The outcome of October’s Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce dinner provided a surprise for the owner of Good Steward Consulting.

The company began in 2016, so owner Mariah Lynne said receiving the 2017 award was an honor.

“To receive the award was very, very exciting and humbling all at the same time,” Lynne said. “It was kind of a fruition of a year’s-worth of dedication — but a career’s-worth of passion — for business. So, it does. It means a great deal to me to win that award.”

Lynne said it was also an honor to receive the award, knowing her father won a business of the year award when she was growing up for a business he was a partner in.

“To follow in his footsteps and to know that we have that shared honor is really, really, really humbling, in my opinion,” Lynne said. “It’s kind of surreal, actually.”

In addition, Lynne said receiving the award has made her consider more seriously what it would mean to expand Good Steward Consulting by adding more consultants. It has been something in the back of her mind since she started.

“Receiving that award, it’s really brought that from the back to the front,” Lynne said.

On nomination forms submitted to the Chamber of Commerce, Assistant Executive Director Geri Jensen said nominators described Lynne as “a community-focused and passionate businesswoman.”

The nomination forms also mentioned the impact nominators saw Lynne and her business having on the community in Albert Lea.

“She works hard to help others succeed and follows the mission of being a good steward,” Jensen read from the form.

For Lynne, helping others succeed is what she wants her company to be about.

“We have that responsibility as business leaders to give back to the community, and I take that really seriously,” Lynne said. “I think that’s a large component of business success in a small, rural community.”

In addition to her community work with the FFA, Albert Lea Education Foundation, Experience Albert Lea and Save Our Hospital, Lynne said the purpose of Good Steward Consulting is also to help the community’s businesses.

“What I do with my company is I help other companies be stronger,” Lynne said. She said this means adding levels of accountability and clarity in goal-setting.

“So when my company grows, it means that there’s growth in other companies,” Lynne said. “And I think that’s the best part of it, is I’m doing something to help our local economy.”

Albert Lea Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Susie Petersen worked with Lynne to develop a video promoting Albert Lea in association with the Super Bowl in Minneapolis and the “Tailgate to Minnesota” promotion.

“She’s very good at what she does,” Petersen said.

Lynne said the award was validation for her decision to start Good Steward Consulting.

“It’s validated the system and that approach I take with the clients in which I work,” Lynne said. That approach is a three-question process that she asks herself before she takes on any client: Will it be fulfilling to my client? Will it be fulfilling to me? Will it be fulfilling to the community?

“At this point in my career, that’s what I’m looking for is fulfillment,” Lynne said.