We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephen Keepers Merritt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Stephen, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
Resilience to me is like having a very strong immune system. It takes time to build and sometimes it it built through pain and sickness. I got my resilience from suffering losses and experiencing much pain. Making it through challenging times such as job loss, divorce, relationship break-ups, and having a highly successful business go out of business due to circumstances outside of my control. I also formed a huge layer of resilience from rejection. The rejection could have come from potential clients. The hardest rejection that I’ve suffered from recently was rejection from my own family. This recent experience has taught me that you cannot live up to everyone’s expectations and regardless of what people think of you, life must continue.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Hello! My name is Stephen Keepers Merritt. I have worked extremely hard to become a 5 Star and All-Star host on Turo. I’ve made a strong reputation for myself due to having strong communication and customer service skills. My clients will attest that I am a very clean person and I go above client expectations. I consider the rental car business to be a business of hospitality, therefore I am extremely hospitable and professional with my clients. My clients come from all over the world and their experience with me is one of their first experiences here in Denver. Their experience with me is literally part of their vacation!
⏲️ I spent 24 years of my life in the automotive industry. I was a General Manager of Fixed Operations Marketing for 11 years, Fixed Operations Marketing Director over 43 franchised dealerships, Service Director at BMW, Toyota, and Chrysler, and Business Manager at Toyota. In other words, I have been in over 2,000 dealership service departments Nationwide. Therefore, I understand the importance of dependability, reliability, cleanliness, preventative maintenance, detail, and sanitization.
I also have experience with managing and monitoring over 200 rental cars with BMW and Toyota.
When I am not hosting my lovely vehicles on Turo, I am a full-time professional mental health clinician, addictions counselor, pharmacy technician, and full-time psychology student. I recently graduated with my bachelors degree in psychology May 12, 2023. I start my Masters of Psychopharmacology in July of this year. My long-term goal is to become a Psychopharmacologist, which is a doctor of psychology with prescribing rights in certain states of the U.S.
I am originally from “The Windy City” Chicago and I’ve lived in Denver for almost 4 years now.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The most important skill is communication. I like to be proactive with my communication and give as much detail as possible. To be successful, you must be able to communicate effectively and professionally by phone, text, email, in writing, social media, and these days through an app or website. You must be willing to communicate with clients HOW they choose to be communicated with! If that means you have to pick up the phone, then do it!
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
When I am feeling overwhelmed, I pray or meditate. I currently work two jobs, run a rental car business, and attend a masters of psychopharmacology program full time. Getting overwhelmed with just patients suffering from mental health and addictions can take it’s toll alone one me. I make time everyday to pray, meditate, and take a short nap if possible. It’s a must for me to escape the daily routine of life and recalibrate. I also enjoy working out, going for a walk outside, or shooting hoops with the patients at work or home with the kids.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gizmocarrental.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/stephenkeepers
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephenkmerritt
Image Credits
Stephen Keepers Merritt CEO Gizmo Car Rental Company LLC
