Today we’d like to introduce you to Beth Rohani.
Hi Beth, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My birth name is Behnaz but by the time I was in 6th grade, kids in school were calling me Bethnaz, so I decided to cut off the n-a-z and started calling myself Beth.
It was 1984, when I was 7 years old, that my parents decided to move to the United States in order to give my younger brother and me a better opportunity and life. It was during the peak of the Islamic regime change in Iran, as modern Iranian society changed to conform to the new ideologies of life.
I remember in first grade, one day, coming home, with a note telling my parents that I had to start wearing a hijab when coming to school. That was when my parents decided to make the move. They left everything. Their home, their business and their families and made the ultimate sacrifice for the future of their daughter.
A future where I was blessed not to have lived in a society where I was restricted from the freedoms of life and independence.
I remember the day we walked through the doors of the DFW airport, Stevie Wonders song “I just called to say I love you”, was on. I will never forget the melody as I did not know how to speak, ready or write English but clearly remember the sound. We moved to Arlington, Texas where my uncle, who was living in the states, had gotten us a two-bedroom apartment, sparsely furnished at the intersection of (ironically) Washington and Lincoln streets.
Life was simple. My mom’s first job was working at an ice cream parlor and my dad at a laundry mat. I started school and my parents enrolled me in ESL (English as a Second Language) and quickly I learned how to communicate in the new world I was in.
Growing up, I was always a leader and had a natural ability to connect with people by building relationships and common bonds. My mother was a huge role model for me throughout my life as such a strong-willed and determined woman. Anything she ever put her mind to she achieved and let me to always feel and be equally empowered.
Culturally, I was brought up in a structured Iranian home where my parents never let me do things like be a cheerleader or very often go to sleepovers. However, pushed me towards things that were creative in nature, and growing up, was influenced by my father’s artistic abilities and his passion for creativity.
Watching my parents as I was growing up, I saw the work ethic they both had and the determination to build themselves for their family. Over the years, my dad eventually purchased the laundry mat and open an Oriental Rug Store right next to the laundry mat. My mom went on to become a bookkeeper and eventually, while I was in middle school, decided to get her nursing degree and became a registered pediatric nurse at Cook Children’s Hospital in Ft. Worth.
My first job was when I was 15 ½ as a lifeguard at the local waterpark and I have not stopped working since the day I started. Throughout high school I was in retail and then went on to manage various tanning salons in the metroplex area. I have always had the ability to connect with people and found myself in leadership roles. I excelled at sales and negotiations at a young age, where I was one of the only people who could sell women’s jeans to men while I was working at the Gap in the 90’s because “they had a better fit”.
After high school, I decided to go to college to study communication journalism. I earned an internship at KDFW Fox 4 and began learning the interworkings for the media industry. During that time, I was selected as Miss Arlington USA where I went to compete in the Miss Texas USA Pageant in 1998. When I was selected as Miss Arlington USA, I was unsure as to how my parents were going to react, and found they were surprisingly proud and very supportive.
I trained for one year in all aspects, how to talk, how to walk, how to answer judges’ questions, what to eat and worked out routinely. I was ready, or was I? It was a reality check when I entered into the hotel lobby of that pageant as I quickly realized that I was in over my head. These contestants were bred to be pageant queens from the time of infancy, and here I am at 18 years old giving it a shot for the very first time. I quickly mentally prepared myself to not get disappointed if I was not crowned the winner and made sure to have fun, savored the moment and enjoyed the experience because it was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I did just that and created such a memorable experience and so many good friendships, and on the night of crowning the winner for Miss Texas USA, the judges also crowned two other winners. One was Miss Photogenic, and the other was Miss Congeniality which I was honored to be awarded Miss Congeniality USA 1998. This recognition was so meaningful. More meaningful than being crowned the winner because it was voted by my peers, chosen by the contestants who got to spend time with me a got to know my character and me as a person. It was also so rewarding because I went into the pageant with the least amount of expectations and came out with the best amount results.
And that’s how it’s been throughout my life… where I have always had the mindset of not having expectations, because my point of view is that if there are no expectations, then there are no disappointments.
In 2000, my mother decided she no longer wanted to be a nurse and wanted a change in her career, so she decided to become an entrepreneur and opened a moving company with the help of her brother and named it Ameritex Apt. Movers.
That same year, I moved to Houston to continue my communication journalism journey. I enrolled at the University of Houston and needed a job. I didn’t have a college degree yet, but I had built relationships through my internship by displaying personal and professional quality and traits which allowed my news director at KDFW Fox 4 to give a reference to a colleague in Houston at KRIV Fox 26 where I was able to land my first job as an Assignments Editor at the age of 23 with simply a referral and no college degree. That’s when I realized the power of networking, building trust and identifying integrity and your core values because it benefits you when people are able to recognize those characteristics within you.
In 2001, Ameritex Movers in Houston opened as a means to earn extra money for books and tuition. My role with the company was the company brand ambassador, and with my previous experience in networking and relationship building, I began the strategic development of our partnerships and created the brand’s awareness. Additionally, my focus was to develop the policies, procedures and practices for the company. Being that I am a systems and processes driven person, these strengths gave me the ability to teach myself as I needed to learn and grow the company based on my experiences, rationale and logic.
Remember, I did not seek a business degree, nor did someone give me a business where it was already setup and had all the fundamentals of an operating business. I had no idea, but I had the willingness and the drive to learn. I found early on that if I surrounded myself with individuals more knowledgeable than me then I can use their experiences to gain as my own.
