Good to be King
By King Harris
Who would have ever thought a SLO High School wrestler could create a company that would be so successful? Aaron Steed is a mover and a shaker.
What started out as Meathead Movers in San Luis Obispo almost 18-years ago, is now in Santa Barbara, Orange County, Camarillo, and Fresno.
“We needed to figure out how to make money, so the deal was simple,” Steed said. “Me and my brother and friends, all in sports, would offer help to someone who was moving. They’d pay whatever they thought we were worth. They’d rent a truck and we’d show up and get the moving done and it was great because we could work around our schedule.
“Now we’re providing the same for other student athletes across California. We needed to figure out how to make money while going to school and being involved in sports. It’s challenging. Not too many jobs are flexible around the student athlete’s schedule. Our workers make $19 to $27 an hour. Student athletes are able to develop leadership skills, problem solving in high stress situations, commercial driving experience, and leadership training. We feel really good about it.”
Why is Meathead so different and unique?
“We’re very open minded. The biggest lessons come from mistakes we’ve made in the past and not wanting to repeat them in the future.”
Meathead is now offering moving from coast to coast, expanding beyond the limits of California and the West Coast. “We teamed up with Gentle Giant Movers,” he said, “the largest independent mover on the East Coast. We’re the largest on the West Coast. We have similar values and quality standards. Now we’re able to offer nationwide, cross country, door-to-door moving services with clean-cut, drug free professionally trained people backed by companies that have integrity. It’s very different than traditional van lines that operate completely different. We control the shipment from point A to point B.”
Meathead’s success is its employees. “We want people who are raised right,” Steed said. “People who have goals and ambitions, and Meathead is a stepping stone to help them accomplish the bigger and great goals that they have in their life. Our job is to help our employees achieve those goals. One thing I’m really proud of we actually call the hiring manager of the next job they’re going to get. We want to see them move up. Most of our employees come from our employees’ friends. We talk to coaches from local colleges and universities.”
Not only will Meathead move you, but they will pack up all your belongings with the Prince and Princess packing services. “Princess packers is our packing service. We pay high levels to attention and details. We have tissue paper at the top of the boxes so you feel like your opening a present.
“There’s accountability for quality. It adds a completely different dimension to our service. Part of our mission is to understand the uniqueness of our clients,” Steed said. “We develop a game plan to address specific concerns. We want to provide assurance to our clients that their move goes well with people they can trust. We offer money back guarantee. We are dedicated to making our clients happy. The community has been incredibly supportive of our high-end, unique and differentiated moving services.”
How did the name of the company come about? “In SLO High we used to leave the gym equipment really sweaty and the girls volleyball team would use it after us and they’d call us a bunch of ‘meatheads.’ So we thought the name would stick.”
Meathead Movers has survived the tough times since it got started 18-years ago. “Yeah, we’ve been through some really challenging times,” Steed said. “In the early 2000s, our workers comp rate quadrupled; we had to lay off 10 employees. The recession didn’t help. In our 18 years we’ve had cash flow issues but luckily we’ve been able to withstand that. If you’re going to get into business make sure it’s not just about the money. You need to have a bigger purpose, a bigger reason for doing what you’re doing besides just money, because it’s not rosy all the time. What’s kept us going is number one, I know how important it is to have student athletes have a job that fits their schedule; and two, I feel obligated to the community for providing these kinds of moving services because no one else does it like we do it.
“And three, we’ve incorporated philanthropic components into our business, like we’ve been moving women out of domestic violence situations for free since 2001. That’s real. That helps people in a major way and for those reasons, Meathead Movers is more than just about the money. It’s something worth fighting for, even when times are dark. I can’t think of any other way to utilize our services in a more meaningful way. That’s a gift we give to each community. We are proud of it and it feels good.”
Doesn’t sound like Aaron Steed is a meathead to me.
