Lisa started as a server at the LongHorn Steakhouse in College Park, Georgia, in 2002. She always had aspirations to move up the ranks, but a single event propelled her on her way. One day, 150 women, who were attending a nearby Mary Kay conference, came into the restaurant and were seated at Lisa’s station. When there was slight delay in serving their food, the women discovered they had to return to the conference before their meal could be served. Taking the proverbial bull by the horns, Lisa offered to pack up their order and deliver it personally to the conference center so they wouldn’t miss their meal. A few weeks later, Lisa’s Regional Manager received a glowing letter of thanks from the Mary Kay group for Lisa’s exemplary service. That letter is now part of the LongHorn Steakhouse training manual. Lisa was immediately promoted to Certified Trainer, where she discovered a real passion for hiring and training new servers. During the next five years, she took it upon herself to learn all aspects of the business, cross-training as a bartender, doing kitchen prep and learning to work the grill. This experience served her well when it came time to be promoted to Service Manager. Lisa’s superiors had taken notice of her tendency to step in and take charge whenever needed, such as when her manager was occupied with other responsibilities. Her natural leadership skills were clearly evident, which has led to successive promotions, from Service Manager to Kitchen Manager to Bar and Host Manager and finally Managing Partner of the Akers Mill restaurant in Atlanta. Lisa has found the many career opportunities, along with Darden’s commitment to diversity, a strong reason why she considers the company the best place to work. She credits Darden’s terrific training and education programs for her success. Lisa has aspirations to work on the corporate side of the business so she can continue to learn, grow and help LongHorn delight guests.