Epic Entrepreneurs

Stress Relief On Moving Day; How College H.U.N.K.S. Delivers Peace Of Mind with Anne Smith

• Bill Gilliland

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Moving day can feel like a storm. We sat down with Anne Smith of College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving in Asheville to unpack how her team turns chaos into calm through mindset, leadership development, and community-rooted service. From the moment they step on-site, their mission is simple: reduce stress. Anne explains why HUNKS—Honest, Uniformed, Nice, Knowledgeable, Service—is more than a catchy acronym; it’s the operating system for hiring, training, and customer experience.

We get real about entrepreneurship: launching mid-pandemic, learning to protect energy, and building a support network that actually supports. Anne shares why good networking is about being a resource, not working a room, and how partnerships with Homeward Bound, Habitat for Humanity, and Asheville Tool Closet turn junk into impact. She also highlights a powerful brand initiative—free moves with domestic violence shelters in October—that reframes what service businesses can do for their cities.

Inside the operation, Anne hires for coachability and empathy, then grows leaders through clear paths from wingman to captain. Morning huddles, gratitude routines, and continuous education make the culture tangible. We walk through the EPIC framework: bring energy with intention, prioritize education, plan with the flexibility to pivot, and live commitment through core values that stick. Along the way, Anne debunks myths about business ownership, talks boundaries, and shares how mindset shapes every job and every customer interaction.

If you want practical insight on reducing client stress, building a values-driven team, and growing through relationships, this conversation delivers. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s planning a move, and leave a review with your best tip for staying calm on moving day.


Guest Contact Info:

Anne.Smith@chhj.com

https://www.collegehunkshaulingjunk.com/

https://www.facebook.com/CollegeHunksHaulingJunkandMoving/

https://www.instagram.com/collegehunks/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/college-hunks-hauling-junk

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-zo_ofBvBf5jTrjpvit_ow

https://twitter.com/CollegeHunks

Thanks for Listening. You may contact me or our team at https://billgilliland.biz/

All the best!
Bill

Thanks for listening. Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review, and share this podcast. You can reach me at williamgilliland@actioncoach.com or at https://billgilliland.biz/

All the best!

Bill

Bill Gilliland:

Hey there. Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Bill Gillilan, your host. I am also the principal at Action Coach Business Growth Partners and one of the founders of the Asheville Business Summit. A lot of times I am talking to people that I've just met or don't know, but I've got a friend today that we get to talk to. So I've got Ann Smith from College Hunks, and I'm going to get the rest of it hauling, junk, and moving. So it's College Hunks, Hauling, Junk and Moving. That's a good name because it tells you pretty much what they do. But Ann, introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about the company and what you do and how you're serving the community.

Anne Smith:

Well, great. Thank you so much, Bill. Appreciate you having us on today. My husband and I are the owner operators of College Hunks, Hauling Junk and Moving here in Asheville. I think we could all agree that moving is stressful. Am I right?

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, 100%. Yeah. There's always there's always some complaining or something going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Anne Smith:

And some heavy stuff too. But yeah, even trying to figure out how to get rid of items can can be stressful. So our goal is to decrease our client stress uh during those transitions so that you can focus on other things. Um HUNCS is an acronym. So our team of HUNCS, which stands for Honest, Uniformed, Nice, Knowledgeable, and Service, will come out and uh take care of that moving, junk removal, loading a truck, unloading, whatever the project is, uh they'll take care of that. And again, to to reduce the stress of moving. Uh, we opened this location about five years ago here in Western North Carolina and have just really loved being a part of this community. Um, I'm gonna go ahead and put the cat out of the bag. Everyone asked me if it's uh all about college students, and it's not. The reason college is in the name is because the founder of the overall franchise was at the University of Miami, which is why the colors are orange and green. And so we are all in the University of Stress-Free Service, but doesn't really have anything to do with college at all.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, I understand. That that's that's cool. Uh yeah, I always ask people like, what business are you really in? And you're really in the reducing stress business. You know, everybody says, yeah, they're yeah, I love that. I love that. So let's let me let me um ask a few business related questions. You guys, uh, how long have you been in in this business here?

