SEE Change Entrepreneur Spotlight with Guests Judy Brucia and Meg Freer

On this episode, we welcome Judy Brucia and Meg Freer, Co-Founders of JM Move Managers and Moving Forward Warehouse. JM Move Managers was established after Judy and Meg assisted their own families in downsizing to more suitable homes as they aged. They recognized the stress that comes with moving and identified a significant need to support families in this untapped market.

Now, with a dedicated team of over 15 employees, JM Move Managers collaborates closely with families to help them make informed decisions, develop plans, and manage the entire moving process.

This venture marks a second chapter for both Judy and Meg, who previously spent over 20 years as stay-at-home moms raising their children. Their journey is a remarkable tale of recognizing a need and, through grassroots and organic growth, transforming it into a thriving business that offers valuable services and warehouse capabilities.

Tune in to discover how Judy and Meg turned their personal experiences into a successful business and how they continue to positively influence the lives of many... and they are just getting started.

About JM Move Managers

JM Move Managers was founded to assist families in downsizing as their needs change with age. They aim to alleviate the stress of moving by collaborating closely with families to make informed decisions, create a comprehensive plan, and manage the entire process. Their passion is to ensure smooth transitions to new homes while minimizing the chaos typically associated with moving.

About Moving Forward Warehouse

Moving Forward Warehouse (MFW) is a non-profit furniture and home goods thrift store. Our mission is to transform donated furniture into support for those in need, helping create homes with care and comfort. MFW values sustainability and believes community involvement is the key to providing hope. 

About JM Move Managers

JM Move Managers was founded to assist families in downsizing as their needs change with age. They aim to alleviate the stress of moving by collaborating closely with families to make informed decisions, create a comprehensive plan, and manage the entire process. Their passion is to ensure smooth transitions to new homes while minimizing the chaos typically associated with moving.

About Moving Forward Warehouse

Moving Forward Warehouse (MFW) is a non-profit furniture and home goods thrift store. Our mission is to transform donated furniture into support for those in need, helping create homes with care and comfort. MFW values sustainability and

About R. Seelaus & Co., Inc.

R. Seelaus & Co., Inc. was founded in 1984 by Richard Seelaus, originally as a municipal bond broker-dealer. The firm has since become a certified women's business enterprise ("WBE") and has grown into a full-service financial firm that is mission driven in its commitment to creating more opportunities for women in the financial services. R. Seelaus & Co., Inc. and its subsidiaries offer investment advisory, asset management, capital markets, brokerage, fixed income and equity trading, institutional sales, leveraged finance and insurance services. The R. Seelaus & Co., LLC subsidiary is a broker dealer registered with the SEC and member of FINRA, and the subsidiary Seelaus Asset Management, LLC, is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor ("RIA"). With various fixed income trading desks and more than seventy professionals, both entities serve individuals, families, public and private companies, non-profit organizations, and institutional investors. The firm has offices in NJ, CT, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, South Carolina, and Massachusetts.

For more information about R. Seelaus & Co., and its subsidiaries visit www.rseelaus.com

Transcript

Annie S. 0:15

Welcome to Sea Change. I'm so excited today because I'm joined by Judy Brucha and Meg Freer. They are the founders of JM Move Managers and the Moving Forward Warehouse, which is a nonprofit offshoot of JM Move Managers. I'm so excited to have you both here. I have to be completely honest, when I started this podcast, you guys were the exact kind of people I wanted to highlight. It's the woman next door, it's your friend you didn't realize was doing something amazing. And I think as women, we tend to not toot our own horn. And I think what you guys have done is really special. And I think that there's a lot of people out there who have good ideas or see a need in their community and they don't even know where to begin. So I wanted to have you both on and highlight what you've done, why you did it, tell your story, what it's turned into, um, and hopefully inspire other people to take that risk and jump in and do something that's a new challenge. Um, so let's start at the beginning. Um, Judy, I know you personally, so it's a little bit, I'm cheating here a little bit, but um prior to this endeavor, you were staying home with your kids. Yes. Your kids were all grown.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

Yes.

Annie S. 1:24

What what brought this about?

