Steve Lopez
As the founder and owner of Clean Air Cab, Lopez is not only making the Valley a greener, cleaner place to live with its fleet of eco-friendly cars, but the business has teamed with local nonprofits to raise money for a variety of causes. (Perhaps you’ve seen Clean Air Cab’s pink Susan G. Komen for the Cure driving around?) At home, three kids under the age of four keep this doting dad and husband busy.

What does “power” mean to you?
Being responsible with the ability to influence positive growth toward a future that all of our citizens, corporations and communities respect and want to constructively contribute.

What impact do you strive to have on the Valley?
I would like to be known as being a positive part of encouraging a solution by taking action—not by using rhetoric.

Who is your mentor?
My grandmother is my mentor. As a boy, I watched her own her own companies and run projects differently from others. Of course she always put her customer and their needs way before her own, but it was done with true compassion. She has always been philanthropic and gives to causes close to her heart and bigger than herself.

How do you balance kids, career and community?
Time is always tricky, and there never seems to be quite enough in a day. My wife and I have had to develop rules to maintain course with striking a balance between all that is important to me. My rules are as follows:
1.     Always put gravity to my wife’s input in family as well as in business she has my best interests at heart, bar none.
2.     Never ever stay late at work. I make sure that I am home by 6 p.m. every single day.
3.     I cook dinner; if I don’t make it home, people go hungry and get very angry!
4.     Brush, read and kiss. With three kids, nighttime could get out of hand, but my wife and I team up and find 20 to 30 minutes to ourselves a night as a result—pure bliss.
5.     Time off, I have to take six weeks off a year, four weeks at one time and a two small one-week vacations which are never scheduled. I just have to make myself available. This one is tough!
6.     “People, Planet, Profit” is the cadence that I use to run my company, and in that order. These small goals maintain direction and help me to keep balance with my everyday business decisions. I decide what goal(s) need attention and give time to creating a solution, all while keeping in mind my three P’s.

Why have you chosen to make Arizona your home?
The majesty and the antiquity of our land and history is the No. 1 thing that draws me here. The contrast between the old west and a metropolitan city is also very intriguing to me. How we attempt to strike a balance between our land and our progress seems like a constant and articulate challenge that we meet with consistent differences on the battlefield of progress. I just love it here.

What has been your proudest achievement?
My proudest achievement is the health and respect of my family. I really enjoy watching my children see there new world and learn all of the things it has to offer. It takes the patina off the same old day in and day out and refreshes the way I look at life and appreciate the things around me. My family keeps me creative and sharp!

What are your future goals?
I would like to be a large contributor both in mind and in action to creating a solution for our economy both locally and nationally. I would like to be creative with problem-solving and empower the people I meet to take action. There is no one answer to solving today’s economical and political landscape, but I feel that the answer does lie in the way business interacts with the every person. We need to bridge the gap between profit and responsibility. We need to encourage value and respect with both product as well as patron, at the end of the day we need to all be contributing to the bettering of our community and the strength of our citizens, both with donating our time and resources along with doing our part to shine our one part of the city. The more we are actively doing our part individually, we naturally gain a voice in making the decisions and creating change in the world around us collectively. Change does happen one person at a time.

What superpower would you like to possess?
Invisibility. Oh, I have said too much!