Mission: Entrepreneur — How JDog Brands Is Turning Military Service Into Business Ownership

One customer, noticing an early arrival and a military haircut, kicked off a brand that’s now helping veterans become business owners. We sit down with Tracy Flanagan, co-founder of JDog Brands, to unpack how a junk removal and hauling side hustle grew into a veteran-owned franchise network with roughly 91 locations across 25-plus states and about 90% veteran ownership. Along the way, we get specific about what makes a franchise model work for military transition: structure, accountability, and a path to leadership that still feels familiar after service.

We also talk money and operations without the hype. Tracy shares the real hurdles veterans face when they want to buy a franchise, especially financing, and the practical ways owners piece it together through savings, retirement funds, or 401(k) rollover strategies. We dig into why JDog expanded into carpet cleaning and floor care, how add-on services like power washing and light demolition create multiple revenue streams, and why their flat-fee royalty approach is designed so owners keep more upside as they grow.

Finally, we zoom out to mission and impact: suicide prevention support, nonprofit partnerships, the Discovery Channel series Operation Hidden Treasures, and Tracy’s own podcast, Tactical Treasures, where she amplifies stories of service and post-service purpose. If you care about veteran entrepreneurship, franchise opportunities for veterans, and building a business with values, this one delivers. Subscribe, share this with a veteran who’s considering business ownership, and leave a review with your biggest question about franchising.

Transcript

Welcome And Why Veterans Matter

Larry Zilliox 0:15

Good morning. I'm your host, Larry Zilliox, the Director of Culinary Services here at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run. And this week our guest is Tracy Flanagan. She is the co-founder of J Dog Brands. And you could have seen their uh their trucks in your neighborhood in your city. Um, J Dog uh junk removal and hauling is a franchise that's geared towards veterans, and that's really why I wanted to have Mrs. J Dog on, which I love the name, um, to talk about their mission. And I've done a little research and and really taken a look at companies that are helping veterans, um, entrepreneurs. Now, we've interviewed um the folks from uh uh Penn Fed Foundation, and we have an upcoming episode with uh managing director of uh JP Morgan. They have a program for executives who start businesses that are veterans, but this is more on a uh uh a kind of basic level for veterans who are thinking about starting a business. And so I was really, really excited that uh uh was able to get her to join us today. So, Tracy, welcome to the podcast.

Tracy Flanagan 1:36

Yes, Larry, thank you so much for having me.

Larry Zilliox 1:38

So your husband is an army veteran. Were you married when he enlisted?

Tracy Flanagan 1:46

No, we were not. Uh married Jerry after his service years after.

Larry Zilliox 1:52

Yeah,

Tracy’s Military Family Ties

Larry Zilliox 1:52

it was after his service, okay. Um, are you do you have a connection to military like family members or anything like that?

Tracy Flanagan 2:01

Uh yes, I do. My stepfather served in Korea. My brother uh went into the Air Force and retired after 24 years. Oh wow. And my uh grandfather, uh little fun fact, he uh was Sicilian born. He came to America and fought in World War One to earn his citizenship.

Larry Zilliox 2:27

Oh wow. That's uh most people just apply and pay a fee. That's uh that's that's uh well I I I'm glad he earned it uh that because he he he definitely did. That's that's I didn't even know you could do that back then. That's something.

Tracy Flanagan 2:44

Yeah.

Larry Zilliox 2:44

Um so when did you when did you all decide to start J Dog brands and and and what was it that came into the mix that said, hey, we should focus on veterans and uh come making a strong community and veteran impact?

Tracy Flanagan 3:05

Sure. So it came about in 2011. Jerry was had been in the retail world for 25 plus years. He was looking for a career change. And

The Moment JDog Clicked

Tracy Flanagan 3:20

while he was looking for that new career change opportunity, he decided to kind of start hauling junk as a side hustle while he was looking for another job. And it really wasn't until he was doing this about two weeks in a customer noticed that he was not only on time, but he was early, very clean-cut he had the military haircut. His work ethic was amazing. Yes, you're a yes, ma'am. And the customer said, Well, were you in the military? Because not only did you show up, but you're early, your work ethic's amazing, very professional, you know, you kind of had that military haircut going on. And Jerry said, Well, yes, I was an army veter. I served back in the late 80s, early 90s. And the customer said, Well, you should let your customers know that. And Jerry was like, Well, my service was very long time ago, and I wouldn't want my customers to, you know, feel sorry for me because I'm a veteran. And the customer said, No, actually, they're gonna want to support your business. They're gonna hire you because you're a better. So the light bulb kind of went off. And we came home and Jerry spoke to me about it and said, we're gonna change our marketing, we're gonna be better and operate it. And the side hustle became uh a business. He had a uh very entrepreneurial spirit, and um and so we decided to do this. And I had a part-time job at the time, and he needed my help, and I jumped right into the business with it, and we became better known and operated. We started hiring veterans from the VA in Codesville, Pennsylvania. And um, that's how JDOG got started.

