Good Neighbor Podcast for the Greater Chattanooga Region

Neil Turner of River City Moving: Turning Tragedy into Community Support and Business Integrity

August 26, 2024 • Scott Howell

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What drives someone to turn personal tragedy into a mission of community support? Neil Turner from River City Moving joins us to share his deeply personal journey, including the loss of his sister, which spurred him to start his moving business and inspired his plans for a foundation to aid families facing mental illness. Neil's commitment to hiring highly trained movers who treat every item with utmost care distinguishes River City Moving. We also explore the unique booking policies and discounts for seniors, veterans, healthcare workers, and teachers that underscore Neal’s community-first approach.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a moving company with integrity? Neil provides a glimpse into his 11-year journey in the moving industry and the foundational principles behind River City Moving in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He outlines the importance of a community-oriented business culture, including paying employees to volunteer at local nonprofits like the food bank. We also touch on the host's move to Chattanooga and the supportive network of local business owners that make the area special. Discover the challenges and triumphs of running a small business and the satisfaction of offering a stress-free moving experience.

Loss and trauma can leave deep scars, but they can also spark a drive to help others. Neil opens up about his sister's battle with mental illness and her subsequent death, illustrating the need for robust support systems. He shares his vision of establishing a nonprofit in his sister's name to support those in similar situations. We express our heartfelt gratitude to our listeners and underscore the importance of supporting local businesses in the Chattanooga area. Learn how you can nominate your favorite local establishments to be featured on the Good Neighbor Podcast and join us in making meaningful community connections.

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Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Scott Howell.

Speaker 2:

Hello good neighbors and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast brought to you by the Friends and Neighbors Group of the Greater Chattanooga Area. Again, my name is Scott Howell and I'm your host for today. You know a lot of people ask what's the purpose of the Good Neighbor podcast. Well, what we desire to do is to bring an awareness to the residents living in our communities regarding locally owned and or operated businesses that are in Cleveland, chattanooga, dalton, jasper Benton, everything in between. We just have a large area that's considered the Chattanooga region.

Speaker 2:

We want to bring awareness to all of our local communities and small businesses. You know the small businesses are the backbone of our communities. Sometimes we forget that and they need our support. And every local business has a story to tell and we just want to. On the Good Neighbor podcast, we just want to be able to help them to tell it loud and proud. Join me today with one of our good neighbors, neal Turner, at River City Moving. It seems like I'm getting tongue-tied this morning, but River City Moving, we're glad to have you with us, neal. Good to be here, absolutely. It's good to be here Absolutely, and you know before we dive in and talking about what you do and all that you offer to the listeners of our program. I would like to give you the opportunity, if you'd like to share something personal about yourself and maybe your family.

Speaker 3:

Oh well, there's all sorts of things I don't know. I've got a degree in psychology and used to be a touring magician, magician, musician musician.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, photography did a whole lot of stuff. My family and I were from up in Morristown, tennessee, and one of the motivating factors, one of the things that kind of stopped me from doing all that I was doing and get involved in the moving business, was my sister. We lost my sister in 2016. Well, I appreciate that. That changed me significantly, and so part of the reason I started River City Moving is ultimately probably year four or so. I'd like to start a foundation in Chattanooga in my sister's name to help families go through the process of losing a relative to mental illness, because there was nobody for us, and I think by now I've met quite a few business owners and people in the community willing to help me with that, and I think our area is a great area for it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's something that seems like it's just increasingly becoming more either well-known or maybe worse I don't know how to describe it but it seems like you hear a lot of it anymore and that people are not coping very well. I just had a podcast earlier today with a lady. She has a coaching business in helping people deal with depression, and it stemmed from some of her own events in her own life, you know, and so I'm glad to know there are people like yourself and like her and others that are willing to help folks that need it. You know, I've been to that point in my life too where I needed, I needed help. So great kudos for that. I'm very sorry for your family's loss, but but, uh, I'm glad you're using it to a positive end. Uh, you know, uh, so tell us about river city movie. Uh, what is it that you offer people that are listening to us today?

