy there, so I love that. And I think red is a good choice because you definitely when you see a red car, you're just like wait a minute. Oh wow, when you're driving, you know.

Speaker 1: 4:23

Well, I can't tell you how many times I'm driving on the highway and I see one of our trucks coming in the other direction and you know I always see them.

Speaker 2: 4:30

I don't know if they see me, but, um, but you see that I love that. Now I'd two, three step, hence the name. So talk to me about those processes and what they entail.

Speaker 1: 4:38

Yeah. So as I was researching the industry, one thing became pretty clear to me that there wasn't anyone at that time that was focusing on what would become of the stuff. There were some successful companies in the space, there's some franchises that have done very well, but they all had other sort of niches that they had carved out, and so it seemed to me pretty apparent that people cared about the stuff that they were getting rid of, even if they didn't need it anymore. And I actually had an experience that kind of helped sort of formulate the core foundation of our brand, which was I had all these pots and pans and dishware that I wanted to donate. I put them in the trunk of my car. This was around the time I was doing the research for the business.

Speaker 2: 5:19

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 5:20

And with intention to take it to Goodwill or Salvation Army, and I just never made it for, you know, a month or two. And so I had this box of pots and pans that weren't very valuable to anybody, including the charity probably but I remember thinking like I can't just throw these in the trash.

Speaker 1: 5:36

And so I was going through that sort of like psychological, you know process of what to do with this stuff. So I figured, if I have that kind of experience, I'm sure other people do as well. And so the whole model was built around just trying to keep as much out of the landfill as possible. So the one, two, three is one is donate, two is recycle, three is dispose, and that's our three-step process. The objective is to keep as much from going to the transfer station or the landfill and we accomplish that just through charity partners and stuff like that. So when we load the truck we first stop at charity. We try to donate as much as we can to the charity partners throughout the area.

Speaker 1: 6:15

We try to donate as much as we can to the charity partners throughout the area, and then recycling is not necessarily like aluminum cans and paper plates. It's more like electronics and metal. That's what we call recycling, and then the rest goes to be disposed of.

Speaker 2: 6:28

Yeah, no, I love that. I love that it's like, okay, we can't donate it. The next step is going to be let's go ahead and recycle it or whichever the numerical process is for it.

Speaker 1: 6:36

but I think that's brilliant and I think that is where the green comes into it, where we want to put less stuff into the landfill well, we just feel like people um are at much more peace parting with their items when they know that like there's a company that's good intention to try to marry those items to the charity and kind of helpless fortunate members of the community. So it's been a good philosophy and I think it's served us very well no, I love that.

Speaker 2: 7:04

And speaking of marketing, like I know, you've got the red truck. Are you doing anything, in particular, online? Are you heading out to social networking groups or how are you getting the word out there about the services that you do? Do you post anything on Instagram or Facebook?

Speaker 1: 7:19

So my philosophy has changed a lot as social media has become more and more mainstream. In the earliest days we took, we had like a chip on our shoulder that we were referral only. We were competing with some franchises that were very successful with, like, traditional marketing. So our, our mindset was well, if they do that and they do that very well, we're just a small local business. We can't necessarily compete on that front as a bootstrap business, so let's just make as many relationships as possible. And so we pursued all the industries that are capable of referring us, and real estate and property managers and professional organizers, and there's a list of about seven or eight industries that really we cater well to.

Speaker 1: 8:02

And so that was kind of our, you know, we wore that as a, as a sense of pride that we had all these really intimate relationships with all these referral partners that referred us business and were, like you know, complete brand advocates for us. And that was great and that's a good way to build a business when you're bootstrapped. But to get you know, that gets you to a certain point until you sort of exhaust your immediate local sphere and that has its limitations. So, as of the recent couple of years, we've been leaning a little bit more into more traditional marketing, and traditional marketing nowadays is basically digital marketing, all things social media and website related, so we put a lot into that now, increasingly. So, um, and then recently, you know, I've I've also um sort of always had this mindset of like it's kind of cool to be the guy behind the company that nobody knows. Like that to me was a it was almost like a sign of success that if the company could grow without me being kind of like the brand the face then.