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Meg. No, actually. I had spent a lot of time with my father. My father had Alzheimer's and I he moved into a community. I had spent a lot of time taking care of him and learning about the communities just as a natural offshoot of being with him in the community all the time. So once and he passed away in 2018, and I wanted to continue working. Uh I decided I wanted to continue working in one of the communities. And someone had told me about a group that um helped seniors move, like downsized, move from their homes to the community. So I reached out to them, started with them in 2019, worked for them for about a year and a half before COVID. COVID really shut down the communities. So, and then it was during that time, which she called, it was Christmas time of 2020. 2020 or 2020. 2020. And she broached the subject of you know, starting our own, so our own move managers.

Annie S. 2:29

And so you saw a need really in the senior community specifically.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Yes, yes, definitely. Just from that I was there for a year and a half with the other group, and just from working with that group, yes.

Annie S. 2:41

And and the pain point is seniors now need to leave a home that they've been in probably for a long time. They might be ill-equipped or don't have the resources around them to help with that downsize. Absolutely. And you thought this is a place where we could step in and do something that's needed. Absolutely. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

Yes, because a lot of them, well, there's a couple of factors. A lot of them are living longer. In general, are living longer. Geographically, their families are more spread out than when we were younger and growing up, and people tended to live, you know, closer together. Um, so they just don't have that support system. And a lot of them, uh, you know, we're in Ismova. We're a lot of people today move, move, move. A lot of the people we work with have been in their home 50, 60 years. Right.

Annie S. 3:28

And that you accumulate a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff. Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

No idea how much stuff. Yes. Right. And that's where we come in. Okay.

Annie S. 3:35

Yes. And so, Meg, where do you plug into this story? Were you working before this? Were you just inspired by your crazy friend Judy and what she was looking to do?

SPEAKER_01 3:46

No, I have four kids. Um, was home with them, raised them all. Their kids are similar ages. So Judy and I knew each other from basically like a lot of the sideline sports, you know, and then through that way of just like kind of hanging out and doing stuff throughout our kids. Um, but I always was someone who was like, I never sat still. So it was like I knew there'd be, you know, something to do, like whether it was volunteer stuff I was doing. I was very involved with like the night for a while because I my dad and my sister had passed away from leukemia. And so I did a lot of volunteer stuff with them, doing the light the night walks, and always just loved that, loved being able to try to help people doing it. Um, I really enjoy like moving. I mean, when my kids move four times a year, it's not as fun, but like I always loved it. It was such a great like feeling of like removing the kids into an apartment and I'm kind of not leaving until it's all settled and done. Yeah. And so when I knew what Judy was doing, you know, that's when we kind of were like, Oh, this would be really fun, but like I don't really want to go work for someone else. Like, let's go do this ourselves. Um, and then it kind of just came about from there and it hasn't stopped since.

Annie S. 4:58

So there was a little bit of this entrepreneurial spirit that you guys had.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

Yes, no, definitely.

Annie S. 5:03

But it wasn't like you were sitting there saying we want to start a business, what should that business be? It was a little more organic because you were already involved in this issue. Yes, right. Okay. Definitely. Okay. And so you decide, hey, this is a real thing. We we can do this. We have the skill set. And by the way, I love this particular idea because it is a skill set you have. I mean, between the two of you, there's eight children, a lot of moves. Um, I think being organized and sort of like not being able to sit still and tackle that problem, that's such a mom quality, right? So I always tell women this you have these skills that you're using all the time, raising your children, and they're so applicable to so many other things, um, including business. So you see this now, where do you begin, right? Um, how do you think about going from this is an idea, this is something I'm kind of doing anyways on the side, to let's start a business.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

I mean, we were it was a very actually simple business to start. You know, it was kind of like let's really from the basic, let's open a bank account and you know, form our LLC and let's go. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 6:07

Let's just try it and reached out to the national organization that we registered with. So uh it's called the National Association of Senior Move Managers that are in Chicago. They have a big office, everything stems from that. They offered you you pay to be a member, so then you're on their we're on their homepage, you can where it says find a move manager. So you're registered on there, and they make you take a class to to be certified. Okay. Um, but the best part of it was they had all kinds of templates that um and guidelines and then you know, to start your own. So we use that to get started. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

But then kind of I mean we started with like yeah, basic, you know, kind of folder, like nothing with like a sticker of JM on it and put our computer ourselves, yeah.