Speaker 3:

Well, we're going to give you a five-star move. If you check us out on Google, everywhere it's five stars, and there's a reason for that. We don't hire day laborers. We send well-trained, professional young men out there. You're going to get guys that are paid $8 to $10 more per hour than anybody else around will pay movers, so they want to be there. You're going to get a quality move, professional guys that understand. I mean moving is deeply personal.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

It's not, you know, a simple hey, I want to get this guy's stuff, throw it in a truck and unload it. I'm picking up something that could be the most important thing in that person's life, you know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

So I want to make sure that you've got great guys and you get a get a great time moving stress-free, and it's not for you anyway a lot of times you're moving family heirlooms and, uh, you know things that maybe been in fact.

Speaker 2:

I know in my house there's things that have been in the families for two or three generations uh, they are important to us. You know, when we're, when the things are precious to like, that have have a lot of deep rooted memories inside. And you're right, the last thing you want to do is get somewhere and it's broken or it's, you know, damaged in some way, you know. So to know somebody is taking care of it up front, not on the backside, it's always great to know that people stand behind the work because, hey, accidents happen, but still, if you know people are taking care of it on the front end, it's a lot more reassuring.

Speaker 3:

Right. So, you know, to mitigate that, the risk of damage, you know our guys are going to be padding and wrapping and bubble wrapping and taking a lot of care with your items and, and if there's, you know, they're there to listen. So if the customer has explicit instructions for this or that, my guys aren't the kind that are going to cop an attitude, roll their eyes, that, yes, ma'am, you know. Yes, sir, they're going to take care of it. Right, we also give discounts to seniors, veterans, healthcare workers and teachers, and we don't require a deposit to be added. And, uh, we don't have a cancellation fee in the event that your closing falls through or you change your mind. So we keep booking risk-free as well.

Speaker 2:

Okay, well, that's nice to know. Yeah, so well. Just my own personal curiosity what part of town are y'all located in?

Speaker 3:

We're located in Chattanooga in the Red Bank area. Red Bank, okay, but I mean we service you know. I'd say most of the moves are within a 70-mile radius.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you don't just service Red Bank, yeah, obviously, yeah, you service a large in 70 miles. I mean that goes obviously down to North Georgia and up above Cleveland and all up through that area, so the entire Chattanooga area.

Speaker 3:

We've got a lot of people moving um either to West Tennessee or from okay that's a strange one, but we were in Memphis not too long ago, in Nashville the other day, and yeah, up in uh Jonesboro, up towards Johnson yeah yeah, tennessee's a big long state, so people are moving all over tell us, bar says they're the oldest town in Tenner Creek, so that's a claim to fame for them, yeah, so so, uh, uh, when you the most.

Speaker 2:

I want to tell you about experience. I had the most positive experience I ever had in movie. What really impressed me is when they came up to my house. They wouldn't carry one piece of my furniture out of a doorway I'm talking about just through the bedroom doorway. They wouldn't carry it out of a doorway until they first wrapped it, and that was the best experience I ever had, whereas I had one experience that wasn't that great and they insisted on carrying everything out the house first and then wrapping it, and I had a lot of damaged furniture when I got there.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, no, that doesn't make a lot of sense.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it didn't me either, but they wouldn't listen to me. But anyway, it was what it was. It wasn't y'all for sure. Yeah, good, but so as a matter of fact, so everybody knows it wasn't anybody in Chattanooga either. So nobody's wondering if it wasn't me, wasn't me, wasn't anybody in Chattanooga? So nobody's wondering if it wasn't me, wasn't me, wasn't anybody in Chattanooga? So tell us a little bit about what people hear, the myths and misconceptions that people have when they come to you regarding hiring a moving service rather than doing it yourself.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, Well, a lot of it's based on prior experience. Unfortunately, a lot of people do have bad experiences with moving companies. Yeah, A lot of the companies you know in town and elsewhere. They have a habit of sending out guys that maybe they're out of shape, you know, maybe they're a little too old to be doing it or they're smokers, or you know just not what I would consider a good hire. Yeah, so that's one of the things I think people come to expect is that guys might show up that don't really care about the job itself. But that's definitely not going to happen with us.

Speaker 2:

How long on average have your people been with you?

Speaker 3:

Well, the company knows this is the cool thing. I've been in the moving business for 11 years, so I was the GM at Tiger Moving in Greenville, south Carolina, before I came back to Tennessee.

