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Degree takes backseat to ambition

Alumnus Corey Stansell began his own company in Aug. 2009, College Hunks Hauling Junk, after realizing he wanted to have more control over his life. | Courtesy of Corey Stansell

Corey Stansell graduated from UH with a finance degree in 2007, but after working for Merrill Lynch and Edward Jones, he decided that he wanted to create his own wealth and bought a College Hunks Hauling Junk (junk-removal service) franchise.

“I wanted to be in charge of how much I did or did not make, my schedule, my relationships with other people, and I decided to take the risk, raised the money to do it and found something that I thought I could do that with,” Stansell said.

A lot of Stansell’s clients who had wealth and happiness weren’t CEOs or attorneys but business owners, so he bought his own junk-removal franchise. Because it’s such a new company, his friends and family were wary at first.

“They thought I was crazy,” he said. “We’re taught to go to school, get that education and get that good job. I don’t think any of us stop to think about what we want to do or what will make us the most satisfied.”

Stansell’s franchise opened its doors in August 2009 and business has been flourishing since. He said after only six months of success, his friends and family have become much more supportive.

“Business has been very good,” he said. “January and February are typically the slowest months for the company, and we have yet to see any of the busy months (in the spring and summer), and we’re still doing really well.”

Stansell, a lover of the outdoors, said these days manual labor is an aspect of hard work that’s often overlooked when compared to salary.

“Everything is defined as the dollar amount, the salary that you’re going to earn,” he said. “That’s the measuring stick that we all get held up against.”

Stansell and his employees drive to residences and businesses in a bright orange and green truck, wearing green polo shirts and khaki pants, and they haul junk.

They clean out garages and attics, remove unwanted furniture and try to make their customers’ lives junk-free. 

The company donates as much as possible to the Salvation Army and Goodwill, recycles everything it can and safely disposes of all waste in designated junkyards. 

According to the company’s Web site, it donates a portion of revenue from each job to local college scholarship programs.

Right now, Stansell is working on a partnership with Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill and the Salvation Army. 

Stansell hopes students learn from him and focus on what interests them, rather than what pays them the most.

“Do what you love to do, have fun with it and you’ll be successful in your own definition, which is the only one that matters in the first place,” he said.

Stansell said he is still searching for college students looking for some part-time work and extra cash.

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