Larry Zilliox 5:28

And how many franchises are there today?

Tracy Flanagan 5:31

We have about approximately 91 locations. And uh we did start a carpet cleaning and floor care division

Growth To 91 Franchise Locations

Tracy Flanagan 5:43

in 2019, um, and we decided to franchise that as well. So um we're probably in about 25-ish plus states.

Larry Zilliox 5:55

How many, what what percentage would you say are veteran-owned?

Tracy Flanagan 6:00

I would say we're about 90%. I don't know. Oh, okay. We have a we have a few patriotic military family members in our system.

Larry Zilliox 6:09

Sure. Oh, and uh listeners, I want you to go and take a look at the webpage. It's real simple, it's jdog.com, and you will see uh what their mission is and how their focus is on helping veterans uh go into business and uh be able to support their family and hire other veterans, which is super important. Um and you know, if you're not familiar with franchises, uh it's basically a turnkey operation. The the real hurdle in many cases is financing. Um do you

Financing Paths For New Owners

Larry Zilliox 6:47

guys help veterans find financing or you know, maybe lay out a strategy that would help them get the financing that they'd need?

Tracy Flanagan 6:58

We uh we do uh give them resources where they can look for financing. Um, but we we do not help finance or or um some of them use roll over their 401ks. Some of them coming out of the military have retirement um and have saved. So there's a lot of different ways that they can finance the business. And the J Dog business model is such that the franchise fee is is a low franchise fee and operating capital is um you know not needed very much to get up and running.

Larry Zilliox 7:39

So and uh do you see any other expansion into other lines of of business or um we if it makes sense?

Tracy Flanagan 7:50

I mean, we're certainly open to expanding into uh other business models that uh prove success. Uh, but we we kind of have our hands full right now with with uh

Adding Carpet Cleaning And More

Tracy Flanagan 8:04

junk removal and hauling and carpet cleaning floor care and carpet cleaning and floor care. The nice thing about these two divisions is they have multiple revenue streams. So uh a lot of our uh J Dogs that are in the junk removal and hauling space, they do light demolition. Um our carpet cleaning and floor care uh franchisees are able to do uh power washing. Uh they also offer some some of them have gone into the janitorial cleaning space. Um so uh so it works out well.

Larry Zilliox 8:44

Yeah. Well, what I like about the two lines is that you know you may have a veteran who has mobility issues or just physically, um, you know, hauling junk is is not easy. Um and you can hire people to do that, I get it. But uh if you wanted sort of a a little bit softer on the body uh line, then the carpet cleaning and uh the power washing is probably the best way to go. I I I I like the idea of having two alternatives there. That's uh and and and being able to do both, uh bring both into your franchise is pretty awesome. What do you what do you find is the most uh challenging for veterans who want to uh work with you to get a franchise? Are they are they relatively new

Biggest Hurdles For Veteran Owners

Larry Zilliox 9:42

to this transition? Are you finding that the veterans that that come to you are uh recently separated from the military or have they been out for a while? Is there a certain issue that comes up repeatedly and in is they see as a hurdle to getting a franchise?

Tracy Flanagan 10:02

Um some of them have been out for a while, some of them have gone into you know corporate America, um, and they just don't feel like they fit. Uh the nice thing about J Dog is it it gives them a chance to control their own destiny, work for themselves, be their own boss, set their own hours. Um, you know, financing it is definitely, you know, one of kind of the hurdles that can be a little uh bit challenging in in getting that financing and and lending and that sort of thing. Um the other thing that is very nice about a franchise system is like you said in the beginning, it is somewhat of a a turnkey situation where uh it's really templated out for you. Um but also too, a lot of our veterans, although they have leadership skills and they have great um soft skills that lend itself to being business owners, they've never run a business before. So that again is something that um not only do we teach them the business model, but we try to teach them how to be good stewards of their business and be, you know, smart business owners.

Larry Zilliox 11:32

Yeah, I think there's a lot of folks that go into business and really don't realize uh what it what it entails, really. Um not only do you have to manage people, but you have to manage finances, you have to manage supply, you have to market, you there's a lot to it that uh um I think you know going the franchise route is it's a proven winning strategy. And um veterans uh really if you're if you're really thinking about getting into your own business and really being your own boss, um, you certainly want to check it out. Um jdog.com is where you want to go. Um tell us a little bit about your first franchisee, your first veteran, and what it what it felt like to be able to provide this opportunity to them.

