Cathy Tucker is the new training coordinator for Firehouse Subs.
WHAT DOES SHE DO?
She is responsible for inspections of company-owned and franchise units and will teach training courses to area representatives, franchisees and general managers.
WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL?
“I do manager training. Managers have to be certified through the state and I provide that training. Once they are certified, then they can train their employees. We are growing with such a large expansion that we have area representatives who cover a district [like Tampa] and oversee those restaurants there. I’ll go and visit an area representative and visit one of the stores.” For instance, she will check certain things about the store to make sure they are doing it right. “It’s a double checking system to make sure they are properly proportioning. When we say how many ounces of meat are on a sandwich, we want that to be consistent in all stores.”
WHAT WAS THE NEED FOR A TRAINING COORDINATOR?
“We are in the process of coming up with some training manuals and guidelines to use as Firehouse Subs expands. They used to do training more on a store-by-store basis. As they have been expanding and continued to grow, they realized they needed more of a structured setting with more guidelines.” Firehouse has developed a new training program for the franchisees and managers with hands-on training. They learn everything from the register system to baking cookies.
WHERE DOES SHE DO HER TRAINING?
In the training facility upstairs at the Firehouse Subs location in San Marco. She also travels to the stores and helps transition managers to new stores, train area representatives, new franchisee owners as well as perform other various tasks to ensure quality control.
QUALITY CONTROL?
“I used to be a health inspector and Firehouse Subs has always been aproactive restaurant rather then a reactive restaurant. They have always been conscientious about that.”
WHAT DID SHE DO BEFORE FIREHOUSE SUBS?
She was the Florida Restaurant Association’s district manager of Northeast Florida. Before that she was a sanitation and safety specialist (health inspector) for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations, including food safety training. She has also worked for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI.
COLLEGE
She has a bachelor’s degree in administrative of justice from George Mason University. “It is more of a law enforcement-based degree. Initially what I was going to do was save the world, but after I had my children, I decided to just save those three. When I went to get back into the work force, one of the requirements to be a sanitation and safety specialist was to have a degree in law enforcement, so I went that way.”
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT TRAINING?
“I like meeting all kinds of people. Everyone learns differently and I enjoy watching somebody learn something, whatever way they do it. I like watching it just click for them in their eyes and in their mannerisms. I enjoy talking and listening. The restaurant industry is not consistent. You deal with customers and the you deal with your own staff. No two days are ever alike.”
BIRTHPLACE?
Heidelberg, Germany.
MOVED TO JACKSONVILLE?
In 1994.
RESIDES
Intracoastal West.
FAMILY
She has been married to William, who works with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a senior crime lab analyst, for 19 years. They have three children, Kimberly, 18, Nicole, 17, and Chase, 14.
HOBBIES
She works at the Kelly Seahorse Ranch on Sunday and enjoys walking and reading.
FAVORITES
“Being There” tops her movie list and she enjoyed reading the autobiography of Sammy Davis Jr. When relaxing at home, she enjoys watching “Friends.” When dining out, she prefers Maria’s Italian Restaurant on Atlantic Boulevard. Orlando is her destination choice because she is a Mickey Mouse fan.
CHURCH
St. Paul’s Catholic Church.
— by Michele Newbern Gillis