Stephan's 40-year vocational journey includes such waypoints as hawking mind machines poolside in Vegas, cooking boar and guinea hen at Seattle's storied Hunt Club, and swinging high above Seattle's streets as the owner of a high-rise window-cleaning company.

Along the way, he paddled a kayak 1,000 miles into the Canadian Arctic, helped capture two Guinness land-speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, and served as an all-purpose fielder for numerous start-ups.

Stephan and WhereNext Group founder Gregg Bleakney first met in the early aughts while working at software company AccessVia. In 2007, they cemented their friendship on a motorcycle as Stephan piloted and Gregg photographed the legendary Paris–Brest–Paris, a 750-mile cycling randonnée through France’s Normandy and Brittany regions.

In subsequent years, Stephan co-founded bicycle importer/retailer Dutch Bike Co., in Chicago, then returned to tech as the business development manager at iOS app shop Black Pixel, where he grew sales tenfold. Projects included the first MLB app for iPad, and clients included Apple, Intel, and News Corp.

In 2019, Stephan helped Gregg chart a new course for WhereNext Group's future as both a creative agency and luxury travel DMC. As those dreams turned into partnerships with new clients, Stephan joined the WhereNext Group team.