Zip Moving Owner Dragan Manic on Immigration, Entrepreneurship, and AI in the Moving Industry

Dragan Manic immigrated to the United States from Serbia and built Zip Moving & Storage from the ground up. In the latest episode of Moderately Mic’d, he walks through the decisions, challenges, and shifts that turned a new arrival’s ambition into a moving and storage company serving the Washington area.

The conversation covers what running a service business actually requires: the parts of the moving industry customers misunderstand, the leadership problems that surface as a company grows, and why Manic has invested time in networking and chambers of commerce. He also shares memorable moving stories, the strangest items his crews have handled, and what those experiences taught him about customer service under pressure.

A substantial part of the discussion examines how artificial intelligence is beginning to affect businesses built on logistics, scheduling, and direct customer communication. For a company that coordinates crews, trucks, and timing across hundreds of jobs, those questions are not theoretical.

The episode also goes into the personal foundation beneath the business: Manic’s immigration experience, what fatherhood and family mean to his sense of purpose, and how he has defined his “why” when the work itself is physically demanding and often repetitive.

The conversation ends with rapid-fire questions that pull out insights Manic does not often discuss publicly, including a reflection on his earlier career plan after graduating as an engineer in 2011. He had expected to work as a train mechanic for one summer and then move on. The plan changed, the career shifted, and the rigidity of his original expectations became something he had to let go of in order to grow.

For business owners, entrepreneurs navigating pivots, or anyone interested in how local companies are adapting to technology and competition, the episode offers a grounded account of what it takes to build something that lasts through change.

---

Watch the full episode

Listen to Moderately Mic’d

Listen to this episode: Dragan Manic on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (Moderately Mic’d Episode 6).

New episodes of Moderately Mic’d spotlight the people shaping what’s next in Montgomery County. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, watch the full episode playlist on YouTube, or see every episode on the show page.

Moderately Mic’d also airs on Montgomery Community Media (MCM) Channel 21, available on Comcast, Verizon Fios, and RCN.

---