Speaker 1: 9:05

Then that was an indicator that we're a great company and my philosophy on that is switched to like I'm trying to be more of a brand myself and I'm I'm pretty new to it still, but like being the fit. You know people buy from people they know and trust. Yes, and you know the president and CEO of the company is probably an important person and, as I just reflected on all the great brands, like most of the real big companies, you know who's behind them and if you like and align with them and their values, then you're more inclined to work with them. So I've come a long way on that and I'm trying to really lean into that more.

Speaker 2: 9:38

Yeah, no, I love that you shared that story, because we have entrepreneurs sometimes who they're like no, I don't want to be part of this, I want somebody else to do it, or like, even though I'm the CEO, and it's like you kind of have to find that balance sometimes and step out of your comfort zone or pivot, because things are always changing. People want to be more authentic and they want to know who's behind the company, what their values are, which leads me into my next question is what are your company values and what kind of people do you like to have on your team?

Speaker 1: 10:07

So we have three core values. One is culture of excellence, the second one is deep community ties and the third one is environmental stewardship. So to walk you through those real quick, yes, please. So Culture of Excellence is, you know, we're a junk removal company. It's like, as far as the stigma is concerned, it's like sort of bottom of the barrel, like people have pretty low expectations about you know the type of individuals that will be showing up to their home and you know the level of professionalism that they might encompass in their, in their service acumen. And so, um, we always say, like our competitors aren't necessarily other junk removal companies, it's like any service experience that anyone's had is like the bar that was set and we're trying to compete with that.

Speaker 1: 10:50

So culture of excellence is just, like you know, just trying to be impressionable and far exceed whatever baseline expectations anyone has, and that doesn't just include the customer. It's like if we're at 7-Eleven, you know, getting Gatorade in between jobs. Like if we're in this logo uniform, like are we representing the company? Well, are we talking about things If there's a child in line behind you, that that child shouldn't hear? Or are we, you know, are we holding the door for people when we come to a four-way stop, are we letting people go first? I mean, it's just trying to sort of live as if you had a video camera, like you know, taping you at all times. Yeah, environmental stewardship is just. You know, we're in the waste management business, so you know, even when you use the word green a moment ago, I get a little uncomfortable about that word because it's just darn sorry.

Speaker 1: 11:40

Well, it's just, you know, we're contributing to the landfill, there's no doubt about it.

Speaker 1: 11:45

So, and if it wasn't us it would be someone else. But that that creates a responsibility for us to just be more mindful about where the items go. If we're filling up the landfill faster than otherwise would be full, then we have this kind of you know, this pressure on us to try to minimize what we're putting into the landfill. So just, you know that whole one, two, three process, that's obviously a big part of it. And then deep community ties.

Speaker 1: 12:10

You know we're a local business.

Speaker 1: 12:13

We're headquartered in Chantilly, we service the DMV, we're in Maryland and DC, but we like to think that the city that we're in is like a reflection of the personality of the business.

Speaker 1: 12:25

And you know we take pride in being kind of, you know I don't want to say the underdogs, but kind of. You know we're not the national option and that's not to say that the national option is bad but, um, you know we're in your community. The people who are answering the phone, you know, may shop at the same supermarket that you do, and we think that there is value in that and so, um, so the responsibility for that is then we owe it to the community to kind of give back to the community If we're going to, you know, be a reflection of the community, then you know, going to, you know, be a reflection of the community, then you know. Then that falls into the stuff that we do with you know, charities and donations and stuff Like we want to impact the community in a positive way. And just because we're a small business doesn't mean we can't have a big impact.

