{"id":8669,"date":"2018-04-25T16:10:16","date_gmt":"2018-04-25T21:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/?p=8669"},"modified":"2018-04-25T16:10:16","modified_gmt":"2018-04-25T21:10:16","slug":"love-ramp-steffond-johnson-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/2018\/04\/25\/love-ramp-steffond-johnson-2\/","title":{"rendered":"For the love of the ramp with Steffond Johnson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steffond Johnson plays team ball. Whether he\u2019s loading bags on a plane, delivering Thanksgiving turkeys to families in need<\/a>, or supporting his Ivy-League educated children, the Envoy Fleet Service Clerk and former NBA player enjoys the thrill of accomplishing a common goal.<\/p>\n

Since playing one year in the NBA as a Los Angeles Clipper over 30 years ago, Steffond has accomplished a ton of goals alongside colleagues and friends. But he doesn\u2019t define who he is by his successes or failures as an entrepreneur, sports agent, charity board member, basketball coach or \u201cramp guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m more motivated by my values than by my accomplishments,\u201d said Steffond. \u201cYou can\u2019t just tell people who you are, you have to show them. God put me here in this job because I know teamwork and I know morale; that\u2019s how I identify myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The role of giving back<\/h3>\n

\"IMG-DFW-CS-Steffond-Johnson-8\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Steffond with fellow Fleet Service Clerk Jammie Fields<\/h5>\n

Born and raised in Gilmer, Texas, Steffond played his high school basketball at Longview High School then moved on to play\u00a0for Louisiana State University and San Diego State University. And even though he only played one year of professional basketball, Steffond still found positive results like marrying is wife and entering a world of philanthropy.<\/p>\n

Taking care of those around him and paying forward the fortune he\u2019s received from others has become his life\u2019s mission. Just to name a few of his charitable efforts; he is the Vice President of the National Basketball Retired Players Association Dallas chapter, heavily involved with Basketball Club International, and contributes to the Malaria Foundation International.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of us [professional athletes] are cut from the same cloth,\u201d said Steffond. \u201cWe go back to our old neighborhoods and relive the reality of that place. Someone helped us along the way to make it out of there, so I try to do the same for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Morale<\/h3>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Steffond with fellow Fleet Service Clerk Willie Simmons<\/h5>\n

At Envoy, Steffond carries that same giving spirit, and although he\u2019d love to help financially, he aims to provide motivation to boost morale of his beloved coworkers. All throughout his workday, he shares friendly embraces with every safety-vest wearing colleague he encounters.\"IMG-DFW-CS-Steffond-Johnson-16\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2017, Steffond coached the Dallas Christian College men\u2019s basketball team to a national championship; the school from which he would eventually earn a business degree. Out on the ramp, naturally, Steffond approaches his duties like a basketball game; giving small pep talks, doling out high-fives, and game planning for the next flight.<\/p>\n

\"IMG-DFW-CS-Steffond-Johnson-19\"<\/a>But Steffond said he can also learn from others who have an outstanding wealth of working knowledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of being a coach is motivating others, but also to improve yourself,\u201d said Steffond. \u201cI can do that by learning from my coworkers who have years of knowledge. You have to learn to adapt quickly \u2013 learning agility is everything out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo above: Steffond with fellow Fleet Service Clerk Mark Jefferson<\/h5>\n

Living his best ramp life<\/h3>\n

\"IMG-DFW-CS-Steffond-Johnson-14\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"IMG-DFW-CS-Steffond-Johnson-9\"<\/a>At 55 years old, Steffond also finds the opportunity to improve his health by getting a pretty rigorous workout lifting bags in and out of the cargo hold of the airplane. All the while, he is checking his Fitbit to make sure he\u2019s accumulating steps to reach his daily goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell all my friends to apply to Envoy and American Airlines,\u201d said Steffond. \u201cThe flight privileges are great and you can stay fit. What Envoy has here is something extraordinary, but it\u2019s not always publicized the hard work we do out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Steffond would love to use his philanthropy skills, to help improve the daily lives of his fellow rampers and help them gain the recognition they deserve.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thousand percent, the people are the best and most important part of this job,\u201d said Steffond. \u201cWhat is any company without the people? Out here, you\u2019ll find the nicest and hardest working people who all take pride in what they do. When that flight comes in, people know it\u2019s game time!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steffond Johnson plays team ball. Whether he\u2019s loading bags on a plane, delivering Thanksgiving turkeys to families in need, or supporting his Ivy-League educated children, the Envoy Fleet Service Clerk and former NBA player enjoys the thrill of accomplishing a common goal. Since playing one year in the NBA as a Los Angeles Clipper over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":42156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[64,65,66,77,144,49,387,173,388,185,86,51,68,344,389,390,391,392,393,365,394,395,63,396,90,100,91],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}