Emilee Prado
Last November, Steven Wayland, a 15-year-old without a driver’s license, announced Cars and Coffee Southlake was going to kick off in 2019. It was arguably an overly ambitious declaration. But in January, when he held the first event, over 400 cars packed into the Dragon Stadium parking lot.
“I decided it would be a good idea to start announcing that it was going to happen and that there is no possible way that it wouldn't happen,” Steven says.
Eight months later, the monthly event is still going strong and has moved to a larger venue at Gateway Church.
“Sometimes in life, people don't know what they can't do,” Steven’s dad says. “Steven didn't understand that he can't do this. He didn't understand that it wouldn't be that easy or quite frankly, might be impossible.”
Emilee Prado
Out With The Old, In With The New
While Steven’s fascination with cars dates back to when he was still learning to talk, his car show host aspirations began last fall. In October 2018, Cars and Coffee Dallas announced that it would be holding its final event that December. Cars and coffee events take place all across the nation and all serve the same purpose: providing a space where car owners and enthusiasts can gather and admire all kinds of vehicles over a cup of joe. Cars and Coffee Dallas, hosted by Classic BMW in Plano, ran for over a decade, sometimes drawing in as many as 1,000 guests.
As car enthusiasts across the Metroplex mourned the loss of a monthly gathering, Steven saw an opportunity. At the time, he had never been to a cars and coffee event. He made a point to go to the final Cars and Coffee Dallas in December. By then, he had already announced Cars and Coffee Southlake. He locked down all social media handles for Cars and Coffee Southlake and started to build a following. His first Instagram post read:
“Due to the lack of #carsandcoffee in the general area, I am proud to announce that #carsandcoffeesouthlake is going to blow you away with what we have planned for next year! Stay posted for more updates and location info!”
That initial post garnered likes, comments and suggestions from local car enthusiasts and clubs. There was no backing out. By December 17, he announced the date and venue: January 26, 2019, at Dragon Stadium. In that time, Steven and his dad were working together tirelessly to secure the venue, sponsors and vendors while also creating enough hype to get people interested early on.
“I sort of forced him into being my business partner,” Steven says of his dad.
Steven partnered with ParkUpFront early on. The ParkUpFront app acts much like Facebook for car enthusiasts. Users can show off their garage, interact with other car enthusiasts and share events. Much like other social platforms, users can post their own content and “like” and comment on other users’ content.
Through the app, Steven is able to create event pages for every Cars and Coffee Southlake event. His event is also one of the few in the area recognized by ParkUpFront as an Official Event. By accessing the event through the app, users are able to register their cars in advance.
This gives Steven a rough idea of how many people may show up, but nothing could have prepared him for the incredible showing at the first-ever Cars and Coffee Southlake. Steven estimates a total of 425 cars made it out.
"We were blown away and not prepared,” Steven’s dad says. “It looked like we had it down and were ready for this, but we weren't.”
Emilee Prado
Lambos And Logistics
As with any new event, Cars and Coffee Southlake had some kinks to work out. A big part of a typical cars and coffee event is the exit. People line the street where the cars will drive past, anxiously awaiting a flashy farewell. In the past, this has ranged from burnouts to revved engines, and unfortunately, the occasional wreck. Steven wanted to make sure that people could still have a fun exit while staying safe. This ended up being harder than anticipated.
“The first couple events, we didn't have any police officers,” Steven says. “It's hard to find the middle ground. With no police officers, it's anarchy, but with a lot of officers, it's like, 'What are we supposed to do.' That was April. April was tough.”
As cars lined up to leave Dragon Stadium during the first few events, Steven was there helping direct traffic. Often, he and other volunteers would instruct drivers clearly: “No burnouts, no fishtails.” Even though drivers were on a public street and technically no longer on event grounds, Steven still felt partially liable for event-goers.
By April, he knew it was time to call on the Southlake Police. While it took some time to fond “the middle ground,” it seems to have worked out. After the June event, one car owner even posted a photo of a Southlake police officer at Cars and Coffee, with the caption: “Real cool officer holding the no burnout sign as we were leaving, awesome!”
There was also unexpected costs that Steven had to learn to budget for, such as portable restrooms and, on one occasion, having the stadium parking lot power washed. Building the event from the ground up has given him a crash course in everything from finance to social media strategy.
"Keeping excitement is really hard to do,” Steven says. “People get really uninterested very easily. In the winter months, especially. It was really hard to start the event in January with the weather. You have to always be doing something to keep people interested or else it will dissipate."
Now, with an estimated 5,000 followers across multiple social media platforms, Steven posts regularly to drive interest to the next event. The event has had people drive in from as far as Austin and continues to draw an audience from all over the Metroplex. With their recent move to Gateway Church, Steven hopes to further expand the event.
“My main goal right now with the Gateway venue is to expand it — I'm going to call it 'Manifest Destiny' – to the other side of the parking lot,” he says.
As the event grows, so will its positive impact on the community. Even before Cars and Coffee Southlake started, Steven wanted the event to bene t a local nonprofit. He knew about Southlake Lions Club through a friend and decided it would be a good t. Right now, a portion of the proceeds from Cars and Coffee Southlake directly support the Texas Lions Camp — a summer camp for children with physical disabilities, Type 1 diabetes and cancer. Cars and coffee participants are charged $10 per car – spectators park in a separate lot for free — and Steven estimates about 25 percent of the proceeds from that fee is donated.
“For the past several years, I have been involved in mission trips, helping people in need and volunteering,” Steven says. “With Cars and Coffee [Southlake], I saw an opportunity to give back on a monthly basis. The care community as a whole really enjoys supporting a good cause, so when word got out about what I was doing, it really helped gain a lot of support.”
Emilee Prado
In The Driver’s Seat
After three months of successful events, April finally arrived, and Steven turned 16. He got his license on his birthday and eagerly hopped into his BMW M48. The event on April 20 was a great birthday present: perfect weather, and in Steven’s words, “just a ton of cars.”
While he kept his age and identity largely in the background on social media, his classmates at Carroll High School fully knew what he was up to.
“They don’t call me Steven anymore, they just say Cars and Coffee Southlake really fast like it’s all one word,” Steven says of his fellow Dragons.
When he wasn’t obsessing over cars, Steven was participating in cross country for the past two years. Although he has since hung up his running shoes, there’s still plenty on his plate. In his spare time, he is working toward his pilot’s license. With an entrepreneurial spirit and an impressive work ethic, it’s clear that the incoming junior will go far... even if he doesn’t know where yet.
For two more years, Steven will go home from high school and see a poster from long ago. It’s a picture of a 2006 Ferrari F430 with a note that says “due 2020.” He has wanted that car since it was released when he was four years old. While he realizes now that his former goal will likely not hit its due date, he’s been around far nicer cars since he started Cars and Coffee Southlake. He grimaces when asked what his favorite car in attendance has been, but the Bugatti Chiron from January’s event is top of mind. And why wouldn’t it be? At $3 million, it’s one of the world’s most expensive production vehicles.
No matter what kind of cars show up, with seven events under his belt (May’s event was canceled due to inclement weather.), Steven has two major take-aways.
"Weather is the scariest variable,” he says. "I've learned that it's a lot harder to do than I originally thought. It's tough, it takes a lot of man hours, a lot of manual labor."
Hopefully, the skies will stay clear for his upcoming event this month. While everyone around him prepares for football’s return, Steven will be working hard to keep Cars and Coffee Southlake an event that people look forward to every month.