Staff Spotlight: Cheryl L.

By all accounts, Cheryl L. is a master of customer service. But when she came on board the Two Small Men team in Calgary as a move coordinator, she turned that background in customer service into tangible assistance for clients going through one of the most stressful periods of their lives.

Working in the field of social services originally, this transplant from British Columbia's Fraser Valley has spent much of her adult life guiding people through tough circumstances and difficult transitions. it's no wonder then that she got the hang of things so easily as moving itself is maybe the most arduous transition that many people will experience.

"The job position is taking the stress off customers and helping them coordinate their move," Cheryl says.

Though she's only been with Two Small Men for a couple of years, she was well familiar with its services.

"I used them twice, actually," she says. "They had a really good price and they were available, but they were also more thorough than anybody else. They actually asked me everything. What do you have? How big is this? It was more detailed."

Cheryl remembered this and when she started working for the company, she wanted others to have the same positive experience. Her previous social work in British Columbia had instilled in her the value of listening carefully and how to prioritize people's problems. After all, it may be crucial to relieve clients of their stress, but you can't help everyone all at once.

"The ability to understand people's stress and prioritize" is one of the biggest skills she has brought into the role, she explains.

No matter what the nature of the move or who the client is, Cheryl takes a methodical and consistent approach when trying to get her head around a relocation. It all starts with basic questions.

"Find out what's important to the customer," she says. "Get your necessary information and find out what's most important."

Having moved several times herself, Cheryl is intimately familiar with all that go wrong with a move. That's what she tries to help people avoid.

"The fact that I've been in their shoes and moving, you know, their circumstances. Quite often are relatable circumstances."

When she's not at work, Chery's passion for music takes over. Cheryl herself can play several instruments including violin, viola, mandolin, bass, banjo, guitar, and piano. Teaching guitar and piano to children in Chilliwack, Cheryl's previous educational experience is one more piece of the puzzle that explains why she's so good with people.

"I find a lot of stress relief in music," she says. "I find it very satisfying to help somebody organize something and learn something or coordinate something. I'm an organizer and a to-do lady."