Shelbie Ebert
Guest Services Supervisor, Steamboat, Colo.
Age: 28
Hometown: Breckenridge, Colo.
Six-word bio: Find your joy and follow it.
Fun fact: Sells beanies equipped with speakers through her company LahLah Designs (lahlahdesigns.com).

Shelbie Ebert attended SUNY New Paltz and studied theater, though she returned to her native Colorado to pursue life as a river guide. After working as a liftie at Loveland to fill the space between guide seasons, she landed in Steamboat, where she found herself in guest services, climbing the ranks of the ambassador program, where she now manages a large staff and wrangles little red wagons.

How’d you get into guest services?
I was a lift op for half a season, and then tried out for the ambassador program, a guest services position. I enjoyed it, so I came back year after year. Last season was my first in a managerial role.

What’s your day look like?
Every day is different. We have a morning meeting and get everyone up to speed. We go over the schedule, so everyone knows where they’re going. It’s pretty fast paced. We walk around and greet people, send some up to ski around with First Tracks, check conditions. We coordinate on-mountain tours. By late afternoon, most of our ambassadors are at the base area to help people and answer questions, give out hot chocolate, and deal with the little red wagons that we put out in the morning for people to tote their gear around.

Does anyone report to you?
I supervise the entire on-mountain volunteer staff, the Steamboat mountain masters and our full-time staff, probably about 80 people.

What kind of manager are you?
I like to lead by example and be straightforward. If there’s something that needs to be addressed, I like to talk to that person one-on-one in a setting that’s not intimidating. I tend to think that people are doing the best they can, and I assume that everyone has the best intentions and give every employee the benefit of the doubt.

What are you particularly proud of?
The schedule. I schedule about 90 people on a week-by-week basis. As I mentioned, our day not only changes on the fly, but if you’re a full-time ambassador that works four days a week, you’re scheduled each day by the hour.

In 10 years?
I want to keep being around ski areas, and I’ll definitely be doing my summer job, which is raft guiding. I think I’d like to move toward guiding in the winter as well. I’d love to share my love for the outdoors and the natural world around us, and whatever I’m doing will involve that process.