1676 – What is Required for Junk Removal with Andy Weins

0:28Hey there, thoughtful listener. million in revenue. Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high-ticket sales appointments. You can even chat with me live and I'll see and reply to your messages. Also, don't forget, the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for guests. Go to upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. We'd love to have you.

0:58with us right now it's speaker soldier and entrepreneur andy wines uh andy i'm also going to add uh you're also an author and podcaster your book is words effing matter and yes it's the full f word uh and then your podcast uh is let's see if i got that oh where did i have it I had it just over here. It was cool. And I don't have it. It's Trash Talk Business Podcast. Very, very cool. Oh, and also, welcome home. Transformation from troops and boots to veterans in the civilian world. Very, very cool. Andy, it's great to have you on the show. Hey, thanks for having me, Josh. Anytime I can have a fellow veteran business leader, I'm always thrilled to do so.

1:38I just kind of, in a very poor manner, intro to you. I'll let you do a better job in terms of your impact today. Well, that's what, you know, speaker, soldier, entrepreneur, that's the evolution of my life, right? I've been talking about this since the day I was born. My mouth gets me into a lot of situations, good, bad, or indifferent. And so I've always been one that's been vocal. I really found my voice in the military community. And then eventually when I got back from my last deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, I really leaned into what I was put on this earth to do, which would be an entrepreneur.

2:11I'm a fourth generation entrepreneur. My grandfather's owned a scrap scrapyard. Our great grandfather went to scrapyard. My grandfathers were a farmer and a dentist, respectfully. And my dad's been a remodeler for 30 years. So being an entrepreneur was in me. And I did all the things other than entrepreneurship. I worked for the big companies. I worked for small companies. I joined the military. I deployed. And finally, when I looked at myself in the mirror, I said, what was I put on this earth to be an entrepreneur? That's where I'm at. And that's where I really lean in. That's the life I live and the life I of?

2:42You know, I think I don't know what the stats are for sure. I don't know if you've come across this, but the rates of veterans that actually start a business, I believe that's a little bit higher than average. You know, so I don't know if you know anything about that. But I want to mainly what I want to ask you is you already have that entrepreneurial spirit. I had it when I was in the military, the military isn't necessarily designed to encourage a bunch of entrepreneurs in its ranks, right? It's usually like, this is the mission, we're all going to work together, that sort of thing. How did you find your entrepreneurial energy and spirit jive within that military culture?

3:23So I'll answer the first question that wasn't asked. What is the number? Veterans are almost twice as likely. The number is 1.9. They're National Institute of Health. So there's the first thing. One of the things I talk about in my book and in life, I never think, right? I make data-driven decisions. So I research, I analyze information, and then we make a decision based off that. So there it is, twice as likely, and I will answer, yes. Veterans, it's interesting. The military community does not promote individual thought, ideas, entrepreneurship, having your own vision. And so what I think happened, right, what happened to me at least, what I theorize happens to a lot of veterans, and they tell me this, is they have this ambition to go see the world and take things on, right?

4:02They're ambitious. They want to get out of their hometown. And then they join the military, and that seed never leaves. And then when they get out, they've had this years of structure and discipline. and then they apply the structure and discipline with the vision. And that's what makes them successful entrepreneurs versus people that jump into entrepreneurship without that discipline. Because a lot of entrepreneurs have great ideas and maybe even great products and services. They're great at doing the thing. They lack the structure and discipline day in and day out to run a successful organization.

4:32And that's the difference between the person that has a hobby and truly has a sustainable, repeatable business. Yeah. And so, Andy, talk about, like, so you started your business while you were, so you're active and you've been a reservist now for some time. When did the business get started? So I joined the reserves from day one. I deployed. Okay, okay. Yeah, so reserves from day one. Yep. And I joined in 2004. I deployed to Iraq in 2006 came home in seven. And I deployed the Gitmo in 14 and most of 15. And what happened is in 2009, early 2009, I got laid off in 2008, like a lot of people, and I got to a place where I was basically unemployable.

5:18So I'm 24 year old combat vet, and my skill sets didn't line up with the civilian world. So I started driving around the northwest side of Milwaukee, picking up appliances and other scrap on the side of the road. And that turned into my first business, which was a business card and a personal checking account that I did for a number of years on the side. When I got back from my last deployment, that's when I got serious. I got an LLC, Green Up Solutions. We started with environmental consulting, got into junk removal. I had 10 junk removal franchises across the country within three years. I got out of the franchise world because, again, it was that structure that didn't fit my vision.

5:53And so I got away from that, sat through a two-year non-compete. And in March of 22, I got back at it, started Camo Crew Junk Removal. And it's been a ride ever since. I love it. Junk removal is the industry that I love. I grew up in the waste and recycling industry. And so I was able to take my knowledge and apply it with military culture and build a successful small business here in my community. Yeah. And tell me about that industry for junk removal. Like, how does it work? Is it profitable? How do you get business for it? I'm super curious. Yeah. Back in 2014, when I was really getting serious about it, the industry was about$5.5 billion.