Annie S. 6:54

And so then how did you find that very first client or did they find you?

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Uh it was actually through a realtor who's a friend of ours. Yes.

Annie S. 7:01

That makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

We get a lot of referrals through realtors or the communities, but this first one, and we've they were amazing. We loved them both, and it was just she and I. And uh they were moving out of state, um, but older and had been in their home for a while.

Annie S. 7:17

Okay. So you guys go in, and at the beginning, now it's just the two of you doing all of this legwork. Um, so you guys go in, you help these people get their home organized, and then part of it is getting rid of or disposing of some of the stuff in their home. Part of it's moving some of the stuff. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

We do we pretty much just go room by room and they tell us what they, you know, are not parting with that they want to take with them. We work on a floor plan. We usually get a floor plan where they're going, um, fit the pieces in that way. So that's kind of how we started with them. Um, and we we pack, we make piles for donation. We at that time we were selling. Um, we would set some people want to sell pieces, and so we were doing that at that time. Okay. Um and then we after the then the second job too was from a realtor, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Right, right. So at those point, it was it wasn't really um the beginning ones weren't moving into communities, even though they were kind of, you know, I would say like had been in their home for a while and were just downsizing. So, you know, we kind of created just started looking for different resources of where can we bring furniture, where can we bring donations, you know, and just kind of had to create this whole list of where we can bring everything and what we can do, and started kind of forming relationships with like different places. Right, you build like a network of resources, and then we started kind of going out, you know, looking for different communities and stuff like that that we can be. Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

They all have a marketing group. Okay. Um, so if you were taking your parent there, if your parent was or whoever was thinking about moving there, that's the person you would meet with. So we reached out to, I don't know, we were we spent a lot of time just visiting communities and getting to know those people, and we were telling them what we could, you know, offer. Some some had move managers, some did not. Um they they everyone's very open to the idea was very, and then slowly we started getting calls.

Annie S. 9:17

That's interesting. And so how did and from there you grew pretty quickly. Yes, we did. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Even the first job, I have to say, there's a woman on earth who's still on our team who lived on that street. Um, and we were like, you know, do you want to come over and help? Oh yeah. And then they decided they also did want their kitchen packed, right? And I was like, okay, Judy, no one packs the kitchen like my mom, right? Like she still packs like my kitchen, you know, like if it was that's just how she is, you know, let me see if she wants to come pack that. Like everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, right? That's like I'm not a very detailed person with like that stuff. And um, so my mom came and did the packing of the kitchen that day. So that job we kind of end up with like four, even though we started it, and to this day, both of them still are on our team and work with us, yeah, doing it.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

And her mom's amazing.

Annie S. 10:06

Yeah, and so the jobs grew and the team grew.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

Yes, by that summer, I think we took on two more, and we just kept bringing on getting more. It just kind of snowballed, uh, especially once we did one job or two jobs out of community, because then they got to know what we did. Right. And then they were more comfortable. Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

And we her daughter was doing like a lot of the marketing, and then started with like you know, all the brochures, and she kind of created all that stuff. We kind of got to be a little bit more of like a real company.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

Yeah, you know, and so then we had brochures to take and folders to take, and yeah.

Annie S. 10:44

Right. So this is a part of the story that I think is so important, and especially for people who are listening and intimidated by the idea of doing something like this. You don't have to have it all figured out day one, right? It's like one step at a time. Each thing comes up, you tackle that thing, and you move to the next.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

So And that was very Judy and I kind of like oh, we have this idea, great, let's do it. Not like we need to see, like have a projection on it, you know, exactly um of what it's gonna be and where we're gonna be. And it's kind of we never knew we would be here.

Annie S. 11:17

Right. Like, right. So But it's also, I think the other important piece of the story is, you know, there's there's a very like humanitarian aspect to this, right? Because it's people's homes, it's a difficult time in their life, potentially. It's like that's a big transition, and it can be emotional and it's their stuff, and that's a lot, right? And I think another key piece of the success that you guys have is that you are hands-on, you are conscious of that connection to the people that you're helping. And like when you're talking about your mom packing a kitchen, like there's pride in those things. There's like that's important, right? How you think about helping someone definitely in their home. Yes. I think that's a really important piece of it.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Someone's home is important to them, may not be important to us, but it's very important to them, and we respect that.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Right, we'll suggest things, and you know, we we always go in. So when you were talking about like kind of the exactly what it entails, like, you know, we always start with like a free consultation, right? And then that's more where we want them to just we want to see obviously what we're gonna be working with, but also have them be comfortable with us, right? To know us right now.

