Epic Entrepreneurs
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Epic Entrepreneurs
Plan to Wing It: Lessons from a Junk Removal Entrepreneur with Dustin Riddle
Dustin from Junkernaut shares how his Asheville-based junk removal company transforms spaces and lives through compassionate cleanup and crisis management. His business philosophy centers on addressing the root causes of clutter while ensuring environmental responsibility by finding the highest purpose for removed items.
• Junkernaut specializes in hoarding situations and helping clients dealing with trauma, physical limitations, or complicated personal histories
• The true work often involves counseling and helping clients through emotional barriers before physical removal begins
• Environmental responsibility is central to their mission—items are redistributed through community networks rather than sent to landfills
• Entrepreneurship requires sacrifices that aren't visible to others—comparison is the thief of joy
About Dustin:
From a very young age I was forced to transform through a variety of extreme environments in order to survive. To be more specific we can use hoarding as one example. A part of that process was becoming adept at solving complex problems not just with physical things but socially, emotionally, and spiritually as well. It wasn’t until I was 30 years old until I was able to cultivate a safe place to call home. So that was just eight years ago. My life has comically been situated to observe the two most extreme points of circumstances. You have to learn how to solve problems quickly. I really love transformation. To truly transform you have to understand the complex layers of a problem inside and out. My journey really started in environmental activism where I met some amazing people and learned countless lessons. Then I became a father and was forced to take those lessons and my passion for the environment and transformation into action with Junkernaut. Everything stems from our environment so I chose that fight and I stick with it still to this day in our homes, on our land, and for our people.
Need junk removal or crisis cleanup in Asheville? Call Dustin directly at 828-280-7643 or visit junkernaut828.com to learn more about their services.
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All the best!
Bill
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All the best!
Bill
Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs, and I am super pumped. Today We've got a cool one. I'm talking to Dustin from Junkernaut. So welcome to Epic Entrepreneurs, justin. Hey, thank you Bill. Yeah, dustin, hey, tell us, you know what is Junkernaut.
Speaker 2:Tell us, you know what is Junk or Not.
Speaker 1:Well, we are a local junk removal and crisis cleanup company here in Asheville North. Carolina. So give us a little bit more detail. I mean, you're a little bit more than just a cleanup company.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, of course. So, yeah, our passion is really in transformation. So you know everything as human beings, you know everything we do has a manifestation right of something internal. So I really have a passion for being able to look at a situation that's really struggling and being able to pour a lot of love and light into it so that, you know, it can be at its most efficient state. Efficient state, and we just, you know we pour that into everything we do in our community.
Speaker 2:So there may be situations like we specialize in, like hoarding situations, where it's like three story you know homes that you know somebody maybe had some type of accident and they're confined to a wheelchair, or whether they have like complicated family.
Speaker 2:You know history, generational trauma. This stuff manifests into our environment and then, in order to sort of transform it, you need a specialist that can go in and be able to speak to the actual root of the problem. Sometimes, often, with you know you have to start with the client and you have to be able to work through that difficult process and then, once you take responsibility for all the things, then you have to figure out what's the highest good of all these things, cause we don't just want to throw it all in the landfill, you know, because that's a whole different issue. So we try to work to as a part of that transformative process for our city. You know, we want everything to be as abundant for everyone, so then we disperse it through, you know, different sort of different channels with connections that we've made. So, and that's just one example Hoarding is just one example.
Speaker 1:So you could do the extreme. But if I just had a garage or a storage unit full of stuff and I didn't know what to do with it, I mean you could come clean it out and find a new home for a lot of it.
Speaker 2:Heck yeah. And you know we've been doing that now for about nine years in the city professionally. So you know, we know where your things are going to serve their highest purpose and, frankly, those small jobs are what sustain us, you know.
Speaker 1:Right, it's nice to get a big, giant job, but it sounds like to me you do a lot more than just junk removal. It sounds like you're doing some counseling.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's always that man. Humans are always the starting point for all this stuff. So you have to be able to really just I've gotten very good at you know customer service and identifying what really needs to be done. There's the work you're doing. You know that you say you're doing, but then it's the deeper, more profound work that you're actually doing, which is a lot of times that inner work that really helps to heal people. That's why I love this industry.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I reckon if you went into a house and it was a mess and you cleaned it out but you didn't help the person, it would just become a mess again. Boom.
