Today we’d like to introduce you to Brendan Brown.
Hi Brendan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My journey starts back at West Point, where I attended school studying business, cybersecurity engineering, and—most importantly—how to become a strong Army officer. While I was there, I played football, powerlifted, and served as the president of the Special Olympics program. When I graduated, I commissioned as an air defense officer, which eventually brought me down to Fort Hood to serve with the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, working with Patriot Missile systems.
I loved serving my country, and service has always been important to me, but I also had a strong interest in business. Over time, I realized that entrepreneurship was a great way for me to continue serving people without a lot of the bureaucracy that can come with large organizations. While I was in the Army, I also fell in love with Central Texas and knew that if I ever built something of my own, this is where I wanted to do it.
The Bin Spa actually started as a bit of a side experiment. Around 2021, during the later part of COVID, I met another local businessman who had started a trash bin cleaning business out of the back of his pickup truck and was getting ready to move. At first, I honestly thought it was kind of a silly idea and didn’t fully understand the value. But I bought his equipment while I was still on active duty, mostly just to see if it could work as a side hustle.
It didn’t take long for me to realize how valuable the service really was. During COVID especially, people cared a lot more about cleanliness and sanitation, and this was a simple service that genuinely helped families feel better and safer at home. I grew the business part-time while I was still in the Army, and when I transitioned out in 2023, I was able to go all-in and focus on building it full-time.
Over the last five years, we’ve grown across Bell County, Williamson County, and parts of Travis County. We’ve completed a few acquisitions of other local bin cleaning companies, and today we’re proud to be one of the leading bin cleaning services in Central Texas. Our entire team is made up of veterans, which is something we take a lot of pride in.
What really makes this business special to me is the value it provides beyond just clean bins. Most of our customers either choose to keep their trash bins in their garage or are required to by their HOA. In Texas summers, that can make a garage almost unusable because of the smell, bacteria, and pests. Once people experience what it’s like to have clean, odor-free bins, they never want to go back. At the end of the day, we’re giving people back their garage, their peace of mind, and a small everyday luxury at a very reasonable cost. That’s what keeps me excited about serving this community.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Like just about every other small business owner out there, I can definitely say it hasn’t been a smooth road—but it’s absolutely been worth it, and I wouldn’t trade the journey for anything.
One of the biggest ongoing challenges we deal with is trash pickup schedules. Our entire service depends on being able to clean bins the day after they’ve been emptied. That means we rely heavily on local trash services to stay on schedule. But things like weather delays, holidays, equipment breakdowns from the trash haulers, or just changes in pickup routes throw a wrench into our plans all the time. It’s especially tough because we cover a wide area—multiple cities, neighborhoods, and trash providers—all with different systems and schedules. Some do recycling every other week, some have pickups on the first and third Wednesdays… you name it. So it’s a constant juggling act to stay ahead of those changes and keep our routes aligned.
On a more personal level, I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the most mechanically inclined guy. Early on, I invested in some high-tech equipment—custom bin-cleaning units built out in Miami—to make sure we could clean bins quickly and thoroughly. But that also meant I had to learn how to maintain and troubleshoot some pretty complex machinery, which wasn’t exactly in my wheelhouse. Like any smart business owner, I learned to hire where I was weak, and that’s when I brought on Glenn, our operations manager. He was a Blackhawk mechanic in the Army, and he’s been an absolute game changer for us. Between the two of us, we’ve built a system that plays to each other’s strengths.
Of course, there are the usual challenges too—managing staff, maintaining equipment, balancing work and life—but the truth is, every single struggle has made the business stronger. When something goes wrong, we figure out how to fix it, build a system or process to prevent it from happening again, and move forward. Over time, we’ve gotten better at adapting, learning faster, and making smarter decisions. I think that’s a big reason why we’ve been able to grow, merge with other bin cleaning companies, and continue to stand out as one of the most reliable services in the state. It’s not about being perfect—it’s about being resilient. And that’s what we do well.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Funny enough, a lot of folks around town just know me as “Brendan the Bin Guy.” And I get it — that’s the business we’re in. But the truth is, at this stage in my journey, I’m really wearing three hats: I’m a logistician, a marketer, and a leader.
