Bucket List Reward Trip Recap with Adrianne M.

Adrianne M. is our Director of Food Safety & Employee Health who’s no stranger to being featured on the Summerwood blog. Now she’s back, sharing a recap of her dream trip to Italy and Greece — a reward for winning our Administrative Person of the Year at our State of the Union event. Adrianne says she was brought to tears by the surprise presentation. “They literally gave me a trip to Italy just for doing my job. Who does that?” Adrianne asks. We do!

Adrianne first joined Summerwood in 2008 and wasted no time collecting career accolades. With the motto, “do the right thing and work hard when no one is looking,” it’s easy to see why. She’s already experienced the Summerwood Shore House with her family, and won the Servant Leadership and Jerri Toner Awards respectively.

“Summerwood is so good to me. They’re a great family; they always have been.” – Adrianne M., Director of Food Safety & Employee Health

Destination Adventure

With five children, getting away for a two-week trip to Europe was quite the treat (and quite the feat!). Adrianne has never been away from her kids for that long! She and her husband snuck off on an all-expenses paid Norwegian Epic cruise to Italy and Greece in between kids’ busy baseball and cheer schedules.

Adrianne and her husband both have Italian roots, so she knew right away Italy would be their destination of choice (Summerwood reward trip winners are given the option to choose their location). She’s wanted to go to Italy for 25 years! “We always knew we were going to get there,” she says.

Of course we had to know what our Director of Food Safety thought of the hygiene standards on board the cruise ship. “They did an excellent job when it comes to food safety and handwashing,” she shares enthusiastically.

Excursion Experience

On the Greece leg of the trip, they hiked a volcano in Santorini, took a private boat ride to thermal hot springs and went to the beach in Malta.

Adrianne says it was a tour in Sicily that almost didn’t happen, that became a trip highlight. They were understandably tired after so much travel, and almost cancelled, but life is short, and Italy is beautiful! So Adrianne and her Godfather-movie-loving husband, headed out on a tour that would soon become a favorite memory. They wandered cobblestone streets in a quiet village where the famous movie was filmed. The tour ended with warm biscotti made fresh by a local baker.

“Summerwood saw something special in me and appreciated me. That made me feel really good inside.” – Adrianne M., Director of Food Safety & Employee Health

Adrianne and her husband also had the opportunity to visit the small island of Ischia where her husband’s family hails from, which was incredibly special. In fact, the main thoroughfare on the island, Mazzella Highway, is his surname! Feeling inspired to dig into their heritage, the couple hope to one day bring their children back to the island with them.

From beginning to end, this reward trip was truly a once in a lifetime experience. “You work hard and you’re blessed for it,” Adrianne says.

Motherly Advice

Adrianne is a big proponent of bringing others with you on your way to the top. She’s sharing career advice for others in the business, so grab a pen and paper: “Don’t ever be scared. Dive in, work hard and care about everybody,” she says. Did anyone else just get goosebumps? Congratulations, Adrianne, on this much-deserved trip of a lifetime!