by Karen Robbins, President

Since December of 2020, I have written several blogs about starting over during Covid-19. We have been quiet on social media for the last year and it felt like we needed to explain ourselves. I have not shared those blog versions because one day it felt right, and then suddenly it didn’t. The world was still turned upside down. There was a lot of emotion tied up in the words I wrote. I even tried a peppier version of “We are Still Here and Ready When You Are” but that didn’t feel right either when so much of our team was not “still here.”

Same Turbulent Sea, Different Boats

2020 was our 30th year in business. It started out as a magic year with a magic team. We were buckled in and climbing the roller coaster, getting ready for a fun ride celebrating a milestone year. Instead, by March 13, 2020, we sent everyone home. Stunned, concussed, and grappling with coming to an abrupt halt in the middle of the ride. What just happened?

Like so many small businesses in the event industry our story is not unique either. All of us missed something last year. Covid-19 changed all of our lives. I remember seeing a quote about us all being in the same boat. Instead the writer noted, we were “all in the same turbulent sea just in different boats”. That felt about right. The experience was the same, yet different for everyone.

We own our office buildings and each person on the team had their own office space. It was lively and fun to walk into those buildings. Many of the offices looked like dorm rooms festooned with event badges and memorabilia and birthday decorations. If you are in the event world, you know what I mean. SWAG is fun! But, when your business is completely taken offline in a matter of days and continues to be sidelined a year later; the reality is, you probably need to get rid of the buildings. Everything was finalized a few weeks ago on the last two buildings. The process took months to unravel, we needed to store and set aside, giveaway and decide. It was not easy, but that chapter has closed now.

Stuck in a Weird Place – March 2020 to March 2021

And, now suddenly, we are here in March of 2021. The weather feels exactly the same as it did this time last year when the world was unraveling. It’s unsettling how much time has passed so quickly, yet slowly.

And during this year, we have watched while our clients and industry friends were furloughed or were navigating the virtual meeting pivot. Truth be told, the sideline of the event industry is a weird place to sit and watch things happen that you can’t control. Our industry is used to making things happen not watching them fall apart and shift dramatically within days. When I think about this last year, I am reminded of an industry friend who posted a few weeks into Covid-19. He said, “at the end of every show we would all shake, hug and say see you on the next one, and I will never take that for granted again.”

Boy was he right. Who knew at the end of those events that something could come along and completely wipe out the next event and the next one and…?

We look a little different now and while it is a terribly sad thing it is not necessarily a bad thing. There have been many lessons along the way. We are asking ourselves different questions than we did a year ago. We are less hurried and less worried than we were last year at this time. This clarity has brought about another level of thinking and creativity. If Covid-19 showed us anything about life it is who is ultimately in control and it is not us. We may have been grieving hard this last year, but we still have a heartbeat. We are still here.

Hope, Optimism and Bus Magic

Spring is here and we are shaking off the weirdness! It’s time to start over and it is time to share again. Even though we did not celebrate our 30th year last year, it does not mean it didn’t happen! We may not be the same as we were 365 days ago but we can’t do much about that.

We plan on celebrating being in business for 31 years and we will celebrate the team that contributed to that success, too. Without them, there would be no Stewart Transportation Solutions. Our penguins, (team mascot), deserve to be remembered. This past year has been hard on them, too.

These days, there is hope on the horizon and in our inbox! There is optimism, new beginnings and fresh starts! The “we can’t wait to be face-to face-again” meetings have started! And boy, are we ready to make the bus magic happen again!

To our customers and friends that have continually checked in over the last year, thank you. Thank you for continuing to find creative ways to use our services in this difficult time. But, most of all, thank you for caring and being a part of the ride. We are ready, when you’re ready, after all.

This year we celebrated our 2019 retreat at the Ranch at Laguna Beach. Our annual retreat is an important event for our team because it is one of the few times we are all together. We use the opportunity to reconnect with one another, relax, reflect on the year and prepare for the year ahead.

Each year we are fortunate enough to receive sponsorships from our vendor partners. Not only do these sponsorships help make our retreat possible, they also provide vendors an opportunity to advertise their services to our Program Managers. We are very much aware that what we do would not be possible without the incredible vendors we work with across the country and we are grateful for the relationships we have built and continue to build with them. Thank you to our incredible 2019 sponsors!

If you are interested in learning more about our sponsorship opportunities, please contact Brandon Terpstra.

