Wednesday, August 1, 2018
As Kristy Richardson prepares to assume leadership as the CEO of the propane business founded by her parents, the second-generation business owner’s first priority is to continue the practices that made the company such a success in the first place. 
Steve and Shelly Brown founded the business, Western Propane Service, in Santa Maria, Calif., in 1988. They, along with their children, Kristy (Brown) Richardson and Mike Brown, who were respectively 11 and 8 years old at the time, had picked up and relocated from Gilroy, Calif. They had a business plan to start a locally owned and operated propane company with the philosophy of providing customers with fair prices and excellent customer service. In the beginning, Steve was setting tanks, delivering propane, and selling door to door, and Shelly was taking care of the general office duties in a spare bedroom they called their home office.
Today, the company has three locations and is adding a fourth this year. After opening their first office in Santa Maria, they added facilities in Ventura in 2011 and Cuyama in 2015. They are adding a fourth location in Lebec in 2018. The operations consist of family members and 27 employees who serve more than 4500 customers spanning five counties on California’s Central Coast.
Western Propane Service delivers propane to residential, commercial, and agricultural customers. It also operates a thriving propane cylinder exchange. The company’s service technicians perform gas appliance conversions, install exterior gas lines, and perform minor appliance repairs. The salesmen still use the same door-to-door sales technique that Steve Brown started with back in 1988.
Involved From the Beginning
Looking back, Kristy and Mike can recall family outings on the weekends consisting of long car rides through the Central Coast looking for potential customers. Come Monday mornings, Steve hit the pavement ready to knock on each door. Over the years, Kristy has assisted in the day-to-day operations of the company. Her brother, Mike, did the same, even painting propane tanks as needed over summer breaks. Today, he serves as the commander of the California Highway Patrol in Santa Maria, Calif. His current involvement in the company includes being its branding, marketing, and website developer.
Kristy Richardson graduated in 1999 from Sonoma State University with a business marketing degree. In 2000, she and her new husband moved back to the Central Coast to help run Western Propane Service. Recently, when her parents began to consider retirement, she was ready to assume leadership.
“After attending a Western Propane Gas Association Convention in 2015, my dad participated in a family succession seminar and began to consider a retirement plan. He then asked my brother and me how we wanted to participate in the future of the company. It was important to us to carry on the family business in our parents’ footsteps, not only for our immediate family, but for our extended Western Propane family,” she says.
“Being involved from the beginning helps,” she adds. “Seeing the sacrifice, hard work, and dedication of my parents has really taught us to appreciate the business and all of its potential.”
Keeping a Connection
Today, Kristy Richardson says, her priority is to carry on the core principles she has learned from her parents that have made the company so successful. These include always being honest and fair with customers, treating employees like family, and maintaining a small business atmosphere as the company grows larger.
“Our goal for Western Propane Service is to maintain the simple philosophy of being honest and fair with our customers while striving to find the best way to serve them.
“We are trying to grow, but maintain our small business dynamic,” she adds. “We remember people’s names. Making personal connections is extremely important to us. Keeping the human interaction with our customers maintains a deeper sense of empathy, putting us in their shoes. Each one of our customers is just as important as the next, and we want them to feel that way from the beginning of our relationship.
“We want to keep that same connection with our employees. We are not only coworkers, but we are a family. Our employees have invested their lives in this business. One of our employees has been here for over 25 years. Our goal is to promote from within. Each time we have expanded to a new location, key employees have been promoted to manage the expanding areas.
“I want to try to keep my parents’ philosophies,” Kristy Richardson concludes. “That is what keeps a business going from one generation to the next. We want to keep a connection to the way things were when the business was started, and maintain the personal attention that helped the business connect with our customers. For example, my dad has always said we need to pick up the phone by the second ring. That way of thinking has helped guide us to continue to be service minded.
