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You can lose a lot of money by chasing women, but you’ll never lose women by chasing money. When my business partner, Omar Soliman and I were first considered appearing on a show called Millionaire Matchmaker, I must admit that I was quite skeptical. I had never heard of the show or seen a single episode, and it sounded like just another TV show that would be a distraction from our daily grind as entrepreneurs. I had never heard of Patti, but from what others told me she sounded like an abrasive woman who simply decided one day that she would put her hand on a rock and declare herself a matchmaker. My mom was also adamant that the show was a bad idea, but Omar had other plans. He asked me, “When was the last time you actually had the opportunity to define your ideal mate and have her hand selected for you?” He had a valid point. Neither of us ever had difficulty getting girls in the past, but we never reflected extensively about the specific characteristics that we were looking for in an actual relationship. We had been so focused on the growth of our business during the past four years that we rarely took the time to find balance.

I decided to go along with Omar to do the show (without telling my mom), and it actually proved to be a rather memorable, fun and introspective experience. The paths that open up in life when you approach them with an open mind are vast. For example, I never said I wanted to be a trash man when I grew up, but here I am writing this as the President of a national trash and junk removal company.

Omar and I went to high school together in Washington, DC. From the very beginning we were best friends, partners in crime as adolescents, and now we’re partners in business. The summer before our senior year of college, we both decided to make some extra money by hauling junk using his mom’s cargo van and putting flyers around town saying “COLLEGE HUNKS HAULING JUNK” (http://www.1800JunkUSA.com). We then wrote a formal business plan and won an entrepreneurship competition during our senior year, which gave us much more confidence and credibility. After graduation, we moved back to DC and got regular jobs, but decided to launch the junk removal service on a full scale. We started franchising our concept in 2007, and we now have over 25 College Hunks Hauling Junk locations across the country (http://www.CollegeHunksFranchise.com) as well as a new apparel line for College Hunks Hauling Junk and College Foxes Packing Boxes (http://www.EffortlessEntrepreneur.com), and we were recently named Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30 by INC Magazine.