As all of you know, last spring Steve & Dan’s underwent a lot of changes – we changed the way we looked, but we wanted to change the way we thought.

This was an extremely challenging undertaking and we had no idea where to start. That’s where Dr. Sandra Hill and Dr. Joel Rothaizer came in, who run Clear Impact Consulting. We’ve been working with them very closely over the past 6 months. We’ve had to be completely vulnerable with ourselves and with each other. As we’ve grown over the years, we had to be open with what we wanted for the future of Steve & Dan’s.

At our first meeting, we were all skeptical. Sandra and Joel got us to question and open up how we felt about the company, each other, and ourselves. We were put through a process of giving honest appreciation to one another and were tasked with coming up with 3 core values – being community, sustainability, and integrity. It was challenging and often emotional, but by the end of the 3 day retreat we felt excited for the upcoming summer.

Some of the biggest concepts we’ve been learning and practicing are reflection, perspective seeking, and perspective taking. We reflect by stepping back and asking ourselves “how am I doing right now?” We’ve learned that our emotions show outwardly and affect those around us. We have learned to actively encourage other people’s perspectives, not only in difficult situations, but in our day-to-day work. This isn’t something that can be perfected in a 3 day retreat. It’s something we are always working on improving in both our personal and professional lives.

We are also striving to become catalyst leaders. There are many types of leaders – there are those who run the show themselves, those that aren’t open to change, and many more. Catalyst leaders are focused on developing the business, the staff, and themselves. They’re team oriented and surround themselves with the possibility of learning. We want to develop our staff into leaders. Altering the way you think has a huge impact on the way you run a business. It becomes less about selling product and more about creating last connections with customers, educating people on sustainable food, and building a place where customers and staff feel valued.

Sandra and Joel have challenged us immensely over the past few months. Without them, we would most likely be stressed, burnt out, or frustrated. Instead, we are always looking for ways to better ourselves. The lessons they’ve taught us are more than good business practices. We’ve found that we are all incorporating things like perspective seeking and taking in our personal lives.

We want to extend a massive thank you to Sandra and Joel! We first met them when they were long-time customers and they’ve turned into our friends and mentors. We don’t know where we’d be without them!