Moving. The very word instills a deep-seated sense of dread in the souls of homeowners and renters. There’s one person, though, immune to that sensation. She loves the prospect of relocation so much, she’s dedicated her professional life to it:
Rosie Rowe, owner/CEO of Ottawa Moving Logistics.
Over the early part of her life, long before she decided upon making the art of packing and transporting a career, Rowe moved over 18 times. Born in Pembroke, she found herself in such diverse places as Cold Lake, Alberta, and Kingston, Ontario. But when she came to Ottawa, she knew she’d found a place she wanted to stay. “I love it here!” she announces. “The city has a small-town feel but it’s always growing.” One of the symptoms of that growth is its effect on the population, creating a crowded real estate realm of new homeowners, aging downsizers, first-time condo buyers, serial office switchers, and people in need of storage space. For anybody in the moving business, that’s paradise!
After fifteen years of running other peoples’ businesses, Rowe was growing restless. Reading the geographic fluency of the Ottawa market, the entrepreneurial Rowe recognized a niche. Could her reputation as a helpful hand whenever a friend was trading living arrangements be the basis of a second career? “My former partner and I were listening to a friend expressing a serious lack of quality relocation service providers in the Ottawa area. We saw an opportunity and we jumped on it. We picked the name, Ottawa Moving Logistics (referred to as OML), then, followed all the steps to start a business. I resigned from my job, dove headfirst into OML, and haven’t looked back.”
Photography by Sean Sisk
A one-stop shop for small and large residential and commercial relocations, OML has dedicated specialists for both branches. The company, which serves Ottawa, the surrounding areas, and other locations across Ontario and Quebec, offers free in-home or in-office estimates, then manages the entire move. For its commercial clients, OML takes care of all decommissioning, dismantling, and installation. As for storage, the company’s spacious warehouse is fully secured, temperature controlled, and monitored 24/7 via CCTV with direct connection to first responders.
OML lists its core values as integrity, ethics, respect, transparency, and commitment—but there’s another point of pride: its owner. OML is one of few female-founded and fronted moving companies in the country. “I did have to establish myself in the past, being in a male-dominated industry,” reflects Rowe. “I focused on building connections and learning from some of the best in the business. Since then, I have not felt many challenges, other than day-to-day business challenges.”
And even those, she and her hardworking staff of thirty meet with aplomb. As proof, there’s OML’s long list of institutional distinctions, including accreditations with the Better Business Bureau, the Canadian Association of Movers, and the Canadian Business Review Board. Earlier this year, OML earned Faces Magazine’s Peoples’ Choice Award for Best Office Moving Company.
But what really propels the packing of the boxes, the rolling of the trucks, and the unloading of the furniture is Rowe’s enthusiasm for a life convention most consider a necessary evil. “I love moving,” she reiterates. “I enjoy everything about it: the planning, the packing, the unpacking, the setup. I love the many hats I have to wear managing this business. There is never a dull day.”
Of all of the moves Rowe has spearheaded, the career move to head her own company has truly been the greatest.