Speaker 2: 13:04

Yeah, no, I love that. I love the community base of it all. This is why I love talking to people who are local, because you guys can build like a little network and talk to each other. But yeah, how many employees do you guys have?

Speaker 1: 13:22

Right now probably 35. Usually, you know this, for the past year or so it's been between 35 and low 40s and there is some seasonality to the business. We've bloomed up a little bit in the summer, you know we have. Oftentimes we catch people in college looking for a job their freshman year and then they come back sophomore junior and senior year freshman year and then they come back sophomore junior and senior year in some cases they come back after they graduate too.

Speaker 1: 13:39

So um, we call them boomerang employees, um and so come back yeah, so, um, but yeah, we've been, we're right about there, we're 13 trucks and you know we're we're a small company but we're we're able to accomplish a lot. We've been averaging about 6 000 jobs a year over the past couple of years.

Speaker 2: 13:54

Wow, that's a lot for a small company. That's a lot in 35 people. I'd like to know what are some of the services that you guys provide. Are there certain things that maybe you guys are like, yeah, we don't do that, that's not our area of expertise? Or like, yeah, we can do that, talk to me about that.

Speaker 1: 14:10

We don't do moving we get a lot of inquiries about. You know we don't want to pay a traditional full service moving company but like you guys are the junk guys, you kind of do the same thing. Will you do moving? I just we're capable of doing that type of work. The principles of picking stuff up and safely moving them are pretty similar. But even if somebody tells us that you know they'll sign a waiver, they don't care if their stuff gets damaged.

Speaker 1: 14:34

You know we are not as good as a mover at moving items from point A to point B, so that's something that, coming from the moving business, don't really have a big appetite for getting involved with that and in fact moving companies are partners of ours. So that's one thing we don't do. And then as far as things, things we don't take, we can't take like hazardous chemicals, we can't take like dirt, rocks, concrete, things that are kind of like more sort of in the camp of like what a landscaper might deal with. But for the most that doesn't mean that we're limited only to the inside of a home or a property. We can do sheds and hot tubs and things of that nature, but generally speaking, most things that aren't cleaning supplies or hazardous chemicals or paints we're able to take.

Speaker 2: 15:26

Nice, I love that. You're like a one-stop shop, but not movers. Don't get it twisted. It's removal guys. Removal Help donate it. Find a place for it.

Speaker 1: 15:33

Another place removal help donate it find a place for it, another place. Well, you know the old saying like the guy with the pickup truck is everyone's best friend yes, oh my gosh, yes, I do so you can imagine, when you have a fleet of them, like people get really creative about, like the types of things you can do for them.

Speaker 2: 15:45

Would you mind putting my whole house here?

Speaker 1: 15:47

yeah, yeah and so, um, one of the things I think that I would attribute our success to is that, like, we're really good at saying no to things that don't align, with what we do well. Yeah, rather than chasing the money and the opportunity. We say no, you know quite often, and I think it's been good for us because you know we've. It's allowed us to carve out this very clear niche of who we are and what we do. And when people call us, you know, they know what we do well.

Speaker 2: 16:13

The expectation of it. Yeah, yeah, I love that. Do you guys have any room for expansion or growth? Can you maybe talk to?

Speaker 1: 16:23

me about anything that you guys have set for the future. Yeah, so this is the double-edged sword to this whole premise of like being the local company, because obviously we have ambitions to scale and a lot of those ambitions are just driven by opportunities for our staff. I mean, we could remain a you know, I guess we'd call it, we'd be considered a small medium business at this stage and that would be good. But I think that there are team members who are very talented, who want more in their career and in order to get that, we have to create that, those growth opportunities. So right now, our immediate um plans are. Our expansion plans are on Maryland Um. We are working to open a second brick and mortar location in Maryland um so that we can better and more efficiently service the DMV.