Speaker 2:There you go, and that's one of the biggest parts of my mission is that I don't like touching things twice, so I want to do it right the first time. So that's a big problem I see in our systems, right, like I got an example. So it's like I'm not hating on green companies, because we all got to be as green as we can, but we can only be as green as the system allows us to be Right. So you know, it's like we're, we all like when, when doing this type of work, you want to make sure that you're not just creating the same problem over and over and over again. You know, because, like, sometimes things are, they're just outdated and it's time to move on, and so nothing discourages me more when, like, I go do a removal and you know it's stuff that was popular back in the 80s, like these curio cabinets that have, like all this, you know, china, and like these glass dolphins and knickknacks, it's like I can take these things and I can take them over to Goodwill or anywhere.
Speaker 2:I could donate them anywhere. But the issue is is that those things were made to prop up our, our egos and they're not getting us closer to our friends and family. So you go and you put them in, you redisperse them and they just end up right back in another house again, and so it's kind of an interesting issue because you want to continue serving the city and the community, but sometimes you know we all just have to be ready to move on. So there's kind of a deeper aspect to the touching it twice sort of thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't think people think about junk in those terms. I know, for I mean junk that's a big term. It's not a lot of this stuff is not junk, a lot of it's valuable We've got. I know from experience. It sure is a lot easier to have someone like you come and cause you don't have an emotional attachment to anything, it's you. But everybody's got emotional attachment to their stuff and it's pretty hard sometimes to get rid of it. So you know, I'm a big fan of what you do and how you do it and your mission and all that. Let's dig in a little bit about business. If you had to start over in business, what would you do differently?
Speaker 2:Oh man, that's tough. That's a tough one If I had to start over. I don't have a simple answer to that. I mean, for me, my problem solving is always down to what is the terrain saying to me. You got to read that terrain, so you know, if I had to start all over again, I would just look at my surroundings, I'd look at where we were at and I'd look at how to best serve the community at any given point, you know. So it's hard for me to say what I would do, not knowing yeah, Okay, I got it.
Speaker 1:I understand. In other words, times change and so you know you might have to do it totally differently than you started the last time.
Speaker 2:You have to adapt to all of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So what are some of the learnings that you've had as an owner and an employer that you would you know since you started?
Speaker 2:Some of the things I've learned.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, just taking accountability. Taking accountability, you know, leadership has been a very, a very challenging one and just sort of learning how are always changing, like pay, for example, like living wage, you know, having to, knowing that you want to be able to provide enough for your staff so that they can survive and thrive or not just survive but thrive and sort of dealing with the challenges of needing the market to catch up to it all and sort of just trying to find patience with myself. And also, a big part of the process for me, especially in what I'm doing is is learning to let go, learning, you know when to let go of something.
Speaker 1:Um, I love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, that's pretty much the. The spine of my whole operation is you got to know when to let go of it. So you know, I'm constantly learning about people and about sort of how we handle situations, how things manifest and just how to show up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, there's a lot there. It is a lot, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean, what I heard was you got to always be learning? Yeah?
Speaker 2:that's right.
Speaker 1:You got to be. Yeah, that's what I heard. So what do you think some of the misconceptions are about running a business?
Speaker 2:Oh, I don't think people understand how many sacrifices you make, you know there's no way. You make sacrifices that people can't see, and you know they look at you a lot of times. You know comparison is the thief of all joy. You know we look at each other and we compare ourselves constantly, especially in the social media age. You know that we live in today and we make these comparisons, and you know you look, I just there's a lot there. No, no, there's a lot.
Speaker 1:And we can. You know we're happy to unpack it. A comparison is I tell you one thing. I mean I'll tell you one thing while we're chatting is that when you start comparing, you better get the full backstory of who you're trying to compare. Because there's a backstory, there's a deeper something going on. Some people that look like what's going on, that look, you know massively successful people. You need to find out their whole story.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, it looks like, you know, it looks a lot like people just get the wrong. We get this perception of how a situation is, and it's never what we think it is. Even if we have 95 percent of the equation, there's that five percent that could change everything, and you know those of us that are out here running these businesses we've made sacrifices that you know that most people aren't willing to make, and so it really just boils down to where's your heart at, and so this work really isn't for everyone. Um, it's about a lot of it's about taking a lot of personal responsibility. Um, it's about a lot of it's about taking a lot of personal responsibility and about um really being centered in your, your goal and where that goal is, and I just think that people have no concept of that, um, and that's why a lot of people don't do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you haven't, if you've never done it, you can't know, right.
