Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas DeLadurantey.
Thomas, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born on a farm in Michigan, and they moved to San Antonio Texas when I was a young teenager. During my post-high school, pre-college years, I worked during the summer as a mover. As time passed, I had the privilege of working for and growing several companies across the US. Back in 2014, I had the privilege of being brought on as the Operations Manager for You Move Me in Milwaukee. The location was small but had great potential.
Within the first 3 months, I took on the role of General Manager, and handled everything from Training, to marketing and sales. The moving industry is a hard and grueling industry, with a horrible reputation. With that said, You Move Me the brand itself is centered around the morals and customer experience that their sister company 1-800-got-junk was founded on. The passion I found in other General Managers (and even in my movers), caused me to keep pushing through week after week of 80+hrs, while I helped grow Milwaukee.
After two years of intense labor, I decided it was time to branch out on my own, and acquired You Move Me in Atlanta, as it’s the previous owner wanted to retire. Many people ask why I would want to work in an industry filled with long hour and high stress. For me, building You Move Me fulfills several of my life goals. First, to be a disruptor in an industry. We do this by providing long-term employment for our movers, and consistent professional service for our customers. And secondly… I love helping people reach their goals, and owning this company allows me to employ individuals who have previously never experienced a work atmosphere where your boss and peers actually care about you.
As a young man, I made a goal of having a company (or several companies) that employed 100 individuals full-time, allowing them to have financial stability, and a family life. You Move Me in Atlanta is a big step for me in the right direction. As an owner, this allows me the ability to direct the path of the company, to ensure not only do we treat our customer right, we can care for our employees as they deserve (with respect and dignity).
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Goodness… In Georgia, the state is one of the most regulated and price-controlled states in the US. It’s estimated that only 1 out of every 10 companies who label themselves as licensed actually are. This means that I must abide by pricing that is 12yrs old (yes…12yrs old), while 9 other companies without the proper insurance or licensing are running around lying to customers, and putting their belongings in danger. As I’ve said before, moving is an industry shadowed by bad experiences for most people. With our quality of service though… we’re able to grow our client base day by day.
Since we aren’t like any moving company I know of, where we don’t hire any day laborers/temps, it’s difficult to find employees who hold the same ideals and standards as I do. When most companies will “hire” 40 movers when they only need 30… we hire 30 when we need 30. This causes our team members to be willing to go the extra-mile on long days, and treat their job like a career, and not just a paycheck. The current hire rate is along 1 out of every 100 applicants.
Just like the postman, moves must be completed no matter the weather. This can cause some very tricky scheduling for the team, as well as for our clients. Learning to adapt to Atlanta’s ever-changing climate has definitely been an ongoing lesson.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about You Move Me – what should we know?
You Move Me is a local moving company in Atlanta, dedicated to providing our customers with consistent professional moving services, by hiring full-time/long-term employees. No temps or day laborers here! We’re not just movers, we’re solutions experts. We pride ourselves on truly caring about the customer’s needs, and finding the best solution to their problem… be it packing, moving, and unpacking… or just moving one item.
As we say… we’re not in the moving industry, we’re in the business of finding solutions. There are good moving companies out there. Few and far between, but they are out there. We differentiate ourselves by cross-training all of our employees on packing and moving, allowing our clients the consistency they deserve. I don’t just care that my team can move or pack, I also want to know what their goals are, and how You Move Me can fit into the long-term.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Mentors in my life would be Brian Scudamore and Tom Rypma due to their passion for customer experience. From the moment I got involved with You Move Me, the principles that Brian and Tom made as core values for the brand resounded with my core.
Also, a shout-out to my supports…. the managers and owners who have daily encouraged me never give in. Being an Entrepreneur isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s long days, long weeks, and long years. So thank you to my encouragers, Tony Sandavol, Ricky Flores, Frank Carranco, Gabe Filkey, and Andrew Wilson. The list could go on and on because I would not have gotten to where I’m at if it weren’t for the countless people pushing me on.
Special thanks to Samuel DeL and Donnie McKenzie for being two of the hardest and most dedicated teammates/employees a man could ask for. And last but most importantly, to my fiance who I’ll be marrying Feb 3rd, Michaela Wells for her incredible devotion to me and my workaholic tendencies.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2758 Caldwell Rd NE #315 Brookhaven, GA 30319
- Website: www.youmoveme.com
- Phone: 404-272-1210
- Email: atlantametro@youmoveme.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youmovemeatlanta
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/you-move-me-atlanta-brookhaven?utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)
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