6:35It's a subsegment of the waste industry. Now it's about a$10 billion industry. It's doubled in 10 years, essentially. And there's several contributing factors. First off, we as a society buy more and keep it for less time. Well, think about it. Our grandparents and our parents have furniture since we grew up. People now are replacing their furniture every two to three years. So there's a higher demand. Landfills take less material. And there's less and less people that have trucks and trailers and the means to move material themselves. So the demand has gone up in junk removal. and really it's a piece of the waste industry that the big players really don't dabble in.

7:12They do curbside trash. They like receptacles that they can dump and tip. And so there's a big market for people that want to get into home services. It only requires a strong back, an ambitious attitude in a pickup truck, right? People say, well, why is it so successful? Why do people get it? Well, the barrier to entry. If you want to clean gutters, you need a ladder. If you want to be a carpenter, you need a hammer and some knowledge. You want to do junk removal, you need a strong back. And so a lot of people get into this industry and there's people that have gotten, cause it's been good the last few years.

7:43The challenge is when the real estate market drops, drunk removal drops. And so a lot of people that were, you know, easy come, easy go. Well, they came in easy and they might go out pretty easy too. It's those that build the sustainable businesses, the best practices, great marketing. They'll be here. You know, the test of time will not eliminate them. Yeah. So let's talk about, Andy, your work today, particularly your book. So the subtitle for the book, Words Definitely Matter, Retrain Your Brain to Use Language That Serves You. Tell me about the book. 2014, right before I deployed to Gitmo, I had the honor and the opportunity to attend mass resilience training from the U.S.

8:22Army. And then there I learned a simple model within the first hour. This is an 80-hour training. The first hour, they teach you a simple model. It's called ATC, activating event, your thought, and then your consequence. And that sat with me for the last 10 years. I went from this idea that things happened to me and that I had all these obligations and transformed this idea that things happened near me and I can make it a choice whether it happened to me or for me. And when I look at my future, are there things that I get to do, an opportunity, or things that I have to do, an obligation. It's been 10 years.

8:57I've researched psychologists and sociologists. I researched and spent time with Dr. Bill Crawford, who's written several books about the brain and the way our thoughts interact. I got with an author, a ghost writer to work with me about 18 months ago, and I started writing a leadership book called Hustle, Struggle, Grind, The 13 Lessons of Life. And after eight weeks of outlining, she goes, you're not a leader. You're not writing a leadership book. We're writing a book about words. That is your secret sauce. That is what separates you from everybody else. We know that thoughts are rooted in language.

9:29When you change the words and the language you use within your thoughts, you change your perception. When you change your perception, you change your actions. Your actions become habits. And what I realized on this journey is when I got disciplined about the language I use, I got more disciplined about my life. I'm more disciplined about my fasting. I'm more disciplined about going to the gym. I'm more disciplined about who I spend my time with because I'm disciplined about my words first. And that's something that's been extremely transformational. And it's been a 10-year journey in this one thought.

9:59And so the book came out in June of 2023. It's my opportunity to share myself and my vision of what I've learned with the world. Yeah. And Andy, are you, so obviously you're speaking on that. Are you doing coaching and consulting as well? I've done coaching and consulting a number of years where I, what I love doing is getting consulting opportunities with small groups, six to 20 people where we can talk about limiting self-beliefs. We can talk about those vulnerabilities we have that, what do you call it? Now the word escapes me. Now I'm all over the place. Oh, whatever. When you, when you, when you think you're not good enough.

10:44yeah this uh this imposter syndrome thank you why i was right thank you imposter so good all good so i'm like it's right there i know the term well because i live it every day okay so this is the beautiful thing we hear about imposter syndrome i hear other speakers talk about it and oh you got to get over it you got to overcome it within the book we teach you how to overcome it by the use of language i i have this wounded child inside of me that says i'm not good enough before i get on every podcast, every stage, even when I'm at a networking event, I get up to do my 30 second pitch. I have this moment of nervousness and it's my choice.

11:22Do I have anxiety because I anticipate a negative outcome or do I have excitement because I anticipate a positive outcome? That is a choice you can make in the moment. You're nervous because you care. How you show up is a choice and the choice is rooted in the language you use. Even now, right now, I'm stumbling on the word and I'm willing and vulnerable enough to stay on that point and allow someone to let me, you know, let them in, be vulnerable. It's like, yeah, you're going to stumble in life. That's a reality. That's human, right? We talk about the military, embrace the suck. Now I've transitioned that to embrace the struggle.

