PROFILE: Kevin Mills
Kevin Mills is almost an institution in Boca Grande and Gasparilla Island. Nearly everybody knows him.They recognize him by the brown uniform he wears and the big brown truck he drives, but mostly they recognize him by his smile and his infectious friendliness.
Kevin is our UPS delivery driver. “Our” is appropriate because this is the route Kevin asked for and was given a decade ago. He has become part of the fabric of this community.
“For me, being the UPS driver out here is pretty special, because I’ve just been coming here for so long and everybody I’ve met … well, they’re just some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Everybody on the island makes me feel like part of their family. It’s a very special place in a lot of different ways.”
Kevin has been a driver for UPS for 18 years, but his work ethic was formed at an early age. His grandparents owned a machine shop, and Kevin began working for them while still in middle school. “I did a lot of the dirty work, the stuff no one else wanted to do,” he said with a laugh. “But it was a cool job for a young kid like me.”
He enjoyed working closely with his grandfather, learning all about cars, what makes them run, how to machine parts, and more. “My grandfather was into race cars, too, so I got to work around them as well. I always thought that was cool,” Kevin recalled, noting that he and his grandfather were best friends. That work took him all through high school and a little beyond.
His next job was also for a family business. This time it was working for his dad. Kevin’s parents owned a commercial construction company, so in his late teens and early 20s Kevin went to work in their business. He was a “jack of all trades,” helping with general labor, construction and whatever needed to be done. The company built anything from houses to big commercial buildings, so there was a lot of variety.
But when he was about 26 Kevin decided he needed to branch out on his own. In November 2005 he joined UPS in Port Charlotte, and he has been there ever since, some 18 years later.
Kevin and his daughter, Lily
“I was born and raised in Punta Gorda,” Kevin said. “I knew the place pretty well, and the job suited me.” When he first started with the company he was assigned to various routes. “I used to bounce around, doing different routes, I know this area well, so I was familiar with all the areas, but I always wanted the Boca Grande route. With UPS it is all seniority, so once I got the chance to get that route, I spoke up for it — and that was 10 years ago.”
He went on: “The guy who was on that route retired, so the route became available. I had enough seniority that I could speak up for it, and I did, and they gave it to me.”
This is where Kevin plans to serve out the rest of his UPS career, which he says will be a good long time from now. He is turning 46 this summer, so retirement is still pretty far in the future.
“As soon as I come over those bridges, it’s like I’m in a different world,” he said. Most people on the island not only know what he means and feel the same way.
“I grew up going to Boca Grande my whole life,” he said. “Whenever my mom would take my younger brother and me to the beach, it was always to Boca Grande. I can remember that where the Pass Club is now, the road used to circle around another way. So my memory goes back a long way.”
And he never got over his love for the area.
“I like to kid with people that I don’t plan on going anywhere else,” he said. “I tell people all the time out here that they’re stuck with me. I joke around with them. It’s a pretty special place.”
Typically, Kevin’s day, Monday through Friday, begins at 9 a.m., getting his truck loaded with packages for the island. He is the only driver for UPS here, and he likes it that way. He is efficient in his deliveries but still takes time to talk to people, check on their recent travels, observe what’s going on with their houses and generally keeping an eye out for all his friends, which includes everyone on the island.
“I love my job,” he says with sincerity and enthusiasm. “I enjoy getting up in the morning, putting on my uniform, and coming to work every day.” His day ends when the last package is delivered, which usually gets him home between 6 and 7 p.m. He does not rush it, because this is where he feels at home.
“I’ve always had a knack for remembering details,” he said, “and I know just about everybody’s golf cart here. Sometimes I surprise people by delivering a package to their cart instead of their house. It makes them laugh. It’s a fun part of my job.”
He especially loves the Christmas holidays, when so many people are back on the island. It usually means extra hours and maybe extra Saturday shifts, but he feels like Santa Clause delivering packages to people’s houses.
“It is a fun time of year, because I feel like everybody is in a good, happy mood,” he said.
October is a good time, too, when people start returning from a summer away. He enjoys catching up with people about what they have been doing during the off-season. And people seek him out to share in the joy of reconnecting.
