An interview on her sweet sixteen turned into a long-lasting career for this Love’s general manager
General Manager Mitzi V. started her first job at 16 years old in 1998. Deciding she was ready to get out there and make her own money, Mitzi interviewed at Love’s on her 16th birthday. Six days later she started at a Baskin-Robbins restaurant concept.
Nearing the end of high school in Arkansas, Mitzi intended to leave but had a change of heart and decided to stay with Love’s post-graduation.
"I really liked what I was doing,” Mitzi said. “I liked the customers, I liked the people and I liked my job. After graduating, I decided to go to college for retail business.” Mitzi studied at the University of Arkansas Community College, while continuing to work at Love’s, moving up to shift leader and then assistant manager. Following her college graduation, Mitzi moved to another Love’s in Arkansas, where she was promoted to general manager and has been leading and developing her team ever since.
“My favorite part about my job is training and developing new people,” Mitzi explained. “Especially people who are new to the company and just need a little motivation.”
While working at Love’s, Mitzi has learned valuable life skills. One of her main goals is to pass these skills down to the leaders on her team.
“Soft skills are something I try to work with a lot of people on,” Mitzi said. “That’s usually one of the struggle areas for someone new to leading a team.”
Although Love’s was Mitzi’s first and only job, she hasn’t been stuck doing the same thing. The variety of roles and new work to be done has kept her learning and teaching every day. Knowing first-hand that it’s nice to switch it up and do different things, she provides those opportunities to her team members as well.
“People like to do something different, and that also helps with their development,” Mitzi said. “They don’t want to do the same job every day. So, I try to teach them something new anytime I’m doing that task. In general, if there’s someone here that has a free minute, I have a quick training moment. If I’m doing it anyway, I might as well teach them too."
Not only is Mitzi excited to see where her own Love’s journey goes next, she loves to see where everyone’s career paths take off to.
“I’ve definitely grown up in Love’s, that’s how I always put it,” Mitzi said. “When you’re younger you may be wanting to move up the ladder as quickly as possible, but the longer I’ve been around I understand there are steppingstones to everything.”
Love’s gives employees across its Family of Companies the opportunity to grow in their careers. To begin growing your opportunities, visit jobs.loves.com.