Lauren Richardson
Lauren Richardson is a seasoned entrepreneur and business leader with over a decade of experience in logistics, moving, and real estate. She joined her family moving company in 2016 after marrying her husband, transitioning from a background in the medical field with no prior transportation experience. Starting with invoicing and administrative tasks, Lauren quickly assumed increasingly strategic roles as the business expanded from local medical and commercial moves into residential services. In 2018, she led the company’s expansion into warehousing, securing their first 8,500-square-foot facility to meet local designers’ storage needs. By 2022, the company had grown to a 65,000-square-foot warehouse, managing distribution for major clients with over 2,000 pallets. Recognizing the limitations of general freight, Lauren spearheaded the company’s transformation into a United Van Lines agent, securing a partnership that now enables nationwide and international relocations.
As majority owner, Lauren focuses on business development and cultivating strong relationships with local partners, including the Mobile Chamber of Commerce, real estate professionals, lenders, and title companies. She has secured contracts with the University of South Alabama and University Hospital and is currently expanding operations to Fort Walton Beach, Florida as a Mayflower agent. Complementing her logistics expertise, Lauren is also a licensed Realtor® and certified interior designer, providing clients with strategic guidance in residential real estate, marketing, and property management.
Beyond her professional achievements, Lauren leads with integrity, faith, and a servant-leadership mindset. She balances managing a rapidly growing company with raising three young children, ages 7, 3, and 1, while mentoring other leaders and fostering partnerships that strengthen her company and the Mobile business community. Her dedication to innovation, relationship-building, and meaningful service defines both her leadership and her ongoing impact across industries.
• Certification, Interior Design
• Real Estate Broker/Sales Agent
• University of South Alabama
• Mobile Chamber Small Business of the Month Award (January 2026)
• Guide to Alabama Best in Business nominee (2026)
• Mobile Chamber of Commerce
• UniGroup (United Van Lines and Mayflower parent company)
• The Sisters
• Move for Hunger partnership
• Women Owned Certified (in process)
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being willing to learn and adapt without formal training in this industry. My husband and I didn't go to college for transportation or logistics, and we didn't really plan for where the business is today, but we learned as we went. I think the key was recognizing when we needed to pivot - like when I saw that general freight was going down and we couldn't stay profitable in that space, I took the initiative to reach out to UniGroup and guide us toward becoming a United Van Lines agent. That decision to shift our business model when I saw the market changing, even though it meant stepping into unfamiliar territory, is what allowed us to grow from a small local moving company to one that can service customers all over the United States and internationally. I didn't let my lack of formal education in this field stop me from building something significant. I just kept pushing forward, learning the business, and making strategic decisions about where we needed to go next.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge I face in this industry is being taken seriously as a woman. In any industrial or male-dominated industry, women don't get taken as seriously as men, and you have to push your way into conversations a lot of times. I feel like here in the transportation industry locally, you really have to put yourself out there, tell people who you are and what you can do, and prove yourself. Sometimes I'll literally send my husband to meetings because I know certain people are going to listen to him and not to me, even though I do the majority of the business development and I'm the majority owner of the company now. Even in finances, some banks don't take you seriously as a woman in this industry because they think you can't successfully do it. It's frustrating because you have to look past the fact that a woman is the owner and focus on what the company can actually deliver. Interestingly, when we went to the UniGroup Learning Conference in St. Louis last month, I didn't experience that at all - I didn't have to push myself into any conversations, and people came to us to talk. But locally, it's definitely harder, and you really have to prove yourself in this industry.