GARY: Next on Start Up, we head to Fort Worth, Texas to meet up with Zach Freeman, the founder of Veterans Moving America, a mission-based business that only employs US military veterans.

All of this and more is next on Start Up.

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♪ GARY: My name is Gary Bredow.

I'm a documentary filmmaker and an entrepreneur.

As the country faces uncertainty, small business owners continue to persevere, pushing the economy forward with their unrelenting drive and determination.

We've set out for our 12th consecutive season, talking with a wide range of diverse business owners to better understand how they've learned to adapt, innovate, and even completely reinvent themselves.

♪ This is Start Up.

♪ The moving industry in the United States is a multi-billion dollar industry that provides services for individuals and businesses who are relocating to a new home or office.

There are thousands of moving companies operating in the US ranging from small local businesses to large national chains.

The industry is highly competitive with companies offering a range of services, including packing, loading, transportation, and unloading of household or office goods.

With the increased demand for moving services, the industry is only expected to continue to grow.

Today, I'm heading to Fort Worth, Texas to meet up with Zach Freeman, the founder of Veterans Moving America.

From what I know, Zach started this business as a way to provide employment opportunities for US military veterans.

I'm really excited to meet up with Zach and learn more about this business.

♪ What is Veterans Moving America?

ZACH: Veterans Moving America is a values-based moving company that only hires veterans.

GARY: Why veterans?

What is your tie?

ZACH: I'm not a vet.

Both my grandpas served in the military, but really my deeper connection came through an experience I had at the end of high school.

There was a marine that had started attending my family's church.

He got to know my dad and started developing a relationship with him.

In October of that year, when the economy kind of just tanked, this guy lost his job and his wife filed for divorce all in the same month pretty much.

And so, his whole life just disintegrated in front of him.

And so, my family, you know, offered to let him move in with us for, you know, a few months to help him just get back up on his feet, but he ended up living with us for almost three years.

The most eye-opening thing for me about this whole experience was that even though he was probably the hardest worker I've ever met, did every task above expectation, he would still hop from job to job every few months.

And as we got to know him, we realized that, you know, on the outside he was always cracking jokes, laughing, you knew when he was in the room, but behind that was really this person who felt alone and like he just couldn't find a place where he could belong.

If you're not from that world and you don't have their- you can't share those experiences, it can create opportunities for disconnection and just butting of heads.

And so, that's what would happen to him.

His name was Jason.

He would get a job, a few months later leave for either he would quit or he got fired.

It didn't matter.

GARY: Mm-hmm.

ZACH: And it was heartbreaking, because all the guy wanted was to find a place where he could belong.

GARY: Yep.

ZACH: And be himself, and be understood, and relate to people, and they could relate to him, and he could not find that.

GARY: Is that when a, like a light bulb went off inside your head about it?

ZACH: Well, later, yeah.

And so, if you fast forward, you know, a few years, so this was 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.

I'm getting ready to graduate from TCU in 2013, late 2012.

And I just said, "Okay, I wanna start a business."

And I was like, "I wanna do something that has a deeper meaning."

And I said, "Okay, what's that deeper meaning going to be?"

And because of that experience, it was a no-brainer that I wanted to do something to help veterans.

GARY: Yeah.

ZACH: And so I started thinking, okay, what would that look like?

And my first idea was, what about a company that only hired veterans?

My theory was maybe we could create that environment, create that culture, create that space, that home where vets could come to work, get paid, get their needs met, but also feel like they belonged.

Where they could be themselves, they could be comfortable, they could talk to other vets, they could support each other, relate to each other, and kind of have that space that Jason couldn't find.

GARY: Instead of trying to find the perfect environment to fit into... ZACH: Yeah.

GARY: You create the perfect environment.

ZACH: Exactly, I mean, we've been in business for almost 11 years now.

GARY: Wow.

ZACH: And it is by far the number one reason people apply.

It's because you only hire veterans, it intrigues them.

They want that, they want that community, that comradery.

GARY: Yeah.

ZACH: That, you know, they miss from the military.

It's the number one reason people stay and they do a difficult job like moving and, you know, picking up a sleeper sofa and lug it up three flights of stairs in this Texas heat.

And it's also the number one reason people often will come back if they leave, 'cause they miss what they had here.

It's really powerful and it's such an honor to even be a part of.

♪ GARY: What was it like transitioning from the military into civilian life?

KRISTINA: It was hard at first.

I think it's hard for anyone no matter how long you've been in.