Speaker 1:

River.

Speaker 3:

City Moving turns two years old next month. Oh, wow, a lot of my guys have been with me almost the whole way. Okay, most of the guys have been there at least a year or more, and so, like I said, you know I hire intentionally. You know I make sure that there's quality young men and they're getting paid well to be there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, that makes a lot of difference when people are being paid well.

Speaker 3:

I hear from people they'll say, well, nothing was damaged, and I'll say that's great right, and they're like, yeah, but I expected at least one thing would be damaged, because I think that's that's the expectation.

Speaker 2:

yeah, certainly, accidents, you know, can happen, but yeah, we try very hard not to my last move was a 500 mile move and there was a, an antique table I had. It was worth some money too, and when I got there they had piled a bunch of boxes on top of it, had small spindly legs and it was totally crushed, of course.

Speaker 3:

That makes no sense at all, I'm sorry.

Speaker 2:

It didn't. It didn't make any sense, like I said, nobody around Chattanooga, but it was. It was bad, but anyway, you know you have good experiences, bad experiences sometimes, but it's always nice when you find somebody that does it right the first time. You know.

Speaker 3:

Yeah sometimes, but it's always nice when you find somebody that does it right the first time. Yeah, and a lot of people, I think, expect, when they think about a job like moving, it sounds like, ooh, that's a labor-intensive job. It might attract guys that either don't care or maybe aren't skilled, and that's just not true. Not with us anyway, because there's a lot to it. With the padding and the wrapping and the playing Tetris, with the packing, interfacing with the customer, doing math, making sure contracts are correct, driving. There's a lot of skills that these guys develop and we try to make sure that they have those before they show up.

Speaker 2:

Sure, Sure, absolutely. Well, you know, uh, when in Tennessee. Yeah, now you're, you're from Morristown, but now you're, you live in Chattanooga. What, what brought you to Chattanooga?

Speaker 3:

Oh man. Well, when I left Morristown I it was quite the journey I went to Carson Newman college and I lived in Charleston, south Carolina and Los Angeles. I was all over the place but I ended up in Greenville. So when I came back to Tennessee I thought, well, I'm not going to go back to Morristown.

Speaker 3:

I lived in Knoxville before, so I wanted to go to a city that was growing and a city that felt right. So when I visited I found out Chattanooga has around 3,000 nonprofits. That blew my mind and that tells me well, here's a community that that gives back, you know. And the more I learned about the area and and with each visit, the more I realized okay, I think this is the place. And as soon as I got there and I got going with networking and stuff like that, I realized I have never lived in a city, no matter where I've been DC, la, charleston, greenville where business owners are as welcoming and where the community is as supportive for local businesses. I've just never personally experienced it. I've not had a bad experience sitting down and meeting with another business owner in Chattanooga at all.

Speaker 2:

That's a great reputation to have, because you know a lot of times you don't get that everywhere you go. Yeah, especially you know when you're viewed as a competitor of sorts. Maybe you know when you're viewed as a competitor of sorts, maybe A lot of times you find the floodgates coming to a hard shut, you know. But when we realized I've got a friend, he says you know, he said it doesn't matter. He said competition is good for everybody, it's healthy for everybody. And you know you just got a competitor. You just do the best job you can.

Speaker 3:

You just keep going forward, you know forward.

Speaker 2:

He's got a really good attitude about it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, there's moving companies, there's going to be a lot of moving companies. We want to provide a stress-free move. We want to uphold a great reputation. We're going to do our best to stand out. That's all you can do. One of the things that's important to us is that we get back to the community Right now, today, at this moment, at the time, is it? Yeah, I've got four guys at the food bank, so I'll pay guys to go do shifts, you know, for local nonprofits.

Speaker 2:

Oh, wow. Because it's it's worth it to me.

Speaker 3:

And it's a good experience for them because they get a. You know, if someone can afford to move, that's one thing, but if someone can't afford food, well, that might be someone that certainly couldn't afford to move. And I think that it's important that the guys are understanding, you know, the full scope of the community and that, hey, man, we're here to help one way or the other.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely Kudos to you for that. It's refreshing to know that you actually care that much yourself. I know you have your own nonprofit, but you don't just care about your own, you care about others too. So that's great to know. What do you like to do when you're not moving folks? What do you like to do?

