Greenville Team Members
A message from Caroline Skinner, our Chief of Staff
I read a quote yesterday describing restaurant entrepreneurs as some of the ‘toughest folks in business.’ With razor thin margins, endless competition, and an onslaught of ‘added services’ like 3rd party delivery that chip away as every profit dollar; restaurants are accustomed to fighting for their business daily…and this was before covid-19.
Then came a pandemic, that sent an entire industry built on hustle & heart to a grinding halt. During this time the ‘toughest folks in business’ pivoted: they develop new means of distributing their product; they found new ways to employ their staff; and they fought for their business. They are still fighting. WE are still fighting.
However, during our fight we made some important decisions. Decisions that I’ve seen replicated across our entire industry. Decisions that I’m proud be part of and proud to support. Decisions that can be summed up in a single sentence: during hard times, we found ways to still do good.
For us, it looked like several small steps:
1) Feeding our furloughed team members.
2) Donating meals to front-line hospital workers.
3) Donating portions of our revenue to non-profits that enhance our communities.
Then, when an opportunity to do something BIG presented itself we JUMPED. Covid-19 prompted us to finally fulfill a dream to create a non-profit supporting our Tupelo Honey Team Members. Next week, we will officially launch the application process for our new formed Tupelo Honey Employee Relief Fund. A small decision to charge for biscuits and donate proceeds to our employee relief fund, has turned into a $100K+ charity.
So, what exactly does it mean to be ‘toughest in business’? Maybe it isn’t about how resilient we are in the face of adversity. But maybe it’s about how much GOOD we can do…even when things are harder that we ever imagined they could be.