Omar Soliman

Last updated
Omar Soliman
Born (1982-05-10) May 10, 1982 (age 40)
Education Bachelor of Business Administration [1]
Alma mater University of Miami [1]
Occupation(s)Founder and CEO of College Hunks Hauling Junk
Known forCo-founder and owner College Hunks Hauling Junk [2]

Omar Soliman (born May 10, 1982) is an American entrepreneur who co-founded College Hunks Hauling Junk, a national junk hauling and moving franchise headquartered in Tampa, Florida. [2] He is the co-author of the book Effortless Entrepreneur [3] and the co-executive producer of the 2012 documentary Beware of Mr. Baker , and the executive producer of the 2022 feature film Bezos: The Beginning. [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Soliman was born and raised in Washington D.C. He started his marketing, sales, and deliveries career at the age of ten, assisting his mother in her furniture shop. [2] He attended Sidwell Friends School [5] and went on to attend business school at the University of Miami where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2004. [1]

Business career

Soliman founded College Hunks Hauling Junk, named by his mother, with Nick Friedman in 2003 while they were attending college. After working that summer with the business, he returned to the University of Miami for his senior year of college. [2] In 2004, he entered the Leigh Rothschild Entrepreneurship Competition in Miami, [6] a business plan competition. His business plan won first place and an accompanying award of $10,000. A year after graduation, he became a member of the advisory board of Marsh & McLenan, [2] a healthcare research firm in Washington D.C. [1] A short time later he partnered again with Friedman to revive "College Hunks Hauling Junk", then moving furniture under the name "College Hunks Moving." [7]

In 2009, at the age of 27, Soliman was named to the 30 Under 30 List by Inc. Magazine. [8]

Soliman was the co-executive producer of the 2012 documentary Beware of Mr. Baker. [4]

In 2011, Soliman co-authored the book Effortless Entrepreneur with Nick Friedman and Daylle Schwatrz. [9] He was nominated by Ernst & Young for the Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2011. [10]

Television appearances

In 2009, Soliman appeared on the series premier of ABC's television show Shark Tank to pitch a sister concept called College Foxes Packing Boxes. Soliman and Friedman turned down the Sharks offer of $250,000 for a 10% stake in their existing College Hunks business. [11] [12] Soliman turned down the offer received from the Sharks as under the terms of the offer, he and Friedman would have had to turn over partial control of the business. [13]

Soliman appeared on a season premier of BRAVO's Millionaire Matchmaker . [14] He also appeared on AMC's The Pitch in 2013 [15] and on MTV's Jobs That Don't Suck in 2014. He was also on the series premier of CNBC's Blue Collar Millionaires in July 2015. [16]

Soliman has been a guest on the Fox Business Network [17] and MSNBC speaking on the topics of business and entrepreneurship. [18]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleCategoryCredit
2010 - 2011The Millionaire Matchmaker (16 episodes)HimselfTV series
2012Beware of Mr. BakerDocumentaryCo-executive producer
2013The Pitch (01 episode)HimselfDocumentary series
2014Jobs That Don't Suck (01 episode)HimselfTV series
2015Blue Collar Millionaires (01 episode)HimselfTV series
2015Military Makeover with MontelHimselfTV series
2019Shark Tank (02 episodes)HimselfTV series
2021Wake Up America (01 episode)HimselfTV series
2022Undercover Boss (01 episode)HimselfTV series
2023Bezos: The BeginningMovieExecutive producer

Related Research Articles

The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to early-summer schedule. The league quickly became known as a development league for players, with many players moving up to the NBA and many more playing in Europe after stints here. In 1996, the league made a stock offering, a rarity among sports leagues. However, in later years, the league declined as rival leagues appeared and USBL had a tougher time replacing teams that folded. In the last two seasons, the league was mainly a midwestern league, with teams mainly in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. After speculation that the USBL might fold after the 2007 season, the league announced that it would sit out the 2008 season and consider its options for the future. In January 2010, the league expressed hopes to resume play in April 2010. However, no further news has surfaced from the league. The final champions are the Kansas Cagerz, who won the title game on July 1, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayne Huizenga</span> American businessman

Harry Wayne Huizenga Sr. was an American businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He founded AutoNation and Waste Management Inc., and was the owner or co-owner of Blockbuster Video, the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL), the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Dragons' Den is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is known as The Tigers of Money, a pun on "The Tiger of Malaya", which was the nickname of WWII general Tomoyuki Yamashita. The format was created and is owned by Nippon TV and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television.

Omar Sharif Amanat is an American entrepreneur, film producer, and investor in media, technology and hospitality companies.
He was convicted in December 2017 of conspiracy in a scheme involving KIT Digital. and sentenced to 5 years after "a striking fall from power".

