By Vanessa Solesbee, CAPP

This is one of the tensest times that I can remember. Regardless of your political, religious, or philosophical affiliation, across the country and across the world, the news seems to go from bad to worse every time I pick up my phone. The question I’ve been struggling with most lately is: what can I do? Doing nothing and hoping that someone else will pick up the slack or simply thinking that what is going on in our global community dialogue doesn’t directly impact me are not viable options.

But where do I start? How can any of us make a difference, even just a small one, when the challenges seem so significant, so emotional, and so widespread? While it may seem small or incremental, I think we can start today by doing what we do best as parking professionals:

• Extend our welcoming front line out into the communities we serve even more intentionally.
• Greet our patrons with a smile and let them know they are welcome and wanted.
• Patrol our facilities and be that first line of security.
• Lead by example in our interactions with our colleagues, clients, and communities.
• Represent our diverse and progressive industry of servant leaders in all our interactions, professional or otherwise.

We are all ambassadors, not only of our industry but of our individual communities and our countries. Let’s go out there today, tomorrow, and every day after that and do what we do best: Set an even higher standard for professionalism, service, and passion for helping people find their place.

Vanessa Solesbee, CAPP, is president of The Solesbee Group.