Tracy Flanagan 12:27

Well, I think um it, you know, it was very rewarding. Um we really felt like we when we began franchising, we felt like we really had something that, as you say, was a something that would

Training Support And Flat-Fee Royalties

Tracy Flanagan 12:41

be turnkey, um, that would be templated out, something that they could follow. Um, and of course, as we grew, we put systems in place to support our franchisees. So we um have marketing support, um, we have operational support, we really hand walk them as much as they want to be hand walked, so to speak. Um, we don't, it's just it's not a fire and forget system at all. Um it really is a system where we are involved, we have roll calls uh once a week or I'm sorry, once a month. Um you know, our operations team is available, phone call away. And really what we've also found is the best resources that they have are franchise, our JDOC franchisees is each other. So um, you know, we have a way to connect them to each other so they can exchange ideas, talk, they help one another. Um, the really nice thing about our franchise system is it's not competitive because we actually offer a flat fee royalty structure, which no other franchise does. We don't take a percentage of sales. We have a flat fee that you pay each month, and each year for the first four years of the contract, it scales up and then it caps um for the remainder of the contract. So our veterans get to keep most of their earnings. So, you know, we're motivated by their success to make them successful. Yeah. And uh so that's kind of what we have found that works best.

Larry Zilliox 14:45

So that wasn't enough for you. You finding founding this company and getting these veterans into their own franchises and starting their own businesses, you decided you needed to do a podcast

Why Tracy Started Tactical Treasures

Larry Zilliox 15:00

yourself called Tactical Treasures, because I'm sure you just weren't busy enough. And um what what what brought that on? What well first of all, tell us a little bit about Tactical Treasures, your podcast.

Tracy Flanagan 15:15

Sure. So Tactical Treasures uh started in 2021, and basically it is an amazing platform for anybody in the military community to really have a voice in the veteran space where they can they share stories of service, um, and they also the bulk of the podcast is spent on talking about how they continue to make a difference in civilian life and post-service. Uh, I've had 189 guests on. Um and yeah, it's it's it's been amazing and it's been very rewarding for me, and I feel honored to have met such amazing uh men and women who have served in the military, who are attached to the military community and trying to make a difference. It's it's just been such an honor um as a civilian. And um it it I'll tell you how it started. It started um because through uh franchising and through just J Dog as a whole, um, Jerry and I and our company just became very inundated into the veteran space. Uh we started a foundation um working with the Grunt Style Foundation, working with Irreverent Warriors, which is a nonprofit. Um we we do uh small fundraisers um and try to you know support uh preventing veteran suicide and PTS resources. So um there's a lot of arms, so to speak, of J Dog. Um what we've been doing caught the attention of a uh Hollywood producer who was the creator of the Dog Whisperer with Caesar Milan. His name is Jim Melio. We met him through a mutual colleague. He really liked the mission of J Dog and what we were doing, and he thought it would make a really interesting, feel-good

Operation Hidden Treasures TV Journey

Tracy Flanagan 17:33

reality show. So after, you know, three years of planning and talking and everything, uh, he decided to come film. He followed two of our J-Dog teams, you know, really showcasing what they do every day, how they, you know, work with their customers, how they build relationships with their customers, how they give back to the veteran community, how they donate, um, how they recycle, how they partner with um, you know, other nonprofit organizations, how they help veterans uh supply furniture for veterans to after leaving the VA compensated work therapy program get their own apartment and they furnish it. So it was 10 episodes. It aired on the Discovery Channel. Wow, October 2021 to December 2021. Uh, you can now, it's called Operation Hidden Treasures. You can now see it on Tubi Roku or Apple TV. But I had a three-minute spot in each episode where I was quote unquote the auction lady, where I would auction off something that was seen being cleaned out during the episode, and the money proceeds would go to our J Dog Foundation. So Jerry and the producer thought that I should be a podcast host. And I said, You're crazy because I don't really like public speaking, although J Dog and this podcast has pushed me in directions that I never thought I would go. Yeah. And so they thought it would be really good if I would talk to veterans and mill spouses and anybody associated with the military community to share stories, talk about what they're doing now. And of course, oh, they share with me a tactical treasure, which is a takeoff on Operation Hidden Treasures. Right. And they thought that it would be really neat that the intro and the outro of the podcast, I could promote our TV show. So I started doing that in July 2021. And after the show aired, it just took on legs of its own. It just grew. And now I've had 189 episodes. Um, I'm proud to say that I'm an official radio partner with Reese Across America Radio. Yeah. And um I'm on YouTube, I have my own YouTube channel, and we're on all the podcast streaming platforms. And um it's just it's just been amazing to have um, you know, people associated with the military community. I've had Mill Spouses of the Year on. Um, Dakota Meyer, yeah, Medal of Honor recipient was on just before he re-enlisted. I've had General Petraeus on. Um just, you know, um just amazing, you know, male spouses, active duty, veterans, service members, nonprofits on that are just doing great stuff in the veteran space. It's just been amazing.

