Here at Armstrong Relocation-Dallas, we’re creative folks. You simply have to be imaginative to provide solutions to an endless number of relocation scenarios. Need a couch shipped to Germany or a helicopter shipped cross-country? We’ve been there and done that for our customers. However, one of our dedicated customer service professionals takes creativity to the next level with his art.
Reprinted with permission below is an article from a newsletter put out by Unigroup, the company that runs United Van Lines.
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The Artistic Stylings of Paul Sharp
Mastery of working in the moving industry certainly takes a level of artistry. After all, you are typically working with individuals during one of the most stressful times in their life. While we all strive to be artisans in our jobs, you may be surprised at the number of people in the UniGroup system who also have artistic abilities in their personal lives=. There are many individuals who sketch, paint, sculpt or find other creative outlets for their skills.
Starting with this issue of VAPNews, we plan to spotlight a different UniGroup agency representative, sharing their unique talents and showcasing their artistic abilities. For this issue, we caught up with Paul Sharp, move coordinator at Armstrong Relocation in Dallas.
Paul Sharp began drawing when he was five years old. He continued to sharpen his skills over the years. About 12 years ago, a hot water heater burst in his home ruining all of his artwork. Devastated by the event, he stopped drawing and painting. “When everything you worked so hard on is just gone, it’s devastating. I just couldn’t do it anymore,” said Paul.
After 10 years art-free, Paul took up drawing again almost by accident. He states, “I had a friend getting a tattoo. As I criticized the quality of the drawing he was about to get, my friend asked me if I thought I could do a better job. I told him I thought I could. To my surprise, my skills had actually improved over the 10 year layoff. “
Today Paul primarily does graphite drawings. He often saves pictures so that he can challenge himself to recreate those images. A review of his work shows that some of his photo recreation drawings are ,in fact, almost an exact copy of those images. Below is a sampling of a few of his drawings.
Armstrong Relocation Dallas President Michael Gonzales was honored today along with other minority business leaders by the Dallas Business Journal, which presented them with a glass plaque and a biographical article in the publication’s online and special print editions. The group was honored for their hard work, business acumen, vision and entrepreneurship. We’ve included the entire write-up, as well as a video, about our fearless leader. Congrats, Mike!
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Michael Gonzales – Minority Business Leader Awards
Premium content from Dallas Business Journal
Date: Thursday, February 16, 2012, 9:15am CST
Mike Gonzales grew up in a household in Little Mexico — where English was the only language spoken. His war-bride mother only spoke German, so for her to learn the language, Gonzales and his four siblings never spoke Spanish. He never did learn the language. Now 55 and president of Armstrong Relocation Dallas, Gonzales credits his success to working hard and helping others.
Where were you born? Dallas
Describe your family: I married my high school sweetheart, had three wonderful children and have more recently been blessed with two grandchildren.
Tell us about growing up: Growing up with four siblings and being the smallest does not make for an easy childhood. We lived quite modestly in a small house and our father, who worked in the restaurant business, had to work very long hours to keep our family fed. My mother was a war bride from Germany and came to live in America, but she always did a lot of funny things because of the cultural differences. I also remember spending a lot of time at our grandparents’, who lived in Little Mexico before it was eaten up by Uptown. We would travel all over Dallas riding the Dallas bus system because my grandfather had retired as a mechanic and was given a lifetime bus pass. They never did own a car. Although we didn’t have a lot of money, I don’t ever remember feeling like we wanted for anything. It seemed like a week never went by where one of us was not in some kind of trouble, but with four boys what would you expect? And through it all, we turned out alright.
Describe an experience that shaped your future: A few years before I purchased part of this company, I was questioning where I was and what I was doing. I happened to listen to a motivational tape that told a sto
ry called the “River of Diamonds” which briefly explains that you don’t have to go looking everywhere to find happiness/fortune because many times they are right there in your own backyard.
Describe your first “real” job: My first real job was as bus boy for a small restaurant in Irving, and I immediately got promoted to cook.
How did you get into your industry? Believe it or not, as a sophomore in college I was looking for a summer job and just opened the Yellow Pages. I started at ‘A’ and cold-called companies, asking if anyone needed summer help. I reached this company and they said come on down and we’ll put you to work on the moving trucks. The rest is history.
How did you become an owner? After 12 years of working at Armstrong, one of the partners was considering leaving the business and we met one evening. We passed a napkin back and forth with each of us writing our price and in five minutes we had a deal. I got the best end of the deal.
Describe the greatest challenge you’ve faced: I have been truly blessed most of my life so I haven’t had too many things to test me, but one thing that sticks with me happened during high school after I had been dating a particular girl in my class for a few weeks. Our home phone rang one day, my oldest brother answered it and the woman on the other end was the mother of the girl I was dating. She proceeded to yell at my brother that I was not going to date her daughter because I was not good enough. She thought she was talking to my father but she never asked, and we both decided it was best not to tell our dad as he had a healthy temper. That stuck with me for a long time, and I still don’t know whether she didn’t like me, my family, our last name or what. I then decided that I would never let that bother me again and that I would work hard to make sure no one ever had reason to question whether I was good enough for anything or anyone. I also hoped that my kids would never be subject to anything like that in their lives. That seems so long ago.