11:56Every journey is worth the, every journey has a struggle and it's worth the work to put in. And that's what this work, this book is all about. Put in the work to yourself. This is not how to be the best communicator with your employees. It's not how to be the best leader within your organization. This is what are the words you're telling yourself to be successful at all the things that you do. It's a choice you make. What sort of impact might you imagine would take place, you know, after you spend some time? Because obviously, you've spent a lot of time with your own people, and you've been doing this a little bit now with other companies.

12:31But what transformation do you expect? And let me ask you too, to kind of talk about how might someone know that this, what you're talking about, is an issue that's negatively impacting their culture and their organization, their profitability, like impacting everything. And how does the transformation usually look once somebody hires with you and they start doing this work? What you see is there's language that is limited and people within the organization stop using the language. I've done a few classes and consultants on this exact topic. I've also gotten feedback from people that read the book and they say, I didn't realize this limiting language I used.

13:14Once I eliminated that language, it opened up my eyes to what is possible. So we eliminate certain words like if. It's not if, it's when. We lead with positive outcome, positive intent. So when this happens, this is my plan of attack. Is there a chance that it doesn't happen? Yeah, there's a chance. When anticipates it happening. So now we predict it happen. And when something else changes or something else happens, then we can adjust. We eliminate other words like just. Just is a lazy crutch word, right? Just justifies. Hey, I just need a minute of your time. Well, it's only just this thing. No.

13:52Mean what you say. Say what you mean. Mean what you say. If someone says, hey, I only need a minute of your time. Only a singular. Okay. I will give you a minute of my time. I'll give you an idea. When you come back a third, fourth, fifth, 10th time, now we have to have another conversation. And it puts the onus on the speaker to effectively communicate what they truly need out of this world. And then the people around you will respond. It's about using our clear, creative, confident brain to respond to situations versus using our lower lizard brains that operates out of fear to react to situations.

14:26And that's when we freeze, we fight, or we fly away from situations that are deemed uncomfortable. How do we lean into the discomfort? That's what this book will teach you. And when you start using that language, you'll start hearing other people using limiting language. And it's an opportunity then to ask the question, to truly understand what they need, what, and desire out of this world. Yeah. Again, the book is words, the F word matter. retrain your brain to use language that serves you uh and this just published andy this is like published june 14th flag day army birthday you know we just we had ourselves a big party yeah and and and as well so i also want to encourage uh to our friend that's listening uh who should be reaching out uh because listen the book's great you know maybe they get it for their team or whatever, but who should be reaching out and inviting, having a conversation with you about maybe working with their team?

15:29What types of companies would be a good fit for you? Leaders that want their employees to use more confident, creative language. That's what it comes down to. Most leaders within organizations read the book and a lot of it, it's like, yeah, this all makes sense to me. Once you start listening to what your employees are saying, what you're reading in emails, you'll start to pick apart, well, hold on, this is limiting language. So this is opportunities for leaders and leadership teams to come together, talk about their vulnerabilities and what language they can use so they can start taking more control and regulate, really is the right word, so they can regulate themselves in real time to get the best outcomes.

16:07So it's those that want those workshops, those trainings, where we can have a conversation, very open, very honest. It's catered to the individual organization based on what their needs are. That's a beautiful thing. I've done keynote speaking for years. I've never done the same keynote twice because not, I've never had the same audience twice, not the same venue twice. And so because there's so many lessons within the book, we develop the best strategy for the audience and we do that in real time. Awesome. Andy Wines, your website is andywines.com. That's W-E-I-N-S. I also just want to throw a shout out out there too to your junk removal.

16:48So it's camocrewjunkremoval.com, which you can see. And I know also, Andy, I just want to give you a shout out too, because I know you've done some good volunteer work and, you know, help some great organizations. You and I both kind of serve the, you know, do we do some pro bono and some nice good stuff in the veteran community. So I just want to say thank you so much for that as well. So Andy, any final, like if someone goes to Andy Wines, what you'd recommend that they do? buy the book and challenge me on every idea you read that you don't agree with. Love it. Andy Wines, thank you so much for joining us again, speaker, soldier, entrepreneur, author, and podcaster.

17:28And it's been great, Andy, having you on the show. Thanks.

17:38Thanks for listening to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit upmyinfluence.com slash guest. If you're a listener, I'd love to shout out your business to our whole audience for free. You can do that by leaving a review on Apple podcasts or join our listener Facebook group. Just search for the thoughtful entrepreneur in Facebook. I'd love even if you just stop by to say hi. I'd love to meet you. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world. We love our community who listens and shares our program every day.

18:22Together, we are empowering one another as thoughtful entrepreneurs. Hit subscribe so that tomorrow morning, that's right, seven days a week, you are going to be inspired and motivated to succeed. I promise to bring positivity and inspiration to you for around 15 minutes each day. Thanks for listening and thank you for being a part of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Movement.