By Karen Robbins, President

Last year I asked our team to hold “connection” as their inspiration for 2019. My hope was that they would look up from their tablets, computers and phones more often and put more emphasis on making meaningful connections with everyone they encounter. For 2020, our team will continue building connections through mindfulness.

Both concepts are centered around awareness. Without awareness there are no meaningful connections and without mindfulness we cannot achieve awareness. Awareness is also a principle of Servant Leadership, which is an integral part of the STS foundation. Only when we become aware of self are we able to be aware of the needs of others.

“[Mindfulness] Is the simple direct practice of moment to moment awareness, first by training our attention to focus on one single chosen object like the flow of the breath and then repeatedly letting go of distractions in order to return our attention to that object.” -Sharon Salzberg

In an effort to introduce the team to the theory of mindfulness through the practice of meditation, we asked Lori Kahn, a meditation coach and owner of Om Laguna Beach, to work with our team one morning during our business retreat. Lori led a “Foundations of Mindfulness Meditation” for our team and I think it’s safe to say we all walked away from the experience much more relaxed! (Maybe too relaxed…)

My hope is that our team continues to practice mindfulness meditation throughout the year and their lives. I want them to be more aware of their own presence and how they interact with one another. We are all human beings and we all want the same things – love acceptance, freedom, respect. I hope that in some of our most difficult moments, we can be more gentle in our approach to each other and ourselves. By practicing this intentional self-care, we will become better individuals and therefore a stronger team better equipped to serve our customers.

15 Lessons from CEO Eddie Stewart (Okay, 16 lessons)

  1. A person who is nice to me but not nice to a bus driver, is not a nice person.
  2. Character and cultural buy-in are far more important than raw talent.
  3. Leaders don’t panic in difficult situations. They must be calm in a sea of chaos.
  4. If you dread coming to work on a Monday, you probably need to look for another job.
  5. I’ve learned a lot of what to do by observing what not to do.
  6. When communicating, practice the KISS principal – Keep It Short and Simple. Brevity and accuracy with your message is all anyone wants to hear.
  7. A simple “thank you” goes further than insincere compliments.
  8. You don’t always have to wait for permission – just get it done and ask for forgiveness if necessary. If you ask a lot of people, someone will probably tell you no.
  9. A successful business leader must be a servant first.
  10. Never skip an opportunity to have lunch with your team.
  11. In business, hoping tends to be an excuse for not trying hard enough.
  12. Keep your office door open as much as you can. Be approachable to your team.
  13. Don’t step over a dollar to get to a nickel. In other words, the cheapest way is not always the best way.
  14. Don’t give people a job. Give them a career.
  15. Believe in yourself, even when no one else does.
  16. Get the right people on the bus

15 Lessons from President Karen Robbins

  1. Everyone loves to win but not everyone loves to compete in the same way in order to win.
  2. In business and in life, don’t take offense; play offense.
  3. It’s okay to cry when situations or people are more than you are able to cope with.
  4. Laugh at yourself with others but never laugh at others.
  5. Never, ever stop learning. Be curious and ask questions.
  6. Stop asking “why did this happen tome?” Instead ask, “Why did this happen? What do I need to learn?”
  7. Being the smartest person in the room sometimes requires you to be the quietest person in the room.
  8. Always keep a box of Kleenex on your desk. Human beings cry. It’s normal and okay!
  9. Earn respect in business by being accountable, knowing your stuff and not faking it.
  10. Surround yourself with people that see something in you that you don’t always see in yourself.
  11. Speak up and out more often but always know your audience.
  12. Never try to check in 250+ buses on 2 hours of sleep and not expect to make a few mistakes. Lesson learned!
  13. Let your mistakes make you better, not bitter.
  14. Sometimes people have trouble performing because they are in the wrong role. The people who work really hard in the wrong position are the ones you keep. It’s your job as a leader to help them find a role that amplifies their strengths and make changes.
  15. Pay attention to the things that bring you joy then figure out how to apply joy to create a more purposeful life.

Each year we take our team on a retreat to reflect, rest and prepare for the next year. It’s not lost on us that what we do would not be possible without the amazing vendors we are so fortunate to work with each day. Not only do they help us pull off the impossible, but they also step up and support our retreat. We are incredibly grateful for each sponsorship and look forward to working with all of them in 2019!

If you’d like to learn more about our retreat sponsorship options, please contact Brandon Terpstra at Brandon@stewarttransportation.com.