In this rapid‑fire "6 questions in 7 minutes" interview, Professor Pete Alexander talks with Seth Waite, CEO of Handled, a home‑services concierge that is disrupting the moving and relocation industry. Waite explains why the moving sector is uniquely intimate and stressful, noting that moving ranks among the top three life stressors and is tied to core memories. He stresses the importance of embracing change, asking hard questions, and inspiring rather than merely managing change within large organizations. A pivotal moment with a former Walmart executive taught him to visualize success, leading Handled to secure a major contract and reinforcing visualization as a daily leadership tool. Waite also highlights the lasting value of early retail work, sharing how his first job at Wendy’s taught systematic customer‑experience principles that he still applies. He recommends fellow CEO Joe Sonweber of RevUnit as a guest, and provides his contact details (LinkedIn, Twitter @SethWaite, email seth@handled.com). The episode blends industry insight, leadership philosophy, and personal anecdotes.
Chapters
This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Awesome. My name is Seth Waite. I'm the CEO of a company called Handled, and we are a home services concierge disrupting the moving and relocation industry.
Seth, it's so great to have you on the show. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?
I think it's the fact that it's such an intimate and personal industry. So people are coming into your home at a really stressful period of your life, as a customer. And they're touching all the things in your house, right? Trying to help you enter the next chapter of your life as you move or relocate. And I love being able to be a bridge to hopefully a fresh start and a new part of your life.
And I hear you touching about that stressful aspect of moving because few things will be more stressful than moving an entire household even from one part of a city to another part of the city. Am I wrong?
Yeah, it is one of the top 3 most stressful things that happen in your life. And studies have shown from a psychology standpoint that a lot of your core memories are attached to moving either right before or right after. So they're some of the most memorable events in your entire life and they trigger some strong emotions.
And I can, as you're talking, I think about those for myself. So, wow. And I'm sure our listeners are thinking the same thing. Question number 3, I have a fictitious book. With All the Answers for Business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
I think for me that, that chapter is about not being afraid of change. Um, I think especially for large companies, they get stuck in this concept of, well, this is what's got us to where we are today. Um, but I think change is really critical and important and, uh, too often I think in the process of thinking about change, what we're really afraid of is change management. It's a process of converting and coaxing and communicating and persuading people to do something different. And instead, we should be focused, I think, on inspiring people and leading them to this new place and working together. So I think too many businesses are afraid of asking the hard questions. They get to real change and improvement in their business.
And it's that fear seems it would likely would be on both sides too, because if the businesses are afraid to bring that conversation up, there's probably some sort of fear on, let's say, the employees or the customer side as well. Would you agree?
Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah, it's a core challenge that I think most people have. One of the values at Handled actually is ask hard questions, and it means not only can— do we have to be the people willing to say those things, we've also be— have to be willing to answer hard questions as part of that process as well. And that typically starts with ourselves, good, looking in the mirror and asking those questions.
That is such an insightful thought. Thank you. Question number 4: other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
So a few years ago, in one of the companies that I had started, one of the board members who was a former executive at Walmart and had really helped grow this enterprise, you know, to the success that it is today as a senior executive, we were talking about a problem and in it he basically turned and just looked, you know, straight in the face and just said, you're big enough to do whatever you think you're big enough to do. And it was this powerful moment. We were a 12-person company, um, and we went out and got a contract with the largest company in the world, um, in less than 3 months because we changed our perception on ourselves and what we thought we were capable of doing. And it completely opened up a totally different world for our business. And it was a powerful pivot for me personally, not just for the business, and thinking about, you know, I can accomplish whatever I can envision myself doing. And that, that set of tools around, you know, being imaginative and thinking about and visualizing things has become a core part of my toolset ever since.
Wow. I get chills over that because what I'm hearing is that that conversation gave you the confidence to make whatever you wanted to make possible, make it a reality.
Right. That's exactly what it is. I just had to see myself doing it first. And that's a core part of my daily routine now, is the process of visualizing the things I'm going to do that day. And every day when I do that before the day begins, typically those things happen.
I love it. So great. Question number 5: What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
So this is somebody that I've worked with for a long time in different areas, but his name is Joe Sonweber. He is the CEO of RevUnit, which is a technology company in Bentonville, Arkansas. They do amazing things with enterprise customers, helping them see what transformation and change looks like when you bring in digital technology. And the perspective that he has is, is really incredible. And I think he'd have a lot of insight to share.
Great. Thank you for that referral. I'll reach out to Joe. And our final question, question number 6, please tell me about your first job.
Yeah, so my first job was at Wendy's fast food, and it was going to be a summer job. I knew somebody that worked there, and it became one of the most important jobs I ever had because in addition to just working hard and having a personal relationship with customers as they came in the door and learning how to really handle a great customer experience. It taught me about just that systematic process to create excellence, and I've come back to that again and again. You know, what's our standard operating procedure to create the perfect move, the perfect order, the perfect experience, and how do we, how do we make it easy to win every single time? And I learned that as a teenage kid, and it's something that anytime anybody's talking about, you know, kids having jobs and things like that, I'm always just pushing people like, go have an experience in retail or fast food because you'll learn lifelong skills that you can apply as an executive or in any other area of your life.
You know, I couldn't agree more with you. It's— one of my first jobs was working at Radio Shack, which, you know, doesn't exist anymore, but, you know, that retail experience, all of that, that I saw dealing with the customers and inventory, etc., and having a consistent experience. You're so on the, you know, right on the mark about the benefits of learning that early on. So that's great. Glad you had that with Wendy's. So Seth, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?
Yeah, so I am on LinkedIn, just Seth Way, CEO and President of Handled. Available on Twitter as @SethWaite, W-A-I-T-E. If you have questions or want to get connected, my email is seth@handled.com as well. And I'm always looking to connect, network, and learn from other people.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. For more insights and ideas, please go to LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, or iTunes and search for the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
