From Los Angeles to London: NorthStar Moving Co-Founder Named Finalist in Women Changing the World Awards

Los Angeles, CA, April 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  NorthStar Moving® Company, the leading eco-luxury mover in California, is pleased to announce that its co-founder, Laura McHolm, has been named a finalist for the 2025 Women Changing the World Awards in the Volunteer of the Year category.

The Women Changing the World Awards, presented by Oprah Winfrey’s all-time favorite guest, Dr. Tererai Trent, celebrate and recognize women achieving outstanding success in areas such as sustainability, humanitarian work, leadership, advocacy, tech, product development, education, health and innovation. The awards are designed to spotlight the growing number of women who are leading the way in making the world a better place and to inspire others to take action.

Dr. Trent explains, “These exceptional women are here to awaken hearts, give permission to recapture dreams and inspire the women of the world to come together to forge a brighter path for all. The rising of women is the awakening of everybody.”

With a background in law, marketing and business, NorthStar Moving Company Co-Founder Laura McHolm, left the Fortune 500 world to transform the moving industry. Her mission? To prove that moving is more than lifting heavy things, it’s about lifting spirits. Through NorthStar Moving, she pioneered eco-luxury moving services, combining five-star client care with sustainability, building a company that puts people and the planet first.

Her work stands out for its unique blend of luxury service and deep community impact. From moving families battling cystic fibrosis, to providing free storage to wildfire victims, to raising over 819,000 meals for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Laura has shown that a moving company can be a powerful engine for good. She currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Claire’s Place Foundation and continues to champion causes that support children, animals, families and refugees.

“I believe the success of businesses should be measured not just by profit, but by their impact. We’ve turned a traditionally male-dominated into a people-first, purpose-driven company. There simply is no stopping the power of love and kindness,” said Laura.

Laura attributes this success to her passionate team, belief in the power of positive action and her community. Her vision for the future is to continue expanding NorthStar Moving’s philanthropic efforts, inspire more companies to integrate social responsibility into their core operations and create more leadership opportunities for women in male-dominated industries.

This recognition marks Laura’s first international honor, with women from over 50 countries represented at the 2025 Women Changing the World Awards. The honorees were announced on April 3rd, 2025, at the Women Changing the World Global Summit and Awards at the Park Hyatt on the River Thames in London, United Kingdom.

Dr. Trent’s vision for these awards is to empower women everywhere to reclaim their sacred dreams and unite across the globe to build a better future for all. To see the full list of finalists, visit: wcwawards.com/finalists

NorthStar Moving is offering Southern California residents affected by the fall 2019 Los Angeles County fires three free months of full-service storage. The company wants to help Los Angeles County residents whose homes are impacted by fire or smoke damage and are in need of a safe place to store their belongings.

NorthStar Moving has been serving clients and the community for 25 years and wants to use their close proximity and experience to help those affected by the fires. For residents that need a secure location to store their valuables at no charge, NorthStar Moving is opening their doors to help their neighbors.

NorthStar Moving’s red trucks hit the road 25 years ago today.
On the move since 1994, NorthStar Moving Co-Founders Ram Katalan and Laura McHolm have been on a mission to move service back into what should have always been the ultimate service industry: the moving industry. They have turned the industry on its head as the first to offer “eco-luxury” moving services. From responsible recycling, biodiesel moving trucks, to eco-friendly storage and energy efficient warehouses and offices, they are the trend-setting moving company which is both green-minded and service-minded.

NorthStar Moving has teamed up with Groundwork Coffee, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, the National Association of Women Business Owners Los Angeles (NAWBO-LA) and others for their seventh annual “Let’s Send Hunger Packing!” food drive to feed hungry children in Los Angeles County.

NorthStar Moving will pick-up and transport all donated items to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. To make a monetary donation to the “Let’s Send Hunger Packing!” 2019 virtual food drive and see addresses of all food donation drop off locations, please visit: northstarmoving.com/fooddrive.

NorthStar Moving was awarded the Move for Hunger 2018 Certificate of Achievement Award and Mover of the Month for April 2019. The awards recognize NorthStar Moving’s extraordinary efforts in fighting hunger. 

NorthStar Moving was also recognized by Move for Hunger for their assistance with large annual events, such as the LA Marathon and Rock ‘n’ Roll San Francisco Half Marathon, collecting thousands of pounds of leftover food and delivering them to food banks. “Through food drives, food rescues, and by collecting donations from their clients, NorthStar Moving has provided more than 60,000 meals to Californians facing hunger,” said Adam Lowy, Executive Director and Founder of Move For Hunger. “NorthStar Moving has always been one of our most reliable supporters, and these awards are much-deserved recognition of the important work they are doing in the communities they serve.”

NorthStar Moving announced a new partnership with Sleep Like A Boss to provide clients with expert guidance on how to create bedrooms for optimal sleep when moving into their new home. 

Sleep Like A Boss Founder and Certified Sleep Science Coach Christine Hansen uses a holistic and sustainable approach to guide clients to a better night’s rest. An Amazon best-selling author, she has helped CEOs and executives in the biggest international companies, including Deloitte and Accenture, overcome their sleepless nights.

This new package can be requested individually or combined with any of NorthStar Moving’s other luxury services.

California’s premier eco-luxury moving company awarded for workplace excellence by the Los Angeles Business Journal

Los Angeles, CA, Aug. 21, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NorthStar Moving®, the leading eco-luxury mover in California, today announced that it was named one of the “Best Places to Work” in greater Los Angeles for the eighth consecutive year. This annual program was created by the Los Angeles Business Journal and Best Companies Group. 

The survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best employers in Los Angeles, benefiting the county’s economy, workforce and businesses. After businesses from across Los Angeles County are surveyed, the list is narrowed down to 100 companies. NorthStar Moving ranked an impressive #38 in the best medium sized company category.

Companies from across the county entered the two-part survey process to determine the Best Places to Work in Los Angeles. The first part consisted of evaluating each nominated company’s workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems and demographics. This part of the process was worth approximately 25% of the total evaluation. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience. This part of the process was worth approximately 75% of the total evaluation. The combined scores determined the top companies and the final rankings. Best Companies Group managed the overall registration and survey process in Los Angeles, analyzed the data and determined the final rankings.

“This achievement just keeps getting better and better each year,” said NorthStar Moving Co-Founder and CEO Ram Katalan. “As I have said in years past, creating a place where people love to come to work everyday is our greatest accomplishment. Knowing our own team members continue to rate their employee experience so well gives me a lot of pride. We know that happy team members create a happy and satisfying client experience.”

NorthStar Moving continually seeks fun new ways to motivate its employees. From flexible work schedules and work at home options, gym and showers in the office, allowing dogs to come to work, Friday company lunches, bowling and pizza parties, backyard BBQs, to a company sponsored soccer team that competes in a local community league, there is no shortage of fun and team building. NorthStar Moving team members also love the fact that they can feel great about the quality of work they do for their clients and the community. The company pays their team members to volunteer in the community and just completed a very successful fifth annual summer food drive in partnership with Coldwell Banker. NorthStar Moving team members value the difference that NorthStar Moving is making in the community from its green practices to strong involvement in many charitable events throughout the year.

The rankings are published in the August 21, 2017 issue of the Los Angeles Business Journal. For more information on the Best Places to Work in Los Angeles program, visit www.BestPlacestoWorkLA.com.