Tough move to plan? It's elementary for this mom on a mission.

You don't have to be the world's greatest detective to figure out why Calgary-based Kristin Sherlock is such a valued member of the Two Small Men with Big Hearts family. Over the last four years, Sherlock has worked her way up from a move coordinator to the position of Sales Specialist, which covers everything from coordinating complicated moves with the sales team to on-site training.

“If the sales team has a large, intricate  move or they have a weird thing, like somehow in this century, someone asked us to move a harpsichord… where the team is asking, ‘’Can we move a harpsichord? What even is a harpsichord?”

For the record, a harpsichord is a stringed musical instrument popular between the 16th and 18th century, whose sound is produced by the plucking of strings, as opposed to a piano, where the strings are struck. And while Two Small Men has plenty of experience with moving pianos, a vintage harpsichord certainly poses its own unique challenges. And that wasn't the only musical move that Sherlock had to solve.

“We did a residential move for a customer in Victoria, BC that moved to northern B.C. and he hand built guitars.That was pretty cool. But, he had upwards of  250 guitars in his home and a handful of mandolins that were all crafted in his garage. So we packed his whole house and packed up his entire wood shop.”

But it's tough moves like these where Sherlock helps the team get to the bottom of things. 

“I support the move coordinators and make sure that the team feels confident when they answer the phone and they are knowledgeable to take the stress away from our customers. We aim to be the friendly movers. When customers call we want to make sure that not only are they getting the right information but they're getting it from the people who genuinely care.” 

Long familiar with Two Small Men before she ever started to work there, Sherlock says she first encountered the iconic movers as a child while visiting her grandparents in Kelowna.

“Their trucks were always on the side of the road as soon as you came in, like right past Scandia, and as a kid that's like the paramount thing you look forward to see  in Kelowna so that's the first I'd seen of them.”

A couple of decades after that vague introduction to the company, Sherlock has now become interwoven into the very fabric of Two Small Men with Big Hearts.

“I help out with a lot of our repeat clients, restoration partners  and seniors’ homes. I also make sure that when those clients come in that we maintain our working relationship and a high level of service, as most of our business partners will have special preferences for their niche types of moving needs.. I work with anybody that just needs a special hand. And then all of the community stuff kind of falls under my little umbrella as well.”

Which is not to say that "the community stuff” is a small dossier. In Calgary alone, Two Small Men gives back to at least ten organizations who serve some of the most vulnerable members of the community. It's part of the moving company's overall goal of enriching the cities and towns in which they operate and contributing to their growth and development. 

“We just completed a move with Manitoba Marathon, which has been a long-standing partner of ours in unison with United Way. Their event is  booked months in advance and we provide a large crew to assist with the Marathon’s setup and tear down. We just did a small local dance school and helped them out by eliminating some costs for them so they can support kids locally in Calgary. I have the privilege of creating relationships with our donated partners and helping them with moving resources. We see how we can work with our partners in any way we can, moving vulnerable  people into safe housing or moving a non profit organization's office and taking that cost away so they can put it back into our local communities.”

A single mom herself, it's especially meaningful for Sherlock to get to work with organizations like Mamas for Mamas, which is a specialized poverty relief agency and an all inclusive community for mothers and caregivers.

“As a single parent, helping other single parents is really special for me. I love that I can give back to someone who's been in my situation. I just like doing good in our communities, I like giving back, I like that I cry at my desk far too often, but they're tears of joy from being able to help someone. I have the emotional capacity of a thimble, so it happens pretty often.”

If you're interested in joining the Two Small Men with Big Hearts team, click here.

To find out more about Two Small Men with Big Hearts Moving and the many organizations they have given back to over the years, click here.