Bryant: Life is Good with Summerwood!
Meet Bryant, a dedicated Restaurant General Manager (RGM) and Training Manager who leads our King of Prussia, PA Taco Bell, though he travels to other restaurants for his training role.
Bryant has spent his entire 22-year career with us and credits much along the way to his time with the company. He’s climbed many rungs on the career ladder. On the personal side, he met his wife at Summerwood, bought a house and a car, grew their family to include kids and a dog. When he moved into his first place pre-married life, his Summerwood mentor and friend — April, our Director of People Development — bought him his first set of plates.
“We’re living a really good life and all of that was afforded by Summerwood,” he confesses.
Bryant also shares that the company has helped shaped him into a more humble, team-focused leader today.
“I definitely grew up inside of Summerwood.” – Bryant, RGM/Training Manager
When Bryant joined Summerwood at the age of 17, he was just following in the footsteps of his older brother with no concrete plans to make Taco Bell his career.
“I knew I could do this,” he says. “Then there was a moment when I knew how good I was, but I saw people being promoted before me.” He couldn’t believe it, why them?
He says watching others get recognized ahead of him was very humbling. Early on, it was all about him, he recalls, and then it clicked and Bryant understood that success was about the team, not individual accomplishment. There’s no “I” in Summerwood, it’s all about the “we.” Wow, talk about life lessons!
Loyal Leader
At Taco Bell, Bryant quite simply found work he loved. And he’s become a reliable leader the company can count on and he says part of this is because of mutual respect — Summerwood treats him well and so, he does the same.
Bryant was chosen to transfer to the King of Prussia Taco Bell five months ago, due in part to his strong leadership skills and loyalty. It’s an important location, being a main hub for training and located within just a few minutes of Summerwood’s corporate office. It’s also considered our flagship. He was honored to be tapped for the role.
With a passion to serve others, Summerwood’s mission is to build trust and loyalty with our customers and each other.
Outside of routine restaurant management, Bryant has also played an essential role in leadership training for over a decade. He visits other Taco Bell locations to conduct assessments of Shift Leaders and train external management hires “on how Summerwood likes to do things.” He’s also one of the main facilitators of one of our leadership development courses, the invite-only Leadership Essentials, which is only open to about 30 people at a time.
“Everybody’s different in the way they run their store, but the standards have to be the same,” he says. “What I’ve noticed is that the [Summerwood] vision is pretty much consistent throughout the locations.” Bryant says that’s his goal during training — to instill the Summerwood mission by the time he leaves a location.
“It’s important because we’re a fast-growing company,” he says (there were 60 Taco Bells when he joined and today, Summerwood owns more than 180).
Culture Really Counts
Bryant may be a loyal team member, but it’s the supportive family culture, people and development opportunities that have kept him here.
“Summerwood has done very well by me.”
“I think we’re very good at the support piece,” he says. “And the giving of knowledge to others. If you come to Summerwood, you will always feel supported.”
Summerwood can do well for you, too! Check out our open positions.
