It’s probably not surprising to hear that many of our customers, vendors, and friends are asking us about the Alpaca. It’s generated much more buzz than we could have anticipated. The conversations and feedback have been quite colorful so far, and we’ve enjoyed the storytelling behind all of this. People in general clearly love alpacas!
We’ve blogged and vlogged about what the Alpaca Difference means. As a brief reminder, alpacas and llamas look very similar, yet they have distinct differences. Easley looks like other transportation companies, but we believe we are much different. To this point, we’ve primarily focused externally in our attempt to define how we are different within the market. We’ve said that we’re smaller and nimbler, curious and creative, intensely focused on service, etc., but how are we different internally? A very practical way to shed light on this involves a real recent story within our company.
A couple months ago one of our veteran drivers had a serious and long-lasting medical incident on the job. This nearly took her life, and it was devastating to all of us. She has spent the last couple months fighting to recover in the hospital and is now in a rehabilitation program. The “herd” mentality of our team has been incredible in response to she and her family. For instance, some of our team members rallied to help her family move her out of her existing residence. Other team members have regularly provided lunch to she and her family. These acts of service have been amazing, but what happened last Friday was nothing short of a miracle. Here’s what happened:
The family faced a seemingly insurmountable financial hurdle regarding medical bills and the on-going treatment plan. They needed to raise approximately $5,400 to move her into a new rehab facility. The family had raised half of the needed funding, and they asked if Easley could assist with the rest. Our team caught wind of this, and the entire team rallied again. In fact, the rest of the needed funding was raised by Easley team members that very day! Employees donated cash, PTO, and even uncashed reimbursement checks to the family. It was an alpaca-like display of caring for our own.
Being alpaca-like is more than just being nimble, creative, and service-oriented. Being an alpaca means being a part of a herd, and a herd can’t thrive if it doesn’t protect and sacrificially serve the members of its family. We are proud of the Easley herd and how it has embodied sacrificial love and a higher purpose. This is just one reason why we believe in the alpaca difference.