Stephanie Lefebvre believes that everyone needs to be appreciated.

Anyone who knows Lefebvre has heard her say “I appreciate you” more than once but it is always said in the most meaningful way.

“I like to demonstrate appreciation regularly because people perform at their best when they truly are appreciated at work or at home,” says the manager of Champions Lounge & Gaming Room located in the Best Western Hotel.

Lefebvre has worked at the hotel for 10 years and has been a manager for the last five.

“A lot of our guests are regulars, so I’ve built some pretty special connections over the years and for that I’m forever grateful,” she says.

“I also get the opportunity to meet new people of our community and people just coming through for a visit, a very cool experience, which is why I love my job right to the core.”

She adds that the reason she leads the way she does, with compassion and respect, is to set an example for her daughter.

Elise Shorting is the general manager at the Best Western and she nominated Lefebvre for the Amazing Heart Award.

“How she uses the phrase ‘I appreciate you’- she means it, and such a direct, sincere compliment really goes to the heart,” says Shorting.

“She has repeatedly had me in awe… with the big and small ways she shows her guests she cares for them. I’ve been in the customer service industry for 20 years so it’s hard to shock me!”