Anne Smith:

We've been doing this for five years.

Bill Gilliland:

So for five years. So that's good. That it gives us a background.

Anne Smith:

So we moved to mid-pandemic to start this.

Bill Gilliland:

Perfect. And then we've had a we had a pandemic and we've had a hurricane, we've had all kinds of cool stuff happen uh around here. What but looking back, if you had to start over again, what would you have done differently?

Anne Smith:

That is such a great question. You know, there's definitely small things, um, small things that I would probably have done differently. Um, but on a broader level, I probably would have acknowledged that my calendar is going to be chop full of business choices and decisions. And I probably would have been more intentional from the beginning to have probably uh planned fun, planned activities for friends and family, even outside the area, been more intentional. I eventually got to that point when I realized that life was consumed with work, but I think I would have been a little bit more intentional from the beginning and uh just plan get those on the calendar and think a little bit further ahead than just the one year. Um, but yeah, other decisions here, some small things, but overall, not too many things that would change.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, I actually love that. I mean, I had to I had to make it one of my major goals to plan fun. So, as one of the top three things that that I have to look at every week is like when, you know, when is there fun in the week? Otherwise, we just work all the time. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So what are what are some of your biggest learnings as an owner and an employer since you started?

Anne Smith:

I think it's the the importance of having a support network is is invaluable. Um we're being part of a franchise, you know, we've got that network and we ask for the support and we get the support. But gosh, here being a part of the Western North Carolina community, we uh feel so supported and relationships that we've built. I always say, hey, if I can't help you with the problem, I can probably point you in the direction of somebody that can assist you. Um, but really just being uh transparent and and being a part of the community and building those relationships. Uh networking gets a bad rap, but I really believe it's really about just just understanding who people are and getting to know them and their business and being a center for resource, you know, putting people on resources.

Bill Gilliland:

I think I think bad networking might get a bad rap, but good networking gets a good rap. I mean, I, you know, I mean, I I'll I'll share. We, you know, I'm a client and we um, you know, I mean, that's how my wife is using you today, actually, because of networking. I mean, otherwise I would have never known who to call. So um, yeah, I think I think networking is basically critical for most of uh uh most businesses and business owners in uh in the thing. So uh any learnings as an employer?

Anne Smith:

Oh, as an employer, there's always gonna be surprises, right? Things are gonna happen in your business no matter what your line of business is. Um as an employer, I guess I was surprised to realize that they are always into your team is in tune to what's going on. You know, you gotta be congruent, right? How you're feeling on the inside needs to match how you're expressing yourself on the X outside. And if you and that was a little bit newer to me. Um, but yeah, yeah, I guess that was it's just business is fragile, right? All industries, everything we're doing. Um, it's you've got to control the controllables um and realize what's in your control and what's not. And one of the things that we can control, right, is that mindset. And I think you guys do such a great job at Action Coach. I've learned so much from you, Bill, through our conversations and even just um, you know, allowing me to pick up the phone and ask you some things. Um, just that business relationship. I so appreciate that. But I do believe that mindset is you can't ask your team to uh to have a great mindset if you're you know not taking a step back with a broader perspective and going, okay, hold on a second, is this gonna matter, you know, in five years what I'm talking about for five minutes.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, no, I love that. And uh thanks for thanks for those. You know, it's interesting to me that you know, I you know, I'll talk to anybody. If anybody's got a challenge, they can pick up the phone and call me. It's not a problem, but life really is a mirror. Like if you show up with a good attitude, then that's probably the employees are probably rub off on. If you show up in a bad mood, I guarantee you that's gonna show up in your employees. So it's an interesting one. What what are some of the common misconceptions that that about running a business?

Anne Smith:

Well, everyone thinks that it's you know, you're rolling in money. Uh other than misconceptions, or they I guess they would think that, you know, that it's that it's easy and that time is always in your control. So those things are, you know, there's just challenges with all things that you do. Um, I think as an owner, it's very difficult to have uh boundaries with your time. Maybe it's a it can be a physical barrier barrier that you're a boundary that you're not at the event or you're not at the office, but it's tricky, especially, you know, to stop your conversation, whether it's in your mind or with your spouse as your partner talking about the business. So those are, you know, those can be challenging.

