I MUST tell you a perfect story, of how when you go the extra mile, you leave a lasting impression on someone’s mind.  In this story, a particular individual has forever left an impression on my mind.

Many of you know that my fiance’ (Dave) and I got married in Costa Rica a few weeks ago. It was a BEAUTIFUL wedding!  Everything went just perfectly! Most of you don’t know however, how our trip began and the story of how one person really stood out and went that extra mile for us.

So here is the story.  We started our travels at 8:00pm on a Saturday night in California and arrived in Costa Rica about 11:30am on Sunday morning after a series of stops in-between.  Dave had a small back pack on him with some small items in it. And for me, I had my purse along with my wedding dress and Dave’s wedding outfit.  The first thing we said to each other as we landed in Costa Rica, was that we couldn’t wait to clean up, take a shower and put on some fresh clothes, once we got to the place we were staying. So we get off the plane, it was about 95 degrees out and we were waiting for our luggage… and we’re waiting… and we’re still waiting. After several minutes we look to each other and know it’s not coming.

Knowing very little Spanish, we try to communicate our situation to airline personnel and they pretty much tell us we need to put in a claim and go from there. So knowing there wasn’t much we could do, we get into our rental car and off we go to the place where we were staying at.  I am in a t-shirt with long black yoga pants and Dave is in a black adidas shirt and cargo shorts.  After many phone calls to the airline and talking with people at the hotel, we learn that our luggage is ‘likely’ in Panama City and there were only two flights a week that come into Liberia airport in Costa Rica, and the next one was scheduled for Thursday (4 days from then and actually the day of our wedding).

Well, reality set in late on Monday night, that we were probably without all of our stuff until at least Thursday of that week and there was a possibility of us never getting our luggage.  We definitely didn’t let this damper our time (we were having SO much fun), but it sure would have been much more convenient with our stuff!

So, here comes the good part of the story!  One of the people that worked at the front desk was ‘Leo’. Leo had a fantastic personality and when he heard what happened with our luggage, he exclaimed ‘that this could not happen’ and that he was going to look into this for us.  We were appreciative but were realistic that we still may never get our luggage.

So, now it is about 7:00am on Tuesday morning and Dave and I were down at the hotel breakfast area, drinking coffee, getting a bite to eat and planning out our day. All of a sudden, we hear the sound of rolling luggage! Could it possibly be ours? Were we just hearing things? We were hearing things but it was in fact the rolling of OUR luggage! We couldn’t believe it. And guess who was working at the front desk at the time when it arrived? Leo!  I remember looking at him and he had a big smile on his face, nodding his head in pure satisfaction that our stuff arrived. And all I remember after that is running up to the front desk and giving him a big high five!

Leo absolutely went the extra mile for us. Leo took it upon himself to get on a mission to get our luggage. It was true that flights from Panama City to Liberia, Costa Rica only occurred twice per week, but Leo found out there were flights to San Jose, Costa Rica every day from Panama! So he arranged to get our luggage sent to San Jose which was about 4 hours away from where we were staying and one of the staff at the airport drove our luggage hours to get to us at our hotel.

Leo was absolutely the best! We never could have done it without him and he was just so humble and thoughtful. And it was clear to me that this was what he was all about. Excellent guest service and going that extra mile in all that he does.  Dave and I can’t say enough great things about him. With Leo going that extra mile, it will forever be a lasting impression on our minds!

So I ask you, are you going the extra mile in your personal and professional life? What things do you do to leave a lasting impression on someone’s mind?  I can’t wait to hear from you!

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SmartChic is all about inspiring you to make smart and confident decisions while living the life you want and deserve! For your next big conference or team member retreat, have Cynthia as your keynote speaker. She will inspire your team! And get them up and out of their seats! [email protected]