Chamber Chatter Renegade Removal

A chef-turned-founder, a late-night spark, and a business built around the chore no one wants to do. We sit down with Alex from Renegade Removal to unpack how he turned a single backyard pickup into a 200-property, subscription-based pet waste service that genuinely helps people. From busy families and seniors to pregnant customers and cancer patients, he shows how a simple, reliable routine can restore time, dignity, and peace of mind.

We start with community momentum and the Chamber’s new-year slate before diving into the moment Alex saw the gap, designed a logo, grabbed a domain, and opened social channels—then woke up to three paying customers. He breaks down the pricing logic (number of pets, not yard size), the power of automated invoicing, and the mindset that took him from hospital employee to full-time “turd wrangler” in two months. You’ll hear how a playful brand can still deliver like a utility, why trust in local services is everything, and how consistency turned a quirky niche into steady growth.

Alex also shares the Big Idea pitch journey, the origin of the Renegade name, and the careful approach to hiring when your team enters backyards. We explore litter box swaps—a first in his region—and thoughtful expansion into rodents and birds while avoiding tech shortcuts that could erode brand integrity. If you’re curious about local entrepreneurship, subscription models, service operations, or the human side of pet care, this conversation brings practical insights and a dose of grit.

Enjoy the story, steal the systems, and tell a friend who loves their pets but hates the mess. If this resonated, follow the show, rate us, and share a short review—your feedback helps more curious listeners find conversations like this.

Transcript

New Year Kickoff & Chamber Updates

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Derek, what happened to 2025? It's gone. And we've got momentum going in. So it's 2025 is gone. It's long gone. It's just wild. It was a great year. Yeah. But 2026 is going to be even greater, I think. So yeah, let's get back at it. Chamber chatter. You know, we're in the podcast studio here at the Chamber of Commerce and uh having some good times. So we've got a couple big things coming up. Obviously, you know, start of 2026 is great. We had our basketball showcase. We that that event was awesome. What a spectacular event to have for high school girls' basketball, give them a platform, showcase their talent. And so that's awesome. We got annual meeting coming up, our 107th. I've been there for I think gosh, this is my ninth. Wow. So if I'm gonna date myself somewhere around there, I think I was well 99. Yeah, so it's about nine of these puppies. Polly Hoffman from Survivor. Survivor. Yeah, she's way cooler and tougher than me for sure. Like, there's no way that I could do the things on that show that they do, and yeah, because I like food too much, first of all.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

I like meat a lot. I like she talks to that. She's like, Oh, this is TV. They'll have like guest services, and when they're not filming, they'll have a little table.

Meet Alex From Renegade Removal

SPEAKER_01 1:29

No, nope, it's no joke. So we're excited about that. And then yeah, just we'll be on to the next thing. But today we've got Alex in the house. So, Alex, thanks for joining us. Heck yeah. And renegade removal. Yeah, I see you're reading my hat. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

So tell me a little bit about renegade removal. What do you what do you do? Well, renegade removal, we uh we we scoop dog poop on a massive scale. We're we push almost 200 properties a week on a weekly basis, picking up outdoor dog waste for people. And we just started litter box swaps here in the state of Nebraska. We're based here in Kearney, but nobody's ever done litter box swaps as far as I know. Um, so we're kind of in uncharted waters with cat litter, but we're in some pretty good uh sustainable waters with dog poop because they as a father of five, we've got like dad jokes just like going through my brain right now.

The Spark: From Chef To Scooper

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Oh man, me too. This is awesome. Okay, that's why I love entrepreneurs, right, Riley? Yeah, I mean, entrepreneurs, we find a problem and we solve it. Kind of like vanilla ice. Well, you're taking mine, right? That's all I got. It's true. Okay, so Alex, yeah. How did how did this come to fruition? Like, I mean, you are you just sitting there and saying, you know what? I want to help out people and I don't want to have them break their back, and or maybe you had a neighbor that had a bunch of dog crap everywhere. What how's this come?

SPEAKER_00 2:55

It's it's kind of wild. I would I was a chef for like 12 years, and then I moved to Kearney to work in a in a in a Carney regional medical center.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

You weren't looking for new recipes, I hope. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

No, exactly. So you went from restaurant to then a medical center, yes, hospital, yep, and then what's next?