Annie S. 12:24

Because if they don't trust you, that's a very nerve-wracking thing.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Uh absolutely, because we're in every corner of their house.

Annie S. 12:30

And there's a certain amount of throwing away, I imagine. Yes, that can be a challenge for people.

SPEAKER_02 12:35

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

And you know what we've we've also kind of found when Judasan, like sometimes like their kids aren't as you know, close by or whatever, working with them. That honestly, sometimes like the kids are, you know, a mile away, but they're like, this is gonna be much easier if you handle it with them. Because we found like even if they'll stop by the kids or do something, I think the parents kind of seem most of them kind of get a little bit like, well, do you want that? Like they don't want to get rid of something that their kid might want, or they're gonna be like, Why is why are they throwing away my stuff? Or you know, so they actually sometimes it's like I guess with your own kids, right? Like I could say, Oh, I can teach you how to play soccer, but they're not gonna allow me to or whatever.

Annie S. 13:17

But right that moment when you realize you shouldn't coach your kids, yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

We've all done that, and it's kind of like like this situation, right? It's kind of more like if you if if you can do it, kind of say, like, hand it off, we can get it done, no problem. You know what I mean? And and we can take it as we always say, like, and we get a good idea on the consultation how how slow or how quickly this is gonna go, right? Like, and we'll move at their pace. It doesn't, we don't need to come in and plow through it.

SPEAKER_02 13:47

And some people it's two of us, so we'll just send two people over a series of days or weeks or months. We've even done months where some we've sent two people for three hours and for a couple months leading up to the move day, because that's all they can handle. Right. They can tell us. We always tell them when they're tired or done, they can tell us to leave. They don't have to, you know, ride out the time, so to speak. Right, right. Yeah.

Annie S. 14:12

So, um, in this journey thus far with with move managers, um, what's been the biggest challenge? And and did you have any moment when you were like, uh, we're in over ahead, I'm not sure I want to do this.

unknown 14:24

Last night.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

So when I came out, left dinner and I said, GD, why is there 58 text on my Oh yes? Um, yeah. So I don't know, I feel like it's if I did like kind of put it in like a guess, it was almost been like every, let's say, like six months, right? It's kind of like, oh wow, it's getting busier. Let's hire more people. And then again, it's like, oh wow, it's getting even busier. And it kind of has done that the past like four years. Then we did hire someone. Well, she was part of our team, but then became more of like an admin person. Like, okay, we can't be doing all the scheduling on the job, all the scheduling, doing everything. So we kind of hand it off like scheduling estimates, like, you know, kind of doing that. And even she says that was only maybe six months ago, and now it's at a point where she's like, it's like doubled them, you know, like so. We have to kind of keep changing all of that stuff. You know, we're up to now fifteen um women, two more who are working with us this summer who are teaching.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

And is it all women? All women and uh we brought on two teachers for the summer. Oh, that's that's interesting. Because so many people are on vacation, like on regular not our regular team, but on the fit team of 15 have vacation. So we've been slotting them in, and the one has been on every day this week. Oh my god. So it's really boring, so but it's worked out great.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Yeah, it's everyone just jumps in, it's amazing. I have to say, everyone has a lot of fun, which is what keeps us going with it.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

I mean no one has left us.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

I love it.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Yeah, no one has left.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

And how have you found managing other people? Um I said, I think the difference is it's not like we don't we could be on a job and it's not like I don't know, if if someone else is just kind of that lead person to talk to the person, it doesn't have to be us. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 16:14

So we kind of we try to not we because we were on every job. Yes. We were on every job probably for the first two, three years, maybe three years.

Annie S. 16:22

I mean, that's one of the hardest parts of starting a business. You kind of have to be hands-on with everything until you get to a certain point.

