one iconic lady

by Amber Wielkins; photography by Stevye Murray

There’s more to Sharon Stevens than meets the eye. While her work ethic and love for family are clearly evident, let us tell you there arelayers to this funny, smart, and unpretentious business owner. Here, she reveals how her earlier years helped forge the success and happiness she has today.

If it seems she planned her life’s trajectory in advance, Sharon Stevens will be the first to chuckle at the notion. While she cherishes both her family and being the owner of iKON Automotive in Robertsdale, she never envisioned this for herself. “I began my career as a nurse in a trauma center, one of the most stressful jobs ever. I also have a background in clinical psychiatry,” she says, noting that her roots in the car business were planted when she married Chuck in 2011. “I was his personal assistant and began learning the car business, finding I really enjoyed it. Chuck is selfless and taught me everything. He’s my biggest fan and I’m his!” In 2015, Chuck had to go on dialysis while waiting for a kidney donor. A year later, Sharon tells us, “He was blessed to receive a live donor kidney from Heather Hadley, who worked in our accounting office. She walked into our office and announced she was going to give Chuck a kidney.”

Heather was 24 years old at the time. She told the couple she’d prayed about it and she knew she was going to be a match, and she was a match. Sharon is still overcome with gratitude for Heather’s altruism. “She also had to stop smoking and lose 60 pounds in order to donate one of her kidneys to Chuck in November of 2016.” At this point, Sharon’s nursing career and five years working alongside Chuck converged. “I had my work cut out for me taking care of my two patients and monitoring all four dealerships,” she acknowledges.

Skills she honed as a trauma nurse also played a part in working through the pandemic, but Sharon is quick to share the credit. “It really helped with employees who contracted Covid-19, and I hope my nursing background kept our stores from being hit as hard with it,” she states. “Because of Chuck’s anti-rejection medications, we had to work from home for over a year. Our employees and human resources department were incredible throughout the pandemic.”As for her own dealership? “Once I started being more involved in fixed operations, the sales process, and day-to-day operations at work with Chuck, I handled most personnel issues and managerial hiring.” Sharon laughs as she recalls, “Then I said the words no dealer wants to hear from their wife: ‘I want to open my own dealership!’

I called Stacey Penrod and told her my vision of a dealership run mostly by women, and in 2019, I opened iKON Automotive.” General Manager Stacey Penrod is a true inspiration for Sharon. “Stacey is one of the most incredible, hardworking women I’ve ever met. She’s also one of the most successful women in the car business. She’s become one of my best friends; I can tell her anything and everything. I’m beyond blessed to have her by my side,” Sharon says. But she’s not finished, adding, “She’s also the best mom ever! Her two sons, Will, 24, and Justin, 22, are autistic. Justin comes to work with her every day, and she’s only taken Sundays off since we opened.”

Here’s where Sharon’s own heart of gold shines a little brighter, as she tells us about the accommodations she’s put in place for Stacey’s son. “Justin has a man cave above iKON, and he comes down to make sure everyone is working. After ‘cracking the whip’ on the employees, he returns to ‘Dora the Explorer.’ He tells everyone that he works at iKON, wears an iKON uniform, and he and I have matching iKON backpacks,” she beams.

Sharon’s views on women and diversity in the workplace (and life in general) stem from what she considers one of her most precious blessings. — her own upbringing. “At first glance, you can’t tell that I’m of mixed race,” she shares. “My mother was German and my father is African American. Nothing is black or white to me. Nothing! I wouldn’t change the crazy way I grew up.” Interestingly, her father was the first black warden in the state of Alabama. “I spent much of my childhood with him inside the Mobile County Jail,” Sharon recalls. “He was a very popular warden; he changed the food and the way prisoners were treated. My mother, who passed away years ago, was Senior Engineer at QMS in Mobile. Because my father was in politics, we spent each and every Sunday at a different church, from Presbyterian to Catholic and Pentecostal to Southern Baptist.” Exposure to differing races, religious affiliations, and socioeconomic groups as a child formed the empathetic and perceptive woman Sharon is today.

Lastly, asked her favorite things about life and work, Sharon is wholehearted on both subjects. “The best part of my life is getting to work and live with the most incredible husband in the entire world!” And her career? “Everyone at Chuck Stevens Automotive; I owe big thanks to all the outstanding employees who patiently taught me the car business, from Chuck to accounting, the management team, our crazy-good sales team, and the service and detail staff,” she says. “The education I received from all of them has informed our goal at iKON Automotive — we strive for 100 percent customer satisfaction.” She grins, “Well, we havehad a complaint once.A gentleman called the city of Robertsdale to say our sign was too bright at night.” We think it might have been reflecting her sunny disposition.

This post has been modified for the web. Read the original article in full in the December 2021 issue of ACCESS Magazine.

iKON Automotive 20870 State Highway 59 Robertsdale, AL 251.300.7949

IkonAutomotive.com

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