Team Member Spotlight: Tori

Tori is an Assistant Manager at Summerwood’s Somers Point, NJ Taco Bell location who is fueled by positive energy and lattes. Tori’s first job was working at Taco Bell, and after taking a break to go to school and trying different careers, she headed back to “the Bell.”

“I worked a lot of different jobs and I didn’t like them,” she shares.

Tori loves the youthful energy at Taco Bell and asserts, “that’s not anywhere else.” How would she know? “Because I’ve worked everywhere,” Tori says. 

“We just work really hard to make sure that we’re… having fun. Like, we’re working really hard, but we’re having fun and everyone feels really welcome,” Tori shares.

The good vibes start at the top. And Tori understands that if she has a bad attitude, that will affect her team. “When you go to a place, you can tell if the employees like their jobs or not,” she says.

Aside from having fun, doing things the right way is also important to Tori. She’s not afraid to speak up and feels heard in return. “Every single time… they just listen to me. So that’s always really nice,” she says.

Tori enjoys being a mentor, and focusing on training and development for the young crew on her team.

“We just give them all of the support and training and guidance that they need. And then we promote them,” she shares.

Explaining Summerwood’s development process, Tori says the company likes to develop people internally. “That just always works out so much better for us and creates really strong leaders.”

Summerwood is often described by employees as having a family feel; Tori concurs. She shares that when some of the staff experience hardships, “as a store, as a restaurant, we are there for them.”

For her part, Tori says, “I try to make them feel as supported as possible. We do… literally anything we can to help them.” Did anyone else just get goosebumps?

Other Summerwood benefits Tori highlights are the amazing scholarship opportunities available to employees. “I’ve seen people win scholarships three and four times,” she says, adding, “I’m gonna apply. They convinced me!”

And if Tori needs help with the application process, Summerwood employees extend that service as well. She believes that’s really important.

“I just think Summerwood is on the come up,” she says. You heard it here first!