Reflecting On My Time At Taziki's
Today, after 8 years, I say a bittersweet goodbye to my first and only job out of college at Taziki’s as a Marketing Director! When I was hired, I was 22, and I didn’t realize how much of an impact it would be in my life, but I am so thankful God knew and placed me exactly where I was supposed to be. I was hired to market our newest upcoming store at the time in Tuscaloosa, but after training in all of our Birmingham locations, Keith decided he needed a full time LSM in Birmingham so he hired me to market for our 6 Birmingham Stores.
About two years later, we hired another LSM to split the territory and a few years later we hired two more and now we have four. I’ve loved working with all these wonderful co-workers through the years. When I started, we didn’t have marketing training material, a marketing department, promotional material, and I met people every day who were still learning about Taziki’s. It’s been cool to see our marketing department grow from the ground up as well as our company grow from 7 locations to 85.
I’m really thankful Keith believed in me from the beginning and gave me leadership opportunities because it pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I really grew as a person and it’s made me the person I am today. Some of my favorite memories with Taziki’s would be getting to help plan and lead our first marketing conference with Seth Williams, our VP of marketing at the time, who’s the hardest working and nicest man ever. I also got to be our Marketing Specialist Coordinator, so I was able to stay in touch with all of our LSMs and travel to new places helping to open new stores, which led to meeting so many friends and co-workers not only in Birmingham but across the US.
I was given the opportunity to travel to New York City, Fort Lauderdale, and Atlanta to market Taziki’s Franchise which was not only really rewarding to be a part of, but really fun! I think the best memories were the lifelong relationships and friendships I’ve made and getting to see how much the company has grown while growing myself as well. While I’ve been at Taziki’s, I’ve gotten engaged and married, gotten pregnant for the first time and had my first baby, and then my 2nd, and now baby number 3 is growing in my tummy.
I’ve been so very thankful that Taziki’s wanted the best for me and let me keep my job that I’m so passionate about while being a mom, which I’m very passionate about as well. It’s been such a blessing to have a Godly boss that wanted the best for me and appreciated me through the years, and seeing how much he gives back to the community and people in need is life-changing on its own. Birmingham is lucky Taziki’s started here and has had the most delicious food for 20 years now, but also lucky to have a Godly leader being a role model for our community and helping others in need, while growing the brand across the US with a great team.
I’m forever grateful God placed me here, not realizing He had a specific plan for my work life while also growing my family. I’m very thankful to get to be home with these little ones while they are little and learning important things in life, but I’ll always hold a special place in my heart for Taziki’s! Thanks everyone and #tazlove for life!--
