Chances are you have seen one of those blue and green 1-800-Got-Junk? trucks.

If Launi Skinner has her way, you'll see plenty more of them in the future.

Skinner, who helped open about 600 Starbucks stores annually before leaving her post as head of the coffee firm's U .S. division earlier this year, is the new president and chief operating officer of the Vancouver-based junk-removal franchisor. She assumes the presidency from company founder Brian Scudamore, who remains CEO.

Skinner won't officially start with 1-800-Got-Junk? until Aug. 18, but her story is about to begin ...

Bayne Stanley, Business Edge
New GotJunk? president and COO Launi Skinner sees great growth potential with the Vancouver-based junk-removal franchisor.

1. How did growing up in Summerland, B.C., prepare you for where you are today?

"I grew up with a lot of family and friends who instilled a really strong sense of values in me. One of the reasons that I'm where I am today is because I have a strong sense of those values. I think that a small community, where you're surrounded by friends and family, is absolutely an unbelievable foundation in building the character of who I am.

I also think growing up in a small community ... provided a level of confidence. There was always that belief that you could do whatever you wanted to do. Whether it was playing basketball, riding horses or the school, there was always an incredible support structure of people who cared a lot about your success, to be there to help you, to guide you (and) advise you. That really instilled in me a strong belief of who I am as a person, what my values are and a confidence that I think is really important."

2. How would you describe those values?

"I grew up with a family-value system that everybody is important. It didn't matter about your wealth. It didn't matter about your educational background. It didn't matter about who you were as an individual. I've taken that wherever I go. I really like people, and I believe everybody offers something that I think is meaningful. I really try to care about everybody to bring that out in them. That really came from being part of a small community with lots of family and friends."

3. What did your parents do?

"My mom was a secretary in the school system. She worked at a bunch of different schools in the Summerland district. My father worked in the packing house for fruit. I don't know what his technical title was, but he was, basically, the mechanic. He was responsible for the maintenance of all of the equipment and anything mechanical."

4. What was your childhood dream?

"As a child, I loved riding horses, and I rode horses competitively. At one point, I wondered if there was a future career in horses. But for the most part, my childhood dream was to go into business. (The dream) changes. When I was in Grade 10, I thought I wanted to be a pharmacist, so I went and did this after-school program where I worked in a pharmacy. After doing that for a year, I realized that it really wasn't what I wanted to do. So I went into business because I liked numbers and I really liked the game of business. I always liked people, so I always wanted to go and run a business."

5. Did you have a business that you preferred?

Launi Skinner

"At that time, no. I've dabbled. I've always tried to do businesses or industries, if you will, because I believed in the product or the service, and it was something where I felt that there was a purpose or a need behind it. For example, when I worked at Starbucks coffee company, the need was really about how you create this environment - this really great place - for people to enjoy a cup of coffee, whether it's because they need a break or they want to slow down or because they want a pick-me-up. One of the reasons I like 1-800-Got-Junk? is that it's a service that helps simplify people's lives. When you're wondering what to do and how to get rid of stuff, we make it pretty easy for you, and we're really professional about it. I just think there is something worthwhile in it."

6. What was your first job after university?

"I went to work for a Western Canadian company called Mohawk Oil. They're still there, but I believe they're now owned by Husky. I went and worked in the retail accounting department."

7. What did you do there?

"We did all of the accounting for the service stations. Back then, in the early 1980s, everything was manual. So all of the gas stations - and they had convenience stores - would have to report their gas sales, their cigarette sales and their coffee sales every single day. They'd do a reconciliation of their sales and balance, and they would have to send in the information. I worked with the team that would actually get the information and make sure that the reconciliation was correct and was accurate. I did that for a couple of months and then I was promoted to retail accounting supervisor, supervising up to 11 people. I did that for three or four years with a team of people that did all of the accounting and all of the reconciliation for all of the gas stations."

