Stevan Muir
CSAA

photo by Bryan Harrison, Harrison Promotional Services

Stevan Muir is making me hungry. He just told me he made a prime rib and ‘real’ mashed potatoes for his wife for Valentine’s Day. Stevan can do a lot more than cook. In fact, there isn’t much that Stevan hasn’t done.

Born in Scotland, Stevan was the son of an engineer. His father’s work took the family many places, and by the time Stevan was 14, he had lived in five east coast states. He didn’t mind though. “Scotland was not home to me,” Stevan remembers. When I ask why, he says that it was cold and wet often and that the economy was vastly different. Stevan’s extended family is still in Scotland and he did move back there at the age of 14, but didn’t stay. His family again relocated to the U.S. when he was 17; this time on the west coast, in San Jose, where Stevan graduated from high school and went to college.

A self-described “workaholic,” Stevan worked a multitude of jobs, including a stint with the Pacific Stock Exchange, Senior Operations Manager at Bank of America, a courier for Federal Express, a shoe store manager, and a Dishwasher at The Ritz Carlton, before he found his way to insurance claims.
After graduating from San Jose State University with a degree in Business Management, Stevan’s friend helped him get a job at the Pacific Stock Exchange. After two years there, Steven yearned for something new, and began working at Bank of America, where he stayed 15 years. He was promoted several times and was an extremely loyal and dedicated employee, optimistically working long hours in the hopes of furthering his career even more. Instead, Stevan experienced a strong dose of reality when the Bank of New York bought the division of Bank of America Stevan work in and there was a duplication in his position when the companies merged. Stevan took a severance and planned to spend a few months with his family.

Stevan enjoyed being away from the fast pace of the corporate world and spending time with his family so much, that a few months turned into a year and a half. He even stopped wearing a watch. Stevan worked a few jobs to make ends meet; one washing dishes at The Ritz Carlton in San Francisco, but ultimately, he knew he’d have to explore his career options for the future stability of his family.

It was through Stevan’s brother in law that he found out about a Claims Adjuster position at AAA Insurance and Stevan began his insurance career handling auto claims. After three years, he began handling homeowner property claims, when he was again blindsided by a corporate change; the closing of the California Claims Center office. Field positions opened up and Stevan hoped that he might be chosen for one, but he wasn’t. He packed up the family and moved to Colorado Springs, to ensure retaining his job. While in Colorado, Stevan volunteered to handle claims resulting from Hurricane Katrina, and while he was out in California for the Huricane Katrina report out, he was offered the field position he had long been hoping for. Without hesitation, he moved himself, his wife and their two children back to California, to Benicia, where they still live now, and he has enjoyed almost every minute since.

Working in the field has instilled a sense of independence and autonomy in Stevan, yet he obviously still possesses the loyalty and dedication to his profession that he had before in the earlier days of his career. Stevan doesn’t shy away from hard work, but his experiences have taught him that life is a balancing act and that too much of anything is simply too much. Since adopting this philosophy, Steven has created the opportunity to explore what he likes to do with his free time. He has learned that family is the most important thing to him, and he is grateful for every chance he gets to spend with his.

Stevan has been married for 18 years. He and his wife have a 12-year old son who is into all kinds of sports, especially basketball. His 17 year old daughter is another story. Stevan hesitates when I ask what she is into. He looks contemplative then says, “Samantha is a typical girl, thankfully. She is into her friends and leads a normal life.” I am perplexed by his remark, but I wait for him to continue. “You see, Samantha has some challenges with her fine motor skills,” he goes on, his voice steady. “She was in a near-drowning accident when she was three year’s old. She had been clinically dead for 10 minutes before she was resuscitated.” After waiting for me to recover, Stevan continues, “She was always a good baby, happy, go-lucky, but strong-willed. That’s what saved her. She was always a fighter, she never gave up.” I ask Stevan if an event such as this one was hard to recover from. “Yes and no,” he replies. “We have recovered, and she is doing remarkably well. She is the same happy, easy-going kid she was before the accident. Her shortcomings are overshadowed by her assets, but those of us that love her will always watch after her with a special eye, even her younger brother,” who Stevan says helps out with her when needed and acts as the ‘big’ (little) brother.

“I’m so sorry for what you’ve gone through,” I say. “Don’t be,” he replies. “We are all very proud of the woman my daughter has become, and truthfully, her condition has resulted in many people going beyond their comfort zone to support her and us.” I begin to move on to the next question and he stops me; “One more thing. We consider ourselves very lucky. We could have lost her, and we never forget that.” His pride seems to overcome him for a moment but he maintains his composure and I am awed.
Is there anyone in the world that Stevan would want the opportunity to have dinner with? There is; his father. Stevan’s father died from cardiopulmonary disease at the young age of 67. “I feel we had unfinished business,” he says. “I never got to work through some important issues with him that I wish I would have.”

Again, I say I’m sorry and he shakes his head. “At this point,” he continues, “I just want to be the best father and husband that I can be. That’s all I can ask for.” I nod in understanding and realize I’ve taken up a lot of Stevan’s time and should be wrapping things up so he can get to work.

“I should let you go,” I say. “It must be getting late. Do you have the time?” I ask. Stevan wryly smiles and raises his wrist with pride, saying, “No. Remember, I don’t wear a watch anymore.”

Stevan can be reached at Stevan_Muir@csaa.com.