I mean, I think honestly, I was a little depressed for a while and it was hard finding a job.

The first six months I would say was very hard until I adjusted.

And that's also part of why I like the culture here, 'cause I think just generally speaking, I think we all like care about each other.

GARY: Yeah.

KRISTINA: And you know, just as people, we all kind of get each other a little bit.

Probably, 'cause we're all veterans, but I've never had that anywhere.

GARY: As a veteran, how does it feel to you knowing, you know, what Zach has done and the mission that he's sort of created with his life to support veterans and give them opportunities?

What does that mean for you?

KRISTINA: I love working here.

I mean, personally, yeah, it means everything to me, including the military and everything.

It honestly, is the best job I've ever had.

The work culture is what makes it for me.

I wasn't planning to stay very long, honestly.

GARY: Okay.

KRISTINA: But I got so comfortable here and the longer I stayed the more I- I just didn't wanna leave.

♪ ♪ ♪ GARY: When did you come to the determination of it's going to be a moving company?

ZACH: Only hiring vets was step one.

Then eventually, it got to the point of, okay, what we have to do something.

GARY: Yeah, yeah.

ZACH: Literally, moving was my first idea.

That was it.

GARY: Why?

ZACH: It seemed simple.

Didn't seem like it was gonna take too much money to raise to do.

GARY: A truck and some manpower.

ZACH: Yeah, right?

GARY: To start.

ZACH: And I said, okay, well, let me look at, you know, do some market research, see if it's a good opportunity.

And as I looked into it, DFW was exploding, it still is.

So, it seemed like there was a valid business opportunity on top of that.

So, I kind of flushed that idea out and ended up writing a business plan, raising a little bit of money and I mean, it wasn't that simple, but you know, here we are.

GARY: You had to raise some money.

ZACH: Yeah.

GARY: For what?

ZACH: I knew we were gonna have some overhead.

I needed to survive.

I wanted to bring on an operations person that I could salary to.

I was looking to raise $40,000 at first, which is what I did start the company with.

And... GARY: Okay.

ZACH: My dad mentioned someone he worked with, oh, you know, Zach's looking to maybe start a company and this individual said, "Tell me more, like, I'm curious," because that sounds like something that either me or an investment group he was in might be interested in investing in.

This ended up leading to my dad, this other individual and his wife, and then a third person he worked with all sitting down with me, hearing what I wanted to do, reading through my business plan and choosing to make that investment.

GARY: Incredible, and you got the full 40?

ZACH: I got the full 40.

♪ GARY: Talk about your first customer.

How'd you get him?

ZACH: Yeah.

Oh, well, our first customer was actually, someone that worked at TCU.

You know, I gave him a quote, which I didn't really know how to quote people that well, 'cause we had never done it before, but we showed up.

I remember it was me, two other guys.

One guy left after 20 minutes, 'cause he had a PTSD panic attack and just like, "I'm sorry I have to leave."

Me and this other guy, Randy, we finished the job, it went great.

I got home like, all right, hey, one under the belt, hopped in the shower and then started sobbing for 20 minutes.

Fear just hit me so hard.

I said, oh my gosh, what am I doing?

This isn't my money.

I don't know what I'm doing.

Like, I was overwhelmed with fear out of nowhere.

I was just realizing this is happening and I really, you know, I had.

GARY: It was real.

ZACH: Yeah, it was real.

GARY: How'd you get over it?

ZACH: I remember just praying about it and sort of coming to the peace that, you know what, this is something that I will not be able to do by myself.

And that to me and just that security that you're gonna figure it out.

You're gonna get help.

You do not have to do it by yourself.

That gave me the peace and strength to stop sobbing and get outta the shower and say, "Okay, let's just keep going."

GARY: Yeah.

One foot in front of the other.

ZACH: That's all you could do.

♪ GARY: Let's dive into the initial stages of company growth... ZACH: Yeah.

GARY: Because now you gotta start marketing.

ZACH: We didn't have a big budget, and so, a lot of it was at first just word of mouth, getting creative.

I'd go to Lowe's, Home Depot, and secretly leave business cards or flyers by the moving supplies.

GARY: Sure, nice.

ZACH: Obviously, I had a lot of people that knew what I was doing, so they would start referring their friends and their family.

That's really the more powerful story for us is when people saw that the mission behind the work was genuine and authentic and they saw what I wanted to do, they wanted to find a way to support that.

And in the beginning it was really, okay, please tell other people or anyone that you know that might be moving about us so that we can have the opportunity to serve them.

