Family culture breeds success at Bekins Moving Kelowna

Photo: Contributed

Built on a family-first culture, mother Dawn and son Nathan have worked hard to build a legacy for Bekins Kelowna.

Having a family culture in the workplace at Bekins Moving and Storage Kelowna wasn’t a newly formed idea; it’s been at the heart of the business since son and mother duo Nathan and Dawn Miller started the company in 2015.

Nathan developed a passion for business and the moving services industry when he initially started working part-time at the moving company at which his mother, Dawn, was working. Fast forward a few years through high school, university and life, and Nathan continued to work for the same moving and storage company, where he started developing training programs to contribute to its success. Later, he moved on to contract with them, working on the moving trucks.

In 2015 Nathan jumped on—what he can now say—the opportunity of a lifetime and created the company, starting by calling the endeavour "Operation Overhaul." Together, Nathan and Dawn started from the ground up, with their first hires being family members. Sitting at his mother’s dining room table, the two reached out to the owner of Bekins, where, within the first five minutes of the call, he said, “Remind me who you are?” Looking back on the success the Millers have built, they still have a little laugh about this today.

Being a proud mother, Dawn stood by Nathan and supported him in his business adventure, teaching him about the sales and business side of the moving service industry. Although Nathan is the company’s “owner,” he recognizes he could have never done it without his mother.

From day one, culture would be the foundation for running his company, and through hard work and never wavering from this, Bekins Kelowna grew in revenue and staff year after year. People have often questioned why Nathan would choose to work with family, and for him it’s simple; he trusts them more than anyone. To this day, he continues in the Bekins tradition of bringing the family on board with his daughter, Amaya, working in administration and helping in the warehouse, and his son, Noah, working on loading shipments and this summer moving over to start on the moving trucks. In addition, Nathan is utilizing his cousin Jon’s sales experience in the role of relocation specialist.

As everyone knows, 2018 was a challenging year for everyone and the economy, and Bekins was not immune to this. Still, coming out on the other side in 2019, there was an even greater focus on culture, processes and systems, and there were no longer staff members or teammates; there were family mates.

Bekins Kelowna is truly a company that is built through family and culture. With the staff that is not blood family, he still considers them just like his own family, and some of them bring over their actual families to work for Bekins. Nathan wholeheartedly believes that his customers receive a very personalized experience because of his “family’s” ability to relate with people. The culture that filters through Bekins resonates with customers and beyond.

Dawn, also known as Momma Dawn and “The Dawn,” believes that it is more than just work; human connections make us successful. Bekins celebrates the company “wins” together and supports each other through the “losses” because she believes they will grow stronger together. She is known to not only provide amazing moving tips, but as a “Momma” would do, she provides life tips, too.

The Wall of Excellence is the office’s focal point, where the family can see the positive things customers are saying about their experiences. Each member of the Bekins family is celebrated, and they learn and develop through their “family meetings.”

For Nathan, it’s simple. He puts conviction behind his values of appreciate, affirmation and every day embracing the family culture.

This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.