Moving company slides into new niche with unique training center

The first on-the-job training session at 2 College Brothers Moving and Storage doesn't involve lifting a couch.

It starts with homework.

Before new hires ever wrap a mattress or navigate a narrow hallway with a dresser, they're assigned online courses complete with instructional videos and quizzes. Soon, they'll graduate to something even more unusual: a classroom decked out as a fully furnished one-bedroom apartment inside the company's Clearwater warehouse. There, they can practice moving furniture, protecting floors and maneuvering tight corners — all before setting foot inside a customer's home.

For CEO Wade Swikle, 36, the idea is simple.

"The first time a new employee experiences a home move should never be the first time they handle someone's heirloom furniture or baby grand piano," Swikle says. "Customers deserve a team that has already developed those skills before they arrive."

In an industry where many movers learn on the job — often while handling a family's most valuable possessions — Swikle wants practice to come first.

Making a move

Swikle grew up in a family that loved to move to new neighborhoods in and around his hometown of Venice, Florida – but he never expected his knack for packing up boxes and lifting furniture would one day shape his career. Instead, Swikle pursued a broadcast journalism degree at the University of Florida in Gainesville and poured most of his energy into playing college baseball. Then, the recession hit in 2009. Both Swikle and his brother, Brett a fellow UF student, struggled to find work. The two turned to Craigslist and capitalized on their athleticism by offering moving services, marketing to those looking to hire college athletes and their fraternity brothers. 

Over the next few years, Swikle honed his skills in the moving industry as freelance worker and was even briefly employed by a Gainesville moving company. The brothers started to grow their business, but always seemed to be one step behind their biggest competitors — a company started by another set of brothers studying at UF called 2 College Brothers. Their fierce rivalry lit a fire in Swikle. As graduation approached, the journalism student decided he wanted to start his own company too. With $600 and a pick-up truck, the brothers formed a company called Smarter Moving Solutions, targeting the college demographic. 

Swikle also enrolled in UF's Master's program focused on entrepreneurship, and began culling ideas for growing his business by reaching out for advice from companies across the country. When it came time for his competitors to graduate from school in 2013 they decided to sell the company and pursue different careers, Swikle says. He, on the other hand, jumped at the opportunity to buy out the competition and decided to stay in the moving and storage business for good, folding his company into the 2 College Brothers brand. Since then, the Clearwater-based company has expanded to five regional branches, which include which include Tampa, Gainesville, Orlando, Naples and San Antonio, Texas.

Training day

The model apartment, scheduled to open this fall as an expansion of the company's Clearwater headquarters, will function as a life-sized classroom. New employees will learn how to protect furniture, avoid scraping walls, safeguard flooring and work together as a team without the pressure of being inside a customer's home. Trainers can stop, correct mistakes and repeat techniques until they become second nature.

"It's important to rehearse anything," Swikle says. "Actors rehearse plays. First responders rehearse scenarios over and over again. Other trades do years and years of practice and training... That's really the only way to have a successful live performance, if you will, on moving day."

Photo by Mark Wemple

The apartment is only one piece of a much larger training strategy.

Every new employee hired by 2 College Brothers Moving and Storage begins their first day on the job by logging into an online learning platform filled with videos covering everything from wrapping mattresses and protecting furniture to company procedures, professionalism and safety. New hires take quizzes after each lesson, and managers can monitor their progress before orientation even begins.

"We're hitting them from different angles," Swikle says. "The visual, but also the kinetic."

Someone had to do it

While some professional organizations exist for moving and storage companies, like the International Association of Movers and the American Trucking Association's Moving & Storage Conference, there were few resources available for those looking to study the art of the move — the tips and tricks that help make moving an easier, safer and more efficient process for both clients and employees, Swikle says. Most of the materials that did exist were outdated VHS tapes, he says — nothing interactive or hands on. 

The courses 2 Brothers uses didn't begin as an internal project.

In 2023, Swikle and three other moving company owners launched Titan Up Training, an online education platform designed for the moving industry. The program is now licensed to more than 200 moving companies across the country, with thousands of users completing courses that can be customized with each company's branding.

Photo by Mark Wemple

The concept grew from years of conversations with movers nationwide.

Swikle started what he says is the moving industry's longest-running podcast in 2017 to interview successful moving company owners and learn from their experiences. Those conversations from the Grow Your Moving Company podcast eventually led to industry conferences, training retreats and, ultimately, the online curriculum.

"There wasn't really anything like this in the industry that wasn't from like 1990," he says. "Everything was really outdated, and this was the first online school basically for moving company owners."

Hands on

The training philosophy resonates with employees such as Thomas Harrington, 32, who joined 2 College Brothers about three and a half months ago.

"The online training is good," Harrington says. "It's pretty interactive. You can't just kind of sit there and skip it."

Harrington said the videos introduced practical shortcuts that make both movers and customers happier.

"You don't have to use all the tape and the wrap," he says. "There's a million different tricks of the trade." His favorite? Specialized bands that secure furniture more quickly without covering everything in tape.

He's especially looking forward to the practice apartment because he still remembers his first day on the job.

Asked whether it was intimidating walking into a customer's home for his first move, Harrington didn't hesitate.

"Oh, that's … yeah," he says. "A lot of pressure. You're getting jitters."

Swikle believes those jitters are exactly what the new facility is designed to eliminate.

The facility is still under construction and won't open until the fall. The operation itself isn't expanding, they're just building a one-bedroom apartment inside the warehouse they use for storing stuff so that employees can train.

As Tampa Bay continues attracting new residents, he argues that investing in training is just as important as investing in trucks or warehouses. The company hopes the Clearwater headquarters eventually becomes a destination where movers from around the country can attend classroom instruction, then immediately practice what they've learned inside the model apartment.

"We're growing because Tampa Bay is growing," Swikle says. "As more families choose to make this area home, it's our responsibility to make sure we have well-trained professionals ready to serve them."