♪ ♪ ♪ GARY: What is it that got you interested in getting into moving?

TRAVIS: I just wanted to do something physical to be honest.

GARY: Yeah.

TRAVIS: I was behind the desk.

So, just getting back out there and you know, just moving stuff I guess.

GARY: There's something to be said about working with your hands, man, and getting out and putting in a hard day's work.

TRAVIS: Oh, for sure.

It is pretty rewarding at the end of the day when you know you did a pretty massive job so.

GARY: Tell me about Zach.

What kind of guy is he?

TRAVIS: One thing I could always say about him is he cares about us more than anything.

GARY: Yeah.

TRAVIS: So, like he, I run the office in Addison too.

So, whatever vision or whatever I can do to make the job better, easier, he supports that 100%.

So, he is in all support for us.

Not just as veterans, but as people too.

So, one of the most humble guys I've ever met.

GARY: What can civilians do to support veterans?

'Cause I know that it's been a much bigger conversation, veteran suicide, depression, mental health issues.

What can people do to support veterans in that end?

TRAVIS: I mean, obviously, there's the charity component, but like we were just talking about just, you know, giving them the opportunity, like whether it's a job or just whatever.

Just giving them the help that they need, because a lot of them are afraid to ask for help too.

So, it's like being there.

GARY: Pride.

TRAVIS: Yep.

So just, you know, just full on support from everybody.

That's all we really need.

♪ GARY: Okay.

So, snapshot of where we are right now, trucks, employees.

ZACH: Yeah.

So, right now, we've got four trucks that we lease and then we just rent additional as needed.

We've got a total of about 25-ish employees, but I want to be up north of 30 within the next month or two.

And I wanna keep going.

GARY: Okay.

ZACH: I mean, revenue wise, you know, I think last year about 1.5 million, maybe a little bit less.

I've got, you know, higher goals this year.

Yeah, oh man, our culture, that's the always the most important thing for me.

Without our culture, the company fails and the culture is the strongest, most vibrant it probably ever has been, 'cause we have the right people on the bus who are all here for the right reasons.

GARY: I'm sort of intrigued by the leasing aspect of it.

Does the company like own any assets specifically, and why did you choose to lease the trucks instead of buy?

ZACH: Yeah, so, we do own a company van that we use for our labor-only service or our packing services, if we need to.

But no, all of our box trucks we lease and we did have those discussions often and the original- way back when we leased our first truck, the conversation for me was, our core competency is not vehicle maintenance.

I have so many other problems I need to deal with, it's okay for me to pay a little bit more for someone else to worry about that stuff.

GARY: Yep.

ZACH: And so for us, leasing made sense.

And in the very beginning we didn't lease anything.

We would rent as needed.

And so, we would rent trucks on a daily basis.

And if we did that for the first couple years and then once we had some financial history that you usually, will need to lease and we, you know, felt like we could support the truck enough to where it may justify the expense, that's when we leased our first truck.

♪ ♪ ♪ GARY: What is your role here at Veterans Movement America?

TODD: Team Leader, I lead the team on each move.

Yes, sir.

GARY: Was that one of the big draws of working around other veterans?

TODD: Oh yeah, definitely.

GARY: From a veteran's perspective, why is it important to be around other folks that kind of understand, you know, what you've been through?

TODD: Well, we're like a family.

We just click, we get along.

Everything's natural around each other.

We don't know each other, but we feel like we do know each other.

GARY: Talk about a little bit about Zach and about this company and, you know, this whole operation, what he's doing with his dedication to veterans.

TODD: I think it's wonderful.

I mean, he's always there and he asks us, you know, if we need anything and he means it, he's always there for us.

So, that's always been a plus too.

♪ GARY: How much did the fact that this company, specifically employees veterans, how much did that kind of weigh in on your decision?

ERIC: That was important to us.

GARY: Really?

ERIC: Yes, it was.

We really liked that, and felt that, that was just a great way to provide jobs for veterans.

GARY: As a homeowner that's in the process of moving, what is most important to you?

ERIC: What we liked about this process is that they were very transparent and very detailed in their estimating process.

And that gave us a great comfort that they were gonna take care of all of our things properly.

GARY: What would you say to somebody else, a friend, associate, somebody who's in the process of moving right now about this experience?

ERIC: I would highly recommend using Veteran Movers America.

And as a matter of fact, I've already given a couple of tips to friends.

♪ GARY: How many times over the course of the last 11 years have you said, "I can't do this.

