People, People, and People – Brian Scudamore (Founder and CEO of 1-800-GOTJUNK, and more)

Brian Scudamore, founder and CEO of 1-800-GOTJUNK, WOW 1DAY Painting, & You Move Me, is a serial entrepreneur super-star who’s received a lot of recognition in the media. He’s shared his story with Fortune Magazine, the New York Times, Huffington Post, and the Wall Street Journal; he’s made appearances on Oprah, Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, the Today Show, The View, and more.
Brian’s been in business for 25 years and in his Paper Napkin Wisdom, he shares with us the philosophy he considers a big part of himself: It’s all about the people. The sentiment is one at the heart of his business (so much so it’s a decal on the wall as you enter his office) and it’s a lesson he learned through experience. Your business, he says, is only as strong as your weakest connection and the connections you have are with people.
Brian shares how his biggest mistake because his biggest opportunity when, five years into his first incarnation of 1-800-GOTJUNK ( then called The Rubbish Boys) he looked at his company’s culture and found that something wasn’t working. After careful thought, Brian decided he needed to fire his entire company. He downsized from five trucks to one, which he operated himself, and started again from scratch.
He re-engineered his culture because he didn’t like what he had. He talks about the correlation between maintaining company culture and success, the importance of hiring on attitude, and the challenges and checkpoints involved in maintaining a company’s culture once it’s established.
It’s a conversation of simple, yet important, ideas. Stories like Brian’s are important, as he points out, storytelling and the folklore of entrepreneurship is key. It’s how we communicate our ideas and teach each other: The lesson Brian shares with us, is one well worth learning.
Listen to the conversation with Brian here: