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By: Cheryl Smith
January 10, 2007
Terry Walker loves hamburgers and is living his dream as the general manager at a Whataburger store in Euless. All of Mr. Walker’s hard work, dedication and commitment to excellence are paying off as he prepares to go to Houston to compete in the “WhataGames ‘Burger Olympics,” February 16-19.
Out of 564 Whataburger restaurant teams in Texas, Arizona, Florida and New Mexico, Mr. Walker’s team from the Euless restaurant on Airport Freeway joins 15 other finalists who practiced for three months in preparation for the coveted honors. In addition to conducting a written quiz, Whataburger hired an outside company to conduct food safety and cleanliness audits and they also introduced a mystery shopper.
Mr. Walker is confident that his team will be victorious. His positive attitude about the company and customers has to have had something to do with his success. “At this store, we realize that our customers are our bosses,” he said. “We stress customer service, we clean as we go and we practice safety and quality.”
And that’s just what they must do to win. Food handling abilities and food safety guidelines are important elements of the competition, which also includes knowing the operations manuals and memorizing Whataburger trivia.
Mr. Walker says his team is ready. The finals will take place during the Whataburger Family Convention and he will be taking with him one manager, two team leaders and six team members. The winning team will walk away with $5,000 each, in addition to other monetary prizes for team members who did not compete.
In all, $140,000 will be awarded to employees. Additionally, the top corporate general manager of the year could ride away in a Ford Mustang Convertible. A single-parent of seven, Mr. Walker wouldn’t mind at all being known as the maker of the best Whataburger in the world and has nothing but kind words for the family-owned corporation that prides itself on its “made-to-order burgers.”
He’s also proud that he can serve as a role model. “I can give an example of what you can do as a Black man,” he explained. “I take care of my family and my job.”
Both seem to be synonymous as he praised the sense of “family” that he feels at Whataburger, which explains why he is so happy. “I really like making burgers and the family environment that is present with Whataburger,” he said, adding that he is working his dream job. “This is the place I am to retire at.”
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