I want to share with you my new job story. I feel
like I should start by saying once upon a time. I know life isn’t a fairytale,
but in this case it sure does feel like one.
Once upon a time (and in a galaxy far, far away)
I worked for a movie retail company. I chose that company for its potential for
professional growth. I love movies and am a bit of a nerd. It was a match made
in customer service heaven. For years I was a top performer, leading the ranks
in sales and revenue drivers. I had a blast and loved my job. As time passed by
the company began to change. The sunshine and rainbows era had passed. As the
company struggled to stay out of bankruptcy focus turned to razor sharp sales.
I did not have a problem with this, and it happened so slowly, I honestly
didn’t even notice. More time passed and after 5 years of service and sacrifice
the company did go bankrupt. It was bought by a new company and as a manager
along with my peers I was told that with a bit more sacrifice all will be
better. So I pushed, and pushed, and sacrificed. I worked 6 or 7 days a week,
every week, for months. I averaged over 60 hours a week. As a trainer for the
district I tried to take up slack for my peers. There was too much. I fell into
a dark cloudy daze. I couldn’t see the end of the tunnel.
I woke up one day to realize I hadn’t been
spending time with my kids. I have two daughters. I had missed so much of their
lives, and my own. About 2 years before this awakening I started a long journey
of self-awareness and development. I finally got to a place where I had been
happy with my life, I was losing weight, and I was a great mom. I was fulfilled
and fully engaged in life… but through the sacrifice I made I had lost sight of
those things that made me human. And in exchange for this sacrifice, this
personal loss, I was asked for more hard work. No one even said thank you.
One night I was feeling romantic. I was dreaming
of a life where I got to participate. I started to think about my job and what
it was I loved about it. Why was I still there? What was I fighting for? The
answer was easy. I loved my customers. Those people who came into the store
just to see ME. I got to stand out on my sales floor and be a true piece of
people’s daily life. I made people laugh and smile, and they came back for
more. This is a truly fulfilling feeling to me. And the fear of losing that feeling was very high. So I asked
myself “self, as a consumer in this wide world of ours… where do you get
treated in that same engaging way?”
The answer was quick and obvious. There is a
small local quick service food chain in my area. There hadn’t been any other
business where I had been fully and honestly engaged by employees as though I
BELONGED there. So I went to the website. I did not grow up in this area and my
experience with this chain had been very limited. But I liked how I was treated
and so I sent in a resume. I was not even sure at that time if I was “looking”
for a job. I just felt I needed to send something in. I never expected a call
back…
But I got one. Someone called me to have a
conversation. And that single conversation changed my life. I had worked for a
company that was fighting for survival so long; I forgot was positivity felt
like. I honestly didn’t believe some of the stuff I was hearing. She could
tell. I was sent on a journey to discover the magic of this company. I was invited to a get
to know the company event and encouraged to go to restaurants and talk to
employees. And I did.
At the event I saw how these restaurants connect
to the community. The integrity the company believes in and the way people are
put first was, well frankly, shocking. After the meeting I walked out to my car
alone. It was dark and a bit chilly. As I turned the corner to where my car was
parked my eyes filled up with tears. I was sad. I was yearning for something I
had not ever had an opportunity to know. That warm hug of a feeling that serve
with love represents. I distinctly remember thinking if only my current company
treated me like that. If they only treated anyone half as well as this place
says they treat people, then I could stay. Now that I knew what I was missing
there was no way I could live without it. As the tears dried I became
determined to prove things couldn’t be that awesome. So I started visiting
restaurants.
What I discovered was not shocking at all. I
stopped into many locations and talked to people in all positions. I was warmly
engaged every time. I got consistently positive information from everyone.
These people ACTUALLY loved their job. Not just the job but the company, the
environment, the team, the mission. I was in one location and I watched a girl
make my blackberry lemonade. She put in the ice and the blackberry. Then she
grabbed the lemonade jug out of the fridge and poured it into the cup. She took
a step back, bent her head sideways and looked at the level of the juice. Then
she topped it off and closed the jug. As she snapped on the lid she nodded to
herself and handed it off. She didn’t know I was paying attention. She was
acting in genuine kindness, creating the perfect blackberry lemonade, just the
way she would have wanted it, for a total stranger (likely for the 30th
time that day).
Serve with love is thier mission statement... and it was real. The honesty was real.
Not just in the hearts of current employees. I talked to people who had left
the company. All of them said wonderful things. The community truly believes in
the value and quality of this place. So I went to my interview.
That morning as I did my hair I was going over
possible things they might ask. And again I cried, this time hard. I realized
that with my skill set and experience I was going to get a job offer. And I
further realized that if I got an offer I was going to have to take it. This
meant leaving behind something I had fought and bled for. I stood up and looked
in the mirror and realized that sometimes we have to make hard decisions, not
everyone is able to do that. The few who have the courage to change have the
ability to effect change in others. That’s what I want for myself. So I went to
the interview. (The most fun interview in all of history) and eventually I did
get an offer. Obviously I took it.
So in my last few weeks in that far away galaxy
that was my former career, I tied up loose ends and tried my best to resolve my
feelings of negativity that had crept up. I started my training and discovered
something incredibly profound… everything I had been told by the home office,
by the crew members, by the community, by my friends… was absolutely 100% true.
It’s funny because I decided that my word for how things have been going was
reinforcing. Because my choice had been validated. I was repeatedly warned that
it was hard work. It’s true that there is work. Hard, fast work that is a
complex mix of sticky, sweaty and greasy. But it is fun, fast, engaging and
fulfilling. I watched a young man who works grill at my training restaurant in
the middle of a crazy busy lunch rush drop eggs for a breakfast platter. He was
sliding all over the place dropping buns, slinging sandwiches, helping me. Then
it came time to build the platter. It’s like time slowed down to a crawl. He
took his spatula and gingerly flipped the sides of the egg into a trifold. He
quickly scoped the eggs onto the spatula with a single flip of his wrist and
carried them over to the plate. He slowly and softly pushed the eggs off onto
the plate and rearranged the muffin and meat. He then slapped it forward for
counter to finish off. Time picked back up and he was off to the races again.
But in that moment even though he had no idea he was being watched he honestly
cared what that plate looked like. That level of true commitment comes from
being treated well on a deep level.
What I see when I show up for work every day is
happiness. It’s a family. They work together in such a smooth way communicating
with ease and accomplishing an insane level of controlled chaos. It’s like
watching a highly choreographed musical. The kind where no one noticed everyone
spontaneously knows all the same words and dance moves. (Well I noticed) The
team members talk about how working for this company has changed their lives.
(Yes this happens daily) It is incredible the amount of tenure the employees of
all levels have. Also many people who leave come back. It’s like once you have
felt this warmth you can’t stay away.
And boy is there warmth. Guests come in daily and
know their crew members names. And the employees have their guests meals
entered into the computer before they are even all the way in the door. The
sense of family is extended into all corners of the dining rooms and out
through the drive thru window. I have
seen grill crew members recognize guests by name from nothing but their voice
and their order.
Once upon a time I was lost like so many people
in our world today. I wanted to feel valued, respected, and still get to engage
people with a level of personal integrity. THAT is what it means to work where
I work. THAT is what it means to serve with love.
So there you have it folks. My new job story…so
far.
(This story took place in 2011)
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