How have you overcome it? By working harder and helping others, I hope I have earned the respect to prevent me from being judged by anyone or anybody.
What is the secret to your success? Treat others with respect and always give more than what people expect. And never quit smiling.
What community service are you involved in? Catholic Charities, Holy Family Catholic School,United Way, Toastmasters, Knights of Columbus, Small World Charity, Turtle Creek Recovery Center and Carter Blood Bank.
What drives you to give back? We are only on this earth for a very short time, some more and some less, but I feel we are all here to help others in some kind of way. By giving back I think it’s my small way of using the time I’m here to make it a better place for others.
How do you mentor others? I have never considered myself a good teacher because, in some ways, I don’t always have the patience. My mentoring style is to put that person in the seat and allow them to just do it while pointing out and discussing how to handle particular situations.
What are your goals for 2012? To become a better public speaker, make a difference for a cause, and grow my business 10 percent.
Where do you see yourself in five years? In 10 years? I don’t see too much changing in five years as I love where I am and what I am doing. In 10 years, I hope I am able to spend a little less time working and more time helping other organizations that help people.
What are you most known for? I believe I am most known for my dependability and loyalty to my friends, family, coworkers and customers.
Describe something others would be surprised to find out about you: Others might be surprised to find I am an avid motivational tape enthusiast; I used to own hot dog stands in downtown Dallas and sold hot chocolate up and down the aisles in the old Texas Stadium — anything for a buck!
Armstrong Relocation – Dallas
Industry: Relocation
Headquarters: Memphis, Tenn.
Local address: 1405 Crescent Drive, Carrollton 75006
When most people think of storage for their household belongings, they think of private mini-storage. These are those establishments that will rent you a 10-foot-by-10-foot storage locker or garage on a month-t0-month basis. They typically have a gate that restricts access to vehicles with a gate code and allow their tenants to come and go during regular hours. This is not the case when you store with a moving company, at least a moving company associated with a van line such as United.
Armstrong Relocation’s Carrollton warehouse has 94,000 square feet of storage capacity in which we store our customers’ belongings. The goods are wrapped with protective pads and carefully packed into wooden storage vaults, each of which can hold about as many items as would fit into a 1-bedroom efficiency apartment. They are secured tightly with steel clamps and are not accessed until they are delivered to the final destination via truck. Here’s our President, Mike Gonzales, demonstrating the storage vaults in our warehouse.
In addition to the wooden vaults, each customer’s belongings are protected by an alarm system that is remotely monitored by ADT Security, as well as closed-circuit video cameras surrounding the exterior of the facility. A massive water sprinkler system is also in place to guard against the possiblity of fire damage.
One caveat for our customers to be aware of is the limited access they have to their belongings while in storage with us. Due to the way in which the items are stored, and the fact that we are not set up to receive customers as retail mini-storage facilities are, we require advance notice for requests to access the vaults. Some warehouse labor is also necessary in order to make the vault accessible to customers. For these reasons, customers typically only store items they will likely not need access to until the entire shipment is delivered to the final destination.
This is a very interesting article based on results from a worldwide Manpower Group survey. This trend, if indeed it is a trend, will eventually prompt employers to beef up their benefits packages, including their employee relocation policy. As experts in employee mobility, that’s exactly where we can help.
You betcha. We’ve been doing local moves since 1975.
Do you do packing?
Oh yes. Our packing crews are trained in proper handling and packing techniques. They can pack and protect everything from a piano to a teapot in such a way as to ensure it will arrive at your new home undamaged.
What if I want to do my own packing to save money?
Be our guest. We’ll load what you pack, or we can just pack your breakables. All we ask is that you not pack your anvil in a cardboard box — it’s heavy and might fall through onto a mover’s foot.
What about insurance?
We call it “valuation” because, unlike insurance, it doesn’t cover natural disasters or damage caused by roving bands of armed militias (you laugh, but this is a real concern in certain countries around the world). We offer various levels of liability from basic coverage to full replacement of damaged items.
Do you do international moves?
Absolutely. We work with United Van Lines/Unigroup to ship via container ship or air freight anywhere in the world.
Do you ship automobiles, boats or other large vehicles?
Yes, yes and yes! We use car carriers for autos, or will carefully secure the vehicles inside the moving trailer.
What about storage — can I store with you for weeks, months or even years?
10-4, good buddy. We have 60,000 square feet of warehouse space at our offices in Carrollton, TX. We frequently deliver a portion of our customers’ belongings into storage while they locate a permanent residence in their destination city. Once they’re ready, we’ll deliver it out of storage and into their new home.