Bill Gilliland:

It's very hard. It's very hard. What do what do you attribute your growth to?

Anne Smith:

Um, we have again, this points back to Western North Carolina. I think it's just an amazing community. We've built a lot of relationships um here that have been able to advocate for us. Um, one of our both, you know, relationships with it company wide as well as just personal relationships. Um, our mission at College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving is to move the world. Um, but that doesn't mean just moving your things, right? That means being a part and serving in the community is where we provide service. So we work a lot with homeward bound. Any items that we get from junk removal services, we try to uh save those, they'll come pick them up from homeward bound. Obviously, we work with Habitat for Humanity, Asheville Tool Closet, when we get tool weird tools and things like that, we're working with them. Um, and then for the month of October, which is the month for domestic awareness, domestic violence awareness, we do free moves for working with shelters, and that's as a brand. So I think when we're able to build those relationships and and communicate that we're doing more than just moving and junk removal, um, that we're trying to put you know some good things uh in the communities here. I'll put on that. Yeah, I go back to relationships, though. It's all about those relationships that that have been created here.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, I know I love that. Yeah, I mean, yeah, this really is a giving community. And I think it shows that you know how we help each other and how we work together, even competitors a lot of times will work together to help, you know, on on things. I you know, I was I was at a thing for the builders the other night, and you know, there's a whole room full of builders. They're they're technically all competitors, but they're kind of not. So yeah, it's pretty, yeah, it's pretty interesting. So you you you jump you talked about this a minute ago. How do you balance like the demands of business and your personal life?

Anne Smith:

Yeah, that's a that's an ongoing question, isn't it, in the world of life. Um, I think again, I think it goes back to that, you know, working with our mindset. What kind of practices can we put in place um to keep that mindset good and keep that energy good? You know, personally, I I believe in and gratitude is a is a big thing. Gratitude journal and really starting off my day looking at that. Um and you know, exercise and and again, those relationships. Okay, if I'm feeling a certain way with some certain challenges, well, who what's what's a positive thing that I can do? Who can I reach out to and encourage them? What can I do to kind of flip the script, if you will, in my brain at that moment? So yeah, I just try to put some routines and things in place um to keep the the mindset good and the energy good.

Bill Gilliland:

I like it. I like it a lot. Yeah, I I uh I actually got an out that includes like you can a journal and you can put in the gratitudes. And I, you know, I kind of tried it for a while, didn't do it. Now I've got a pretty good habit on it. It is it's interesting. It just it kind of does set the day for you, doesn't it? Yeah, it does.

Anne Smith:

And I think it's it's so funny because our brain will will do what we want. You know, if we want to solve a problem, we're gonna keep looking for those problems. But if we start identifying what the good thing, what the what happened that day, then we're gonna keep finding those good things. Yeah, we're all one of our our uh core values is building leaders. And so I love talking, you know, we're we're helping folks put different types of skills in that are transferable to whatever they're gonna do in life, uh, beyond college hunks, hauling, junk, and moving, but uh that that skill, you know, to being able to look at things um through a different lens and really uh especially when you're working with folks that are stressed out, right? Moving is really hard. It's very, very difficult. So the folks that are working for us have got the ability to be compassionate, to say, hey, I understand this is stressful, you're in good hands, you know, let's let's work through this. Um, I hear you, you're you've got we're you're in good hands. Um, so that's that's really important to the line of work that we do is really find make sure that we've got the right team to have that customer experience.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, I love that. So how so what qualities do you look for when you're looking for employees?

Anne Smith:

That's a good question. My background is career development. Uh, so interestingly, that kind of can can leap over into this realm. Um and I'm not necessarily looking for so much for experience, but I I like to get a foundation of who someone is. Um I'm not looking for a laborer. I'm looking for someone that's got a positive mindset, someone that's coachable, someone that can think critically. And and when I say, hey, what do you want out of this experience if we're to bring you on the team? I'm I'm hoping that they can, you know, come up with something. I want to learn more from a business sense, or I want to, you know, work in a good positive environment, or I want to decrease someone's stress, you know, those kinds of things. So yeah, that coachability, that positive mindset, uh, you know, being able to play well in the sandbox, get along with other people, and uh problem solve.

