We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kelly Johnson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kelly below.

Alright, Kelly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so one thing we think people don’t talk about nearly enough is investments – either time or money. What’s one of the best or worst investments you’ve made and what did you learned from the experience?

I did this job with a Ford F-150 and a 12 foot single axle trailer for the first 5 years. I realized how much easier it would be to sort the items we picked up as we went if I had a box truck to store the items not going to the landfill. I bought my first 16 foot box truck in 2017, and added a double axle 16 foot trailer. It was the best decision I ever made! It cut the amount of time we spent going to the landfill in half, and saved us so much time on sorting at the end of the day. Now I have 4 box trucks that pull 16 foot trailers.

Kelly, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I took a break from restaurant management for a few years to do property management. That’s when I noticed how much people leave behind when they move. It would break my heart to see my maintenance guys just throw it all in the dumpster, when it was perfectly good stuff. So I started to Junk Removal business called IREP, which stands for I Recycle Everything Possible. A lot of Junk Removal businesses claim they recycle and repurpose, but we prove it right on our website. You can find a link to our resale shop where we sell some of the things we pick up, as well as give away things for free. We have donated many services and things from our resale shop to schools and other nonprofits around Austin. Aside from being a hero of the planet, I take great pride in providing a livable wage with benefits and paid vacation to the people who work for me.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

I got aggressive and tried to open a branch of my business in Houston last year. I went about it the wrong way, and ended up in a lot of debt. I have struggled to make payroll almost every month since incurring all of that debt. I’ve had to postpone filling positions, delay in fixing equipment, all which leaves us with less trucks and people on the road than I would like. I have also had to fill a lot of the hourly positions myself just to make ends meet. But, we’re hanging in there, and I have only a few months left of the bulk of my debt. I value all the lessons I learned throughout this past year, and I am proud of myself for taking the risk.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I truly believe there are a lot of factors involved in establishing the reputation that I have. I am communicative, responsive, personable, professional, and punctual. I know that I’m a woman in a male-dominated industry, and I made it a point to do the work myself for the first seven years before taking a step out of the field. I also don’t hesitate to jump back in the field at any given moment. This is to show my employees I’m not scared to get my hands dirty, but also so I never forget what it’s like to do this this job day in and day out.

Contact Info:

• Website: IREPjunkremoval.com
• Instagram: @irep_atx
• Facebook: @IREP.ATX
• Youtube: IREP Junk Hauling
• Yelp: IREP Junk Removal

Image Credits
Suzanne Covert