Speaker 3:

I wish I could say that I did more for fun, but, as you know, as a small business owner it's seven days a week, uh much to I. I know the disappointment of my, my girlfriend, my dog, uh I I do a lot of uh kind of walking. I'd be honest with you. I live in north short, so I take a lot of walks down to the bridge and the parks oh yeah, exercise, you know, exercise when I can Go to the gym.

Speaker 3:

What's fun for me is when I don't have to work. That's fun. Yeah, so Greg and I will go to the drive-in down in Trenton, or you know the movies oh yeah, yeah. Stuff like that, but we're nominated for the best of the best, oh, awesome. And that ends tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure I threw a plug out there. The last day to vote, I believe, is today.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 3:

So Best Moving Services, that's us. Hey, if we win that and we turn two years old, I'll make sure to make time for a lot of fun.

Speaker 2:

There you go. Well, I tell you what the fun is is categorized different ways with different people, right so, and but you, you just talking about getting out, walking around town, walking down the bridge and all that. I I consider that enjoyable. Myself, I like to just get out and walk. I enjoy that, so I don't consider that boring at all. That can be very fun.

Speaker 3:

You pop open a book, sit in the park, you're good to go, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

You know we talked about. One of the questions I had planned to ask you was a life challenge that you went through, and you mentioned the death of your sister and maybe some of the circumstances. I don't want to get into that with you, you know, unless you just want to. But you know, I know myself. I lost my dad when I was a little boy. I called him Daddy. I lost him when I was a little boy and six years old. And then I lost my wife when I was 37 years old and she was 36. And so I know loss is tough. If you lose anybody that you care about and it's you really love, it's hard. It's hard, but there's sometimes it.

Speaker 2:

Some things happen to some people that we lose and we just can't understand it. We can't comprehend how did this happen? How did this come about? Why didn't I see it? You know, and and, and you know those times, at those times in our life, the fact that you started a nonprofit to help people in those situations is, is really, is really big to me because, you know, as a six year old boy, I didn't go through those circumstances.

Speaker 2:

My, my dad was killed a car wreck, but you know he didn't plan on being killed in that car wreck. He, he left the house and said I'll be right back, and I never saw him again until I saw him. Now, this is a little kid's viewpoint. I saw him laying in this box and I didn't understand what was going on, you know, I didn't understand what death was. I didn't understand that he was never coming back. And boy, you talked about spurring spurring a lot of emotional issues for a little kid. I had them for a number of years, and so the fact that you're doing things to try to help other people is big and that people are actually helping you help other people, whoever they are out there. Kudos to them for doing that.

Speaker 3:

Well, so just to be clear, I haven't started a nonprofit yet. Oh, my apology, Okay, no no, you're okay, I haven't started the nonprofit yet. Oh, my apology, okay, no, no, you're okay. I cannot wait until I do, but I can't do both at the same time right now.

Speaker 3:

I understand so what I've been doing is having meetings with the litany of folks who have said to me when you're ready, let's go. There you go. And on that topic, without saying too much, I can say my sister. She struggled with mental illness. She had a psychotic break. She was only about 27. That's not something that you like, you don't plan for that, no, and it's hard to get your head around it and the roller coaster that comes after it. She was a single mother trying to help my nephew and her and it was incredibly traumatic. And then at the end it was about the worst thing you could imagine.

Speaker 3:

And so what I did? You know, I had a degree in psychology. It did me no good. I realized that about eight months after that I was not okay and I started grief and trauma therapy with a great therapist. Now, my family didn't do that and to this day, eight years later, they are in a mess because the shockwaves that something like that sends through a family yeah, there's not a lot for some people. I don't come back from it and my hope is to be able to lessen the blow. Of course it's going to be terrible, but I mean to provide community resources, outreach programs, um counseling services, things like that, just to help get through it.

Speaker 3:

Man, I, I didn't, we didn't have that, you know yeah and so when you talk about loss right now, it hits home again. My father, you said we don't know why. Why things happen. Well, of course you don't want that to happen to your sister or your family. I'd do anything to bring her back Right.

