International Women’s Day: Meet Rachael Cronk, Co-Owner and General Manager of Provincial Moving & Storage
- Jonathan and Rachael Cronk
- Mar 6
- 4 min read
If you had met Rachael Cronk as a kid growing up in Saskatchewan, she would have told you, very confidently, that she was going to be a marine biologist.
She wanted to work for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans studying whales. The ocean felt big and meaningful. Business? Not so much.
But her grandfather, a lifelong entrepreneur, saw something in her early on. He nudged her toward getting a business degree and starting a company of her own. She pushed back, because that wasn’t her plan. They eventually struck a compromise: she would major in biology and minor in business.
At the time, it felt like she was humouring him.
Looking back, she smiles at how that “compromise” quietly laid the groundwork for everything that followed.
Rachael Didn’t Plan to Be an Entrepreneur, and Yet…
At 19, she started a painting company.
At 21, she launched her own financial planning practice.
Not because she had some grand entrepreneurial master plan, but because she was curious, capable, and willing to try.
Over the next 10 years, she built that financial planning practice to $30 million in assets under management. It was steady growth, built on relationships and trust. And then, when she felt she’d learned what she needed to learn from that industry, she made another bold move:
She sold it.
For Rachael, it’s never just about staying comfortable. It’s about the next challenge. The next thing to figure out. The next way to grow. And what was next was…
Buying a Moving Company…at Six Months Pregnant
After selling her practice, she spent two and a half years searching for what was next. This time, she and her husband decided they didn’t want to start from scratch. They wanted to buy something established and build from there, with a baby on the way.
In October 2022, six months pregnant, they purchased Provincial Moving & Storage. Jon would maintain the moving trucks (and continue with his full-time work) and Rachael would run the company.
They got two weeks of training from the previous owner. And they hit the ground running.
New industry.
New team.
New baby on the way.
Within months, they had doubled operations and became Living Wage Employers. Rachael stepped fully into her role as Co-Owner & General Manager, diving into systems, marketing, team culture, and long-term vision. They began reshaping the company to reflect who they are: local, family-oriented, growth-minded, and committed to doing things well.
Three years later, they leased their own yard to house their trucks and launched in-house storage services for the first time in the company’s history. It was a milestone that signaled not just growth, but stability and long-term commitment.
The Hard Parts (That No One Sees on Social Media)
Entrepreneurship looks impressive in bullet points.
$30M AUM.
Successful exit.
Business acquisition.
Expansion.
But the real story is in the in-between moments.
The days where you question yourself.
The nights balancing a newborn and big decisions.
The responsibility of leading a team whose livelihoods depend on you getting it right.
And sometimes, in the middle of it all, Rachael wishes she could sit down for lunch with her grandfather again.
He passed away a few years ago. There are days she would give anything to talk through a business challenge with him. To ask his opinion. To hear his perspective. To tell him about buying a company instead of starting one this time.
Mostly, she’d want to say thank you.
Because even when she didn’t want to hear it, he saw her clearly, and put her on the right path.
Why Rachael’s Story Matters on International Women’s Day
It’s important on International Women’s Day to celebrate successful outcomes, but it’s also important to recognize the courage it takes to pivot, to lead, to build, especially in industries where women are still underrepresented.
It’s important to celebrate and recognize women who grow businesses while growing families, who step into leadership roles they didn’t originally plan for, and who chase the “next carrot” not out of restlessness, but out of possibility.
Rachael Cronk didn’t set out to become a moving company owner. She set out to follow her curiosity, to take calculated risks, and to build things that matter. And somewhere along the way, she became exactly what her grandfather saw all those years ago:
A businesswoman.
Today, Rachael is proud of what Provincial Moving & Storage has become.
A trusted local moving company serving Victoria and Vancouver Island.
A company that consistently receives strong customer reviews.
An A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
A certified Living Wage Employer committed to taking care of its team.
From a girl who once dreamed about studying whales to a woman leading a growing company in her community, the thread has always been the same: curiosity, challenge, and building something meaningful.
And if there’s one thing she knows for sure, it’s this: she’s proud of the business they’ve built, and proud to be building it right here at home.
