Colleen Brewer

Details

Food Service Manager, Plymouth State University (Sodexo)
Plymouth, NH
Age: 25
Education: Plymouth State University
Years at organization: 7

Why Selected?

According to Christopher Mongeon, former general manager for Sodexo at Plymouth State University, Colleen has made a difference by:

Get to know

Q. What has been your proudest accomplishment?

I started with this company as a dishwasher, was promoted to cold prep and continued on to dining room supervisor. Now I’m a foodservice manager. It has been quite the trip. 

Q. What would you say you excel at over more seasoned colleagues?

I am the resident go-to lady for any tech. I spearhead most of the social media aspects of marketing and I’m the site manager for my account’s website. 

Q. What's the best career advice you've been given?

The best career advice came from my operations director, Sandy Marrotte, who said, “Know your weaknesses.” I continue to identify these weaknesses and construct plans of self-improvement every day.

Q. What's been the biggest challenge you've had to overcome?

I was promoted from within, so it was challenging to go from being a co-worker to an authority figure with the employees who trained me. But, the experience has taught me patience and understanding.

Q. What's been your most rewarding moment?

So far, winning second place in the National Sodexo Safety Video contest. I directed, designed, developed and edited the project and was thrilled when it won.

Q. What's been your funniest on-the-job disaster?

To save my dignity, I will not share the details of my story, but I will share the lesson I learned: It takes about a month for eyebrows to grow back, a little longer for eyelashes. Enough said.

Q. What can you look back at now and laugh at?

On my very first day as a dining room supervisor, I was managing about 25 employees. A student employee came up to me and, before she could say anything, fainted into my arms. Everything turned out fine, but I will never forget holding the girl and thinking that I may not survive this job! 

What would you like to accomplish in your career short term?

I would like to [get involved in] Sodexo’s Learning Performance Department. I’m interested in the process of building curricula and plans of implementation to teach the next generation of front-line employees and managers.