When Alyssa got the call from her dream job up here in Folsom, and that she got it, I knew it was the end of my insurance career.  I never would have dreamed my life would soon be the face of Folsom junk removal, let alone being the top provider of junk removal Sacramento trusts.  Bittersweet, we followed God’s call for our lives leaving our friends and family behind and drove 6 or 7 hours north (actually it was a bit more since towing a car behind a U-Haul is the worst!).

Being blessed with such a supportive wife, I interviewed for months looking for that perfect fit.  There was no pressure to settle.  And as you probably can tell, it never came.  I’ve never liked being a cog in a wheel of a machine that only cares about profits, and not about the community they operate in.  That’s when she told me, ‘why don’t we start our own business then?’

After a few white water rafting trips down the American River, and of course a few pints at the local breweries with new friends, we narrowed it down to a few qualities.  I wanted to be able to help the community, I wasn’t afraid of getting dirty, and I love to drive.  She jokingly said that I should be a junk hauler, and a month or two later we purchased our first dump truck.

I haven’t looked back, and I’ve been so incredibly thankful for all the families I’ve been able to help serve.  Whether it’s been giving them appliances or providing appliance removal service, or furniture removal service, or simply removing the trash that someone has that’s been piling up for months in their side yard or garage, I can’t go back.

I hope that whatever you do for work, you find purpose in it, just as I do — even as a trash man.  My friends think it’s funny that I call myself a trash man and not the owner of a junk removal company.  Frankly, I’ll take any blessing to be humbled.  We thank God everyday for the life that He’s given us, and for the the lessons he continues to teach.  I started my career thinking I was better than a lot of my peers due to my test scores and upbringing, but I’m not.  I’m not at all.  And if it’s one thing God continues to teach me through starting a career in waste management, dumpster rentals, and being the junk removal Sacramento trusts, it’s humility.  It’s pretty easy when you’re knee deep in junk everyday, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Nicholas Krygier

Founder of American River Hauling and Junk Removal Co.