Like many recent college grads, Nick Friedman wasn’t so sure about getting a 9-to-5 office job.
“I felt that I was applying what I learned in college, but something didn’t feel quite right about sitting behind a desk and crunching numbers for another company,” said the 25-year-old Pomona (Calif.) College graduate.
So he decided to throw it all away.
Friedman is the president and co-founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk, a Rockville-based company that specializes in trash removal for residential and corporate clients. Basically, they get rid of the stuff your local trash collector won’t. Washington-area natives Friedman and co-founder Omar Soliman launched the company in 2005 after spending several summers during college hauling junk to make extra money. The company has grown rapidly in the year since it launched. In 2006, College Hunks had more than 2,800 junk-hauling appointments, including a job for US Airways that involved more than 50 truckloads of trash. They’ve also gone from one truck and a few employees to five trucks and 20 employees.
While Friedman says the company’s success is based on more than its “hunk” image, the gimmick has helped.
“We don’t have a screening panel that people sit on and say ‘hunk, not hunk,’ but we try to meet customers’ expectations that they’re going to get a friendly collegiate guy who’s going to be respectful throughout the entire process,” he said. “We’re putting a crisp image to an otherwise inglorious occupation.”
But you can vote for your favorite hunk in the Hunk “Haul” of Fame on the company’s Web site.
The next step for Friedman, a graduate of Sidwell Friends School in Washington, and College Hunks is to take the company national. They’ve already secured their first franchise in Orlando and are working to set up a central call center for franchisees. And although there are many junk-hauling services throughout the U.S., Friedman is confident the Hunk brand will be successful.
“[Trash hauling] is a very segmented and a very unbranded industry,” he said. “From Day One we kept putting one foot in front of the other trying to establish a fully branded company. We’re a customer-oriented business,and the first piece of that is appearance. You wouldn’t go to a business meeting without a suit. It boils down to showing up clean-cut.”
Nick Friedman
Business
» Current job: President of College Hunks Hauling Junk
» Last job: Economic analyst
» Number of e-mails a day: 75+
» Number of voice mails a day: 8+
» Essential Web site: 1800JunkUSA.com
» Best perk: Developing a creative brand from scratch
» Gadgets: 5 commercial dumptrucks
» Education/credentials: Sidwell Friends School Alumni, BA in Economics from Pomona College
» Last conference: 2006 International Franchise Expo
» First job: Shoveling snow
» Original aspiration: Playing in the NBA
» Career objective: Sell franchises for College Hunks Hauling Junk nationwide.
PERSONAL
» Date of Birth: November 25, 1981
» Hometown: Washington, D.C.
» Sports/hobbies: Basketball, travel, festive gatherings
» Transportation: Cadillac
» Favorite restaurant: Acqua Al 2
» Computer: Dell
» Favorite clothier: Brooks Brothers
» Vacation spot: Miami
» Role model: Charles Barkley
» Quote: “You’re smarter than I am. You’re better educated than I was. If you don’t do better than I did, you’ve failed.” – My dad
» Reading: E-Myth Revisited
» Worst fear: Close-minded people