Launch, Branding & First Customers

Growth, Systems & Going Full-Time

SPEAKER_00 3:15

And and then I was working here, and I was letting my dog out one night to go to the bathroom, and I was picking up his poop to say it the way that way, and I was like, I wonder how many, I wonder what they people charge for this for this service. And so I kind of just looked it up and I was there was one that existed before, but they quit, and then I couldn't find another one around. And I was like, Well, I have a$250 at the time,$250 car payment. I was like, if I could get four or five houses, I could at least pay for that. So basically that night made I made my own logo because I was like, I gotta, I have to brand this so well, it's so easy for people to do, so I have to brand it really well and I have to be consistent about it. That's kind of how I'm gonna have to sell it. So I made that logo that night, slept on it, thought about it. The next day at work, I was like, I think I'm gonna do it. So then I made some social media pages, bought my domain name, and then just started posting about it on social media. And overnight, I think I had three customers, and I was like, oh man. And then I need one more to get this car payment. Exactly. And it was like a win. Every every turd was a win. So I was like, man, that's a t-shirt. I got yeah, no, no correct. Uh and so it was, you know, three after a day, and then I got them set up, and then I kind of got my invoice software set up set up, so it could be like an automatic invoice on a monthly subscription, so I could just show up, scoop on the day, on the time, and then move on. And then a week later, maybe two more customers, and then it snowballed into okay, I'm making I'm almost making more than I am at my job, and then and then that was only two months in. Then I left my job, and then I've been full-time turd wrangling for almost three years. So, and and and now and now we're as big as we ever are, but that's kind of how we started. That's kind of check Alex's shoes before he came in here. I I can't promise anything. I swear it's it's yeah, I'm covered in them.

SPEAKER_02 5:17

He did tell me he had some litter boxes in the in the van out there. I didn't wanted to, yeah. If we wanted to film a video of hire today, we could probably yeah, he could clean my litter boxes, you know.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

They were rained on last night, so they're even worse, even better. Let's go, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Hard pass, but yeah. So, renegade, yeah. How I mean, obviously, removal, I get that. Where I'm always fascinated by entrepreneurs and just how they name their business. Yeah, where's that come from?

Naming The Business

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Oh god, I used to have a neighbor and he he kind of talked like this all the time. His name was Keith, and he was he he was outside one night at my house at my old house in McCook. I used to live in McCook, and okay, nice. He comes outside and he's talking to me, and he's like, freaking renegade turd. And he just picked up he picks up somebody else's dog. Oh barehanded. No, he had a little bag or whatever, but and I thought that was so funny. And so when I started this, I was like, I was just thinking and thinking, and I was like, Well, Keith called it a renegade turd once, and that was so funny. So I was like, All right, I guess there we go. That's that's great, basically it.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Yeah, so talk to and then how we this all came about is you were actually a finalist in the big idea, yeah. Second, is that memory serves me? Yeah, yeah. Tell us a little bit about you know what's funny, yes, number two. Yes, I was gonna make the same joke, man. Same thing. I knew this was gonna be a good podcast, yeah. Yeah, it's not crappy, no, no, and it doesn't stink for people listening. There we go. So tell us a little bit about how you found out about big idea and how that all came about, and uh what what was that whole process like?

Big Idea Competition Journey

The Real Impact For Pet Owners

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Oh man, that was wild. So I've never told anybody this who was involved with big idea, but uh when I I saw it on, I think it was Facebook or something like that, and I was like, what the heck is this? And I was I'm friends with and have worked at businesses in McCook who won the Hormel M E D C competition back in the day. They might still do it, but so that I saw this and I was like, oh, it's kind of the same thing. And then I was like, I'm all I'm already established. I think I was just under two years uh operating at the time, slightly smaller than we are now. But when I saw it, I put in an application, immediately was like, they're not gonna pick me. So I so what I did was is I so that that's how I found it. But what I did was is I came up with like three other burner business ideas. And so I spent like two days on a weekend, created two or three other business burner business ideas that I thought were worse. So they'd see renegade and they were like, Oh, that one's probably the best one. But then I made but then I made the business plans for these three other businesses, and they were pretty good. So so so I didn't submit those, and I was like, Well, I'll see if I get in. And then I got in. That's like insider trading stuff. Yeah, it is, it is, it's it is. It was it was sweet, it was but it worked. I got in and then uh did the whole uh develop the pitch, practiced it relentlessly. I think I wrote it um the day before it was due, uh, practiced it relentlessly. Uh but I I mean I believe in renegade so much, and it's I see how big we are, and so it was so easy for me to convey that to people at the big idea because I I live it every day. I live and breathe it, and I smell it literally all the time. So I got in, I did, I did the thing, I put the best presentation I could, and I just got on stage and gave it hell.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Basically, yeah, good for you, and I think that's what's cool. And and and truly, all jokes aside, I mean, uh, you know, there's there's a lot of people out there that uh, you know, we all know the people that love their pets and stuff, but I mean there's there's some of those that really need a pet, right? And they need that companion, yeah. But then maybe they're just not physically able to go pick up the renegades, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, you know, physically sometimes or whatever it might be. And so, yeah, I mean, I think that's that's really cool about. I mean, you're you're truly helping people too. Like sure, the the business is deeper, right? The the value that you can add to your customers is way deeper, and even just you know, pets in general. I mean, you know, people love their pets, but like how you can take that burden off of one of the things that maybe people don't love about having a pet. Yeah, now it's even better for sure.

