30 Years Around the Table

When people hear that I've resigned from US Foods after more than a decade, they often assume my story with the company began in 2015. The truth is, my story with US Foods began almost twenty years before that.

In many ways, I've spent the last thirty years around the table. Long before I was a Territory Manager, before I attended sales meetings, before I earned awards, before I carried a company badge, I was a customer.

Back in the 1990s, I was a young Food & Beverage Manager trying to figure things out. Like so many people in foodservice, I learned quickly that success wasn't just about serving great food. It was about managing costs, solving problems, training employees, dealing with equipment failures, handling customer complaints, and somehow finding a way to do it all over again the next day.

US Foods was there. Not as an employer. As a partner. As a resource. I remember to this day hours long meetings and conversations with Dan Menke who was one of the reps assigned to our account for Holiday World. I learned so much from him about the business of the business. It's not lost on me that when I became an employee, he was there to teach me things about the supplier side of the business that I didn't even know I didn't know.

For nearly twenty years,I sat on the customer side of the table. I ordered products, met with sales representatives, attended food shows, toured facilities, and built relationships with people who cared deeply about helping operators succeed. Along with Dan I am forever indebted to Jen Werner, Tom Hootman, Michael Boksa, the late Kurt Cummings, and countless other specialists and partners at US Foods that helped me as we grew the food and beverage operation with new restaurant concepts and new menus nearly every year.

I had no idea then that one day I would become one of them. In 2015, an opportunity presented itself that I never expected. After nearly two decades of being a customer, I accepted a position with US Foods. At the time, I thought I understood the business.

I was wrong.

What I discovered was an organization filled with hardworking people doing incredibly difficult work every single day. Drivers navigating impossible schedules. Warehouse teams working through the night. Buyers, customer service representatives, dispatchers, pricing teams, managers, executives, and salespeople all working together to deliver food to hundreds of businesses that depend on them.

It gave me an entirely new appreciation for the complexity of the foodservice industry.

Over the next eleven years, I had the privilege of serving hundreds of customers throughout southern Indiana, southern Illinois and Kentucky. Some owned single-location restaurants. Some operated multi-unit businesses. Some ran cafeterias, catering businesses, events facilities, healthcare facilities, churches, camps, and nonprofit organizations.

Every one of them had a story. Every one of them had dreams. And every one of them was carrying a burden most people never see.

I came to realize that my job was never really about selling food. My job was helping people. Helping them find solutions. Helping them navigate challenges. Helping them celebrate successes. Helping them stay in business long enough to see their dreams become reality. Solving problems they never even knew existed before they materialized. Often times before they even got out of bed.

I've had the honor and the privilege to take what I had been given by the industry and by US Foods and pass it on to operators along the way. Some of my best days were days with operators dreaming and building new restaurants of their own. From menu planning to menu costing to equipment layout, training and hiring requirements and so much more I loved the days I could take what I had learned and pass it on and help others build dreams of their own.

Along the way, there were certainly accomplishments. Awards. Recognition. Trips. So many trips. President's Cup. Rising Star. New Customer Case Champion. Territory Manager of the Year. Performance rankings and sales milestones. I'm grateful for all of them. But as I look back today, those aren't the moments I remember most.

I remember the conversations. I remember sitting across a table from a restaurant owner who was worried about making payroll. I remember helping a foodservice director stretch a limited budget. I remember walking kitchens with chefs who were passionate about their craft. I remember celebrating grand openings, anniversaries, and expansions. I remember the customers who became friends. I remember the friendships formed with coworkers who understood the unique challenges of this business. I remember laughing until my sides hurt at food shows, sales meetings, and company events.

I remember the people. Because in the end, it's always about the people.

Of course, not every chapter is easy. Foodservice is a demanding industry. There are no office hours. There were early mornings and late nights. Often my phone would starting ringing before 5:00 in the morning. Sometimes it would ring at 9:30 at night when I was already in bed. Sometimes both happened the same day.

There were challenges, frustrations, disappointments, and difficult decisions. There were times when the load felt incredibly heavy. But that's true of anything worthwhile. And if I've learned anything over the last thirty years, it's that meaningful work often requires carrying more than your share of the burden for a while.

The good days, however, far outnumbered the difficult ones. The blessings far outweighed the sacrifices. US Foods helped provide opportunities I could never have imagined when I first entered this industry. It helped me build a career. It helped me build a home. It helped me build financial security. It helped me develop leadership skills and confidence.

Most importantly, it introduced me to dozens if not hundreds of people who enriched my life in ways they nor I will probably never fully understand. Two of my best friends, Cameron and Brian, came about from working side by side both winning and toiling together day by day for several years. I've learned so much from these two men about life and striving to be more like Jesus. They have both made me a far better human.

And perhaps most surprisingly, US Foods helped prepare me for what comes next. Because every chapter in life teaches us something. This chapter taught me how to serve. It taught me how to lead. It taught me how to solve problems. It taught me how to show up when things get difficult. It taught me that relationships matter more than transactions. And it taught me that success is ultimately measured by the impact we have on other people.

As I begin the next chapter with JMart Travels, I carry those lessons with me. I leave with no bitterness. Only gratitude.

Gratitude for the customers who trusted me. Gratitude for the coworkers who supported me. Gratitude for the leaders who challenged me. Gratitude for the friendships that will continue long after the business relationship ends. Most of all, gratitude for thirty incredible years around the table.

Thank you for allowing me a seat.