August Employee of the Month - Ross

How long have you worked for DoubleDave’s?

I just hit my 10 year anniversary earlier this year!

 

What’s your favorite DoubleDave’s product?

I’d say it’s a tie between Peproni Rolls and a good ol’ fashioned Pepperoni Pizza.

 

Ranch or Red Sauce?

Ranch. All day long.

 

Favorite Pizza of the Month so far?

Before trying it, I never thought I would say this, but the Chicken Caesar!

 

Best experience with a customer?

There have been way too many great experiences to really pick out just one, so I will go with a humbling one. To me the best experiences aren’t all about how over the top they can be, but also how simple kindness goes so far. We had a gentleman by the name of Ray that used to come into our DoubleDave’s. He became known as Santa Claus by all the employees not just because of his looks, but because he was also so kind and every time he came in no matter what mood you were in when you saw him, you were instantly in a better mood. I can't describe how it happened, but it must have been how you could just look at him and see he didn't have a mean hair on his body. When he was in the restaurant not only did he influence the employees, but, the customers as well. Kids would see him and instantly think he was Santa and adults couldn't help but smile when they looked his way. At one point he didn't come in for a while and when he returned we were so delighted to see him that we asked where he had gone. He said he had to go home and check on his reindeer! Now we had never directly told him we called him Santa, but he just knew how his looks touched people and he went right along with it and the fact that he was so humble in playing it off is an experience I'll never forget. Even as an adult he had me believing in Santa again!

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In a nice, small house on a couple acres of land with a garage big enough for my projects... Oh, and hopefully potentially owning my own DoubleDave’s!

 

What is your favorite part about working for DoubleDave’s?

One word, family. I can’t speak about other DoubleDave’s (You're right Ross! Every Employee of the Month has mentioned this so far!) but at ours the employees, and heck, even some of our regulars are like a second family.

 

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see cast as you?

I would want it to be an animated comedy and I want my character to be voiced by Seth MacFarlane.

 

What advice would you give to recent new hires?

Well, I’ll just say what I already tell new hires. No one is an expert on their first day, so don't get discouraged comparing yourself to the person next to you, in no time you’ll be on par with your peers. Also, never be scared to ask for help, we were all in your shoes and know you don't know everything and I have yet to find an employee not willing to jump on the opportunity to pass on their knowledge to a new employee.

 

What did you want to be when growing up?

Most boys around me when growing up wanted to be the cliché fireman, policeman, football player. Me however? I wanted to be just like my dad and be an engineer. I enjoyed taking stuff apart and putting stuff together; sometimes at my Dad’s dismay when he would go out to the garage and see that I had bolted random stuff together to make something that looked cool to me.

 

What do you like to do on your days off?

You can usually find me doing one of three things. Spending time with my brother, outside working on my car, or inside glued to a video game lol.

 

What is the first thing you would buy if you won the lottery?

A home perfect for me, my brother, and my future family.

 

Can you tell us how you help with your brother and any organizations you’re a part of?

Well my brother is autistic and we are best friends, we go out and get into “trouble” (no law breaking, just having fun lol). On my days off a lot of the time me and him go out to eat lunch and/or dinner and do whatever he wants, which usually is go see a movie or walk around the mall.

Growing up with a gifted brother, I know how hard it can be for them to fit in with society. A few years back I had the opportunity to work with our local high school’s special needs department through a program called Life30 which helps gifted individuals like my brother learn how to function in day-to-day society with little to no help compared to being fully dependent on others like they had before entering the program. Since then, usually 2 times a week during the school year we have a group of young women and men from the high school come over to DoubleDave’s so they can learn what working is all about. We have had students work in every part of the restaurant learning anything from how to sweep to how to make our world famous Peproni Rolls. A couple years ago we had a young gentleman by the name of Noah age out of the program and he came in and asked if he could continue working with us. We hired him and every day since he shows up on time with a big smile on his face ready to work just like the rest of us.

 

What’s the first concert you went to?

The first concert I went to was when Job for a Cowboy and Despised Icon came to town together.

 

What music do you like to play on your shift?

I am known for having a diverse taste in music. When I have control of the aux cord pretty much anything can play but it's mostly, rock, rap, techno, or country.

 

Where are you from?

I was born and raised here in Houston.

 

Anything else you want to add?

I do want to say that working for DoubleDave's has been an amazing experience. Over the years, I have worked with people of all walks of life and learned so much. Teaching and being taught by so many people has helped me grow so much as an individual. Working here has completely changed me from the person I was before I started and it's funny because I have seen many employees start out like how I was and by time they were moving on from DoubleDave’s they had changed so much and always in positive ways.