Larry Zilliox 20:51

Wow. Wow. Um and I like the focus on uh military families as well. It's because they serve right alongside of the the warrior. And um uh what what uh the thinking about your guests and um do you do you have a favorite?

Tracy Flanagan 21:12

Oh my gosh. You know what, Larry, I knew you were gonna ask me that. And I I I you know I can't really say that I have a favorite. Everybody's story is so beautiful and different, and um their story at service and what they're doing now. It I just whenever I approach each podcast, I never know how it's gonna turn out. And it it's you know, it's just it's been amazing. I I can't pick up Kaburn, I really can't. I have had some military brats on, I will say. Um, and um and and one of them actually became a male spouse um after being a military brat. So um to see that legacy is has been really, really interesting.

Larry Zilliox 22:06

So let me that all happen. Let me just kind of rephrase that question then. Do you can you think of a guest that you had that that Surprised you the most?

Tracy Flanagan 22:18

Okay. Um I I had

The Guest Who Most Surprised Her

Tracy Flanagan 22:20

a I had a recent guest on and I and it this this was kind of an unusual uh podcast because the two guests that appeared were Hollywood actors and they starred in and one of the actors actually wrote the screenplay and produced a movie called Sheepdog. Oh yeah, sure. Have you have you heard of that movie?

Larry Zilliox 22:51

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tracy Flanagan 22:52

Okay. Well, Steven Graham and Matt Dallas were on my podcast. And I I would say that it was a sub a surprising podcast from this the the standpoint that I really I didn't know where this was gonna go because they they weren't military family or but they but they had produced and starred in this movie. Yeah. Which and the the amazing thing and journey is that this movie was decades in the making because they researched it for over 12 years. They did nationwide road trips where they literally immersed themselves in the veteran community, they went on the honor flight with the Vietnam veterans, and all the content of the movie is all based on stories and research of veterans that they interacted with and spoke with. The the um the therapist from the VA um was actually based on uh the fact that they that Stephen Graham interned at at a VA in Detroit, Michigan, and you know, watched as she worked with veterans. So it it was really a very enlightening and amazing podcast. And these two people, Stephen Graham and Matt Dallas, were forever changed and felt that by all these years of research and having immersed themselves in the veteran community, that they were able to tell the story so much better and act so much better in this movie because of all the research and the experiences that they um had lived through and and had and the stories that they had listened to. So I would say that that was a surprising podcast. I had no idea how that was gonna shake out. Um, but but it it was it was really neat. And they've won, they've done the film festival uh circuit and won many awards. Um and they're really being hailed by the veteran community in a lot of different circles because uh of the authenticity of of this movie. So uh so I would say that that that was a surprising podcast where I had no idea where it was gonna go.

Larry Zilliox 25:41

Well, uh listeners, I'm gonna have a link to uh Tracy's podcast in the show notes, as well as um, of course, a link to Jdog.com. Um, I would uh urge everybody to tune into her

Links Recommendations And Closing

Larry Zilliox 25:55

podcast. You're not gonna be disappointed. You're gonna hear some really great stories about transition, about resilience, um, about uh giving back to the community, uh, finding a new tribe. Um, we just did an episode with the uh local uh uh coordinator for Irreverent Warriors, and uh that's an organization that J Dog supports, and and uh our listeners know that that is an amazing organization that gets veterans out into the community and gets them out of that isolation. And uh one of the I think most important things that Irreverent Warriors does is it has uh about 40 percent of the veterans that show up for their event are women veterans who we know uh are a grossly underserved population. And so uh I really uh applaud the J Dog uh brands for supporting uh Reverent Warriors. I don't I don't think you could have picked a better organization to get behind. Um well listen, uh Tracy, uh I know you're a busy lady, so uh I just want to say thank you so much for taking time out today to tell us about J Dog's mission and all the amazing work that you guys do and in helping veteran entrepreneurs uh get their business going. And uh, of course, uh your foundation and the the podcast. And uh believe me, I know how much work a podcast is. It's uh it's kind of crazy, actually. You don't it's one of those things that you just have no idea until you're deep in it and it's too late. But um thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate it.

Tracy Flanagan 27:48

Thank you, Larry, for having me on.

Larry Zilliox 27:51

Well, listeners, we'll have another episode next Monday morning at 0500. You can find us on all the major podcast platforms. We're on YouTube and Reese Across America Radio. So until then, thanks for listening.