8. Where did you go from Mohawk?

"After I worked at Mohawk - and I was there for almost seven years - I went to a company called McGavin's Foods. In addition to baking the bread and distributing it, they also operated a chain of retail stores called The Bread Basket. I was brought in to manage the Bread Baskets for British Columbia. There was a regional manager for each one of the provinces. I think there were 17 Bread Baskets in B.C. that I was responsible for - everything from the profitability to hiring, coaching, leading the teams of people that worked in the Bread Baskets, to renewing the leases, to wanting to have complementary products like cookies, working with different vendors to bring products in, and the prices."

9. How did you end up joining Starbucks?

"I knew of the company because I had met the person who was in charge of Starbucks at the time, Rollie Moore, when I was working at Mohawk Oil. He did some consulting work for Mohawk Oil that I worked with him on, and he helped me get the job at McGavin's Foods. He had a retail consulting business then but left and then was employed by Starbucks. I can't remember his title. He was the retail manager of whatever. So I knew that he had gone to Starbucks. I had gone into the Starbucks on the corner of Robson and Thurlow (in Vancouver ) and I loved it - and I wasn't a coffee drinker. I wasn't a big coffee drinker at all. But I walked in and I just loved the experience. I thought that everything that they did - every little detail - was just clever. I could tell that it was a company that had a pretty good conscience of what it was trying to do with some of its messaging ... I just really loved the concept, so I called Rollie Moore and said, 'Hey, I think I'm interested in leaving McGavin's Foods.' I loved the job I had, but I knew, from future career perspectives, there wasn't really anywhere for me to go. It was a bakery and a manufacturing business. I realized that I didn't want to be on that side. I liked the service side. I liked leading teams of people. So I phoned him and said: 'Do you have any positions?' At the time, they were hiring for a district manager, so I went through the process of interviewing and I got a job with Starbucks."

10. How did you manage to start up so many Starbucks franchises?

"I was real fortunate to have an excellent team of people that I worked with. I've always believed that you're only as good as the people that you surround yourself with. It was the team that really came up with the ideas, the way, the strategy and the approach to do it."

11. How did you manage to get ranked as one of four women to watch on the Forbes list of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in 2007?

"I believe I got on the list just because Starbucks is a Fortune 500 company, obviously. It has a globally admired brand. The revenue business that I was responsible for was significant enough that that catapults you into that arena."

12. Why did you decide to leave Starbucks?

"I left because, at the time, the company was going through a tremendous amount of change. Sometimes, when there's change, it gives you time to reflect and understand what's important to you. There were some things that had happened that gave me a chance to go through that reflection. After 14 years of constantly being there, it was time, I felt, to step away and spend a bit of time with my family and really understand: Where do I want to go next and what do I really want to do? I love the culture of the organization at 1-800-Got-Junk? I also think there's a tremendous amount of growth. When I also look back at my time at Starbucks, I was there through all of this growth - and I loved the growth. I loved putting the strategy in place, the excitement of doing what it takes to handle that growth. I'm very skilled in that growth."

13. What were some of the things that made you pause for reflection?

"It wasn't anything specific about the company per se. It was just that there was a lot of change going on. There was a lot of change going on in the economy. There was a lot of change going on in terms of what the growth models may or may not be inside a new organization. There were some different changes in leadership. There's no question I left on great terms with the organization. It was one of the hardest decisions that I have ever made. But I'm just very pleased with where I've landed."

14. How did your move to 1-800-Got-Junk? come about?

"I left Starbucks in early March, and about three weeks later, I got a phone call from someone I'd peered with at Starbucks. He'd been with the company for a number of years. He said, 'Hey, I did some mentoring for a person who used to be at 1-800-Got-Junk? and I happen to know that they're interviewing for a president and COO position. It's in Vancouver and I thought that you might be interested in relocating back home, and it's a nifty little company that has an unbelievable culture. It's about as similar as you can get to Starbucks and has great growth potential.' He thought that I would be a great fit.

At the time, I had actually never heard of 1-800-Got-Junk? I talked a little bit more with him about it and got the job specifications, and then I contacted their recruiter. It kind of went from there."