“Everybody on the island treats me like I’m part of their family, so it’s always nice to see them again. I enjoy talking to them, just asking how their summer was.”
Kevin has a 13-year-old daughter, Lily, who just finished 7th grade. They spend a good deal of time together and are very close. He is divorced, but he has a special lady in his life.
For fun off the island, Kevin enjoys water sports of all sorts. He has been going to Lake Placid, in the center of the state, to pursue this type of activity. He has a cousin and old friends there who also enjoy waterskiing, kneeboarding, wake surfing (surfing behind a boat) and riding the waves.
“I enjoy being on the water,” he said. “It’s pretty cool. I work a lot, so I don’t have a lot of time for other activities, but anything to do with water sports is what I do in my leisure time.” And Lily and his girlfriend enjoy it, too.
Still, leisure time takes a back seat to work for Kevin.
“Growing up and seeing my parents and grandparents working hard to achieve what they did was something that meant a lot to me,” he said. “They always taught me to work hard, be honest, and be a good person in life. I feel that will get you somewhere nowadays.” He has done a little traveling within the U.S., and looks forward to doing more of that in the future.
He said he is not really a chef, but he does like to cook on the grill. “And I do have a real sweet tooth,” he admitted. His work keeps him fit, which he claims is a good thing, since a number of people on the island know about his love of sweets, and bake him cookies and give him other sweet treats from time to time. “I appreciate all of them, cause I love it,” he said. “I burn my calories and get my steps in every day.”
Keeping fit is a perk of the job for Kevin, but getting to know the people of Boca Grand and the rest of the island is the real heart of the matter for him.
“I take a lot of pride in helping people,” he said. “If they have a package they are looking for or they need help tracking something, I try to go out of my way to help them. When you order something, you want to get it. You’re excited about getting it. And I want to be sure they do.”
Stories are common around the island of the times Kevin has been a link between people, helping connect folks who have related interests or common hobbies. He has so much knowledge of the people’s interests that he can easily serve as a link in many situations. He’s excited about being able to serve people that way, and he feels it is part of the benefit of having one person who has so many island connections. He has made himself a true resource for the island.
“I feel I am more than just a peon UPS driver out there,” Kevin said. “I feel like I’ve made so many friendships, in so many different ways – learning what people have done or what they enjoy doing, ‘cause I am at their houses two, three, four times a week sometimes. And I’m not just up there dropping off packages. I’ll make small talk with them to see how their day’s going or see what they’re doing. If they’re outside, tinkering around or what not, it’s always fun getting to know them.”
It is not something people in other locations might identify as a role they expect of a UPS delivery driver, but Kevin is not a typical delivery driver, and Boca Grande is not a typical place. All involved are grateful for the way it has worked out.
A note from the writer: Always on the hunt for a good profile for the Beacon, I took advantage of an early dinner stop at Sisters Restaurant. When the waitress, Paula, came to the table, I said, “Before we order, I have a question: If you could read a profile in the Beacon about anyone connected to the island, who would it be? Who would you like to know more about?”
She was caught off guard and needed a few minutes to ponder this important question. So my friend and I ordered and let the thought marinate. A few minutes later Paula was back.
“I know who should be your profile,” she declared. As she was milling over the question with her fellow wait staff, who should walk in for a cold sweet tea before heading home? Kevin Mills, the UPS delivery driver for the island. There was unanimous agreement, Kevin was their man.
“He’s perfect,” she asserted, as she pulled him over to our table. “You should write about Kevin.”
Kevin smiled and asked what was going on, and immediately agreed to be the subject of our profile. He said he could meet with me later that evening, and still took time, then and there, to let us take pictures of him in uniform and with his big brown truck. Then he was on his way to deliver his last packages and stop home before our interview.
The interview was easy and casual, at a place he chose, which turned out to be easier for me to get to than for him. Before he ever answered the first question, I already knew quite a bit about him from the way people reacted to him and how he accommodated other people. I hope you enjoy getting to know more about Kevin.
I am always looking for good people to profile in the Beacon. Call the paper if you have a suggestion – (941) 964-2995. Our subjects need to have a connection to the island and cannot have been profiled before.
