After 35 years working in corporate offices, I recently embarked on an adventure — packing up my truck, leaving behind family and friends, and driving solo 1,285 miles west. Destination: Park City, Utah.  With a year-old hip replacement, my main objective was to spend the winter skiing as much as my body allowed.

The adventure wasn’t just about skiing, though. I didn’t want to be a tourist. I wanted to do things differently. That included renting a tiny studio apartment, challenging myself socially, and working a job that would immerse me in the community and culture of the resort town. That job was a part-time job with Vail Resorts as a member of the Lift Experience team at Park City Mountain Resort. That’s right, I am a liftie.

One perk of the job was a season ski pass — objective #1, check. The job also went a long way in giving me street cred as a “local” as well as providing a natural social outlet — objective #2 and #3, check and check.

Working as a liftie was much more than a job with interesting perks. It invigorated me and provided an opportunity to observe, reflect, and see things from a fresh perspective outside of the corporate office environment. I’m not going to exaggerate and say that I had earth shattering revelations; however, my experience certainly reenforced several “truths” worth sharing.

Beards + Beanies

Lifties are self-proclaimed “dirtbags” embracing a simple lifestyle and appearance, chasing adventure over money and status. Admittedly the dirtbag exterior makes it quite easy to overlook them. Don’t be fooled.

Each shift I found myself looking forward to chatting with coworkers and discovering, behind the dirtbag exterior, that each has a unique, interesting story. The lifties I work with generally fit into three groups. First, college graduates with a fresh diploma in hand from top schools (e.g., UNC, Cal – Berkley, Univ of Chicago, BYU) exploring what’s next. Second, seasoned nomads who have consciously chosen the lifestyle. Finally, a surprising number of retirees, business owners, and individuals with professional careers that allow them to also work seasonal jobs (e.g., architects, cinematographers, entrepreneurs, artists, real estate brokers, etc.). Significantly more than you would expect are low-key millionaires disguised as a liftie. What they all share in common is depth and a passion for outdoor adventure.

Truth: Don’t judge a book by its cover.

An App Can’t Do That

In my corporate life, I spent years developing strategies and implementing technologies to deliver customer loyalty and retention. As a liftie I found myself in an unfamiliar spot. For the first time I was putting on a uniform and on the frontlines of delivering the guest experience. My specific job responsibility was as a ticket scanner — greeting guests as they prepared to load the chair lift or gondola, scanning their lift pass to ensure it’s valid, and answering guest questions.

Greeting guests with a genuine smile and a “good morning” or “nice jacket” was the baseline—an expectation of their paid experience. Going into the job, I assumed that interacting with people as they pass through a queue to board a ski lift wouldn’t lend itself to much more than superficial interactions, but I was wrong. It was surprisingly easy to get beyond the superficial. The simple name tag with my hometown often sparked real conversations. The best moments were when chats turned into laughter, shared stories like empathizing with parents hauling their children’s ski gear, or follow-ups like, “Did you try that restaurant I recommended?” Some guests would return to my lift just to continue conversations.  I even ended up making new friends in line, skiing with them on my off days or dining with them at night. Interacting with guests was an absolute blast. Every shift was like microdosing an oxytocin/serotonin/dopamine cocktail throughout the day.

Truth: In the corporate environment our strategies often rely on technology to drive personalization, customer engagement, loyalty, etc.; but apps, algorithms, and AI will never replace authentic human connection.

Embracing the Next Generation of Leaders

As the season went on, I started asking coworkers what they had learned over the season. One, a successful business owner, commented “patience.” We are both used to being in charge, leading the team, being the person that everyone comes to for answers. In this role our supervisors were often in their first-ever management roles — sometimes the age of our kids. Watching the next generation of leaders figure out how to lead was both humbling and inspiring.

One hard lesson we all witnessed was the negative impact of an underperformer on an entire team. There was one ticket scanner notorious for not actually scanning tickets but simply waving the scanner in the general direction of guests, struggling to utter a hello, and often appearing as if he was asleep standing up. When I asked him the same question, his response was, “wrong guy, wrong place, wrong time.” He knew it and his actions reflected it. His lack of engagement was a running joke—and worse, it demotivated others. Attempting to hide him at a lower traffic lift didn’t solve the problem. It just sent a message that doing the bare minimum or less was okay.

Truth: A bad apple will spoil the bunch. It is best to deal with negative influences on a team in a timely and efficient manner.

You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take

On my days off I skied. One morning I found myself in a gondola cab loaded to capacity. Eight strangers sitting shoulder to shoulder, uncomfortably not talking. Halfway up, I thought to myself, “Not on my mountain, not on my lift. No one is going to start their day grumpy.” I had an idea that would either fail miserably and make me look foolish or it was going to set a positive tone for everyone’s day. I searched through my playlist, picked out a song, and broke the silence, “I have an announcement: On the Red Pine Gondola cab #7 there is a mandatory morning sing along.” I turned up the volume on my phone speaker as Hall & Oats began singing Rich Girl. All eight heads immediately started bobbing in unison with the beat, smiles appeared, and everyone joined in singing — at least for the refrain. I never identified myself as an employee, just a fellow passenger in life. As if I had timed it, the gondola slowed as we approached our destination. The doors opened and eight people filed out singing the final refrain: “Oh you’re a rich, rich girl, yeah. Say money, money won’t get you too far, oh ...” 

Truth: Passion and a sense of ownership can’t be faked — and they are ultimately quite contagious.

As the season wound down, folks kept asking me the same question: “Will you be back next season?” That was an easy one to answer. Absolutely!

Truth: Being friendly, empathetic and kind costs nothing, yet the payback is plentiful.

Bonus truth: When you find something that suits your soul, do more of it.