At Oler Relo, we think that it’s important for our customers, clients and partners to get to know our incredible team.  That’s why we created our “Meet the Team” series of blog posts.  We want to introduce you to this great group of moving industry professionals who keep Oler Relo moving in the right direction every day.

In this post, we would like for you to meet Lynda Lane, our origin and destination coordinator for all branches of Oler Relo.  She has been involved in the moving industry since 1995, and we were lucky to have her join our team three years ago when she moved to Houston.

Please read on to learn all about Lynda, and why she said that she couldn’t imagine being in Texas and not working for Oler Relo.

How did you get your start in the moving industry?

It was actually because of my mom and my dad.  We had moved from Tennessee to New Jersey, and were just pulling up to our new home when our neighbors were saying goodbye to their movers.  We had just pulled up in our car, so we didn’t have our rental truck with us.  It was at the hotel.  It was after dark and the neighbor asked where our moving van was. He said that he could have had his guys help move us in, because he ran a moving company and could have paid them a little overtime to help us unload our truck.

The next day, the neighbor came over and asked my mom if she had a job, and my mom said that we moved here for my dad’s job and that she had to quit hers.  So, he said she should come into his office for an interview, and she became the office manager there. That’s pretty much where it began.

Tell us a little bit about your experience in the moving industry.

I have successfully been with Oler Relo for three years, but I’ve only been doing origin and destination services since January of last year.  I’ve done a lot of jobs in the moving industry, from packer to inventory taker, to claims, to operations, and I actually think that this is my favorite job so far.

My dad was a driver for a brief period of time, and I was his unofficial inventory person.  So, I learned how to write inventories before I could write a haiku.

What are your main responsibilities in your current role?

My daily tasks are mainly to work with the other UniGroup agents.  They are basically my customers, so I’m working to build relationships with them, so that they will want to utilize Oler Relo services in all three of our locations.  Even in Texas we will expand our reach and help out in other areas if we can.  So, I’m their eyes and ears in Houston, Corpus Christi, and New Orleans.  When they have a customer that needs help, I schedule their surveys and any packing and loading services that they need.  I also do some international origin and destination work.

What aspect of your job is your favorite?

My favorite thing is actually being able to network with the other agents. At the last UniGroup agent that I was with, I was a national account and COD coordinator.  So, I was the person who was talking to the person in my shoes now. I appreciated the relationship that I had as a coordinator with my origin and destination services coordinator. Now I’m on the other side of that relationship, and it’s just really exciting.  No day is the same, no requests are the same, and no needs are the same.

What led you to join Oler Relo?

I ended up here primarily because of the previous relationship I had with Blake Oler, Bryan Oler, and Belinda Laake while at my last job.  My husband had the opportunity to move to Houston to take a promotion with his job, and I said that if I’m going to stay in the moving  industry, there is only one agent that I’m going to go to, and if they don’t have room for me or they don’t want to hire me, then I am done in the moving industry, because there is no way I’m going to be in their city and work for their competition.

Where did you live before moving to Houston?

I moved here from Delaware.  I’ve also lived in Nebraska, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee.  So, I’m a mover who moves.

How have your own moving experiences helped you in this business?

I am able to understand the perspective of a family that moves, because I moved when I was 8-years-old and 12-years-old, and so I got to see it from the other side. I would like to think that I’m a little bit more sensitive to people who are moving with their families, because I have been in a moving family.

When not working, what do you like to do?

I love to read. I am a huge history buff.  I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in history from Rutgers. I love anything historical, and it has to be nonfiction.  I get lost in the daily responsibilities of the moving industry, and sometimes it’s stressful, so I go home and read about the stresses of these other people, and they had real stress.  So, it helps me keep things in perspective.

What’s the best way for people to contact Oler Relo?

If anyone has questions or needs help with an upcoming move, we invite them to contact us anytime! We are always here to help in New Orleans, Houston, Corpus Christi and anywhere else they might need to move.