Bill Gilliland:

When they do come up with something into the answer to that question, what do you want out of this job essentially is what you I think what you just said. Sure. Well, what kind of I mean, just I'm just curious. This is uh, you know, what where do you what kind of answers do you get?

Anne Smith:

Yeah, I get everything under the sun. Um, and you know, I've got one person in mind, and he said, because we go through that, what I mentioned, you're gonna learn skills and marketing and sales and critical thinking and positivity and coaching other people, um, which is more than just picking up heavy stuff, right? You think it's just picking up stuff, but there's so much beyond that. And Nazir said to me, I want to improve my communication. I said, okay. So I wrote that down. And he's been with us for almost two years. And let me tell you, he's just got, he just made junior captain, his communication, his desire to believe in himself to and to, you know, to lead. That that's really impressive. We've got a structure where you come in as a junior wingman, then you go wingman, captain, senior captain. There's a junior captain in there too. But point being, you can just stay at the basic level if you choose to. We want people that want that desire more. But that one always stood out to me because I saw it. I saw his communication improve. I've seen his confidence grow. And um, yeah, I love that.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, so you're also in the people development business.

Anne Smith:

100%. Yeah. We are building lead building leaders is our main, our number one core value. And we are living that core value every day. We start our mornings with a huddle. So we've got someone that's kicking off that, and then uh we're sharing what you know moments that our team has seen each other in regarding those core values. And it kind of goes back to that gratitude, Bill, when you start highlighting things that someone on your team has done, then you start to look for those, right? And then you get to bring that to the team, and then person standing next to you is like, oh, I've got something too. Oh, yeah, that reminds me of how they did this for that customer or how this worked.

Bill Gilliland:

So Yeah, yeah, no, it's yeah, it's uh it's infectious. So yeah, it has to be intentional, but it's infectious once it is. So all right. So P Epic is one of my taglines, and I'm gonna, it's an acronym, and I'm gonna ask you to do like a quick fire around. Give me uh just a couple of thoughts about or sentences or words about each one. So and I I kind of um jumping around for um um for the acronym, but uh yeah, I I I I took a license really with the B. So the B is the B stands for bring the energy. So give me some thoughts about bringing energy.

Anne Smith:

Yeah, bringing that energy kind of goes back to what I was saying was just starting the day with that huddle, having that having that morning energy, getting that going at whatever time it happens, and really getting that communication and understanding that it goes beyond what we're doing. We're helping someone else. So trying to relay that.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, I love that. How about the E and Epic stands for education?

Anne Smith:

Education. I think it goes back to that building leaders. We're always reading, we're always encouraging our team to read. You know, what can we? Is it a quote? Is it a book? What can we do? We've uh brought three team members to a virtual three-day summit for Building Leaders Summit. It was put on by corporate, and we paid for their time to be there, their walk away, they had breakout sessions. So I love that. They they did have a book that went with it, but they got to interact in a small group. Um, and what another one of our team members has been on, Christian's been on a podcast before. So yeah, it's just always learning and growing. And I think uh gaining skills outside your comfort zone, that that's what the E is about to me.

Bill Gilliland:

I love it. P E stands for planning. What are your thoughts around planning?

Anne Smith:

You gotta plan. Everything you do needs to be planned. However, the caveat moving and junk removal, everything here, you know, it can be an ebb and a flow. Things can, it's not always the industry where you can plan and things go exactly to plan. So that would lead me to the P might be pivot. It might be make the best decision that you can in that moment and get support if you need to make a I might add that.

Bill Gilliland:

Plan and pivot. I like it. The I stands for inspiration.