I gotta go get a day job, a 09:00 to 05:00."

ZACH: I couldn't measure them, 'cause, yeah.

GARY: Too many to count.

ZACH: There's a day I come to work, I'm on fire.

And then like, something comes up and I'm like, "Why did I ever do this?

This is stupid."

GARY: Yeah.

ZACH: But you ride those waves, and like I said, you have to have the right motivation.

It got to the point where I told the board, look, if I can't turn things around and change some things by the first quarter, end of first quarter in 2023, I'd be willing to find a different role for me and bring someone in who can.

And I'm feeling this pressure, I'm watching our cash supply get lower and lower and lower.

It was exhausting.

And yeah, I was starting to feel pretty discouraged and feeling like, I don't know how much longer I can do this.

GARY: Do you remember a specific time when you started to feel like, okay, there's light, you know, peeking into this darkness, you know?

ZACH: Yeah.

I made some changes operationally at the end of 2022.

GARY: What changes?

ZACH: The most notable one was I switched our CRM.

GARY: Okay.

ZACH: And that was not the first thing we had.

GARY: For people that don't know, that's customer relationship management.

ZACH: Management software.

Yeah.

So, it's, you know, a system where, you know, we're putting in customer's info, their move details, we build their estimate, we send it through this system, we collect payment through the system.

GARY: So, the software helped to sort of reorganize... ZACH: 100%.

GARY: And reinvigorate.

ZACH: Yeah, and it required us to change how we did some things too, which gave us new tools, new insights.

It really was a really good game changer for us.

That was a turning point, I guess.

We saw our fork in the road and I'm very fortunate that we made the changes, and I made the changes, and was willing to admit, okay, we gotta change stuff.

I need help, I need encouragement, I need, you know, accountability and all this stuff.

I'm gonna make the hard decisions to try and change things.

I am, yes, very opposite of where I was, you know, a year and a half ago.

GARY: Yeah.

ZACH: The business is thriving.

I said, culture is great.

We've got probably the best team we ever have.

I was reminded of my grander vision and passion for what I want to do in the longer term.

So, yeah, I'm in a much better place.

GARY: What is your big picture dream or goal, for this company?

ZACH: Yeah, I've always had very big goals and a vision for VMA.

On the moving side by itself, I mean, we wanna, you know, expand countrywide.

We wanna have, you know, veteran-owned locations all over the country.

But my bigger vision has always imagined that we have this big umbrella company or something that has a bunch of different types of companies underneath it all hiring veterans, 'cause to me, again, the company named Veterans Moving America, I've always said you can replace that verb in the middle with whatever.

GARY: Feeding America.

ZACH: Yeah, Feeding America.

That one guy is like a chef in the spirit.

I'm like, Veterans Catering America.

It's not about the what we're doing, it's about how can we offer more jobs and more opportunities to more veterans.

GARY: Yes.

ZACH: Moving is tough.

It excludes a whole bunch of 'em.

So, that's why we're always looking for new opportunities.

That's why we got into order fulfillment for my friend's business last year.

GARY: Yep.

ZACH: Because now we have more opportunities and bigger variety.

I wanna be known as the go-to place for veterans when they get out of the military.

I want veterans and their families to know the brand and know the name and know that if they need a resource that we're able to help either provide one to them through one of these organizations.

And if not, connect them to maybe another company that might be a good fit for them.

That's really the bigger vision I've always had is much bigger than just a small local moving company.

That's never been my big goal.

♪ One of the things that we also do is a great partnership with my friend, Nathan, to do his order fulfillment.

So, he has a business called Piñata Grams, where you can send these little piñatas through the mail for graduations, birthdays, holidays.

GARY: Okay.

ZACH: And they have a personalized message inside.

And when you place an order for him, what our guys will do is they will come and they'll, you know, pack these piñatas with candy, build the box, put, you know, the label on the front, the message on the inside, and ship it out.

One of the challenges we have with moving is that it's a physical job.

GARY: Right.

ZACH: It's hard, and there's a lot of vets that want opportunity, they want that support, but the job- the nature of the job itself just doesn't fit.

GARY: Got it.

ZACH: And so for me.

GARY: Too physically demanding.

So, this a allows more opportunity for you to hire more vets.

ZACH: Exactly.

GARY: How long have you been doing this, the fulfillment stuff?

ZACH: We started doing this with Nathan in June of last year.

And it's been honestly, one of the best business decisions we have both made.