SPEAKER_02 16:28

And then but I'll let you know when I get to that point where I don't have to almost every I mean everybody that has has been with us for years now, so they know exactly what's going on and know exactly what to do, so we don't have to go on every job. Okay, right. Um, we have two jobs going on this right now, actually, that that we won't attend to today.

Annie S. 16:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

Um, and then we're gonna go see a house, then we're going to another job all afternoon. Wow. So yeah.

Annie S. 16:57

Okay, so now if your story of this journey and partnership had just been about this, it would still be amazing. But there's this whole other chapter. Um and that's the moving forward warehouse. And this is just a piece of the story that I absolutely love. Um, tell me about the moving forward warehouse, where the idea came from, what it's all about.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Well, it was probably this time last year, a little earlier, maybe like spring of last year that we talked because everybody that we're working with, they're in a house that's like 3,000, 4,000, if not bigger, square feet. And generally the communities are anywhere from 750 to 1,000 square feet. So they had a lot of stuff. And a lot of the organizations in the in our area, Union Morris County, um they they were getting saturated.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Um and right, there's a lot of times we would they'd say, like, we're full, we can't take something, right?

SPEAKER_02 17:52

And it was very hard to and with closed dates, they have closed dates, move dates, and the stuff had to be gone. Right. And um we took a lot in our garages. Yes. GD did have a lot in her. Both of us did for a while because we hated to see good pieces to the dump, but that's what was happening. Um because a lot of there's a lot that don't take furniture. Right. Um, so then we started talking about getting our own space. We were just kind of thrown at the idea.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

We started looking at spaces that were like a thousand square feet, twelve hundred square feet, you know, like and we'd looked for a while um and we came across the one that we're in now, which is just about three thousand square feet, and honestly, it could be double the size. It could be. Um, within the first month, we have a container sitting outside because we couldn't fit everything. And so, but it is it's just made it like the from the JM side very seamless in a sense of like what can go where. You know, we don't take clothes, but just the furniture household, but we have amazing organizations to take the other stuff, right? That we need to take stuff to. Um, but the so the warehouse itself is just kind of talking to a client and we are able to take all this stuff and donate it, you know. And if we can't use it, you know, we will find a home for it. Like we can take it, you know, have our mover take it to habitat. We will use other resources that are amazing. Um, but it's just been I, you know, I think on their side too, wow, is they're just so comfortable with like oh, it's going somewhere.

Annie S. 19:23

Right, right. Because, you know, there's a lot of stuff that's probably gently used or in good condition. Yeah, definitely. You know, you don't need it anymore. No. So initially it's we need a place to keep all this furniture while we find a home for it. And then it turned into the idea of let's make this a nonprofit, or was that the idea from the beginning?

SPEAKER_02 19:44

D to make it a nonprofit. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Because we're asking people to donate. Donate stuff. So we're not gonna be selling.

SPEAKER_02 19:51

We're not selling it. There's no consignment, not selling. Right.

Annie S. 19:55

Yeah. So how does it work? You take the you take all the furniture into your warehouse. That doesn't have another home. And people come and buy it, and then the proceeds benefit organizations. Exactly. Okay. And what tell us about the organizations that you're supporting through the warehouse?

SPEAKER_01 20:12

So our mission statement started off with like CASA in the foster care system, kids transitioning out of the foster care system, anybody in the foster care system. We have a few people on our team who are CASA volunteers that help with that. So we kind of that was just like an easy segment, right? We had people that are involved in this, you know, organization. So let's kind of continue with that. And they're setting up their apartments.

Annie S. 20:37

Right. There's that sort of as they age out of those programs, there's not that support system for them at that moment. Exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Okay. So we just figured like, okay, this would be a perfect way. And and it is. But even just in a couple of months, the there's probably been a like a handful of other organizations that have reached out, you know, and that their emergency shelter housing, people that are living, you know, in the Ys in different areas or you know, anything like that, and they're fine, you know, they're getting their new apartment and they need furniture. So it's just kind of kind of a vapor into like it's still children though.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

Right? All the people kids. Yeah, yeah. They all they also still have kids, yeah. Right. So we're still focused on the child, child-centered.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Right. Yeah. Um, yeah, I mean, what are the 18 to 20s or something in there and they're kind of getting out on their own. Some of them have children themselves, you know, that they had to, you know, kind of add that to, like, they need stuff for them. Um, so we've set up a bunch of apartments already. We've, you know, moved stuff to people's apartments. If uh if we're setting up an apartment for like the emergency shelter housing, we then the proceeds like they'll be able to get the furniture, but then our proceeds then also go to buying them all new beds, new bedding. Um that's amazing.

