Podcast | Mindset
Episode 18| September 17, 2023

Mastering the Art of Moving w/ Mariette Frey

Her First Big Move Turned Into a Scam at a Desert Weigh Station. She’s Moved Eighteen Times Since.

Mariette Frey was in her twenties, driving to San Diego with her dad, when the movers called.

They were at a weigh station in Yuma, Arizona, holding all her belongings, demanding she wire thousands more or lose everything.

Most people would have paid. Or never moved again.

She called the FBI instead.

In this episode of the Happy Healthy Hustle Podcast, moving coach Mariette Frey shares how a first-move disaster turned into eighteen moves and a business, the framework she uses to help people relocate on purpose, and the one ornate mirror that has followed her to every home.

Her superpower is adaptability. She has had a lot of practice.

If a big move is on your horizon, start here.

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“Most people would just not move again. I had many questions to ask before I moved again.”

– Mariette Frey

Fast Skim & Timestamps

0:00 Meet Mariette: The Moving Coach
4:05 Her Superpower: Adaptability
5:32 The First Move That Almost Broke Her
6:00 The Weigh-Station Scam
8:00 Calling the FBI and Winning
13:26 The Woman Who Inspired the Business
15:33 The FRED Framework
18:19 The Mirror That Moves With Her

Key Takeaways

Adaptability is a skill you build. Mariette has moved eighteen times in twenty-three years.
Moving scams are real. Know your rights, and do not wire money under pressure.
A hard first experience does not have to stop you. It can become your expertise.
Moving ranks among the most stressful life events, second only to divorce. Plan for that.
Watch for the six-month funk after a big move. It passes, and it helps to expect it.
A framework beats a guess. FRED: finances, robustness, ecosystem, and the dream itself.

Three Petite Practice® Questions

1. What move or change have I been avoiding because the first attempt went badly?

2. Where am I about to pay my way out of pressure instead of asking one more question?

3. If I mapped my next big decision to finances, readiness, community, and the dream, what would I see?

Transcript Chapters

0:00 Meet Mariette: The Moving Coach

[00:00:30] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Tell me about your main profession and your side hustle. [00:00:38] Mariette Frey: My main profession is field sales manager for a Fortune 100 technology company, based out of Chicago. My side hustle is being a moving mentor or moving coach. I have moved eighteen times in the last twenty-three years, primarily for my sales role. I also have a podcast called Mariette on the Move, because when I would move from place to place, one of my higher-ups used to say, oh, Mariette’s on the move again, and it stuck.

4:05 Her Superpower: Adaptability

[00:04:05] Mariette Frey: My superpower is adaptability. When a role opened in Charlotte, they wanted me to start April first, and I did not even interview until around March tenth. They asked if I could get there quickly, so I packed up my house and put it on the market. It sold within twenty-four hours, and within three weeks I was living in Charlotte, from Central Illinois. I help others through the whole process of relocating because I have lived it.

5:32 The First Move That Almost Broke Her

[00:05:32] Mariette Frey: My biggest challenge was the first big move. I came from Chicago, a very family-oriented town, and when I wanted to move to California in 2002, everyone thought I was crazy. We had a rubber-band radius around my grandparents, everyone within thirty minutes. It was hard to tell them I wanted to go and explore. The internet was barely born, so it was still very much do not believe what you read. My parents supported the dream but did not want me to go, and my dad, who is very protective, said he would come with me.

6:00 The Weigh-Station Scam

[00:06:00] Mariette Frey: The movers picked up my things and said I had two thousand pounds of stuff. My dad and I decided to drive so he could finally see the Grand Canyon. On the way I got a call from the movers. They were at a weigh station in Yuma, Arizona, and said I had two thousand pounds more than anticipated, and I needed to wire them another couple thousand dollars. I said, I do not have that. I had just saved enough to get there, put money down on my apartment, and start a new job a week later.

8:00 Calling the FBI and Winning

[00:08:00] Mariette Frey: I had found them through the Better Business Bureau, so I called the BBB and asked what to do. She said, call the FBI, the Department of Transportation has a whole fraud and logistics division. I opened a case, an agent got assigned, and we went back to the weigh station. We pulled all my stuff off, reweighed the truck, and it turned out I only had fifteen hundred pounds, and they had charged me for two thousand. I not only got money back, the agent followed us to San Diego, where I arrived to find someone had been squatting in my new apartment. Most people would just never move again. I had many questions to ask before I moved again.

13:26 The Woman Who Inspired the Business

[00:13:26] Mariette Frey: Nobody has really heard of a moving coach, so there was no niche to fit into. The person who inspired me to turn it into a business is Jamie Kern Lima, who started IT Cosmetics. She tells an amazing story about knowing her product would resonate with women and being told no over and over, and she kept pushing through. Going into the pandemic, learning about myself, having doors shut in my face over the phone as a rep, her story gave me the confidence to keep going after what I feel is important.

15:33 The FRED Framework

[00:15:33] Mariette Frey: I have a framework called FRED: finances, robustness, so mental and physical strength, ecosystem, where you came from and the community you build, and the dream, where you want to go and whether it gets you closer. I help someone niche down the dream, then reverse-engineer them into it. Moving is said to be the most stressful life event, second only to divorce. My one-on-one coaching is a six-month program, one month at a time, with mindset training, because six to twelve months is when people typically move. Watch for the six-month funk after a move, where you think, what did I do.

18:19 The Mirror That Moves With Her

[00:18:19] Mariette Frey: There is one item I take to every single place, and it is not vain, I promise. I have a seven-foot by four-foot ornate mirror. I saw it in a clearance warehouse when I was picking up tables for my brother’s graduation party. I asked the price, the salesman kept saying it was very expensive, and finally he said, a hundred and fifty dollars. I said, do you have any more, I will take them all. It has been crated and boxed and gone with me to every house, and there is always a perfect place for it. It is my gift from home. [00:20:44] Mariette Frey: You can find me on Instagram as Mariette’s on the Move, on LinkedIn as Mariette Frey, and my website is mariettesonthemove.com. [00:21:33] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Thank you so much for being here, Mariette.

Meet My Guest

Mariette Frey

Field Sales Manager, Moving Coach & Host of Mariette on the Move

Mariette Frey is a field sales manager for a Fortune 100 technology company and a moving coach who has relocated eighteen times in twenty-three years. She helps people plan intentional moves through her FRED framework and a six-month coaching program.

She hosts the podcast Mariette on the Move and shares relocation tips across social media. Find her at mariettesonthemove.com.

Meet Your Host

Dr. Christiane Schroeter

TEDx Speaker & Leadership Strategist

I’m Dr. Christiane Schroeter, TEDx speaker, leadership strategist, and host of the Top 1% ranked Happy Healthy Hustle Podcast. I help leaders think clearly, speak with conviction, and take the next step during change.

About Dr. Christiane

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