“We always say, ‘There’s a reason why things are working.’ Things work because my parents have stayed true to their business fundamentals. Some change is good in any business. Although my brother and I have come in with fresh ideas, our goal is to keep the foundation of this company true to the original beliefs and ideas that my parents’ dream was based on.” —Steve Relyea
Steve and Shelly Brown founded the business, Western Propane Service, in Santa Maria, Calif., in 1988. They, along with their children, Kristy (Brown) Richardson and Mike Brown, who were respectively 11 and 8 years old at the time, had picked up and relocated from Gilroy, Calif. They had a business plan to start a locally owned and operated propane company with the philosophy of providing customers with fair prices and excellent customer service. In the beginning, Steve was setting tanks, delivering propane, and selling door to door, and Shelly was taking care of the general office duties in a spare bedroom they called their home office.
Today, the company has three locations and is adding a fourth this year. After opening their first office in Santa Maria, they added facilities in Ventura in 2011 and Cuyama in 2015. They are adding a fourth location in Lebec in 2018. The operations consist of family members and 27 employees who serve more than 4500 customers spanning five counties on California’s Central Coast.
Western Propane Service delivers propane to residential, commercial, and agricultural customers. It also operates a thriving propane cylinder exchange. The company’s service technicians perform gas appliance conversions, install exterior gas lines, and perform minor appliance repairs. The salesmen still use the same door-to-door sales technique that Steve Brown started with back in 1988.
Involved From the Beginning
Looking back, Kristy and Mike can recall family outings on the weekends consisting of long car rides through the Central Coast looking for potential customers. Come Monday mornings, Steve hit the pavement ready to knock on each door. Over the years, Kristy has assisted in the day-to-day operations of the company. Her brother, Mike, did the same, even painting propane tanks as needed over summer breaks. Today, he serves as the commander of the California Highway Patrol in Santa Maria, Calif. His current involvement in the company includes being its branding, marketing, and website developer.
Kristy Richardson graduated in 1999 from Sonoma State University with a business marketing degree. In 2000, she and her new husband moved back to the Central Coast to help run Western Propane Service. Recently, when her parents began to consider retirement, she was ready to assume leadership.
“After attending a Western Propane Gas Association Convention in 2015, my dad participated in a family succession seminar and began to consider a retirement plan. He then asked my brother and me how we wanted to participate in the future of the company. It was important to us to carry on the family business in our parents’ footsteps, not only for our immediate family, but for our extended Western Propane family,” she says.
“Being involved from the beginning helps,” she adds. “Seeing the sacrifice, hard work, and dedication of my parents has really taught us to appreciate the business and all of its potential.”
Keeping a Connection
Today, Kristy Richardson says, her priority is to carry on the core principles she has learned from her parents that have made the company so successful. These include always being honest and fair with customers, treating employees like family, and maintaining a small business atmosphere as the company grows larger.
“Our goal for Western Propane Service is to maintain the simple philosophy of being honest and fair with our customers while striving to find the best way to serve them.
“We are trying to grow, but maintain our small business dynamic,” she adds. “We remember people’s names. Making personal connections is extremely important to us. Keeping the human interaction with our customers maintains a deeper sense of empathy, putting us in their shoes. Each one of our customers is just as important as the next, and we want them to feel that way from the beginning of our relationship.
“We want to keep that same connection with our employees. We are not only coworkers, but we are a family. Our employees have invested their lives in this business. One of our employees has been here for over 25 years. Our goal is to promote from within. Each time we have expanded to a new location, key employees have been promoted to manage the expanding areas.
“I want to try to keep my parents’ philosophies,” Kristy Richardson concludes. “That is what keeps a business going from one generation to the next. We want to keep a connection to the way things were when the business was started, and maintain the personal attention that helped the business connect with our customers. For example, my dad has always said we need to pick up the phone by the second ring. That way of thinking has helped guide us to continue to be service minded.
“We always say, ‘There’s a reason why things are working.’ Things work because my parents have stayed true to their business fundamentals. Some change is good in any business. Although my brother and I have come in with fresh ideas, our goal is to keep the foundation of this company true to the original beliefs and ideas that my parents’ dream was based on.” —Steve Relyea
