Supporting His Team
Matt Stoltzfus, director of facility services, and his sons, Julians and Ziggy, have found a new passion over the last year: fishing and YouTube videos!
INSPIRING HIS SONS
“My oldest son, Julians, went fishing with a friend last summer,” Matt explains. “He wanted to go fishing with me and we tried, but didn’t have any success.”
“I started watching YouTube videos to learn how to fish,” he continues. “Simultaneously, I bought my youngest son a GoPro. We recorded our first FISHONFISHOUT YouTube video on January 1, 2022. I never did anything like this before, so I was just figuring it out as I went. I also wasn’t going to share it with anybody. But we made a YouTube channel, told some people and had enough fun and good feedback that we decided to keep making videos. We’ve created one episode per week since then.”
The videos vary in content. Some include Matt’s solo fishing adventures, others include videos of Matt and his boys cleaning up trash along the creek bank, day camping, looking for lures and more.
The most important part for Matt? Getting his boys outside!
“It changed me to be suddenly outside so regularly. We discovered things we didn’t know we cared about, like catch and release and waterway cleanliness,” he says.
“One day we’ll look back and be glad to have these stories,” Matt adds. “We were inspired by other people’s YouTube videos. We want other people to be inspired too. Our viewers tell us their kids want to do the same thing after seeing my boys fishing. That makes the effort and adventure worth it.”
INSPIRING HIS TEAM
As a father of young boys, Matt naturally perceives the needs of his kids. He responds and supports them with engaging activities like fishing and filming. As a director at Garden Spot Village, his management philosophy is to meet the needs of his staff, keeping their job fulfillment as a top priority.
“I feel as though I was meant to work in long-term care,” Matt explains. “I have a sense of calm that blends well with the residents and the team members.”
Matt attended the GSV business expo as a vendor for many years with his family’s business, The Rug Beater Cleaning Enterprises, Inc. He became well acquainted with the community and the residents. When he saw an opening for director of environmental services, he began to consider whether he might make a career change.
“As I reviewed the qualifications for the position, I realized it was everything I knew about,” Matt says.
Transitioning from the family business to Garden Spot Village made sense. “I had grown up in the family business and worked there for 13 years. Unfortunately, I was not interested in ownership and it was a good time to move on,” Matt explains.
He started as the director of environmental services in June 2016. Although his expertise was in floor care and cleaning, Matt excelled at managing people.
“The members of my team need to focus on the needs of the residents, so I focus on the needs of the staff. My philosophy is to support them; if they are happy and fulfilled in their work, they will serve the residents well,” he explains.
In August 2018, he transitioned to director of facility services and shifted his focus from floor care, cleaning and sanitation to the care of the Garden Spot buildings and internal functions such as heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical, security and more.