Annie S. 21:59

Yes, yeah, absolutely great. Yes, uh, it is amazing how much you need when you are setting up a place to live.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Yeah, just the base, yeah, just the bed because it has to go into an encasement, then a mattress pad the sheets, the pillows, the comforters, the blankets, yeah, and the mattress.

Annie S. 22:14

And nothing's cheap. No, right, right.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Yeah, we're working on that part of it.

Annie S. 22:18

That's amazing. And so, do you have a separate set of volunteers that help with the warehouse?

SPEAKER_01 22:24

We yes, it's it's us a lot. And another woman on our team, Christine, she's been very involved in the warehouse and as well. Um, and so it's great. And we do have a few volunteers, and we now we have an amazing we have a list of probably 30 volunteers that have signed up, and now we're kind of at the point where we're kind of putting that out to there to them, and we'll start getting them more involved in it. But in the beginning, it was kind of like okay, we need to be there, we need to see work out all the kinks. Yeah, what's going on, who comes in, and just you know, they like just see everybody's face and kind of um but we officially opened May 1st.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Um, May first, May 1st, yes. And so we just finished our third month and it's been amazing.

Annie S. 23:08

I mean, if you guys look back and you take a moment to appreciate what you've accomplished in five or six years, you've started an entire business and now an entire nonprofit.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

So we don't have to be a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

Do you feel proud of that? I mean, it's been great, and we wouldn't change it. We wouldn't change it. No, we just laugh about it all the time.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

It just, you know, and then every time you think like, oh my gosh, this is crazy. What are we doing? Right. And then the text from like our team about a job they were on yesterday, and yeah, they all like you're like, they really everyone has a great time. Like they're it's really an amazing group. Everyone has a lot of fun. Yeah. Um finds it rewarding, right?

Annie S. 23:47

Yes. 100%. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:49

That's so important. Yeah, I would say they're all women of our age where they're children. We just the youngest one on our team's youngest just graduated high school. So, but everybody's kind of in that same position. And very rarely do people say no to us. I mean, on our team to work, to work apologizing, or they're like, I can come for two hours, or you know. Yeah. Um, so we do. And when we go on the consultations, we always kind of end it by promising the client we're gonna have fun.

unknown 24:16

Okay.

Annie S. 24:18

So let me ask you, was it always your intention to have this professional chapter in your life when your kids were grown?

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yeah, I yes, I was always looking for something. Okay.

Annie S. 24:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

Yes. I would say the same. I didn't know it would be this. Like it was always just kind of like I would volunteer whether like coached my kids in soccer or something. Right.

Annie S. 24:40

There's a lot of like energy and time and skills.

SPEAKER_02 24:43

Yeah, yes, definitely, with the kids. And once they, you know, like you said, because we each have four and they're pretty much the same ages, and that was all consuming. Yeah. Um, yes, right, for sure.

Annie S. 24:58

I know, that's the thing. They that's what I always hear. Yeah, exactly. There's still a lot to do. Um, and ha is this something that you would have or could have considered when your kids were still home? No. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

Not and put the time and effort into it because we do a lot later in the day. Like we once the day is done, we kind of wind up. But then while we're at a job, we get 59 text messages from other that we're answering between like five and seven, seven. Yeah, we try to cut it off at 7 30. Okay.