Speaker 3:

But one of the things that came out of that was my dad and I um around 2021, he got sober. He had had a problem with alcoholism. We now have a relationship that we had had a problem with alcoholism. We now have a relationship that we have needed for 25 years. Uh, that wouldn't have happened if we weren't pushed together by by that. And and now dad was recently diagnosed, uh, with stage three lung cancer, and that's why, that's why I'm in morristown. Yeah, hey, he's, he, he's a fighter, he's positive about it. I'm here to help him. You know he used to box, so we got this. But I say all of that to say that these the real stuff in life. You know that informs everything that I do. So I feel like that's why my company, it's important to me to be a reflection of that, you know, of that level of just respect and care for other people's lives.

Speaker 2:

That's what drives you forward. Yeah, absolutely, you know you, you don't. We're never thankful of the tragedy, but it's what we do with it. Yes, sir, moving forward. Do we take it and make something positive out of it, or at least create something positive from it, or do we get marred down in it? That's, that's what makes the difference. We're moving forward, you know. So, yeah, and you talk about moving that level of caring compassion into your business. I guess that kind of leads me into this question. I always like to ask this question of everyone that I interview, and that's this If there was one thing that you wish people knew about, neal Turner and River City Moving I'm talking about the heart of the business If you wish they knew about Neal Turner and River City Moving, but they probably wouldn't know unless you shared it with them and you'd like to shout it loud and proud here today on the Good Neighbor podcast, what would that be?

Speaker 3:

That is a fantastic question, one that might be a little tough to answer. You got me. I mean, what I've already shared with you is a big part of the core of what drives me. You know really the one. It's not a one thing, there's a many things. Ultimately, it's that when you've booked with us, you have hired a company that is going to care about not just your, your items, but you, and, god forbid, something goes wrong. You've hired a company that's going to do the right thing. Um, I mean, bottom line is we're a company that does the right thing. There you go.

Speaker 2:

It's not that you can advertise it like that.

Speaker 3:

Everybody says that you know, sure, we care and all that good stuff. But yeah, you did good if you booked us.

Speaker 2:

Just gonna let you know the proof's in the pudding yeah, that's, that was a good, that was a good way of response. That's when I asked that question I was asking about the heart of the company, not just you know, not just the. This is what we do. We move you, but the heart, you know, and if you, if you care enough to stand behind what you do number one, you care enough to stand behind what you do number one, you care enough to put your utmost effort right the first time, but then, if, god forbid, an accident happened, you're going to stand behind what you do. You know the main thing so well. I want to give you a moment just to share with all your contact information, whether online or offline, how people can find you, find out more about you, to share that with them.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so you can go to wwwrivercitymovingtncom, tn. Like Tennessee, and we're on Facebook. You just type in River City Moving, we're going to pop up on Instagram. I believe it's saying River City Moving, tn, like at, and you know hey, river City Moving, tn, like at and you know hey, give us a call. The number is 423-241-6984. We'll be happy to walk you through the process.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. Well, it's been a pleasure having you today, Neal. Thanks for taking time out of your day for us.

Speaker 3:

Well, I appreciate you, thank you, I appreciate what you're doing Well.

Speaker 2:

thank you, Neal. I appreciate that. It's our pleasure to have you on the show today. And to all the good neighbors of the greater Chattanooga area, after meeting Neil and learning more about River City Moving and what they have to offer you, the next time you are having a move, no matter how small, no matter how large it is, no matter where you're headed, you know, give them a call, look them up on Facebook, Instagram, whatever's good for you and talk to them about your move, Talk to them about your needs. You know, give them a chance to earn your business and give them a chance to prove that they are what they say they are. And before ending this episode, I'd like to thank all the listeners for taking time out of your busy day to visit with us at the Good Neighbor Podcast and always remember to support the locally owned and operated businesses in the greater Chattanooga area. From Cleveland to Dalton, from Jasper to Benton. You're all important to us. This is Scott Howell, the Friends and Neighbors Group. Everyone, go out and make this a remarkable day.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPClevelandcom. That's GNPClevelandcom, or call 423-380-1984. Thank you.

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