Meet Andrea Cabrales | Junk Removal Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrea Cabrales and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrea, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The thought process behind starting my own business, was scary, but full-filling. I come from a family of business owners. So I knew that one day I was going to have my own business, and why not choose the industry in which I grew up with. I come from a poor family that immigrated from Mexico. My dad started with this junk removal industry in Los Angeles. I remember he would go to Home Depot with a big sign in his hands ” I help pick up your junk”. I could remember that even before I was born, my dad used to do this for living, and that’s how he supported my mother, and my three siblings. I have two bothers and one sister, they live in the L.A area and they are the top three Junk Removal companies at the moment.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Starting a business that involves so much labor physically and mentally for a women isn’t easy. But definitely not impossible. I started Arizona Hauling and Junk Removal Service ( Arizona Hauling) in October 2017. I remember posting my first ad with so much faith, and I remember being in my parents house and my dad would say to me “Its time to get in the business, you could do it. I believe in you”. I think when these kind of words come out of your dad or your mom, they just have another kind of impact in you. We are now 5 years in with the company and, the biggest challenge I’ve faced with my company is the area where I live. Living in a city, that its mostly build up of people that are in retirement, has been hard. I believe that Yuma has so much potential, but I feel that it needs to become more modern. In the other hand, I think aside from the challenges we had faced we’ve managed to keep on thriving for better results. We’ll go out and pass on flyers, cards, and even till today we try to get our name out there as much as we can. We are a company that believes in second chances, we’ recycle, repurposed, and reuse. And our goal is to really help out our clients and t0 really make them happy. Having too much junk, just makes you feel overwhelmed, frustrated and depress. I love to see my clients feel librated, and just ready for something new. What I’ll like the world to know about my brand is that we are a ground up business, starting from nothing organically trying everyday to become better. And being a women in a business like this matter just makes me feel very strong and very motivated, that I hope that other women who want to start a business, regardless of the industry just goes for it. I think that’s what makes us different Is the desire to actually help people. If you have a passion for it just do it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If you are visiting the city I would love to take you downtown. We’ll get something delicious to eat at Prison Hill Brewery Co. with craft beer made just for you. Im a very out door person, so Ill take you bike riding out in the West Wetlands Park, the Colorado river passes right through and its a very purifying spot. It has a little stream, but nothing major and the water is very clear and nice. Plus, if your lucky enough you can experience the train passing through. There is a big bridge, that goes over the Colorado River and when the train passes by, It just makes you feel alive. Its something very extra ordinary to see and its just amazing and this joy just becomes even greater when the train honks at you. There isn’t a lot of things to do out here so, we have different routes for bike riding.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My life has not being the easiest, well who’s is? I was born in Los Angeles, California and when I was 15 years old I came to live to Yuma, Arizona. Sadly, we had arrived at a bad moment it was winter time and here is a big thing due to the agriculture. The apartment we had rented, just didn’t happen. We had no family here in Yuma, but we had family in Mexico and Mexico for us is like 25 mins away. A town called San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora and we needed urgently a place to stay. So we went to Mexico with my Grandma. The season had started and its really hard to find a place for rent in those times. We had to stay with Grandma. I could see my parents face of worried, and simple upset. There was no other option at the moment, but to live in Mexico and go to school in San Luis, Arizona. I had to cross the border every single day I would wake up around 4:00am to start getting ready, because a lot of people would cross in the morning. The wait times were excessive more 2 hours in line. I remember that sometimes I couldn’t feel my feet anymore and not to mentioned, I had to get 4 taxis everyday, one from my house to the border and the other from the border to school, and vice versa. It was very hard for me to blend in in school. It was just so different to me, I felt like it was shocking for my mind and my body. Since I couldn’t make friends or anything like that, my focus was just school itself. I started to really get into it, that I graduated high school when I was in my Junior year and I started college at 17 years old. I think my shout out is for my parents. We struggled together but we didn’t let go. Im very thankful for everything they’ve done for me. It was hard moving to another state for all of us. But we held on. I started Arizona Hauling and Junk Removal at 19 years old, I’m currently 24 years old and I love what I do, its such a passion for me to help others especially if I’m going to help them clear out a space for new possibility, to me that’s amazing.

Website: www.azhaulingjunk.com

Instagram: arizonahaulingjunk

Facebook: Arizona Hauling: Junk Removal Company

Yelp: Arizona Hauling Junk Removal Service

Image Credits
Daniel Fonseca Ceja- Operator Jonathan Castro- Employee