What don’t you do?
Very little, actually. We don’t herd cats very well.
Around this time of year, it’s customary to appreciate what is important to us, our families and our business. In keeping with this tradition, the staff here at Armstrong Relocation Dallas were treated to a very nice sit-down catered holiday lunch of delicious Tex-Mex food, thanks to one of our favorite service providers, Relocation Mover’s Services, Inc., or “Relo, ” as we call them. Relo handles many of the specialty tasks on our household moves, such as disassembly of pianos and grandfather clocks.
During the lunch, President Mike Gonzales and Partner Jeff Watson thanked all for their hard work over the past year and pointed out that there is much to celebrate, including a significant increase in business over last year as well as our winning United Van Lines’ 2011 Customer Choice, Performance Excellence and Top Hauler Awards. Both agreed that 2012 will be a breakout year, not only in the amount of customers for whom we are able to provide top-notch service, but in the level of service we are able to provide.
In observance of the Christmas holiday, we will be closed Friday, Dec. 23 and Monday, Dec. 26. From all of us to all of you, we wish you warmth, cheer and peace during this special time of year.
Many people load up on high-end electronics around this time of year — LED HD TVs, Blu Ray DVD Players, Home Theater Surround Sound Systems etc. All of those electronics are very well packed, padded and protected by the manufacturers. After all, it’s in their best interest to ensure that this delicate web of microchips, optical readers and digital circuitry makes it from the plant to the retailer and, ultimately, under your Christmas tree in good working order.
It’s also in our best interest to make sure that these self-same electronics are packed and protected as well as possible so that they reach their new home in as good a shape as the day they were unwrapped. Of course, we’re happy to provide our own sturdy boxes, bubble wrap etc. to accomplish this, but what if you had saved those original boxes? Especially in the case of a flat-screen TV, it could save you upwards of $100. The flat screen boxes we buy to properly protect these lovely TVs cost about that much or more.
So, if you’ve got the space in the attic or garage, sock away those boxes so that when it comes time to pull up stakes and move, you’ll save those hard-earned dollars!
Our owner, Jeff Watson, attended the 2011 Unigroup Convention and Awards in Orlando, Fla., earlier this month and was called onstage to collect several awards given to our Dallas office, as well as company-wide (there are 22 offices nationwide). Armstrong Relocation is an agent for United Van Lines, which is part of the Unigroup family.
We already mentioned here that we were the winner of the 2011 Customer Choice Award, the most prestigious award given to any agent based largely on customer feedback scores, among other criteria. We also won:
Performance Excellence Award, which is based on customer feedback and claims reporting
Top Hauler Award – All Lines, which is based on the overall amount of revenue from household goods and logistics
President’s Club Award for $68 million in combined revenue throughout the Armstrong Relocation group
These awards are the result of hard work, determination and dedication to our customers. They also are a testament to the hard work of dozens of Armstrong Relocation employees across all job descriptions — customer service, operations, sales and leadership. To all of them, we say a hearty “Thank you.”
Here are a few photos from the awards ceremony in Orlando.
Armstrong Relocation Dallas owner Jeff Watson stands with the other owners throughout United Van Lines who won the prestigious Customer Choice Award in their respective size categories.
Armstrong Relocation Dallas owner, Jeff Watson, accepts the Overall Top Hauler award from Pat Larch, President and COO of United Van Lines (left), and Jim Powers, President of Unigroup Worldwide Logistics.
Armstrong Relocation Dallas owner Jeff Watson poses with the 2011 Overall Hauling Award.
Armstrong Relocation Dallas owner Jeff Watson stands onstage with Armstrong Relocation agency owners to accept the 2011 President's Club Award for combined company-wide revenue of $68 million.
As we said here, Armstrong Relocation is committed to their employees’ health. And as part of our new wellness program, we were just introduced to the “5 a Day Challenge”, which encourages all employees to keep track of how many servings of fruits and vegetables we eat per day and record that information over the course of four weeks. If you reach the goal of 100, you accumulate 15 points, which goes toward additional vacation days! What a deal!
Do you want to try the challenge too? Here are some healthy and produce-filled recipes that will help you!
We at Armstrong Relocation’s Dallas agency were informed this morning that we are the winner of one of our industry’s most-coveted accolades — United Van Lines’ 2011 Customer Choice Award. This is the third Customer Choice Award for the Dallas office, which also won in 2006 and 2008.
Only one agent in each size category wins this award each year. There are several criteria used when selecting a winner, but the most important are customer survey results and claims frequency and resolution. Our agency consistently ranks among the top performers in customer feedback scores.
Thanks to everyone at our office — customer service, operations, claims, drivers and packers — for truly making us the Best of the Best.
Starting with this issue of VAPNews, we plan to spotlight a different UniGroup agency representative, sharing their unique talents and showcasing their artistic abilities. For this issue, we caught up with Paul Sharp, move coordinator at Armstrong Relocation in Dallas.
