Somerville Native John Hardy Finds Success on Cape Cod

Everyone has a story, but it's not every day you bump into someone like John Hardy.

The owner of Cape Cod's Compass Moving since he established the firm in 2005, Hardy's life could be best described in one word: hectic.

And that's just the way he likes it.

A native of Somerville and the oldest of 10 children, Hardy grew up in a sort of quasi-survival mode, often fending for his younger siblings in every imaginable scrape, highlighted by often daily trips to the old Boston Garden with his little brothers and neighborhood pals to see if they could sneak in and meet some of the players or catch a few periods watching the likes of Brad Park or Stan Jonathan or Terry McNab, and intermixed with a genuine knack for earning a buck. If there's any person you'll meet in day-to-day life who represents hard work, a creative flair for getting difficult jobs done, and who still reflects what's left of the old American Dream, then it is him.

"I think growing up in the city the oldest of 10 kids helped shape my work ethic," Hardy said. "I started out at the very bottom, living in the 'projects,' watching my dad work as hard as he did just so we could get by ... I knew I had to do something to make him proud."

Hardy graduated from Somerville High School, where he played ice hockey, and immediately joined the United States Army in 1989, paralleling the same career path his former U.S. Marine father took during Vietnam. Hardy excelled and soon became an Airborne Ranger but was transferred to the Army's Third Division, where he served two tours of combat duty in the Gulf War and he was a recipient of the Purple Heart.

Seriously wounded, Hardy spent the better part of a year in rehabilitation in a U.S. Army hospital in Germany before he requested being sent back for another tour of combat duty. Following a successful albeit fairly brief stint in the military, Hardy returned home where he first became a bus driver for Plymouth & Brockton, met and married his wife Teresa, began a family, then eventually took a job driving the big rigs for a local moving company here on Cape Cod.

It was then, about 10 years ago, that Hardy saw a huge opportunity.

Hardy invested his life savings into purchasing his first moving truck, began recruiting and hiring movers who were strong, quick, capable and affable, and, in 2005, started the Compass Moving company (his office and warehouse are headquartered in South Dennis). That one truck soon turned into a fleet of trucks, six full-time employees and a phone that never seems to cease ringing.

In the short span of the past seven years, Hardy has moved families to as far away as Panama, England and Bermuda. He takes almost weekly trips from the Cape to North Carolina and Florida, and a few times a year even hits the road for California.

"We probably put close to 400,000 miles on our trucks each year," Hardy said recently from the kitchen of his cozy Hyannis home. "And we just finished making the last payment on our trucks."

Interestingly, Hardy's Compass Moving doesn't just focus on whole-home, cross-country moves. More often than not, particularly during some of the winter months, his crew will be busy around town moving massive, single pieces of furniture or doing what Hardy calls "small jobs": moving folks out of apartments or basically just "moving things" for customers who require men with a strong back and a friendly, "can-do" attitude.

It's that "can-do" attitude and humble approach that keeps Compass Moving plugging away on all cylinders, it seems, but Hardy concedes he wasn't sure starting his own company would take off.

"I worked for other companies and I honestly never thought I had what it would take to start a company"—or keep one afloat—"in this economy," Hardy said, and attributed part of his success to another Cape Cod businessman, Glenn Tobin, who convinced that he did indeed "have what it takes."

"Hearing positives from a guy like Glenn, who told me to 'Go for it' ... made me feel anything is possible," Hardy said. "Look, I'm from the projects and now here I am living the American dream with an amazing family. He"—Tobin—"gave me the confidence to take a shot at it. Yes, it was rough for a while, but if it wasn't, it wouldn't have been worth it in the end."

As if it wasn't simply enough for Hardy to be running his own moving company and maintain an office and warehouse, he spends any other time he can volunteering in the community. He's president of the Barnstable High School football booster club; he's coached Little League and Barnstable Youth Football; he's also a member of Disabled American Veterans, The Hyannis Elks, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. Compass Moving has also made considerable donations to the community for team sponsorships as well as actual "moves" for the Community Action Committee and Safe Harbor.

"I think it's simple," he said. "Just do the best job you can for everyone you can. Be honest and fair. The rest will fall into place."