A true example of a win-win-win all around.

It's been absolutely amazing.

♪ NATHAN: I was looking for moving my fulfillment operations from internal to a third party provider again.

GARY: Okay.

NATHAN: And I asked Zach, if he needed just my warehouse.

We were gonna be moving out.

GARY: Yep.

NATHAN: And he said, "I think that this is the perfect opportunity to "add more hours and offer more work for veterans.

"Would you be okay with letting me and my guys, "and phenomenal team,- GARY: Yeah.

NATHAN: Step in and handle fulfillment for you?"

GARY: Nice.

NATHAN: I was very hesitant, but I'll tell you what, a year in I couldn't be happier.

GARY: How does it feel for you knowing that you're actually, you're helping and contributing, you know, to providing meaningful work for vets?

NATHAN: It means a lot.

You know, the opportunity to daily get to send joy in the mail is one thing.

The response we get from our customers of just how excited people are to get this, but then to know that on the back end what is causing that joy to happen every single day is our fine service men and women doing the fulfillment work is really meaningful.

♪ GARY: Do you have any specific regrets as it pertains to the course that you've taken building this business?

ZACH: Well, I've made a lot of mistakes, but for me, every mistake is an opportunity to learn.

Yeah, everyone makes mistakes.

GARY: Yes.

ZACH: One of our sayings around here that, you know, my parents told me to grow up is, "Perfection is not the standard.

"All we ask is, when you make a mistake, "take responsibility for it.

Try to learn something and try not to do it again."

GARY: Yeah.

ZACH: And I tell that everyone we hire, I tell that to you.

I'm like, "Look, you're gonna break something, "you're gonna damage something, "you're gonna be late, that's fine.

"Don't fear failure.

"But when you make a mistake, "just try to learn and own it.

It's okay.

It's okay."

GARY: Yep.

For someone out there watching this that's interested in potentially starting a moving company... ZACH: Sure.

GARY: What's the best advice that you could give to them?

ZACH: Be realistic about what the job looks like.

It's a hard physical job.

You're gonna have long nights.

You're gonna have long days.

Same thing with I think just starting a business in general.

GARY: Yes.

ZACH: It's gonna be harder than you think, but it's also, it could be one of the most rewarding things of your life too, if you do it for the right reasons.

GARY: And if it completely bombs, you're back to where you started.

ZACH: You're better off than when you were before, 'cause you tried something.

I guarantee you learned a lot of things.

GARY: Yep.

ZACH: And you're gonna be stronger in the long run because of it.

♪ GARY: From the moment that you meet Zach, it feels like you've been friends for years.

His welcoming smile and familiar dialogue creates an immediate sense of trust.

And you can tell right away that Zach genuinely cares about people.

And to me, that's one of the main reasons why Veterans Moving America is fast becoming one of the area's top moving companies.

Yes, he's providing a valuable service, but it's so much more than that.

Supporting veterans is something that you hear about quite a bit these days, but it can be difficult to know exactly how best to do that.

And I think the short answer is that doing anything is better than doing nothing.

For Zach, he took the time to listen and understand what was missing in the workforce for veterans.

And instead of complaining about it on social media, he actually, did something about it.

He's providing real career opportunities for highly skilled and capable individuals whose skills may not have directly translated from military to civilian life.

He puts like-minded people who understand each other in an environment that's comfortable, safe, and productive.

It was such an honor to meet Zach and his team.

I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this amazing company.

For more information, visit our website and search episodes for Veterans Moving America.

Next time on Start Up, we head to Mansfield, Texas to meet up with Kristy Moore, the owner of Mansfield Funeral Home and Cremations, a business that's setting a new standard in the funeral industry.

Be sure to join us next time on Start Up.

Would you like to learn more about the show?

or maybe nominate a business?

Visit our website at startup-usa.com, and connect with us on social media.

♪ ♪ We've got a long road ahead of us ♪ ♪ A long road ahead of us ♪ Got a long road ahead of us ♪ ♪ Before we pay our dues ♪ We've got a long road ahead of us ♪ ♪ A long road MAN: That's good, there you go.

GARY: Oh!

That was not easy!

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GoDaddy Airo, learn more at godaddy.com/airo.

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BambooHR supports your HR strategies by automating operational tasks, leaving you with more time to concentrate on what's most important to you and your business.

Learn more at BambooHR.com.

BambooHR, a proud supporter of Start Up.

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Learn more at colonialpenn.com or by calling 1-800-372-8383.

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