Indiana Beverage’s Tim Stanley still finds pride in a hard day’s work

An early morning for most people is when the sun comes up. The sun has nothing on Tim Stanley of Indiana Beverage, though. As a supervisor, Stanley’s mornings begin long before sunrise. By 4:25 a.m., he’s already preparing reports, assigning routes, and helping drivers get ready for the day ahead.

About 31 years ago, in the summer of 1995, Stanley didn’t know he was starting a lasting chapter in life, or that he had found a job he’d be at for the next three decades. He just knew it was hot out.

An Army veteran, Stanley has worked at Indiana Beverage and now serves as a delivery supervisor, overseeing routes and helping train the company’s future delivery team through its in-house CDL program. He started in the warehouse and, within a couple months, moved into the delivery department.

While the logistics are important, Stanley believes leadership often comes down to simply being present for people.

“My favorite part is just working with the guys, the camaraderie of our department,” Stanley said. “A big component of my job is training guys. The other supervisor and I run the CDL training program. We train everybody in-house. There’s satisfaction in seeing guys succeed.”

Aside from training new drivers, a large part of his job is just being on the other end of the phone in case somebody needs him.

“For the most part, you’ve got to let guys get out there and figure things out themselves,” Stanley said. “Then, you’re there to help them solve a problem — or talk them through solving it on their own. A lot of the time, it comes down to asking, ‘What do you want to do?’ If a stop isn’t showing up or you’ve had to circle back a couple times, you talk it through and usually come to the same conclusion: it’s got to get delivered, so you find a way to get it done.”

Stanley’s time in the military shaped the way he approaches both work and leadership. It’s all about having a sense of pride in a day’s work.

“The military teaches responsibility,” he said. “It teaches you to carry yourself and do things for yourself, that you can’t rely on people doing things for you. Attention to detail, taking pride in what they do, a sense of accomplishment — knowing that you went out and did a good day’s work.”

He has pride not only in how he works, but where he works.

“You’re a person, you’re not a number,” Stanley said. “Our core values and our mission statement ring true. It’s not a hollow thing. It’s not just a catchy acronym; it’s a plan of attack. It’s how we do business every day. It wasn’t just a card someone put in your hand. We all sat down and were part of developing it.”

“They’re equally important. You have to have them all,” Stanley said. “It’s a true living thing that’s driven from the top down. It’s driven from the family that owns the company, to our senior leadership, down to the drivers, our pickers and our maintenance guys.”

The work-life balance is something Stanley deeply appreciates. Because drivers often finish early in the day, he was able to coach his son’s sports teams and never miss important family moments.

He and his wife, Maegan, have been married for 27 years and enjoy traveling together whenever they can. Stanley also spends as much time golfing as possible and enjoys trips to the beach.

He tells new employees to go into it with their eyes wide open and ready to learn.

“You’re gonna have a lot of fun, but it’s gonna be really hard at first,” he said. “You build a lot of muscles you didn’t know you had to use, and you learn a ton. You learn about good people, you learn about bad people. You have to approach it with humility and understand that you don’t know what you don’t know, but still have respect for yourself and make sure you get your education. Get out there and learn what you’re doing.”

He tries to serve as a good role model for new drivers. Stanley wants to see the young guys starting out now grow.

“You get them on their way, and then you get out of their way,” Stanley said. “Not wanting a younger guy to be better than you, or even do better, doesn’t make sense. Instinctively, that’s the only person in the world you should want to be better. If you train them right and put the right people in the right positions, you’re gonna get great results.”

Born and raised in Lake Station and Portage, Stanley still lives in Portage today. He spent about 15 years as a driver before moving into a leadership role around 16 years ago.

Stanley has seen a lot of growth over the last 30 years, both within Indiana Beverage and across the beer industry.

“The first year I started, we sold 2 million cases systemwide,” Stanley said. “Now, across our system, we’re about 11 million cases. When I started, there was no craft beer, and we sold basic American beer.”

He believes the technology and training have also evolved over the years.

“We become a better company through almost every bit of adversity,” Stanley said. “Challenges usually make us better. We’ve become much more professional and much better at training our drivers. There’s no reason to have a bad mindset. That’s just not gonna pay off in your life, and certainly not gonna get you ahead.”

For Stanley, fulfillment has always come from taking pride in a hard day’s work and helping others do the same.

“You leave in the morning with a full truck, and you come back with it empty,” Stanley said. “It’s gratifying. You did a good day’s work, you got paid well for it, and then you get to go home and enjoy your family. That’s happiness.