A match made in TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® heaven; the story of Emily and Michael Sham

Written by Hannah Conlin

Love is in the air at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, and it is not just for the amazing brand that has achieved more than 30 years of growth and success as the premier leader within the moving industry. Many couples within the company met and fell in love through their employment with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®.

After working as a mover for two months, Michael took on the role of general manager at the Jackson, Miss., franchise in 2013. The pair met when Emily joined as the franchise’s marketing manager. Now, as Michael prepares to open his new franchise in Southaven, Miss., in May 2016, the two are happier than ever!

Q: When did you first meet your significant other? 

Michael: Emily and I met during her interview for our marketing position.

Emily: I came on about three to four months after Michael and started as the first-ever marketing manager our franchise had. He was the general manager.

Q: What was your first impression of your significant other when you met them at the office? 

Michael: I couldn’t wait to hire Emily. I thought she was a perfect fit for what we were looking for and I was thoroughly impressed with how she carried herself during the interview.

Emily: I first met Michael in my second interview with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®. I thought it was just going to be a second interview with Mr. Jeff Taylor, our franchisee, but Michael had just come on as the general manager so they were both in the interview. It was a very casual interview, and I immediately thought he was cute and had a lot of confidence. I soon thought, “Who am I kidding? He would be my BOSS, that would never happen,” so I tried to play it cool as best I could. I can remember telling my mom that night that the general manager was really cute though.

Q: Describe your first date. 

Michael: We went out to her favorite sushi spot and enjoyed a good meal and conversation. I distinctly remember telling her that I wasn’t looking for a fling and that if she didn’t feel like she could marry me one day then we would remain friends and co-workers. Surprisingly enough, that didn’t scare her away.

Emily: We casually went out with some friends during Christmas break, and had a great time; meanwhile I am dying! I am out with my cute boss, and just trying to stay as cool as possible! He went out of town over the weekend with his family and then asked me out on our first “official” date on that Sunday. We went out for sushi, kept it casual, and now sushi is our weekly date night!

Q: When did you realize you were in love? 

Michael: I knew I had feelings for Emily before our first date. Our Franchisee Jeff Taylor’s wife, Becky, was battling cancer and was scheduled to have brain surgery in Houston, Texas, at M.D. Anderson. I planned on going to surprise Jeff and Becky and asked Emily if she wanted to go, knowing the relationship she had with the family. We spent over 14 hours in a car together that weekend and really got to know one another. Becky kept telling Emily that we were in love every time I left the hospital room as well. Needless to say, she knew something that we hadn’t figured out yet.

Emily: Well, I didn’t realize. Mrs. Becky Taylor was the whole reason we even began our love story. Michael and I drove to Houston to surprise Jeff after Becky’s third brain surgery. She had been battling stage 4 brain cancer for five years; what a fighter! She had just gotten out of surgery when we arrived and surprised everyone; we just wanted to both be there for support. That is 14 hours total in a vehicle together, and pretty much three days of togetherness in a hospital room. Michael had stepped out of the hospital room to take a work phone call and Mrs. Becky perks up and says, “Ya’ll love each other.” I was like, no, no, no, you just had brain surgery, simmer down … and she insisted! She quickly quieted down however as Michael came back in the room. Once we got back to Mississippi, Jeff called Mike explaining that Becky thinks we are in love and if we want to pursue a relationship that he would not stand in the way. Becky reminded Jeff he could not get in the way of God’s plan. Fast forward to our first date, and the rest is history. Once my parents were on board and approved of Michael, that was it for me, I was head over heels for this guy.

Q: Describe your engagement.

 

Michael: Planning our engagement almost cost us our relationship. It took over two weeks of planning and preparation every day and Emily started feeling neglected. Luckily, I enlisted the help of her mother and she was able to keep things together for the most part. I sent her on a day-long scavenger hunt with her friends in a limo bus that took her to eight different places with activities at each that would prepare her for the evening ahead. I sent her to get her nails done, make-up done, hair done, and dress shopping, with her final destination being her parent’s house. There were about 40 friends and family hiding in the house when she arrived. I escorted her around the back of the house where I had a podium set up with a book of all the things we had done together in our relationship. The last page said “will you” and the rest is history.

