The complete about-face was ignited after Gold visited her brother in the Bay Area, who happened to be the co-CEO of 1-800-Got-Junk for San Francisco and the Peninsula. Gold, a Canadian from Saskatchewan, thought her brother's junk-collecting job was nuts, until she decided to go out with him on some calls and see what the business was about.

To her surprise, she loved going to people's homes and helping them get rid of the useless items they didn't need anymore. Some customers even told her that removing the extraneous items had a therapeutic effect. Gold was also surprised by the customers' positive reaction each time the truck arrived to haul the excess away.

After her experiences with her brother, Gold went back to Saskatchewan and fervently pitched the idea of starting a 1-800-Got-Junk franchise to Durling. At first, Durling thought Gold was a little crazy. But he decided to give the business a try, so they packed their belongings and left their secure jobs, native country and families for the opportunity to begin a franchise in Oakland.

The Willow Glen franchise has only been in the South Bay since April. After spending more than a year in Oakland, the pair decided to relocate from the East to the South Bay, with an operations manager running the Oakland operation, but Gold says that business is booming.

Unlike other service providers, Gold says customers can count on 1-800-Got-Junk to arrive within two hours of the time the company provides.

For more information, call 1-800-Got-Junk. Calls are taken by a call center, which relays all pertinent information from each caller's request to the closest franchise. More information can also be found on http://www.1800gotjunk.com.