Anne Smith:

Um, our inspiration again goes back to that mission is to move the world. And we just love being a part of the community and and working with that. Um we were honored by our franchise meeting last year, and they due to some of the hurricane relief work that we did amongst all the other businesses here, right? Everybody here in Western North Carolina was doing their thing, but it was such an honor to be gathered around other teammates and be recognized with that. Um, and it was called the Move the World Award.

Bill Gilliland:

I love it. Congratulations. Congratulations on that. So, yeah, I love that. How about the sea is commitment?

Anne Smith:

Commitment goes back to those core values. We live our core values, and it and it sounds corny. Um, that's what we've done when we first got started in this business. People said, moving and junk removal. Wow, you coming from corporate. That's what you're doing now. That's interesting, with a little bit of a smile in their voice. Like, what is going on? But when you're living your core values daily, you're realizing that we're pouring into people, helping with their the skills that are building them, not only to provide excellent customer service, but will provide transferable skills, you know, with whatever they're choosing to do next. So I think that's goes back to that, those core values.

Bill Gilliland:

Well, I, you know, anybody who would poo-poo the core values doesn't understand the process. And a lot of people don't know that there's no way you would have invested in this business and its core values if you didn't believe in them and and were willing to go a hundred percent into them. Otherwise, why would you why would you invest? And and so that's yeah, that I think that's uh super important. So I one of the things I've always liked about a a great franchise organization is that they did have systems and core values and things that you could buy into. So I yeah, so if the core values align with you and then why wouldn't you buy into them and be a hundred percent and live them? Yeah.

Anne Smith:

And we we expect our employees to live too. And when that doesn't happen, then they're not the right fit. And that's okay.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, 100%, yeah, 100%. Yeah, we actually have 14 core values, and we I go over them with my team, one uh one of them every week, and we dive into it and what does it mean? And we try to make that our core value of the week. And you know, it it were it works out great. So so what words of advice would you give to other business owners who are looking to grow?

Anne Smith:

That's a great, great question. I'm gonna throw one more thing in there, going back to that C, if I may. Just as an example of commitment, um, we've got two employees that have been with us for five years. So they joined not too long after we first got started. We're bringing them to our annual conference that's called reunions. They'll go down to Tampa with us. We'll all get our five-year jackets uh this February. So that's pretty exciting. And I think that again goes to show that they're they're not what supervisor managerial roles, they've gone up the to lose, use all the variety of skills and and they're leading. And so that's that's a really cool thing to see the commitment and to see what's going on there.

Bill Gilliland:

Well, they've bought into the core values too, or they wouldn't still be there. And it's easy to be committed when your values align. So yeah, that's that's awesome. So back to the advice you'd give business owners looking to grow.

Anne Smith:

Looking to grow, I would say again, goes back to those relationships. Um looking short-term and long term um at the different things that you can do. Because obviously, business ownership can get you uh tied up in the weeds of the detail, but you need to make sure you've got that strategic view as well. And the you know, the realization that energy is your most precious resource. So you can waste it in those weeds or you can try to protect it and deal with what you need to deal with, and then focus on some of the things that maybe are going to be more fruitful.

Bill Gilliland:

Love it. Love that. So, what's the next big thing for college hunks in Asheville?

Anne Smith:

Well, we've got that big event. We're taking them in a few, what is a couple months down to the reunion? Um, but yeah, so things things are going well. We've done a little expansion into some of the territories, expanded our fleet. So um we're happy to be rocking and rolling.

Bill Gilliland:

Congratulations. Congratulations on all that. So, what's the best way for someone to get in touch with if they need some hauling, some junk removal, or some moving?

Anne Smith:

They can call our local office in Arden at 828-483-6054. If you Google us, you'll go to our call center and we'll still be able to catch you that way. That will be just fine as well. They can always email me.

Bill Gilliland:

Love it, love it, love it, love it. So, hey, look, thanks. Really appreciate you being on, man. I think this has been a great interview. And uh, there is a lot of great that you're doing in the community. I really appreciate all you're doing. Congratulations on your success so far. And I'm sure you're gonna continue that that success on and into the future. So thank you so much, Bill.

Anne Smith:

Well, thank you for letting us be a part of this. Appreciate that.

Bill Gilliland:

And until next time, all the best.