Anthony S.: Belonging at Summerwood
This is Anthony S., an Assistant General Manager (AGM) at our Columbia Avenue Taco Bell in Lancaster, PA. We were lucky to have him join the team as a crew member in 2020 during the thick of the pandemic. We caught up with Anthony out in the field to drill him on his experience at Summerwood. Talking shop, we covered:
- What Anthony likes most about Summerwood;
- Climbing up the career ladder;
- Taco Bell’s modern Kitchen X concept.
Check out Anthony’s interview!
Q: Where are you from?
A: I am from upstate New York originally – born and raised there in the Utica area. And then I moved down here to help my mom pay for the bills ’cause of COVID. And I found that … people were a lot friendlier. And also there’s more to do down here.
Q: Why did you join Summerwood?
A: I joined Summerwood because I used to work for Taco Bell and … I thought, you know what? I liked Taco Bell.
”I really liked the opportunity I was given.”
-Anthony S., AGM
Q: What appealed most to you?
A: I just wanted to … start from the bottom, learn everything I can because one of my pride things is — and the way I was raised was – you never stop learning. Even as an Assistant Manager, I never stop learning. There’s always room for growth.
Q: What was your journey from team member to AGM like?
A: That happened pretty fast. From crew member to Shift Manager, they did take into account that I [worked] for Taco Bell since 2013 … I can bring my great smile, my sense of great customer service and … I know how to make these tacos really quickly! And I can make people wanna actually work here, too.
“There’s just a general sense of belonging in this area, especially with Summerwood. -Anthony S., AGM
Q: What do you think the best part about working at Summerwood is?
A: I like meeting new people. We’re constantly hiring people, so I see new faces, new cultures, new languages … And also, I love my General Manager. She has helped me through thick and thin. I love how close everybody is with each other here and how I can literally say, Hey, I might need help with this or I’m going through a tough time. They’re like, no problem.
Q: How does Summerwood embrace you, support you, make you feel good?
A: One year, I needed a root canal … what Summerwood did was they foot the bill (and they called it a loan) … they allowed me to get my root canal literally within the next day versus where if you paid it out of pocket, you’re waiting quite a few weeks for that.
“The benefits really got me … the dental, the bonuses, the ability to grow. And they’re building new stores every day!” -Anthony S., AGM
Q: What makes your Taco Bell, a Kitchen X, cool?
A: What I like is the balanced kitchen where any of the orders could go to any of the lines … you have Line 1 doing orders 3, 6, 8; and you have another line doing order 6, 7; and you have another line doing mobile orders. It spreads it out across the whole thing.
According to Anthony S., Kitchen X is updated, futuristic and open – people can actually move!
Q: What’s the future hold for you?
A: I pride myself on being one of the most open-minded people. Whatever someone wants to throw at me, I’ll take it head on. If they want me to be an Area Coach, if they want me to be a General Manager, or if they want me to work in Human Resources, I’ll do that, too.