Each April, Parkhurst celebrates Team Member Appreciation Month across all sites. The month-long celebration recognizes team members like Otterbein University’s Ann and Kay.
Incorporating their Thai heritage into the inclusive menus, Ann and Kay often share with student guests where the recipes came from and why they’re important. The duo also have been known to bring in home cooking for the international students who couldn’t make it home for the holidays and routinely travel to some of the sporting events on campus to support student athletes.
In this Team Member Appreciation spotlight, Ann and Kay discuss their Parkhurst journey as well as some of their favorite ways to connect with guests.
Can you share a bit about your journey with the dining team at Parkhurst? How long have you been a team member at Otterbein?
Ann: 11 years at Otterbein, two years with Parkhurst Dining. I worked at a hotel in Columbus before this. I love hospitality jobs, so when I decided to leave the hotel, this was a natural fit. I love serving and hospitality.
Kay: I have worked at Otterbein since October of 2020. I used to work in business dining. I’ve never worked with students before, but the students here are awesome! Very helpful and friendly. I love to work with them and give them very good service. They’re great.
What is your most memorable moment throughout your time at Otterbein? What made it special or meaningful to you?
Ann: The love and friendship from the students makes me feel so proud to be here. They always give me so much love, and they care about me. It really makes my day. Some of the students come to me and say that I helped them because they had a bad situation. This one girl in particular had a hard time her first month here because of how far away she was from home. But because of our kindness, and because I was always so happy to see her, she told me that she felt less alone!
Kay: When I’m helping to make a student happy and give them special treats, that’s my favorite. Getting to see them smile. I don’t mind spending a lot of time with them. Anything I can do for them, I will.
What is your favorite way to connect with our guests?
Ann: Just talking to them about their day and asking them how they’re doing each day. Sometimes they’re having a hard time, and it makes them feel better when someone asks how they’re doing. Sometimes they come to me and tell me about their relationships or their friends and what’s going on. When it’s bad, I let them know that they’re pretty, and everything is going to be ok! I feel like I’m a mom or a grandma for them, because we show them love and care, and they really appreciate it. Sometimes even the parents come to say hi to me. The kids say that they miss the food, but they really miss me even more, so the parents want to find out who Ann is! It makes me feel like what I’m doing matters!
Kay: The students are very nice and creative. They make my job easy, and I’m always happy to be among them. They’re always helpful and supportive; they care about us, and we care about them.
If you could serve our guests one dish, what would it be? Why?
Ann: I love to serve them vegetables because they’re healthy! Sometimes when they ask their friends to eat vegetables and they say no, their friends will give them a hard time and say “Hey, if Miss Ann asks you to eat something, then you say yes and eat it!” [Laughs]
Kay: Noodles! Because I like to make Asian noodles, and the students love Asian dishes. Whenever we do noodles, we always run out because the students love them so much!
What is one thing that you wish people knew about working for Parkhurst?
Ann: Parkhurst is a great company to work for! They take good care of the team members, really good care of them.
Kay: I think Parkhurst is a good company. I feel like management is very supportive of me. I’m proud to be a member of the Parkhurst family. I try to create a good environment with my coworkers; I like it when everyone gets along with each other. And I’ve learned new things from Parkhurst, too!
What do you enjoy most about being part of the dining team at Otterbein? Is there a particular aspect of your work that brings you the most satisfaction?
Ann: Making the guests happy and seeing them smile! At the end of the day, I just want them to be happy.
Kay: I love to work here because it’s different from other companies that I’ve worked for. Management really looks out for me and understands what I’m doing, how hard I’m working.
