The Dumpster Dive King: From Odd Jobs to Millions of Followers and Online Fame (America’s Gone Viral interview)

Jonathan, also known as Dumpster Dive King, was born and raised on the North Shore of Massachusetts, where he continues to reside with his wife and 10-year-old daughter. Throughout his life, he has pursued various occupations, including working as a cook and in moving companies, printing presses, and house painting. Alongside his jobs, he always found ways to hustle and generate additional income, whether it be through selling retro video games and toys on eBay or flipping goods from yard sales and curbside trash. With a passion for finding free treasures, Jonathan has been familiar with dumpster diving and waste salvaging for over two decades, sparked by his early experiences of discovering brand new items while cutting through dumpster alleyways on his paper route at the age of 12.

Around a year ago, Jonathan grew disenchanted with his job as a catering chef and cook, prompting him to reignite his interest in dumpster diving and documenting his finds. He began sharing his adventures on social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, at the suggestion of his wife. His videos quickly gained traction, repeatedly going viral and amassing a significant following. Encouraged by his growing online presence, Jonathan made the bold decision to quit his day job and fully commit to creating content. Within just four months of posting videos, he experienced exponential growth, reaching a combined following of approximately 8 million across his social media accounts. His YouTube channel skyrocketed to 100k subscribers within a couple of months and has since grown to 700k subscribers. Jonathan has also achieved verification on three out of four platforms.

In his journey, Jonathan not only shares his discoveries but also donates, keeps, and sells items, embodying his motto of turning trash into treasure.

America’s Gone Viral’s own Brian Breach got a chance to see what’s going on in the world of The Dumpster Dive King: Check out what he had to say below.

1. How old were you when you actually did your first dumpster dive? What did you find?

I first started dumpster diving when I was about 12 years old, believe it or not, so I have probably known about dumpster diving for over 26 years! My brother, my mom, and I would cut through behind a store to get home, and one day we saw a clerk tossing out a few baskets full of brand new stuff. They went in, and we grabbed it all! It was a ton of brand new toenail clippers, makeup, and some cologne if I remember correctly. We would go back there almost every day for a long time from there on out and would even run little yard sales in front of our house. My passion for free items and selling stuff started when I was very young!

2. After doing your first dumpster dive, did you ever think your life would take the trajectory it’s taken now?

After my first dumpster dive, I only continued to dumpster dive for a couple of years until I got older. Fast forward to my 20s, and I kinda started doing it off and on again, but my main focus became finding stuff at yard sales and for free on the curb to flip for profits. Amongst all of this, I have also always worked in kitchens as a line cook, catering chef, and everything else under the sun you can do in a kitchen. Now at 39, I never in my life thought I would be making videos of me jumping in and out of dumpsters finding stuff and certainly never thought I would obtain a following of almost 8 million supporters in 1 year!

3. After going viral, did you immediately start making money off it, or did it take some time for you to figure out how to monetize everything?

Surprisingly, I started making money really quickly. It was so quick that I ended up quitting my job of over 2 years and hung up my chef coat to dive and film full time! I started with a TikTok, and my videos started blowing up right away. Then I instantly knew I needed to make a Facebook, an Instagram, and of course a Youtube. I’d say within the first 3 months, I was monetized on all 4 platforms and made really good money quickly. I have tried in the past to make a social media revolving around a different niche and also have a couple of family members who have been doing this for over 10 years so I’m familiar with becoming monetized.

4. Tell us a little about the first video that actually went extremely viral of yours? What about that video do you think made it more viral than previous ones you posted?

My first platform was TikTok, and the videos that I posted and went viral in my eyes were horrible! I had no idea what I was doing filming one-handed with a phone and posting nonsense videos. But I came to find out a couple of other people had already been posting #dumpsterdiving videos and the hashtag was not saturated so my videos took off. People are infatuated with what can be found in dumpsters. Since the first day I started posting videos I have never changed my niche and never ever missed even one day of going out filming in dumpsters and posting at least one video! Dumpster diving is my hobby at this point filming is my Job.

5. What’s the next step for the Dumpster Dive King? TV shows, reality shows etc?

It’s funny you should ask because I’m not really one that wants to be in the public eye as far as shows and stuff. I have already been offered to be on multiple news stations, radio stations, podcasts, at least 3 reality shows, one in which I was going to even be out of the country for 1 month! For the most part I just want to continue to show the world how bad the waste is, make people happy with my videos and continue to spend all my free time with my family. I work for myself now and do what I wish and I can proudly say it’s because of dumpsters! I’m sure eventually you will see me on a show or something but I’m rather secretive about my life and who I am. It’s not about the fame or the number of followers for me it is all about being happy and having fun. I’m only looking up from here and will never stop diving and posting.

In the future you’re going to see a lot more incredible content from the Dumpster Dive King!