15. How long did that process take?

"A couple of months. I went through the process of doing a number of things to make sure it was the right move for me and for the company. I met with a senior franchise partner and went out with a truck team and went out and visited customers and saw what the business was like, and interviewed with a number of different people. So I did a number of things to make sure that it was the right next step for me and that I could add value to the 1-800-Got-Junk? organization."

16. When do you officially take your position?

"I officially start mid-summer, although I have started what I would call transitioning the organization. I've started an immersion. I've spent time up in Vancouver and I've certainly had lots of conversations with my (senior) team. I'm immersing myself so that, when I start, I'm ahead of the game a bit."

17. Why did you want to come back to Canada?

"One of the reasons we wanted to come back to Canada is to be closer to our family and our friends. Even though we've lived in Seattle for almost six years, we've remained really with our family and our friends. So that was an important factor for us in coming back."

18. How can you grow the company?

"I think there's huge opportunity to grow the company just from an awareness perspective. It's one of those things that so many people are in need of - how they simplify and how they re-organize their life, or at times when there's critical change in people's lives that they're moving or changing locations. To know that they can call a company, that they're going to get professional service, clean truck, on-time delivery, and to have somebody that they feel comfortable coming into their home to help them organize and simplify their life and their junk removal, there's huge opportunity. We've just started to scratch the surface of awareness of what the service is - and the capability. I also think there's a huge opportunity not just in what I would call the residential market, but the commercial space. When you think about property management or a retail environment, how do they effectively move their junk? There's garbage removal, and then there's a space between helping people just remove stuff.

And how do we do it in a meaningful way?" 19. How would you describe your management style?

"I've been described as a person who can come in and understand that, first and foremost, we need to put a strategy in place about how we're going to work the plan. Then leverage people and empower people to deliver against that plan. I can assess talent, develop people, talk to people and take a very focused approach with achieving what we want to achieve in our strategic plan. I like to say that I'm more of a service leader."

20. What excites you about your new job?

"I think 1-800-Got-Junk? like Starbucks is a really great brand.

Just to take a service, like helping people to move their junk in a way that's professional and exceeds their 'wow' factor, I think, is a pretty cool thing. It was a place that had developed a brand that I really like. There were a lot of similarities that reminded me about Starbucks when I first joined them. When I look at that, that excites me."

Launi Skinner * Title: President/COO.

* Born/raised/age: Summerland, B.C./43 * Education: Skinner holds a business administration diploma from Okanagan College. She also obtained her certified general accountant designation.

* Family: Married to Dave Rawlyk, two daughters: Sophia, 6, Madeleine, 17 months.

* Career: Skinner began her career as an accountant and accounting supervisor with Mohawk Oil in Vancouver. She then became a regional manager with McGavin's Food and later moved to Starbucks Canada. During her more than 14 years with the coffee company, she advanced to vice-president at Starbucks Canada and then became senior zone vice-president for the Northwest U.S. and, finally, president of U.S. operations and head of global store design. She officially joins 1-800-Got-Junk? on Aug. 18.

* Moonlighting: Skinner has served with several community organizations in Canada and the U.S., including the Northwest Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle.

* Passions: Golf and other outdoor activities.

1-800-Got Junk?

* Brass: Brian Scudamore, CEO; Launi Skinner, president and COO.

* Profile: The company bills itself as the world's largest junk-removal operation. The firm now operates franchises in Canada, the U.S. and Australia and plans more international expansion.

* Stats: The firm has 313 franchises, which generated revenues of $142 million last year. It employs about 2,000 people.

* Corporate Structure: The firm is a privately owned franchisor and retains some corporate outlets. Most franchises are individually owned.

* Website: www.1800GotJunk.com/ca_en

* HQ: #600-1055 W. Hastings St., Vancouver, V6E 2E9 * Phone: (604) 638-4412 or 1-800-Got Junk (468-5865) (Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)