Laura McHolm President NorthStar Moving Co., Chatsworth Founded 1994 Laura McHolm had an unlikely start as co-founder and marketing director of NorthStar Moving Co. She began attending university at the age of 16. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, she worked for Lawrence Hall of Science teaching computer programming and mathematics and joined the computer division of Atari in its infancy to work in consumer marketing. Encouraged by the Atari legal team to attend law school, she graduated from law school and also obtained an emphasis in computer law from Oxford University. She worked for various inventors as a general counsel and marketing director. In the mid-1990s she moved away from the Fortune 500 to fulfill her more creative, entrepreneurial spirit and partnered with Ram Katalan to launch NorthStar Moving. Why start a business? Moving is one of the most stressful moments in peoples’ lives. My partner and I recognized that no one was taking service seriously in the moving industry. And, just like all entrepreneurs, we thought there has to be a better way. How did you build it? By listening to our clients and to our team members. And living by our mission: to exceed our clients’ expectations with graceful customer care and put service back into the moving industry. Our clients are now our ambassadors. We move over 9,000 families a year and are beginning to franchise. Would you do it again? Yes, in a heartbeat. Not many attorneys have stories about moving Jennifer Lopez, Getty Museum, Angelina Jolie, countless other celebrities; dealing with decoy trucks and paparazzi; having our movers screened by the Israeli secret service to move a prime minister’s security equipment; and be a proud owner of a 10,000 gallon tank of biodiesel. How being a woman helped you: Moving is traditionally burly men carrying heavy boxes. But life doesn’t stop on moving day. Kids still need to get to soccer practice, the cat is going to get skittish; our approach reflects what really occurs. I am thankful for my female sensitivity that allows me to see the whole picture. Challenges of being a woman in business: You’re not just smashing the glass ceiling, you’re proving it can be done better than when the ceiling was there. Anyone can do anything. And like all trail blazers, I feel a responsibility to do it well, very well. An A isn’t good enough – it has to be A+. Hardest day: Recently, Yelp abruptly changed their algorithm which threw more than 99 percent of our five-star reviews into their filter. This made us look like our services were not well-rated by our clients. I felt punched in the gut. We have always lived and died by our reputation. To be made to be seen as a company that did not provide great service because almost 1,000 of our good reviews went to the filter was devastating. Best day: I love having happy clients, happy team members and a happy community. Our annual food drive is just finishing up. We’ve donated over 28,000 meals to the food banks. We really are all about moving happiness home! Best business advice you ever received: My father, who also was an entrepreneur, told me to shift the B2C paradigm: you’re not selling, you’re solving people’s problems. If you build your business from being of service to people, the sky is the limit. Advice for aspiring female business owners: You can do it! Girl power! Don’t take no for an answer!