Annie S. 25:32

Um, but yes, you have to have some boundaries, otherwise it'll be yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

Oh, all the time.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

And uh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

So then that's when we kind of know though, that like, okay, now we're, you know, okay, we need more help on whatever side it's gonna be or however we're gonna do it and stuff. But um, I mean, I can't for me, I can't say like either both are just amazing. Like adding this to the warehouse has just been just such a like fulfilling list. Yeah. Like JM is amazing in in a different way. You're taking care of Megas as a mom, right? You're always taking care of your kids and doing all that, and then now you're helping that. And I do say, I mean, it it is so like one of my favorites is the unpack of a JM side, is because you're totally recreating their home, right? And it's like such a great feeling to have them know that they're going to be in there or walk in and say, like, after all the hesitation or nervousness, stress, like, yeah, yeah, wait, all my like really important things are here with me. And you know, we created all of that. And it's on the moving forward side, it's a similar feeling of like, yes, the warehouse is great, and we love, I love meeting people when they come in and they're all shopping for a different reason. And but again, it's that creating like when we just set up a few apartments, right? And we go there and we're making the beds and doing all that. Just in my mind, I think, like, wow, this family's gonna come in here and they're sleeping in new beds and they have their comforter and they they have what they need.

SPEAKER_02 27:03

You know, we try to make it look as nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

Yeah, and the furniture has come from our warehouse, and it's just it's a it's true, it's a great feeling.

Annie S. 27:11

It's really special. It's the same when you're moving your kids into college, right? As soon as their space feels like a home, yeah, then you feel okay leaving them. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

My husband could leave like three hours before that. Yeah, like I cannot, like until it's off, they have their groceries in there, everything it's just that's how it's it's another thing that's sort of uniquely female, right?

Annie S. 27:31

Like when someone's going through a tough time or they're sick, and you know, you sort of want to show up and clean their kitchen. Or exactly. I remember when I had newborns, like my mom would do things like make my bed, or you know, and those things matter. Those are the little things that really matter.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

Together, yes. And we're, you know, we we're on the list of services for a few communities, and there's one out in Bridgewater where we do a lot of work. So they're they offer our service to their incoming uh residents now. And when we go out there, we know half the boys. I bet we were there yesterday, and it's just it's so much fun to see them settled. Yes, the the transition part is what's hard, and we tell them that and once they're settled and involved and you know doing the activities there, you can see you can see a change in the world. A weights lift us. Yes.

Annie S. 28:23

Some of them look, I don't know, we say like they they really do look like younger, they're healthier. And I'm sure for their kids or family members, there's a lot of worrying about them until they get settled. Yeah, exactly. So it's there's a ripple effect.

SPEAKER_02 28:36

Right. So it's fun to see that side of it too when we get to see them again.

Annie S. 28:41

And yes. Would you say that your families and your kids have been supportive of this endeavor? There's no part of them that's like, hey, I thought you were gonna have more time, you know, we were gonna travel, what's up with you working all the time? No, they've been like amazingly supportive. They must be so proud of you guys. They are they are.

SPEAKER_02 29:01

I will say that. Yes, they are. They're always always encouraging, they're always wearing our shirts out.

Annie S. 29:06

That's so cool. I mean, what a great example you're setting.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

And I'm sure you can put them to work too if you find yourself again all in some different warehouse to to volunteer so far, all of them.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

Yes, yeah, yeah. My daughter just bought a place and she said her goal is it's you know, an apartment in Cranford and is to furnish everything from the warehouse. Yeah, and she's like, I'll take my time and do stuff, but it's all gonna come like from there. That's so cool. So it's kind of fun like to kind of create that and and see it. And it is having, I mean, I have three girls and then a boy, but so to have the you know, the girls kind of see like, yes, you can stay home and you can change your kids and you know, you can find something. And you never know what's next.

Annie S. 29:46

A hundred percent. Never know what's next. I think that's why it's so important to tell the story. So maybe a good ending note would be I would love to know if you guys have advice for other women who are sort of thinking what's next, and they've stayed home with their kids and and they're intimidated by maybe starting this all up. Um, what advice would you give to people out there?