Speaker 2:It's there.
Speaker 1:There's, it is a. I always say that we're different, Business owners are different, we're different, and that's okay, it's not. It's not better or worse, it's just different. And you know, we're built a little differently, and that's a. That's that's. That's a great thing. So what do you attribute your growth to? That's a great thing.
Speaker 2:So what do you attribute your growth to? Resilience overall. Just to put it simply A lot of self-motivation, discipline, those things that are sort of hardened in you over time based on your own experiences, yeah, you know, and just never, never giving up.
Speaker 1:I love that. Never give up, yep, never give up, hey. So this might be.
Speaker 2:So how do you balance, like, business and personal demands? Oh, that's a tough one, I think, for all of us, um, especially in the demands of the current market, you know. I mean you have to be able to be on. It's funny cause it's so competitive. Like I, I often think about, um, how things must have been before cell phones. You know, nowadays you're expected to be available all the time because if you're not the person that's like a competitor, for example, they could be just a little bit more available to you, maybe just a little bit more willing to pick up the phone while they're behind the wheel and you've lost customers.
Speaker 2:So it puts this pressure on everything all the time. So you just have to figure out when. You know, you really just have to be very aware of yourself and your operation and know when you can take the time, know when you're taking too much time and and take the little victories, whether that be a slight, uh, a slightly slower morning, um, every so often, and just be able to appreciate those slower moments. And then, and also I think it's got a lot to do with just being organized in your own life, cause a lot of people excuse me, a lot of people and it's just totally human to do this.
Speaker 2:But we have a lot of things in our life that isn't quite situated where it needs to be per our priorities. And so you know, if you, if you know the people and the people places things in your life that are most important, then you know when you get that moment, that free moment I'm talking about that, you know where to spend that energy, um, and yield the return that's going to increase the percentage of you reaching whatever that goal may be in your life. So that's been helpful for me in just giving myself grace and taking those moments when they arise and knowing when you just really need to schedule. Sometimes you just have to schedule yourself a break. Oh, a hundred percent All the time, like you have to give yourself.
Speaker 2:You have to know where that break's coming from and when.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so when it comes to team members, what qualities do you look for in great team members?
Speaker 2:Well, I like people who naturally have a very positive attitude. That's probably number one for me, because I can work with that. If someone's positive, I can work with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I agree 100%.
Speaker 2:No matter what. Yeah, you can teach them the stuff if they've got the right attitude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I agree a hundred percent. I mean, yeah, you can teach them the stuff if they, if they've got the right attitude.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, and um. So for me, it's more about what I don't. What I don't want is uh, I don't, I don't like entitlement, I don't like um, excuses, um.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, cause. You know everybody's like out to be a victim half the time nowadays, and it's it's just you know being able to. I'd say grit too. You know, just like drive Um uh yeah, and I accountability like I don't. You know, nobody's perfect. You know we're all, we're all flawed. But just yet, back to the excuses. Just you know People that want to make a difference in their community and want, want to show up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. Yeah, that's very good. Positive attitude, no entitlement, no excuses. Grit accountability, make a difference and show up. I mean, that's a great employee. Yep, Yep, A hundred percent. All right, I got some quick fire questions here. So name of the podcast is Epic Entrepreneurs and Epic is an acronym, so I you know. I'd like a word or a sentence about each one of the letters. So the E stands for education. What are your thoughts on education?
Speaker 2:Uh yeah, education's important, no matter sort of what, um, you know where you're coming at from that. Uh, educate yourself 100%.
Speaker 1:Always yeah, self-education yeah.
Speaker 2:I love that?
Speaker 1:How about planning?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, that's a big one. Planning is essential. You know it's funny, I got this saying plan to wing it. I'm going to write that down.
Speaker 1:I might call this episode plan to wing it. That's coming, man, I got it. I just I love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh man Cause you know we all have these plans and uh it just uh so often it just doesn't work out.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so good.
Speaker 2:It is good, man yeah.
