Meet Our Junk Hauling Heroes: Jonathan Chastain

1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to join the team?

My name is Jonathan Chastain! I’m 20 years old and study History Education at Kennesaw State University. I started working at Up Up and Away in high school – my older brother Taylor needed an extra set of hands so I helped out when I could during school breaks and summer vacation. I stepped into a much more active role once graduating high school.

2. Can you describe your role and what a typical day looks like for you?

As a team lead I am responsible for driving the dump truck, quoting jobs, and building rapport with clients. Additionally, I am responsible for packing the truck and routing our day as efficiently as possible. A normal day for us starts around 7:30am and typically ends sometime between 5:30-7:30pm. We work until all of our jobs are done – we don’t necessarily have a designated end time.

3. What are some of the most interesting or unusual items you’ve hauled?

I have seen bazookas, tank shells, limited edition action figures, and rare baseball cards. I’m sure there’s a lot more I don’t remember!

4. Can you share a memorable experience or a particularly rewarding moment from your time here?

I really enjoy helping our clients with multi-load clean outs. Whether they’re moving, clearing a home after a relative’s passing, or just have a lot of household clutter, it is really rewarding to see their face light up when we have given them their space back!

5. What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced on the job, and how did you overcome them?

Concurrent with the last question, bigger jobs are always a challenge (more mentally than physically as they take much longer); particularly gross jobs always stand out.

6. What do you enjoy most about working in junk hauling?

I really enjoy the people I work with. Everyone is legitimate friends with each other and I never have to worry about who I’m working with. Everyone on our team does their job very well!

7. What do you like to do in your free time when you’re not hauling junk?

I am a professional marching percussionist on the side so that takes up a lot of my time! I also am a full student so, between marching and my girlfriend, most of my time is spent. Besides that, the team frequently goes out to dinner together which is always enjoyable (and entertaining!).

8. How would you describe the team dynamic at our company?

The team dynamic functions much like a group of friends. We all mess around with each other, but always have each other’s back. We’re willing to go above and beyond to help out our teammates and serve our clients.

9. What do you think is the key to providing excellent customer service in our industry? 

I would say the biggest key is honesty. We frequently have clients come back to us because they value how upfront we are with them about cost (all of the different contributing factors). We do not up-charge out of nowhere. Clients like people they can trust. 

10. How do we stand out at UUA from our competition?

The biggest thing I have noticed is the quality of our workers. While we may not be as big as some of our other competitors, we easily have the best employees in the game.

11. What impact do you hope we make at UUA in the community we serve?

I like the idea of our community having a junk hauling service in their area they can trust. It’s rewarding when we hear during our lunch breaks, read online reviews, or participate in parades that our company has been seen “all around town.”