Team, Territory & Hiring Realities

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Right. There was there's a there's a good mix bag that we have. I don't know, I'm not gonna say percentage-wise, but our mixed bag is just people who are too busy with a bunch of kids or whatever, people who physically can't get out of their house if they're in a chair or something. Then I learned after we started, I learned like pregnant women aren't supposed to be around any sort of waste cat or dog, and cancer patients, some something about the treatment of cancer. So we have a lot of those. We have a lot of surgery recovery people right now, even. So it's a mixed bag. It's more than just they're too lazy to do it. I would I'd say probably almost almost none in myself. I pick I'm too lazy to do it myself. I'm probably the only person who's who is uses our service who's just too lazy. It's it's more than just that.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Yeah, so you're right. You started a couple years ago. Do you have employees now? I mean, what has you have you grown?

Pricing Model & Subscriptions

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Yeah, I had so my mom is retired, but she she works for me now. Okay. She needs something, she loves doing stuff. So my mom helps me with McCook because we hit we go all the way to McCook. And then I had I had an employee in Grand Island, my my buddy Alec, who retired from the military. Okay, but he moved, so it's back to me. Okay, me and my mom. And then a buddy of mine does Lincoln, Nebraska, too. So so I technically have two, okay, but it's it's a work in progress, sure. Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Well, and and some people might not see it as the most glamorous job right off the bat, right? Like that's not what they're looking for on Indeed.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

But like I said, hey, you can get your steps in, it's some good physical activity for somebody, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:14

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Uh you can be outside, so maybe you can kind of set your own schedule-ish a little bit, like, hey, I'm gonna go do this, and hey, but that's cool. So do you charge by like square footage of yard or just by the animal or like by the dump? Yeah, like how how do you how do you charge?

Expansion Plans Beyond Dogs

SPEAKER_00 11:29

Uh it's by stinkiness. No, uh, it's it's the number of of pets, so the number of dogs, for example. Size of dog, does that matter? Doesn't matter. Wow, size of yard doesn't matter either, and that bites us in the butt sometimes, but yeah, more square footage to cover. It's just it's one of the things that's so we do number of dogs, that that is the price per month subscription, cancel any time subscription, but number of dogs and with cats, it's number of litter boxes because some people have a three-story house with one cat with three litter boxes. So that's kind of how we yeah, that's kind of how we offer it.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Wow, that's awesome. Well, congrats to you, and that's cool that you know, to to get second place on big idea here in Carney. Yeah, I mean, I I've been to those. I did not go this year, unfortunately, but you know, usually there's some awesome ideas throughout the competition. So kudos to Big Idea and in Buffalo County. And yeah, so any any kind of future plans? Do you have any kind of future growth ideas? Are you just gonna kind of grind through some of this where you're at right now and say, hey, this is comfortable? Or is there a way to, you know, maybe a plan to scale more?

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Scale more for sure. I I I hate being comfortable when when I get comfortable in life, I get bored fast. Yeah. So I have to constantly, it's never enough. No matter, no matter how big we are. We're pretty, pretty big now. But no matter how big we are, it can to me, it can never be bigger. And that's not just a money thing, it's just to keep my wheels when wheels turning. Oh, I understand 100%.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

Yep. So to keep Riley and I are kind of built the same way. We we want challenges, we we don't want to get yeah, comfortable.

Tech Ideas, Brand Integrity & Local Focus

Where To Find Renegade Removal

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Yeah, it's a disease. I call it my disease, but uh but my plan um in the future, we have we're we basically tackled, tackled, figured out dogs for a good majority. We're we're just started cats. Our system, our process is kind of ironing out, so we're gonna ramp that up, but then probably move into rodents and reptiles. Wow. Don't know how I'm gonna do that at all. But I think probably rodents next and birds, because reptiles and aquariums are the two easiest things to hurt. That of which I'd hire a professional probably to come in and work and just run that whole part of Renegade itself. But reptiles and rodents and birds, I guess not really reptiles, but that's kind of our future. Maybe, maybe there's I've toyed with the idea of developing an app that's that's similar to other oh, what's the industry called? Gig gig people, like Doordash and stuff. Sure. Yeah, the the problem is is that you put your your brand on the line for anybody who can be inside someone's backyard. So I'm sure it's been tried before, and there might be one even coming out still, but I just I don't I don't know about how far that will go. I'd rather just keep it here in Carney, keep it in the Tri-Cities and and keep the brand, the integrity there without bleeding out. Other other pets and and maybe some of that in the future, but that's way way the apps and the and all that are way in the future. Years, yeah, years, years.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Well, no, that's cool. And that's that's something to like obviously every entrepreneur, and I get it. Yeah, you're always like, well, how can we continue to improve what we're doing currently? And then yeah, whether it's you know the booking, the scheduling, just yeah, however that looks like. And so kudos to you, Alex. Great job. Thanks for joining us on Chamber Chat.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

Yep, and where where do people find you? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Oh, you can find renegaderemoval.com. You'll see our full service area, our full pricing, our full uh request for service form. We do it all digitally and any social media, renegade removal. Um, basically, basically, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

I get Riley would have just a ball with the marketing removal.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

I guess that's what I love doing. Yeah, that's what I love.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Good. We'll have to check it out for sure. Sweet. So yeah, renegaderemoval.com or find them on social media.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

And yeah, thanks to thanks for coming in today. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

Thank you, Derek. Thanks, man. Thanks.