Who We Are ...

Steps Business Wellness

We are a consulting, training, and coaching firm based in Birmingham, Alabama that specializes in wellness and addiction prevention programs for companies.

We are one of the only firms in the country that delivers workplace effectiveness training specifically focused on preventing addiction for the individual and lessening the negative impacts of addiction and related mental health issues on the organization.

We offer a suite of offerings to protect employees from moving toward addiction and help them live and work in an effective, resilient manner. This will benefit businesses by helping them gain the trust and loyalty of their employees, and they will earn a significant ROI at the same time. We do this by helping companies establish an open, supportive work environment and offering lifestyle information, training, and coaching to reduce the negative impact of emotional issues.

STEPS Business Wellness makes companies better by helping people and teams deal with life issues well. We focus on helping businesses be effective, one person at a time.

Our Board of Advisors will meet periodically with the Executive Director to offer strategic direction and oversight and serve as a representative of the ministry in the community.

  • Richard E. Simmons III – Executive Director at The Center for Executive Leadership
  • Tommy Brigham – Chairman of the Board at ARC Realty Co.
  • Don Menendez – CEO at White Plume Technologies
  • Tom Mayfield – President at M3 Resources USA LLC
  • Harry Pearson – CEO at OneAscent

The Board of Directors will be involved in the ministry in an ongoing manner and utilize their passion and expertise to help the organization execute its mission and serve people well. They will direct changes in strategy and provide accountability on finances, policy, and operations.

  • Tom Majors – Vice President, National Accounts at Merge Healthcare
  • Sheryl Matton – Consultant, Enterprise Marketing at Secureworks
  • Tim Bennett  – Director, IT Vendor Management at AT&T

Steve C. Ward

Steve Ward is a writer, speaker, teacher, and coach for lifestyle effectiveness and the prevention of addiction.

He and his family have battled significant addiction issues of their own. Through these traumatic events, Steve acquired in-depth experience with the life improvement concepts outlined in his book, blog, teaching, and speaking. Steve spent thousands of hours studying and writing about how to pursue a healthy, integrated lifestyle to help prevent addiction.  

He is the author of STEPS: A Daily Journey to a Better Life (Xulon Press). Steve publishes the weekly STEPS Journey Blog which is designed to help people acquire more peace, joy, and purpose through the use of how-to lifestyle techniques from the world of recovery.

Steve graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Industrial Engineering. He worked with IBM for 38 years in management and leadership positions in Engineering, Strategic Planning, Sales, Business Transformation, and Marketing.

He has consulted with many nonprofit organizations, led strategic planning for several, and worked with dozens of ministries over the past 20 years. He is an active member of Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church where he leads an adult study class.  

Steve retired from IBM to found STEPS Ministries and STEPS Business Wellness. He and his wife, Catherine, have two sons and live in Birmingham, Alabama.  

Organizational Wellness and Learning Systems (OWLS)

The STEPS Business Wellness program includes methodologies and content from Organizational Wellness & Learning Systems (OWLS), an industry leading company whose mission is: “Catalyzing health work cultures from the inside out with science.”

Evidence-based OWLS programs were cited in the U.S. Surgeon General’s report on “Facing Addiction in America” (2016) as the only ones that met their criteria for effectiveness for workplace prevention.

STEPS Business Wellness has been trained in the OWLS program for “Empowered Health Consciousness” and integrates its content and techniques into a multi-level program which can be tailored to meet the needs of each company. Steve Ward has a certificate as an Empowered Health Consciousness Facilitator by the National Wellness Institute (NWI).

OWLS offers additional offerings and services, and you can check out their website here: Organizational Wellness & Learning Systems