SPEAKER_02 30:08

I mean, just do it sounds like sounds a little cliche, but I mean that's more or less what we did. I mean, it's it's very helpful to have a partner because ideas and feedback and I love that you did it together. Yes, we do we do pretty much everything together. Yes, but it's we I don't I couldn't do it alone. It would have been much too, it would never have grown as big as it has. Um absolutely yeah, but not to be in not to think you can or be intimidated by because neither of us have business backgrounds. No, no. Um I was a teacher, um, and then you know, as she said, as Meg said, uh volunteerism was like for years and years and years and organize and things like that, but we don't have formal business backgrounds.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

No, and I think that's part of what I don't know, I feel like sometimes works is like we did like I know that we're like just doing it, but it's like okay, let's just try it, right? It wasn't starting small. We weren't thinking, okay, we want to build this huge company or or build something. It was kind of like let's do this, you know. And well, it would kind of be nice to do as a little side thing. Yeah. One thing at a time, kind of like a side hustle. Yeah. Um, and so it didn't ever like starting, it didn't seem overwhelming because it was just kind of like, oh, this will be, you know, kind of like a small little fun thing to do. And here you are. Created, you know, from there. But so yeah, I would kind of say like she said, just even if it's with a friend or doing something and not having it's always good to have like visions of what you want it to be, but sometimes when they're too big, I would like it would might have scared me off saying like, oh, I want to have a company that's X, Y, and Z, you know, whatever. But just to say, like, we're gonna do this because it's something we enjoy to do, right? And then just let it take it where it ends up taking it.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Yeah, we made mistakes along the way, and we just trial and error, really. We just kept changing the direction to what it is now. Right, right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Judy still has a book at home. She hasn't read, but she got a book for Christmas from one of the women on our team.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

How to say no?

Annie S. 32:16

Oh, yes. I think, yes, I think most of us probably need a little bit more of that in our lives.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

If they need the help, it's really hard.

Annie S. 32:24

It's really hard, I imagine.

SPEAKER_02 32:27

You know, just take every little bit.

Annie S. 32:29

We could work 24 hours if it was Judy going. I know. Well, that's what that's the problem. You see a need, right, and you want to just do more and more and more.

SPEAKER_02 32:36

Yes, and we yes, and we've grown. We've doubled each year. This year we're 30, we're 30 or 40 percent. This is our business busiest year, yes. No, I'm saying our business background cover. Oh, yes. Um, we're we're like 30, 40 percent ahead month to month. Wow, but the every other year we've double, double, doubled. So that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

No, it's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

We always say we need a bigger boat every every few months.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

And it's the same with the warehouse, honestly. I feel like the minute it just hit the ground running, it's like we've been able to do things for people without even getting any grants yet. Or, you know, we've we had some donations, you know, that for opening night, which was amazing. And but that is just that's just time, right? We've still been able to do little things that yeah like that we planned that we wanted to do, you know, from the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

So, you know, the rest is just we know it'll fall into place, just like you know, and the other part of it is too, I think, because we met so many amazing people, and there's a lot of people out there doing incredible things that are willing to help because we've uh I mean we've gotten help from different organizations, you know, for something that you know we have avoid. Like uh our biggest problem sometimes is pickup and deliveries, and we we have a contact um that helps us now. We have a place to take all of our medical equipment and supplies, and the person that runs that is unbelievable. Yes, and there's a lot, so there's a lot of people out there that we've met along the way that are willing to help us as well.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

That's really then our who just done moves with us amazing, like five years, everything, you know. It's like he was at the warehouse this morning, you know, making space in our container for us, and like he'll just, you know, it's everyone's kind of really pitched in on this part of like the moving forward, you know, like getting it up and running and creating it and like it's been it all hands-on. Um, our team coming in and volunteering when we're like, okay, the place looks like a mess right now. Like, let's come in and people just show up.

Annie S. 34:41

It's been that's awesome. It's been great. Well, I feel like there's this idea that we have here, which is this like impact multiplier where you start with one thing that you see seniors that have this need in their lives, and and you start there, and and now all of a sudden you have this nonprofit where you're helping people get going in their lives. And and then on the side, you're creating jobs for women who need to get back to something or who want to get back to something and want to feel that. Um, and then the last piece of the impact is you're setting an example. And I think that's amazing, and I think it is intimidating to so many people. And you might not realize how special what you've done is, but um I know our listeners are gonna appreciate it, and I think probably be inspired to take that chance and do something and see the ripple effect that it can have. So I'm so grateful for you guys coming on and sharing your story. Um it's incredibly impressive. And I encourage everybody to support JM Move Managers as well as the Moving Forward Warehouse, two amazing organizations. Um, but thank you. Thanks for being with us. Thank you.