Brian Scudamore is an American–born, Canadian entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of O2E Brands, the parent company of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, WOW 1 DAY PAINTING, and Shack Shine. He is a regular contributor to Forbes, writing about small business ownership, franchising, and building corporate culture. His first book, WTF?! : How Failure Can Be Your Key to Success, was published in 2018 and his second book, BYOB: Build Your Own Business, Be Your Own Boss, was published in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin O'Leary</span> Canadian businessman and television personality (born 1954)

Terence Thomas Kevin O'Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful and Maple Man, is a Canadian businessman, investor, journalist, and television personality. From 2004 to 2014, he appeared on various Canadian television shows. These include the business news programmes SqueezePlay and The Lang and O'Leary Exchange, as well as the reality television shows Dragons' Den and Redemption Inc. In 2008, he appeared on Discovery Channel's Project Earth. Since 2009, he has appeared on Shark Tank, the American version of Dragons' Den.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Friedman</span> American actor (born 1949)

Peter Friedman is an American stage, film, and television actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tory Burch</span> American fashion designer and businesswoman (born 1966)

Tory Burch is an American fashion designer, businesswoman, and philanthropist. She is the Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of her own brand, Tory Burch LLC. She was listed as the 88th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College Hunks Hauling Junk</span>

College Hunks Hauling Junk andMoving is a North American junk removal and moving company with headquarters in Tampa, Florida. The company provides junk removal, local and long distance full service moving and office relocation services including in home donation pickup services for non-profit partner organizations. The company became operational in 2005 and began franchising in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daymond John</span> American businessman, investor, and television personality

Daymond Garfield John is an American businessman, investor, and television personality. He is best known as the founder, president, and chief executive officer of FUBU, and appears as an investor on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank. Based in New York City, John is the founder of The Shark Group.

<i>Shark Tank</i> American reality television series

Shark Tank is an American business reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on ABC. The show is the American franchise of the international format Dragons' Den, which originated in Japan as Money Tigers in 2001. It shows entrepreneurs making business presentations to a panel of five investors or "sharks", who decide whether to invest in their companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Jones (entrepreneur)</span> British billionaire businessman (born 1966)

Peter David Jones, also known as Mr. Global, is a British entrepreneur and reality television personality, with interests in mobile phones, television, media, leisure, retail, and property. He is the last remaining original investor on the BBC One show Dragons' Den and on the American television series American Inventor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Mack (sculptor)</span>

Bill Mack is a contemporary American sculptor and painter born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summit Series (conference)</span>

Summit Series© is an American organization that hosts conferences and events for young entrepreneurs, artists and activists. Events organized by the group include an annual invitation to a conference during which participants discuss topics including business practices, technological innovation, and philanthropy. Summit Series attendees have included Bill Clinton, Ted Turner and Richard Branson. Summit Series was founded in 2008 by Elliott Bisnow, Brett Leve, Jeff Rosenthal, Jeremy Schwartz, and Ryan Begelman.

YFS Magazine, which stands for Young, Fabulous & Self-Employed, is a small-business news website and online magazine founded by American business woman, serial entrepreneur, and syndicated columnist Erica Nicole.

Nick Friedman, born in 1981, is an American entrepreneur best known for co-founding College Hunks Hauling Junk and College Hunks Moving with his lifelong friend and business partner, Omar Soliman. He co-authored "Effortless Entrepreneur, Work Smart, Play Hard, Make Millions" with Soliman. Friedman is also a TV personality who has appeared on multiple TV shows, a public speaker, and a co-executive producer of the documentary, "Beware of Mr. Baker."

<i>Beware of Mr. Baker</i> 2012 film by Jay Bulger

Beware of Mr. Baker is a 2012 American documentary film by Jay Bulger about the jazz and rock drummer Ginger Baker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Bienko</span> American coach and athlete

Stephen Bienko is an American coach and athlete. He is best known as the founding Director of the Institute of Athletic Performance, the former largest franchise owner of the College Hunks Hauling Junk brand, and holding the Villanova University discus throw record for eight years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Torrenegra</span>

Alexander Torrenegra is a Colombian-American entrepreneur, inventor, and investor. He is the founder and CEO of Torre and has founded multiple companies including Voice123, Bunny Studio, and Tribe. He is also one of the "shark" investors on Sony's reality television series, Shark Tank Colombia. He was featured in MIT's list of Innovators Under 35 in 2012.

D'Eriq King is an American football quarterback for the DC Defenders of the XFL. He played college football at the University of Houston before transferring to the University of Miami where he played quarterback.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Successful Entrepreneur Shares Start-Up Experiences With Fellow Alumni and Students". University of Miami School of Business Administration. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Heath, Thomas (22 September 2008). "Building Piles of Trash Into Heaps of Cash". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  3. Fenn, Donna (7 September 2010). "Advice From College Hunks: How To Start A Company With Your Best Friend". CBS Money Watch. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  4. 1 2 Leydon, Joe (1 April 2012). "Beware of Mr. Baker". Variety Magazine. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  5. Heath, Tom. "Value Added: The Hunks' Way of Doing Things". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  6. Gill, Dee (30 September 2008). "Hauling Junk With A Touch Of Class". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  7. Heath, Thomas (1 August 2016). "Duo behind College Hunks moving company ditch a digital path for old-school success". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  8. "30 Under 30". Inc. Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  9. "Effortless Entrepreneur". Random House. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  10. "Lifetime Achievement Honoree and Award Finalists". Ernst & Young. 16 June 2011. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  11. "IMDb Filmography Omar Soliman". IMDB. 7 November 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  12. Plumb, Tierney. (7 August 2009). "College Hunks Hauling Junk Founders Jump In Shark Tank". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  13. Mui, Yian Q. (6 June 2010). "Whatever Happened To – The College Hunks And Their Junk Business". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  14. "Omar: Junk In the Trunk". Bravo. 19 January 2010.
  15. "IMDb Filmography Omar Soliman". IMDB. 8 November 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  16. "IMDb Filmography Omar Soliman". IMDB. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  17. "College Grads Forced To Start Own Companies To Find Jobs". Fox Business. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  18. Saha, Mousumi Kumar (2 April 2012). "Nick Friedman & Omar Soliman, The Founders Of College Hunks Hauling Junk". Success Stories. Retrieved 8 November 2012.