Here Kasey Stephens, general manager, of ALL Crane Rental in Louisiana, (part of the ALL Family of Companies)describes how she started her career. She has been with the company since 2012 and was named general manager last summer.
“My fascination with cranes began at an early age. We would play “spot the boom” on vacations, and even had a crane to play with in my backyard. My father worked for a chain of crane rental companies as a crane operator then progressed into a successful career as a crane salesman. As a young adult, I got an entry-level job with that same chain in accounting, then human resources and safety training. Three years later, I joined ALL. My early jobs here were handling contracts, insurance, and collections, then eventually sales. Cranes are the family business. It’s a familiar story, except it’s often a father passing it on to his son,” said Stephens.
“In this part of the country, weather has a major impact on workflow and fleet management. Soon after I took the helm, Hurricane Ida ravaged our service area. One of the first things that had to be done post-storm was getting all the cellphone towers back online, because without communication, virtually everything else was dead in the water. Our branch was tasked with dispatching our fleet all over the state to perform cell tower repairs. We did it with a skeleton crew because many of our own people were dealing with their own hurricane damage at their homes. The staff came together and corralled our equipment and people to get the job done. We worked together around-the-clock, carefully routing the resources we had. It was quite an achievement.
“My biggest challenge-to-date was transitioning into a new position with such high expectations. I had to adapt to managing employees after being just another co-worker. It can be quite challenging. Also learning how to maintain a work/life balance. I want to make sure I give my full attention to my husband and two children when I’m home. I’m able to keep everything on track and together because I love my job. I have learned that, with a great support team and hard work, you can overcome anything.
“The trends we see today are the growth opportunities throughout our branch’s footprint, which also touches Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas in addition to Louisiana. This is the heart of oil country, so refinery work is a significant part of our project mix. Industrial plant work and cell tower installations are key markets. Crawler cranes remain in high demand along with rough-terrain cranes that are out for rent virtually non-stop. We’ve also seen increased customer demand for all-terrain cranes. More customers are asking us to supply ATs and operators to work at their job sites for extended periods. It’s been a growth business for us.
“My goal now is to work with my team to develop new and efficient ways to grow our branch. Being the first woman general manager here at ALL, I hope to encourage other women to go after their dream jobs and to never give up.”
