Our story
Enhancing the lives of athletes while redefining an industry
Meathead Movers is unlike any other moving and storage company ever created. The Steed brothers, Aaron and Evan, built the Meathead brand taking care of one customer, one employee and one community at a time. Today, Meathead Movers is the largest independent moving company in California and remains a 100% family-owned and operated business.
This unique enterprise, founded by the two brothers in high school, has taken the simple philosophy of superior customer service and parlayed it into a thriving and growing company that has changed the way people perceive the household moving and storage industry.
The start of Meathead Movers
Back in 1997, when Aaron was a high school junior and Evan was a freshman, the two launched a local moving service called Meathead Movers. It all began when their school and athletic commitments were making it difficult for the brothers to find part-time work that fit their busy schedules. One day, Aaron and Evan were asked to help move a friend’s parents in return for the customary fee of $20.00 and pizza for a day’s labor.
Their commitment to good ole’ fashioned customer service and dedicated work ethic instantly led to word-of-mouth referrals about the clean-cut, athletes’ impressive work. As more requests came in, the Steeds quickly learned that impeccable manners, good hygiene and a whole lot of hustle produced referrals from happy, returning customers.
Those rapid word-of-mouth referrals, paired with guerrilla marketing around their home city of San Luis Obispo, flooded the brothers’ pagers with inquiries. Between classes, Aaron would coordinate local moves on their high school’s pay phone. Before they knew it, Aaron and Evan were supporting themselves financially and employing their friends on the wrestling and football teams.
At this point, the company didn’t own personal trucks, so local customers would rent a moving truck and pick up the Meatheads. After driving the crew to their house, the movers would diligently and efficiently load the customers’ belongings, jogging while not carrying items, and unload items at their new home. In the early years with no solidified pricing structure, customers would pay these hardworking athletes what they thought they deserved, and it sure paid off. With the added bonus of working out while working, the Meatheads enjoyed the gratitude and positive reviews their clients displayed after a job well done.
Although some doubted the Steeds, Aaron and Evan successfully transitioned from a labor service to full-fledged moving business. The brothers’ vision of energetic athletes delivering a unique customer service experience kept them relentlessly, striving to make their dreams a reality. Soon, their thriving enterprise was fielding as many moving jobs as they could possibly handle, and Meathead Movers, Inc. became a full-time occupation for both brothers.
The backbone of the business: Meathead employees
Aaron and Evan continue to base their management style on a coaching philosophy of encouraging excellence in every member and growing the Meathead team. Each employee is required to uphold Meathead’s famous “service pillars,” which can be felt by every customer.
All applicants for Meathead Movers undergo multiple interviews, background checks and are thoroughly screened before officially being hired. Upon hire, each employee is paid to observe fellow workers on the job before performing any moving services themselves, ensuring their high standards are known and met. Every Meathead is enrolled into Meathead University, which is their military-inspired training program with over 400 procedures on everything you need to know to create the most memorable and smooth moving experiences. All Meatheads are athletic, and therefore are required to jog back from the truck or into the house to maximize time (when not carrying items, of course). Because of these reasons, Meathead Movers is the only moving company confident enough to offer 100% satisfaction guaranteed to their clients – that’s right, to this day you still pay Meathead what you think they’re worth.
Standing as one of our founding principles, giving back to the community involves every Meathead employee. Meathead Movers regularly organizes benefit events for local charities, coordinates supply drives for disaster victims and partners with local shelters and law enforcement to move victims of domestic violence free of charge in every community they serve.
Because Meathead Movers invests so much in its employees personally and professionally, it’s important for the company to highlight all of the great things that their former Meatheads have gone on to do. Meathead Movers created a Hall of Fame, which is comprised of current and past Meatheads who have accomplished great things in life from athletics and scholastics to civil service and professional development. Every inductee is carefully selected based on their demonstration of excelling in their respective field, moral character and work ethic. To meet our Hall of Fame members, click here.
Growth of Meathead Movers
Today, Meathead Movers employs approximately 700 winners and has a fleet of 100+ vehicles that handle over 18,000 moves per year, making it the largest independent moving company in California. Additionally, the company has three mini-storage facilities with over 2,000 storage units under management.
Meathead Movers houses an extensive trophy room, decked out with local business awards and national recognition for their premium moving services. The company has been recognized locally and nationally by many organizations, including but not limited to:
- SBA (Small Business Administrations) California Small Business of the Year
- 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., seven consecutive years
- Voted #1 Moving Company in every market we serve in various local newspapers
- Angie’s List Super Service Award (Top 5% of all service businesses)
- Better Business Bureau’s A+ rating and Hall Of Fame member
- “Top 100 Entrepreneurs Making a Difference under the age of 35” awarded by the White House
Always honest and never filtered, each Meathead client is given the opportunity to publicly share their experiences with Meathead after the move. Providing the highest standards in the moving industry, we display all Meathead Movers client reviews to showcase true transparency and honesty, click here.