Our
Story
The founder and owner of Airport-Island Shuttles,
Ron Stephens has had a heart for the transportation
business since he was 13 years old (of course at
the time he had no idea where he was headed). Having
a fascination with the airport and its surroundings,
he
used to regularly take the bus for two hours from
his home to the airport to watch planes take off
and land. He dreamed of someday maybe becoming a
pilot (shuttling people in the air).
By
the time Ron had reached the age of 16 he was
able to buy his first car with money he had saved
from mowing lawns and flipping hamburgers. Being
one of the first of his friends to own a car,
he began his first shuttle service for his pals.
When he wasn't driving his friends around, he
would just driiiiiiive….. He spent most of his
extra cash on gas (which wasn't easy when you
could only buy gas on certain days during the
gas crunch).
Ron
worked at various jobs until he was offered a
high profile position when he was 18 years old
(thanks to mom, who still thinks the greatest
of him). When he was 20 years old
he was laid off in spite of the fact that he outperformed
everyone in his office. This was a positive turning
point in his life which gave him the tenacity
never to allow his success to be determined by
someone else - you see, this is when he decided
never to work for anyone again.
It
was by no coincidence that it was at this time
in his life he volunteered to help in a Christian
teen ministry which, can-you-believe-it, entailed
driving the bus and shuttle vans
for the youth group to and from various activities.
His zeal for helping others gave him the inspiration
to go to college. After finishing college in 1987
he moved to Oahu to help lead a small Christian
ministry. This is where he met the key to his
success - Cecilia… now his wife.
Cecilia,
although never having any shuttle experience,
and having hardly any driving experience, was
the perfect match for Ron (someone had to stay
home to answer the phone and do the books). They
now have four beautiful children (I guess Ron
got to stay home a little), who fortunately are
emulating mostly just the good qualities from
their parents. Ron and Cecilia believe in raising
children of character (which they believe is lacking
in our society today) and hope that theirs will
become our leaders of tomorrow. (Their older children
now actually help with various aspects of the
business).
After
starting many small businesses, several of which
were in the transportation industry, Ron and Cecilia
awoke to the fact that no one on the island of
Oahu was providing island wide, door to door shuttle
service. Having already been in the transportation
industry
since 1989 they saw the need to provide the people
on the island and those visiting, a less expensive,
shared-ride alternative…. Hence the concept was
born.
They
began their business by trying to solicit the
interest and support of friends in the transportation
industry. They found nothing but apathy and disinterest,
and therefore decided to do it on their own.
They
first began by just serving central Oahu, and
due to word of mouth advertising have become Hawaii's
first and largest island-wide shuttle service
for the entire local community and its' visitors.
They have grown from a handful of customers, to
several thousand regular clients. They send a
huge mahalo (thanks) to all of you whom they owe
their success.
Ron
and Cecilia also believe that their success is
in part, due to being the pioneers of the island
wide shuttle concept on Oahu. Although they had
no one to compare themselves to, being the first
gave them the edge that most companies only dream
of. Because they had no one to copy, they continually
just grew their business in such a way as to provide
the most excellent service for the lowest price.
Now
they run a fleet of vans, and spend most of their
time managing the business. When Ron was asked if he's
sorry for never becoming a pilot he simply responded;
"I'm too busy and having too much fun to
think about it".
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