Undergrad Student on Doing the Dirty Work with Junk Removal Business

Matthew Allen ’26 likes to talk trash, especially when it comes to his business.

As the founder of Two Dudes Junk Removal, a Maryland-based company that hauls a wide range of discarded items from residential and commercial customers, Allen is off to a promising start on his entrepreneurial journey. 

The Elkridge, Md., native has long held aspirations to succeed in the business world, be it by reselling sneakers in middle school, briefly trading cryptocurrency or even trying his hand at a cleaning business. 

It wasn’t until 2024, while attending Howard Community College, that he received a hand-me-down pickup truck that got the wheels turning for his current endeavor.

“I see entrepreneurship as just being resourceful and using what you have to find a way to make money,” says Allen. “I looked online for ways to make money with a pickup truck, saw an ad for junk removal and figured that I could try to see if that sticks.”

Allen then purchased yard signs to promote the business and acquired a trailer to pair with the truck. Calls for his services came in almost immediately, and demand grew to the point that Allen began onboarding more employees, which required him to focus on growing the business.

Roughly a year into operating Two Dudes and only a few months after earning his associate’s degree, Allen was accepted into the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Despite his excitement, Allen says the opportunity, at first, left him conflicted between either ceasing to run his business or trying to balance both obligations. 

“I was at a crossroads. I ended up talking it over with my brother, who is also an entrepreneur. He said, ‘Just do it. If you fail, you fail, but at least you tried,’” says Allen. 

Ultimately, Allen chose both. With trust in his employees, he was able to delegate jobs while staying committed to his administrative responsibilities. He then moved to College Park to continue his undergraduate education, majoring in finance with a minor in real estate development. 

In his time at Smith, Allen says he has appreciated his finance coursework for enabling him to better develop his bookkeeping skills and assess investment decisions. However, classes such as BMGT495 Strategic Management, with Lecturer Roy Thomason, and BMGT360 Strategic Management of Human Capital, with Senior Lecturer Gregory Marr, also yielded invaluable insights into leadership.   

“I learned a lot about managing people, and that being a good leader isn’t always about the money coming in,” says Allen. “I want to build a company where everyone can flourish and move up. That’s what I sell my guys on, and it helps everyone buy into the mission.”

With just months to go before graduating, Allen holds an appreciation for his Smith experience and an eagerness to transition to managing his business full-time. He has his sights set on continuing to expand Two Dudes statewide and has already added two dump trucks to his fleet to support those ambitions. 

In the meantime, he hopes that other students or aspiring entrepreneurs recognize that there are many things in life worth scrapping, but that their business ideas don’t have to be among them. 

“When you’re 85 years old on your deathbed, you’re not going to wish you had fewer crazy stories to tell,” says Allen. “Take risks and believe in yourself. You’re going to figure it out if you have the confidence to succeed.”