Peripatetic entrepreneur Francey Beall hauls ass — and a whole lot more
HONORING MOM | Fantastic Moves owner Francey Beall poses next to the rig named in honor of her mother, Anna Ruth — a distinction she also bestows on many of the drivers for her company.
If you’ve moved in Dallas in the past 18 years, you may know Francey Beall. As a former owner of Two Men and a Truck (and now owner of Fantastic Moves), she’s hauled a lot of furniture. But in a previous career, she was better known for hauling ass: Beall dove face-first into airbags — not in an automobile but as a stuntwoman for a German TV mini-series called Miller and Mueler, a Cagney & Lacey-esque cop show.
“I was free and single, with no responsibilities — it was a lot of fun,” Beall says. “I always loved the movies and this way I got to learn the back side of it.” (After a year, she left to protect her own backside.)
Stunt work was just one step in a varied career that included sports (she was a power forward for the Texas A&M women’s basketball team, where she was on scholarship) and finance (she worked for Solomon Brothers brokerage firm as an analyst (“I asked why they hired me and they said it was because they knew I was a lesbian and I would liven up the office,” she says).
Beall, however, was never happy in heels and hose, stashed behind a desk. So she traded in her skirt for a shirt that said By George, a popular restaurant on Lower Greenville where she rose to a position as floor manager. As the restaurant blossomed, Beall discovered her own passion: helping people.
After the restaurant closed, Beall channeled her customer service discipline into a new opportunity: Two Men and a Truck.
Initially, she was just supposed to help out “a friend of a friend” with marketing; but one day when a mover didn’t show up, she strapped on a support belt and helped out with the move itself.
Beall has been on the move ever since, becoming an owner within three years. And she attributes her success to simple policies.
“We hired nice guys, had nice trucks, paid well and the customers started finding us,” she says.
Two years ago, Beall sold her Two Men and a Truck brand to another interest and started a new company, Fantastic Moves.
“The gay community has been instrumental in getting us going because it is the most loyal community you can have,” she says. “We tapped into it and we appreciated it and have donated so much back to the community.” (Beall contributes her services to silent auctions for the Turtle Creek Chorale, The Women’s Chorus of Dallas, the Black Tie Dinner and other nonprofits.) Beall estimates that 30 percent of her business is from gay clientele.
With the transition to Fantastic Moves, one of the first orders of business was to paint the names of the drivers’ mothers on the door of their truck (based on seniority). “These guys are incredible leaders and we wanted to honor them.”
As an entrepreneur, Beall has transitioned a passion for helping into a vocation of moving. The first name that went on the first truck? Anna Ruth, Beall’s mom. After all, you always open the door for your mom.
— Sarah Denise Morgan
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 21, 2013.