Speaker 1:That's, that's so good. All right, I is inspiration. Thoughts on inspiration.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's a big, a big motivator is going to be just inspiring and and being, and being inspired, and being inspired. You know I've had a lot of inspiration in my journey and it's it's definitely way up there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, got it. How about C is commitment? How? What's your thought on committing?
Speaker 2:Uh, well, yeah, 100%. If you're sitting on the fence or if you're standing in the middle of the road, you know it's not going to work out. You know it's just kind of like a law. It's like a law in the universe Just pick a side, it's like just it doesn't matter really, um, what you do. It's uh, it's like sometimes not making a decision is a is the worst decision that there's. A lot of times there's no right or wrong. Just make a decision and roll with it. So that commitment to that decision or to, um, to anything really, I think, is another really important one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome. So what do you wish someone had told you before you got into business that you know now? That sometimes the sacrifices that you're making aren't always for the reasons that you think they are. Wow, that's deep.
Speaker 2:Well, so what advice would you give other business owners that are looking to grow? Um, just know what you're up against, you know, like, definitely, think it through and get a, get a good game plan. Um, but I think you know you can do it. You can do it with that drive and that belief in yourself and, frankly, like we need that. We need that now. Like we need people to lead, follow or get out of the way. So, yeah, take take the leap and believe in yourself and, yeah, plan to wing it. I love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, plan to wing it. I love that. So is there any last piece of advice or anything you'd want to give?
Speaker 2:other budding business owners and entrepreneurs out there in the world. I mean, surround yourself with great people. You know, like when I first started Junk or Not I had five people and I, straight up, I tried something a little bit different. So I've got these incredible people that have been on my side and been supportive to me and, you know, I just really thought it out and thought about those people and I really thought about what it is that they are providing to me and I also asked like, what do I, what do I think I'm providing to them, what could I provide to them? And I wrote that stuff down and I called each individual and I sort of made a, you know just kind of like a, and I sort of made a, you know just kind of like a board of my mentors and my closest people and I called them and told them everything that I thought that they were helping me with. So that when.
Speaker 2:I called them, they would know, like I had a hype man. You know, like one of my buddies he's just a hype man. Like he's just there, he's awesome and you know it's great because when I call him I don't really need to vet through the problem. You know I have a friend for that.
Speaker 1:You know another friend for that. You got the, you got the guy. I am a little down man.
Speaker 2:I'm talking to you Get me up. Yeah, I don't even have to say that to him because I call him and I say, hey, man, you know, I've talked to him, I connected with him and was like you know, I really appreciate how you are always showing up for me. No matter what side I'm, I'm what, where I'm coming from in a problem, you always have positivity to attribute it to, and I don't have more questions afterwards than I did going in. So it feels like a safe place for me to be able to just really soundboard, and so he is aware of that and so he knows how to show up for me too.
Speaker 2:And you know, I've got somebody who's a mentor to me. She's an amazing business woman in the city and she inspires me and you know. So I'll call her and we can talk about business stuff. You know, if I'm, if I'm, afraid of something or struggling with something, I know that she's um, she's faced it before. So, yeah, just surrounding yourself with good people and also communicate and be. You know, don't wait until tomorrow or some other time to tell people how you feel. You know, do it, do it now and um, and that way your, your communication is more organized and um, you're, you're contributing and also receiving the utmost from the people that you're surrounding yourself with.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:So how does somebody get ahold of you or Junker Knot? What's the best way for people?
Speaker 2:Best way is to just call me. Um, yeah, just pick up the phone and call me um 828-280-7643. Um, because everybody's situation is different. Um, you can also go take a look at my website, um, uh, Junkernot828.com. Um, and that's really good. It's a, it's a really sort of a good guideline for what we do with some breakdowns, um, you know, but at the end of the day, uh, you know, picking up the phone is always the quickest, most effective way yeah so so give dustin a call.
Speaker 1:You got some. We've all got it. You've all got some stuff. Let's let's get. Let's get rolling, get get. Give him a call. You've all got it. You've all got some stuff. Let's get rolling. Give him a call and let's get some things cleaned up. Everybody's got something that he can help with. So this has been fun, this has been awesome, this has been useful. I think this is great. I really appreciate you being here, dustin. Thank you, thank you for having me and until next time, all the best.