“He took me off the streets and gave me an opportunity nobody else would,” says Joseph Cipolla of his boss, Joseph Cerbone Jr., owner of MoveOurStuff, a Yonkers-based moving and storage company that services about 3,500 customers yearly.
A former car salesman, Cerbone founded the company in 2006—and it hasn’t stopped growing since. What was originally a two-man operation out of Cerbone’s home has grown to a 30-employee company with 15,000 square feet of storage space and 2,500 additional square feet of office space. But that hasn’t kept the company from staying tightly knit. “We go to events together, we work together, hang out together—it’s a very family-oriented business,” says Cerbone.
His secret to keeping his staff happy, he says, is “communication, communication, communication.” It’s something he learned from his own past bosses—both good and bad. “I’ve had bosses that were consistently screaming and had a very negative approach to what people go through outside of work and didn’t really care too much,” he says. “If I see someone struggling in certain areas or see someone moping around, there’s got to be a reason why and there’s something you can address to uplift their spirits and guide them.” Because ultimately, as Cerbone says, “happy employees equal happy customers.”
And that approach has undoubtedly had an impact on his staff. Just take it from Cipolla. “I could not have grown into the man and father I have become if Mr. Cerbone did not believe in me,” he says. “It would have been close to impossible with any other company—I am positive of that.”
Concludes Cerbone: “I think what sets me apart is my willingness to try and find the very best in every single person.”
