Junk turned into jackpot: How Gen Z brothers from Massachusetts formed a $3 million a year empire from local dumps

Nothing can beat Gen Z when it comes to turning mundane jobs into million-dollar opportunities. Two brothers from Norwood, Massachusetts (USA), transformed what was supposed to be a temporary high school job into a flourishing junk removal and reselling business that earns them a whopping $3 million per year.

According to a CNBC Make It report, Kirk McKinney discovered a pair of “nice speakers” that still functioned in a local dump. In 2021, he and his brother Jacob launched Junk Teens while still in their teens. The brothers are in their early 20s and making bank from the eco-friendly startup.

At first Kirk sold the junk he found on Facebook as a side hustle. But soon, he discovered clientele who were willing to pay people to remove unwanted items from their homes. The brothers invested $4000 in an old 2006 Ford F-150 pickup truck to collect and store junk.


What started as just a fun side hustle today is a flourishing business that employs 10 full-time and 10-15 part-time staff. All of the staff are Gen Z, or Alpha, and students. Junk Teens completed over 5,500 jobs in 2025, charging anything between $300 and $600 per job.

Both the brothers now study entrepreneurship at Babson College and have earned six-figure salaries in 2025. The siblings are pretty popular on social media, as well, as they share tips on how to dispose of or donate used items to almost 400,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok.

Jacob revealed how their business took off and earned $1.2 million in 2024, when he was in his final year of high school. He expressed glee at becoming a seven-figure business owner while still in school.

According to Jacob McKinney, the brothers haven't worked in the field in almost two years and now mostly concentrate on administrative and strategic tasks. They launched a second site in the Cape Cod region in 2025 and used marketing software and leadership promotions to professionalise Junk Teens' operations. According to the McKinneys, the actions helped Junk Teens nearly quadruple its yearly profit and more than double its annual revenue that year.