TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Scholarship Winner on His Path to Becoming a Successful Franchisee in El Paso

Juan Gallegos, the owner of a TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® in El Paso, Texas, has been with the 380-unit moving franchise for over a decade. Through honest hard work, he rose through the ranks, won a corporate scholarship and is now living his dream of owning his own successful business.

Early in his career, while working for a different moving company, Gallegos found he was drawn to the integrity and positive image of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK.

“The first moving company I worked for did some shady things, and that didn’t sit well with me,” Gallegos said. “TWO MEN AND A TRUCK had just come to my town, and the company seemed to really care about its customers. I reached out to them back in 2008 to get a job as a mover, and the rest is history.”

It’s unfortunately common for moving companies, especially when hired by corporate offices, to provide poor customer service, raise prices, and not provide responsible and safe moving services, according to Gallegos.

“It was sad what other moving companies were doing,” he said. “If something would break, they would sweep it under the rug and not follow up on claims. They simply didn’t take ownership of their mistakes. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK couldn’t be more different.”

As Gallegos became established as a mover for TWO MEN AND A TRUCK, he found opportunities to explore other roles within the company. In 2009 he became a driver, and soon after he began taking phone calls and providing customer service. As his skills developed, he impressed the company’s leadership. It wasn’t long before he was promoted to a management position.

“In 2014 I had an opportunity to run a franchise for the franchisee in Quad Cities, Iowa. So I moved there,” he said. “That franchisee knew that I, too, wanted to become a franchisee one day, so he was giving me that next step. We did record numbers.”

While working as a regional manager, Gallegos temporarily lost sight of his business ownership dream. His job paid well, and he was content working as a manager under a franchisee. But his aspirations were reinvigorated when his store’s franchisee approached him and encouraged him to apply for the Mary Ellen’s Moving People Forward Scholarship Program® offered by TWO MEN AND A TRUCK.

The scholarship program includes training, coursework and weekly testing. Candidates are required to give presentations and attend seminars. At the end of the program, a candidate’s performance is calculated based on a points system, and the top three performers are rewarded varying discounts off of the TWO MEN AND A TRUCK franchise fee.

Gallegos won first place in the program and opened his El Paso TWO MEN AND A TRUCK franchise in 2020.

“Ultimately, I think I won because I thought of it as more than homework,” he said. “I dug deeper to understand what they were teaching. Also, the business plan I developed was probably the clincher — it was very detailed.”

The business plan Gallegos developed during the scholarship program is the one he has followed ever since. Since opening his franchise, he has met and exceeded all targets.

Gallegos partly attributes his unit’s success to the ongoing support given by the brand’s home office. With invaluable resources and corporate support only a phone call away, Gallegos knows he can leverage the support of company leadership and franchise partners to meet his goals.

Company leadership said they are thrilled with Gallegos’ leadership and determination to bring the brand’s vision to life.

“One-third of our franchisees started as movers or drivers, and we take a lot of pride in helping our team members build their careers,” said Randy Shacka, president of the company. “Juan is a prime example of someone in the system who learned our processes, became a strong brand supporter and has excelled as an owner. We're happy to be able to provide scholarship opportunities to our excellent team members who make a difference in the lives of our customers every day.”

The initial investment for TWO MEN AND A TRUCK ranges from $100,000 to $595,000. To learn more about franchising opportunities with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK, visit www.franchise.twomenandatruck.com.