In 2009, I was asked to serve on the board for the Houston Apartment Association which is the largest trade organization in the nation. This was a 6-year position, where during this time, I was influenced by many colleagues whom I now call friends. They helped improve my leadership skills, taught me some of my life’s greatest lessons and provided support in the growth of my business.
From 2017-2019, I also served on the board of the International Management District which Texas State Representative Hubert Vo suggested the creation of a management district. The 80th session of the Texas Legislature created the district in 2007. In 2009 the district stated that at least half of its $1 million budget would be used to enhance security. The district has about 12 square miles (31 km2) of land. It is roughly bounded by Bellaire Boulevard to the north, Texas State Highway 6 to the west, and Beltway 8 to the east. The district runs along Bissonnet from Highway 6 to Kirkwood. The district then runs along West Bellfort to U.S. Highway 59. The area occupied by the district is commonly known as Alief. As of 2011, seven hotels are located in the district. The International Management District levies taxes on businesses in its boundaries to increase security, to promote international business and trade, and to pay for beautification projects.
As an entrepreneur and business owner, over the past 20 years, I have experienced a lot, and through those experiences has shaped where my business is today. It was always important for me to use my best judgment, be fair, logical and resourceful, but it was more important to build the business on the core values of accountability, and integrity with the mindset of perseverance.
Personally and professionally, I am entering into a new chapter of my life. As of August 2022, Ameritex Movers Houston is 100% woman-owned. The future is exciting as I’m proud to have the opportunity to be independent of my decision and execute the company into the next stages of growth for its team members, the brand with a continued path of our mission to create a stress-free moving experience.
I am thrilled to announce, Ameritex Movers Houston will be on an episode of Designing Spaces Houston first quarter of 2023. The episode will be titled “Moving 411: Making Your Next Move a Stress-Free Move.” Beth Rohani, president, and Ali Langley, operations manager, will appear on the show to help bring value to the viewers by allowing them to better understand the process of making moving stress-free.
Designing Spaces chose to feature Ameritex Movers because the show was looking to feature a Houston-based moving company who could provide viewers with helpful tips on making moving a less stressful experience and found Ameritex Movers’ core values were the perfect fit for the episode.
In addition, to Designing Spaces Houston, I will be interviewed on Gathering the Kings Podcast on November 8, 2022, where Chaz Wolfe is the host and interviews guests who are business owners, started their businesses and took their businesses from the ground up to produce 6, 7 or 8 figures and how they did it.
With now over 20 years of entrepreneurship and life lesson experiences, personally, I am working to build my individual brand as a thought leader and a public speaker and considering writing a book. I would like to use my journey to influence and inspire others to follow the path of always believing, learning and growing, being resilient and never giving up. My mental strength and mindset is what has given me the ability to push past many of the obstacles I’ve been confronted with as a business owner, hurricanes, Covid, employment issues, lawsuits and more; but the ability to stay focused, disciplined, maintain accountability while embracing my integrity and having the courage to continue past these adversities is what has shaped me to who I am personally.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As an entrepreneur, my mindset has always been that you will face many challenges and obstacles. It’s part of the journey, but how you respond to adversity will define your success.
Adversity is one of life’s essentials: it’s impossible to avoid, no matter what path you’ve chosen to cross. At times it feels like a never-ending uphill battle, but those hard times prove to be learning opportunities and help you grow as a person.
In life, things like being told that you aren’t good enough and having people doubt your abilities is your time to work harder and succeed. It’s when you tell yourself that you’re not going to crumble as you encounter adversity, but overcome it.
Altering your mindset is a great first step in the face of adversity. As with making mistakes, if you opt to actively learn from each hurdle, you’ll grow as a person and inspire others to learn how to overcome adversity. Embracing adversity with grace under pressure will help make you an even more successful entrepreneur.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Ameritex Movers?
Ameritex Movers is a woman owned full, service moving company based in Houston, Texas. We are licensed to service the state of Texas and our nearly 3 acres office-warehouse headquarters is located off Sam Houston Parkway near US59-South. We offer packing, moving, unpacking, services in addition to loading and unloading of containers and rental trucks.
We have a fleet of 28 box trucks and over a dozen moving trailers and are equipped and experienced to service residential and commercial moving and relocation needs.
At Ameritex Movers, we like to Think Outside the Box, and have become recognized for our use of packing materials in order to create works of art. We have created dresses made out of cardboard and packing materials which we call Cardboard Couture. We have also build the Houston cityscape which included the GRB and Discovery Green. Both of the creations were displayed for their innovation at at Children’s Museum of Houston and the University of Houston Bauer College of Business.
We love to be involved with the community and have partner up with the Alief Independent School District where we involve their STEM Student to participate in our BoxBot contents where we provide them with 2 boxes (6 cubed and 10 cubed). The students take those boxes and use any other materials which are recycled to create a robot-like figure in order to compete to win prizes to help further their education.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Likes: Cost of living, business economy, eclectic city with a diverse culture and some of the best food in the world.
Dislikes: Weather and pollution
Contact Info:
- Website: StressFreeMove.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beth_naz_ | https://www.instagram.com/ameritexmovers/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beth.rohani/ | https://www.facebook.com/AmeritexHoustonMovers/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2Ax1fRgsB-39UrUbj9VGvg/featured