Speaker 1: 17:08

Um so, um, currently we're not operating on sort of like the Eastern side of the beltway Howard County, anne Arundel County, it's just it's too far from where we are in the trucking logistics business. So if we were to have a second location in Maryland, that would allow us to be like a true you know DC regional based company, and so that's a goal that we have inside, probably about two years.

Speaker 2: 17:31

Nice. That's exciting though You'll get to touch a whole area and meet new people and like see how that grows from there. Maybe next time you can one in DC. I'm sure DC has a lot of things going on over there at 100% or at least 99% when you are with clients, your team members, all that good stuff.

Speaker 1: 18:02

I love this question. This is like my favorite subject, yay. So when I started the company, I was 23. I put a lot into the business Probably, you know, everyone does who starts their own business but I, I think I was probably more imbalanced than most people. Um, you know, I won't um share the war stories of. I worked, you know, 23 hour days for you know, seven, seven years. Um, I don't know how many hours I worked, but I worked late. It definitely took a toll on my health and probably my mental health to some degree. I was very driven to make it work, but that definitely comes with its costs, and so I didn't have much time for, you know, for hobbies and interests outside of work. And I told myself that was just.

Speaker 1: 18:51

That's the deal I made, you know, when I decided to get into business for myself and so um, and I think if I could go back in time, I would have been more balanced from the start. Um, I've got an 18 month old now, and thank you, and another baby on the way, so, um, um, that's put some, that's changed some priorities for me. So, um, things have been put into perspective a little bit differently. Now. My goal is to get home in time to see my little boy every night, um, and spend a few hours with him before bed. Um, so, um, you know I think that, uh, that is, it's been a profound change in how I view work. Um, because, you know, I rise earlier, I have more intensity in what I'm doing, I protect myself from saying yes to more things and because, you know, I want to spend as much time as I can. You know, every person who has kids says it goes so fast and 18 months isn't very long, but it seemed like it's gone very fast so far.

Speaker 2: 19:54

Yeah, does it feel like that.

Speaker 1: 19:57

So that's where I want to spend my time. And then, as far as like the taking care of yourself side of things, I mean this is something I'm like I've been obsessed with in the last couple of years Exercise. You know, I have a cold plunge. What's that it's one of those tubs you sit in that you know almost gives you hypothermia. No, it's not.

Speaker 2: 20:19

It's not the dark one With water and then you like close the pod. That's not it.

Speaker 1: 20:23

No, no, wrong thing, yeah you're thinking of one of those tanks, those float tanks? Yeah, maybe similar concept, but this is like blistering cold water. That is torturous.

Speaker 2: 20:33

Is that why your hands are so cold?

Speaker 1: 20:34

Because you're like a frozen man now, oh I didn't do it today, so maybe my permanent body temperature has changed. But it's A dreadful experience for about three minutes and then you get out and you've got the energy as if you just had a triple espresso at Starbucks and it lasts for a number of hours. It's good for recovery, for exercise and stuff too. Yeah, I do the sauna and I try to eat healthy.

Speaker 2: 21:03

Your skin looks good, so I can tell you definitely do the sauna and eating healthy. Now that just adds to it.

Speaker 1: 21:08

No one's ever said that to me before. No, it has a nice glow and it looks healthy and you're not wearing, obviously, foundation.

Speaker 2: 21:12

I know this is stupid, but it looks good, Thank you.

Speaker 1: 21:15

Yeah, I'll take that compliment. Yeah, and I think the main thing is I'm trying to prioritize sleep a little bit more, which is hard when you have a kid, but it's, you know, it's so easy to get caught up in, you know, scrolling at night or watching too much, you know what, catching up on one episode, one additional episode of a series or something like that, where all of a sudden you look at the clock and it's 11 o'clock and you're saying I got to go to bed. I mean, I've been really intentional about trying to head up to the bedroom at like nine or 915 so that I'm in bed by maybe nine, 45. Um, so that's and I wake. I wake up early, usually five, 45. Um, so, um, I need that sleep. I'm not one of these people who can operate on like six hours of sleep four hours of sleep, oh no, I need like a minimum of seven.

