By Katherine Beaty

Dear Private Parking Operators,

I’ve spent the better part of 27 years watching you weave order out of chaos, often under the relentless glare of headlights and impatient horns. In 1997, when I was a 20-year-old rookie valet — yes, the lone woman on a team of 15 — my valet manager and now lifelong mentor told me, “Good news: You’ve got the job. Bad news: You’re the only woman here.” I grinned and said, “All good news to me.” Little did I know that stepping into your world would teach me more about business, fraud, technology, personal strength, and human nature than any college lecture ever could.

HR heroes

You juggle complaints, coach awkward new hires, and referee break-room politics. You’ve shown me that leadership isn’t defined by a corner office, but by empathy, tough love, and the uncanny ability to remember everyone’s name, even the night-owl who never logs off.

Accounting aficionados

I’ve lost count of midnight calls tracing phantom quarters, resolving credit-card disputes, and demystifying “variance.” You reinforced that every dollar and every decimal matters.  

Leadership legends

You’ve given me front-row seats to masterclasses in delegation and cautionary tales of micromanagement. You proved the best leaders trust their teams, celebrate small wins, and own their slip-ups. (Ferrari-in-the-river incident, anyone?)

Communication commandos

When a customer’s sedan mysteriously sprouts scratches overnight, you’re the diplomats who defuse tension, translate technobabble, and craft apologies that keep wallets — and reputations — intact. I’ll never forget you keeping me calm when our garage literally went up in flames and I had to break the news that this melted blob of a thing was once your car.

Office oddities

Who could forget our “state-of-the-art” offices? Whether it was a hotel storage closet with mop buckets and stale water or a concrete bunker under a ramp with zero air, heat, or windows, you made every amateur Pym Lab feel like a five-star suite. Harry Potter’s cupboard under the stairs? A palace by comparison.

Tech trailblazers

You’ve also been my crash course in emerging tech, helping me pilot mobile-app integrations, experiment with RFID scanners, and wrestle with payment-gateway quirks. The mastery of a truly awesome API! You proved that innovation isn’t ivory-tower theory; it’s field-tested during rainstorms, late-night surges, and peak holiday pressure.

Fraud-fighting frontline

Thanks to you, I learned early that “too good to be true” discounts or duplicated tickets almost always hide a scheme. You taught me how to spot patterns in payment data, question suspicious behavior, and build controls that protect both the business and its customers, skills I carry into every boardroom and audit.  But the biggest surprise was how much fraud comes from the actual customer base. 

General manager’s baptism-by-fire

When I finally stepped up as general manager, ready to run my own large operation, I was convinced I’d arrived. My boss kindly reminded me I wasn’t quite ready, and boy, was he right. I spent that first week fielding crises I’d only read about: gate motors that seized, ticket printers that puked half-prints, staffing shortages at midnight, and yes, learning how to quietly toss my breakfast into the office trash can while nobody was looking. Nothing teaches composure like turning green behind the scenes and still smiling through it on the front lines.

Pack a tool belt

If there’s one constant in private parking, it’s that theory meets reality in a puddle of hydraulic fluid at 2 a.m. Always carry a tool belt and a wrench set, because you never know when you’ll get “the call” and have to swap in a new gate actuator, tighten a loose sign, or jury-rig a busted light so guests aren’t fumbling in the dark.

Event endurance

Managing stadiums, tailgates, or walk-up concerts in every weather scenario has taught me the true meaning of “never give up.” Rainstorms that flood entry lanes, scorching sun that fries ticket scanners, wind so fierce it folds tents like origami, you’ve seen it all. I swear, if I ever have to run another college-football parking operation, I might just launch myself off the goal post to my glorious, muddy demise. But you? You thrive in the chaos, turning gridlock into choreography and proving that no storm, and neither literal nor metaphorical hail, can dampen your hustle.

Operations orchestra

To the supervisors who stayed late to overhaul SOPs, the maintenance crews who kept engines purring (and oil off the floors), the enforcement officers who balanced firmness with fairness, and every office-admin hero who kept wolves at bay, you are the unsung orchestra behind every smooth transaction. (Though I’m sure you feel more like you’re in the mosh pit at a KORN concert).

Your creativity, grit, and relentless problem-solving spirit have shaped my career and our industry, and I cannot thank you enough for letting me be a part of that process. 

Here’s to you, private parking operators: maestros of meters, sovereigns of stalls, and guardians of garages. May your shifts be swift, your line items balance, and your customers always leave with a smile.

KATHERINE BEATY is executive vice president of customer experience for TEZ Technology. She can be reached at [email protected].