We were lucky to catch up with Holly Stewart recently and have shared our conversation below.

Holly, appreciate you joining us today. Day to day the world can seem like a tough place, but there’s also so much kindness in the world and we think talking about that kindness helps spread it and make the world a nicer, kinder place. Can you share a story of a time when someone did something really kind for you?

I don’t have one major thing that sticks out in my mind. I think like anything else in life it’s a lot of small moments or gestures. So I can share a couple smaller things that really had a big impact on me maybe because they were so unexpected.

For example, one time a former employee came back to say hi to everyone. That by itself, wasn’t that unusual however, this employee made sure to search me out to talk to me privately. He shared with me that he felt his experience with me prepared him better than anything else for his next job (including training in this new field!) He said during the interview process his future employer, let him know that if he had trained with me and I had given him the trust to give him certain roles within my company that was all they needed to know. I was so touched to be part of his journey, but I also thought it was so kind that he circled back to tell me.

Another time I got a request from an employee at our home office for something they had sent out years ago. My immediate thought was “Oh no somehow they can see that I’m an email pack rat!” But when I ask her why she came to me for this (we were not close), she told me she found me to be a safe place and didn’t think that I would judge her for not being able to locate it herself. What a high compliment!! I obviously hold my staff accountable but to be recognized as a “safe place” really made me feel like I was doing something right.

Finally, and probably the biggest visible sign of kindness, was when an employee’s family sent me flowers and an edible arrangement on the employee’s birthday. This employee had suddenly passed away approximately 5 month prior and they were so touched by the impact I had on his life that they felt like honoring me on his special day since he was no longer there. This definitely brought tears to my eyes!!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a multi-unit franchisee with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, which means I’m the owner of 3 franchises spread across 7 offices in the Atlanta area. I have offices in Dekalb, Cobb, Paulding, Bartow and Douglas counties. We offer residential and commercial moving, storage & packing services locally as well as long distance.

We have the highest referral rate in the area at 98% and do this consistently year over year. You can trust us to exceed your expectations on customer service as well as value. We really do love helping our customers and community and you can see that reflected in our core values. We’re the largest franchised moving company in the world and after 39 years in the business, we’ve definitely figured out how to deliver a top level service you can count on!

Over the past couple years, we really started building out our crate moving program, which we’ve been really excited about!! This has allowed us to accommodate more customers who have a smaller move long distance that want our white glove service at a more budget friendly price. We actually encourage all of our customers who are eligible for this level service to go that route. At the end of the day, we want the customer to be happy… and who doesn’t love saving money without skimping on quality!

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

I bought the first from my boss as I was a key manager for him and he gave me the opportunity to buy him out. The other two I purchased with an asset agreement and brought in some of my team to help integrate my processes into the preexisting business. I felt confident buying additional businesses as I had already proven my own track record to myself. When you acquire a business, you are basically betting on and investing in yourself. My story from working within, working my way up and eventually buying the owner out is somewhat unique; however, you don’t need something that specific to be able to prove to yourself that you have the knowledge, skills, and drive to run and own a business.

In terms of what the acquisition process looks like, it actually looked different for all three given the outside circumstances surrounding the buy outs. The first one was rather seamless since I was already in place. The second one was done very quickly and was a bit more jarring versus when I purchased the third, I had ample time to prep everyone in my current organization as well as the new organization. My best piece of advice when trying to envision an acquisition would be to do all your prep work but expect the unexpected and plan to be available with boots on ground as everyone is going through that transition. The short term investment pays off enormously.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In small business, you pivot all the time. You have to remember that no change and no movement basically equals backwards growth movement. Taking the plunge and then constantly adjusting towards perfection is sort of the day-to-day, especially as an owner.

The biggest pivot I made was probably in my actual career and how I got to this spot. I went to college for and started in market research. Along the way, I decided corporate business was not for me. I had actually planned to go get a masters and teaching certificate as helping others grow has always been a  of mine. I ended up applying to be a customer service representative at a local TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® as a day job to help pay the bills while I went to school nights and weekends. With a little bit of divine intervention, I was offered a general manager position, so I asked the university to postpone my enrollment. I had full intention of attending the following semester but I wanted to take a little time to learn the business as I had no experience in trucks, logistics, moving or even managing blue collar employees.

Needless to say, I never ended up going back. I found my love for small business and realized that I was training and helping others every day. I worked my way up for another multi unit franchisee and eventually was running all of his stores in the Atlanta area before I took the logical pivot to become an owner. Funny enough, I remember a time while I was working in market research someone mentioned to me that one day I might own my own market research company. I remember laughing saying owning a business was never something I would want to do… Never say never!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]

• Website: www.twomenandatrucksmyrna.com

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/TwoMenAtlanta/

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/tmt_chamblee/