Speaker 1: 22:01

Eight would be better. Um and nine would be preferred. I don't know that I've had nine hours Um so anyways, that that's how I can sort of optimize how well my brain works during the day.

Speaker 2: 22:13

And that's great.

Speaker 1: 22:15

So, but again with a child, especially in the first you know six months, um that you know that kind of goes out the window, but um that, if anything, has given me more sort of um conviction that sleep is important and to try to, you know, focus on that as almost like one of the most important things.

Speaker 2: 22:33

Absolutely no.

Speaker 2: 22:34

I'm glad that you touched on this subject because I've talked to a lot of entrepreneurs and they all have different answers and some of them are like no, I'm available for my client 24 hours a day and it's just like.

Speaker 2: 22:44

That's great and I'm not like shaming them or anything, but I feel like at some point, and maybe that's really I don't know their passion or their maybe robotic, I don't know. But I do feel like there needs to be a balance, because I feel like you'll get burnt out right, and you need to I don't know find a balance, because it's so important for your mental health to be healthy. Like all these things that you mentioned is like a benefit to the body in some way, and I feel like a lot of people overlook that sometimes and they're just like it's okay, I'll go four hours of sleep and maybe that they're cool, but it's going to catch up to them well, I'm not a health expert, but like I think when people think about exercise and stuff, they always think about the body, and like I think it's just as important for the mind.

Speaker 1: 23:27

I mean, the mind is part of the body and, um, you know, all these things impact, like your ability to think clearly. And I just know my body. I've never experienced anyone else's body, but I know that like, if I'm tired, I'm just like not a good version of myself. I like I'm going through the world just like less happy, getting less joy out of each experience.

Speaker 2: 23:48

You don't want that.

Speaker 1: 23:48

Yeah, I just want to, like you know, have a good experience every day, and it starts with sleep and exercise and all these little biohacks that I've got involved with. It's almost cliche because if you follow these social media people, you know cold plunges, Although it sounds like you haven't heard of them. It's like now you're going to hear about it all the time. It's like, it's almost like okay here's another guy.

Speaker 2: 24:11

It's going to like put it up everywhere. Yeah, you're definitely going to get an ad sent to you later today. I'll blame you when it happens. Maybe you should get one. I have this thing where I'm allergic to the cold and I start breaking out. It's weird. Oh, I'll talk to you about it? After. It's really weird, but maybe it doesn't have to be a really hot one. But is there anything that I have not touched on that maybe you would like our listeners to know about either yourself or your business?

Speaker 1: 24:40

Oh man, that's a tough question. You know, junk removal business is like any other business. Um, it's got this sort of blue collar reputation, but at the end of the day, it's like we're providing a solution for problems and we run into the same problems that any company on, you know, wall street or in Silicon Valley runs into. We just offer a different service. Um, I like to connect with entrepreneurs, um, so um, if anyone ever wants to connect, you know, I want to build my network with people that are going through the things that I'm going through. I'm always trying to get better, so I invite them to reach out.

Speaker 2: 25:14

I love that, thank you, and now my final question is going to be if you have maybe a mantra, a quote or a saying that has inspired you in any way throughout your life that you would like to share with us.

Speaker 1: 25:27

Jeez, you're throwing the hard ones at me.

Speaker 2: 25:30

I know I'm saving those for last.

Speaker 1: 25:34

I don't know who this is attributed to, but there's a quote that I keep on my phone. That's live a life so that everyone presents the best version of themselves to you possible.

Speaker 2: 25:42

Wow, I love that, the fact that you have it on your phone too, like I'm'm glad I asked that. See, I like to know what people, what makes them thrive or what inspires these entrepreneurs. So thank you so much for sharing that and thank you for being on the podcast.

Speaker 1: 25:53

Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2: 25:54

Absolutely.