Success cannot always be judged by the view from the corner office

When I was in eighth grade, we students compiled a memory book and in it we shared our life goals. My best friend wanted to be a lawyer and she is today a partner in a law firm in Chicago.  Her view from high in the Willis Tower overlooking Lake Michigan is stunning.  I wanted to be a social worker.  Instead I went on to get an undergrad degree in English and then on to get graduate degrees in Business. Working in the airline industry, nonprofit and university arenas gave me years of customer service and management experience.  Now as the owner of a senior move management company, there are times when a social worker is needed and I rely on the expertise of colleagues who do this work and do it well in our community. I am not trained to give advice or resolve conflicts among family members.  So I don’t.  My team and I do what we do best:  use our God-given talents to make a transition to a new home less stressful. These transitions affect the person moving and their families.  

As Senior Move Managers, we watch family dynamics in play daily.  Although I respond as an expert in senior move management, I view the situation through the lens of daughter, wife and mom. Family relationships and interactions are fascinating to observe.  Children who hire us to help move their parents often have two personas: one when dealing with us and another when their parents are present and part of the conversation.  When dealing with us, they are decisive, self-assured, and competent.  In the presence of their parents they are compliant, apologetic, emotional and sometimes fearful. Often, there is a cry for help, sometimes spoken and frequently implied, “please take this burden from me.”  We have been told, “You don’t know what he can be like.  I don’t want to see his wrath.” We totally understand this. 

The moving process can stir feelings of guilt, hostility, inadequacy and sadness in families of those in transition.  While the Customer may be feeling anger, resentment, exhaustion and helplessness.  This seems to be particularly true when Customers have moved themselves several times throughout their lives and now, for the first time, they physically and emotionally can’t do it.  Our role is to step in and approach the moving/downsizing process in a logical yet compassionate way.  We provide the step by step approach to getting Customers where they need to go and become the objective yet kind expert. 

We discuss where they are headed and the space available in the new home. We identify the items that they are particularly attached to and where those will go.  We create a floor plan for the new space and place those items in the new space through a software program called Smart Draw. They can see how their items will look in the new space and the move becomes concrete and do-able.  They know they will be surrounded by things they love and have chosen.  Revised floor plans are perfectly acceptable and we will create as many as are needed.  We emphasize safety and comfort and advise that we must allow for adequate room to navigate the space even if it means minimizing the furniture. 

We use color coded dots to identify where items are going.  Green dots mean the items are going to the new home, yellow means sale or charity, blue means the items are identified to go to charity and red dots are items going to trash.  We can help with charity packing and distribution and if a customer wants an estate sale, we connect them with one of our colleagues who hosts estate sales.  Again, the dotting system makes the move real and they see that they are taking the green dotted items that they have chosen and love. 

We get a quote from movers and schedule move day. On move morning, one of our leads is there to meet the movers and manage wardrobe packing.  Once the truck is loaded, she accompanies the mover to the new home and directs the placement of the furniture as discussed.  The rest of the team meets the lead and boxes are unpacked and items placed.  If we have convinced the customer to only bring what will fit, we can settle them and clear out all boxes and packing materials on move day. Our team is especially skilled in creating a space that is comfortable and beautiful. If skeptical in the beginning, Customers and their families are pleased and astounded by the end result.  When Customers and their families trust our expertise and experience, the results are pretty spectacular. We’re not social workers but perhaps we are magicians. Smiles all around.