Emily: August 30, 2014. Michael out did himself, so much to the point I thought we were about to break up because he wasn’t spending any time with me. It started with him asking my parents. He made a slide show of my life, with my dad, with my mom, with my brother, and then us. He got my brother to bring my parents to the office, we had just moved into the new office building, so he wanted to “show it off,” when really the ending of the tour of the office was this video/slideshow he had made on his computer asking my parents if he could have their blessings in marrying me. Then it was my turn. It was my turn to work on a Saturday at the office, and he was here with me, along with our English bulldog, Ace. I was in my office getting work done and Michael said let’s go take Ace for a walk outside, so nothing out of the ordinary. While we are outside, three of my best friends pull up in a car; mind you, two live in Arkansas, so I am shocked. One grabs a video camera from Michael, and he says, “Go have fun with your best friends. Happy eighth month anniversary.” He is always over the top with gifts and surprises, so I thought nothing of it. My friends and I then go on a scavenger hunt; ALL DAY!

First: Sushi for lunch with my girlfriends and as we leave a party bus pulls up to take us everywhere! There’s a note that takes me to his apartment to give Ace a bone.

Second: At his apartment, first he cleaned everything, lit a candle and had a card with money to go shop at Anthropology, my favorite store.

Third: Got a card at the store to go get my makeup done at Bobby Brown; the makeup I wear.

Fourth: Take a break and get a snow cone from SnoBiz; one of our favorite places during the summer.

Fifth: Get my hair cut and styled; I had been talking about needing a haircut.

Sixth: I receive the final card and it says, Now that you are all dolled up, go to your house and hang out with your best friends and have a good time. So, we begin heading back to my house.

At this point I am kind of bummed; I wanted to spend some of our anniversary with him, and I honestly thought I would end at a nice dinner with him. We end up at my house and I am texting him on the way there thanking him for the wonderful day and he is telling me he is at his apartment just hanging out and he would come to my house later. I get out of the party bus at my parent’s house, no cars in the driveway, and here Michael comes walking down the driveway to meet me. Then I start freaking out, wondering what is going on! He takes me to the back yard where it is lit with string lights, mason jars with candles, it is magical. There are flowers and an outdoor sofa with a pedestal. He walks me over to the pedestal and it has a scrapbook with everything from Annual Meeting pictures, to flight tickets, everything we had done together over the past eight months. At the end of the scrapbook there is a little bride and groom; that is when I really knew what was going on. Like I said, he is over the top always. He sits me on the couch and sits next to me (he is nervous) and I hear, “Aww,” from a ton of people and some giggling, all while crying. He then gets down on one knee and pops the question and I hear roars of clapping and screaming! My parent’s house was filled with friends and family! Becky and Jeff had the best seat in the house, my parent’s bedroom, with their window is right by the backyard. It turned into an engagement party with champagne and “she said yes” cookies. It was perfect and one of the best nights of my life! Longest engagement story, but the happiest and sweetest.

Q: How do you balance your work life and personal lives? 

Michael: Not without a few issues. It took time to find our groove and we still battle it from time to time. It’s hard to keep work at work and home at home, but it is a challenge that we are very blessed to face. Not many people get to work with their best friend, and that is the perspective we try to keep every day.

Emily: We struggled with this for a while, and then finally realized we needed to make some slight changes. We try to not talk about work so much when we get home, but this is our lives. We love TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, and we look at it as any couple coming home from work asking their spouse, “How was your day at work?” I have learned I am not always right at work, and things may not go the way I want, but Michael is my boss and wants what is best for the company and I have to respect that. It takes time to learn how each other tick, but we usually have a good compromise. We do enjoy having lunch dates every once in a while, because we really don’t see too much of each other at work. He is on a completely different side of the building than me, which helps!

Q: Describe your wedding.

 

Michael: Our wedding was one of the best parties I’ve ever been to. It was absolutely beautiful and we were very blessed to have some great venues and some awesome people to help make it so amazing. We had all of our loved ones there and it was one of the most memorable days in my life.

Emily: Oct. 3, 2015 in Mobile, Ala., at my aunt and uncle’s home on Mobile Bay. It was magical; we had string lights everywhere, a live band on the porch, and sequin table cloths. Rose gold, blushes, and cream flowers everywhere. Everything was outside, right on the water and around the pool. We got married under a huge oak tree with hanging moss. We had about 125 guests that attended from all over! It was so special and a weekend filled with lots of love and laughter. The best day ever!

We wish Emily and Michael Sham a lifetime of love and happiness! In celebration of Valentine’s Day, keep a look out for more TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® love stories coming soon!