'Meat' the team: Director of Operations
With five branches and more than 700 employees, Meathead Movers has a lot of moving parts (pun intended) that need to be managed by a skilled team of Operations Managers. Ever wonder who is leading the charge behind all of those logistics that make your move day so seamless? That’s our Director of Operations, Ben Spielman, and his team of professional athletes. Like most of our employees, Ben started as a mover 10 years ago and has climbed the internal ladder as the company continues to grow as the largest independent moving company in the state.
- Name?
- Benjamin Spielman
- Title(s) since you started at Meathead?
- Meathead Mover: 1 Month
- Super Meathead: 1 Month
- Mentor: 2.5 Years
- Crew Coordinator: 1 Year
- Operations Supervisor: .5 Year
- Operations Manager: 5 Years
- Director of Operations: 1 Year
- Years with company?
- I am in my 10th Year at Meathead
- Sport(s) played?
- Volleyball – Collegiate at Moorpark College
- Beach Volleyball Tournaments
- Soccer – Royal High School
- Curling – Recreational
- Volleyball – Collegiate at Moorpark College
- Fan of sport(s) team?
- USA National Soccer Team
- Current day-to-day responsibilities?
- I am the head of our Operations department.
- My number one priority is the safety of all of our entire workforce.
- My main company goal is to set service and revenue goals and provide the tools and clarity on how to achieve them.
- My personal goal here is to give as much opportunity as possible to our employees whether that is through customer service training, job experience, life skills such as leadership and any leg up we can to get them to the next step in their career. Whether that is within meathead Movers or towards their own personal goal.
- As far as tasks:
- Auditing, lots and lots of auditing that our numerous procedures are being followed
- Data Analysis for hiring, training, vehicle purchasing and maintenance, as well as inventory tracking
- Improving and updating our in depth training program.
- Favorite Meathead memory?
- I think I have two favorite memories, one in the field and one in the office. My favorite Meathead Memory in the field would have to be my first job. Everyone always remembers who they were with, what city they were in for their first ever service as well as how sore there were at the end of the day in muscles they didn’t realize they even had. They remember the first service they ever ran themselves as a team captain, the first $100 tip they earned and the first time they drove a 24’ truck.
- My first day was with the person that recruited me, Cody MacArthur, and a Meathead named Doug Trimborn. We moved our client from Westlake to Camarillo and I remember being shocked how fast the guys were running from the truck to the house. I was amazed at how quickly everything was moved out. I was exhausted by lunch and remember not bringing enough water AT ALL. End of the day we were each handed $40 and it was the best feeling. I knew at that moment, seeing the client smiling and happy and having that tip handed to me that I wanted to be a part of this company for a long long time. Then I went home and promptly passed out falling asleep at about 6pm because I knew I had to work the next day and would work as hard as I did this day.
- My favorite memory I have of being a manager is when we rolled out Meathead 2.0. I remember talking and having meetings about how we wanted to create a positive change in our employees lives and actually have an impact on them to the point people sought us out to work for us. I knew when we were going through the changes from interviewing, to on boarding, to literally spending the time with every employee to discuss their career goals that this is what I wanted to base all of my efforts around. As a manager it rivalled the feeling of earning that tip in the field. When you see someone move onto their goal career or even think about what they wanted to do for a career for the first time ever in that initial goal setting conversation. There is nothing like it and has been my personal goal to try and do whatever I can to help someone forward.
- Great Meathead career accomplishment?
- I think one of the greatest accomplishments that I was a part of was overhauling our driver training ~2013 or 2014. It was the first time I was a part of a massive training improvement and since then we have had other improvements and changes but that one was the one I always go back to and am proud of. It was really cool to see that positive effect on our company by really doing an in depth training right from the beginning with our drivers and just improving the safety of our drivers.
- Favorite activities when you’re not working?
- My absolute favorite thing to do is hang out with my wife and two daughters. It is so fun seeing my girls grow up and how little things which seem menial to me are such huge amazements for them.
- I personally am a huge computer nerd and enjoy games and have built my gaming computer.
- Star Wars- I know it is not an activity but I know entirely too much about the Star Wars universe and have over 50 Star Wars audiobooks in my collection and have watched all published Star Wars material multiple times. My office has Star Wars stuff all over it.
Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to our customers, Ben! We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without you!