Day-to-day, my work is focused on leading our team, managing the moving pieces of our routes and scheduling (which isn’t easy with all the trash pickup variations across Central Texas), and making sure our branding and messaging actually reaches people in a way that educates and connects. Believe it or not, a big part of what we do is just explaining that this service even exists. A lot of folks don’t realize how nasty bins can get — or how much of a difference it makes to have them professionally cleaned. So in many ways, I’m not competing against other companies — I’m competing against people just not knowing this is even a thing and general apathy.
Externally, our company is laser-focused on bin cleaning. That’s what we do best, and by specializing, we’ve been able to keep our costs down and our systems tight. But what a lot of people don’t realize is we also offer full power washing and soft washing services — things like house washes, driveways, and walkways. We don’t market those much because we save them as a value-add exclusively for our bin cleaning customers. It’s our way of saying thank you, and we’ve worked hard to become really efficient and really effective at those services. Our customers trust us to make their homes sparkle — and they keep coming back.
Now, what sets us apart? Sure — we’ve got sharp branding. We’re veteran-owned. We’re local — not some franchise out of Nevada. We offer some of the lowest pricing out there, and we’ve built some of the most effective and efficient systems in the business. We’ve built in redundancy with our trucks and equipment to make sure service never gets delayed or rescheduled. All of that is important, and we’re proud of it. But I’d still say it goes deeper than that. We’re not just a bin cleaning company — we’re a people business that happens to clean bins.
There’s a motto I picked up at West Point: “People first, mission always.” That’s exactly how we run The Bin Spa. We’ve trained so well and invested in the best equipment that the bins take care of themselves. Our focus is on the people — our customers, our community, and our team. That’s why every customer call still goes directly to me. That’s why our social media doesn’t show off before-and-after pictures of bins — we post about our crew, our community, and the events we support. You won’t find me knocking doors or plastering yard signs all over the place. I’d rather be at local chamber meetings, networking events, and Lions Club lunches, shaking hands and meeting the people we serve.
At the end of the day, the systems matter. The pricing matters. But none of it works without people. That’s what we believe in, and that’s why our community believes in us.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was blessed to grow up in a great, loving household in Wyckoff, New Jersey. I went to Ramapo High School, and from an early age, most of my interests centered around sports. Football, wrestling, and powerlifting were the main ones that really shaped me.
One of the biggest influences in my life growing up was a coach and mentor named Rich Sadiv. Rich is a highly accomplished professional powerlifter and owned the Parisi Speed School in Fair Lawn, New Jersey — a world-renowned training facility. For years, Rich trained elite athletes, especially college football players preparing for the NFL Combine. Somehow, he saw something in me early on and took me under his wing. He taught me how to powerlift, sure — but more than that, he taught me about discipline, focus, and how to carry myself like a professional. He also taught me how to think like a business owner.
Later on, I was lucky enough to intern under him and got to see what it takes to run a full-blown training facility — managing operations, staff, clients, and still delivering results for top-tier athletes. That summer lit a fire in me for leadership and entrepreneurship that stuck.
Because of the discipline I built through that training and the support I had from my family, I was able to chase down one of my biggest goals — getting into the United States Military Academy at West Point. That discipline also helped me push through the physical demands, thrive in the classroom, and show up as a leader among my peers.
In 2019, while I was still at West Point, I won the USPA Collegiate National Powerlifting Championship in the 181-pound weight class and set a national squat record in the process. That ended up getting recognized by President Trump in one of his speeches, which was a cool moment and something I’m proud of to this day.
More than anything, I’ve always believed that sports — and training — teach you how to be part of something bigger than yourself. They teach you leadership, grit, discipline, teamwork, and how to show up for others even when things are tough. All of that carried over into my time in the Army, and now into building my business. I truly believe those lessons laid the foundation for who I am and how I operate today — as a person, a teammate, and a business owner.
Pricing:
- Monthly Services: $29
- Quarterly Services: $39
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thebinspa.com
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/thebinspa
