Feet on the Street

Chick-fil-A, Jefferson Pointe (Aunt Shirley)

By Teresa Royer

If any of you have ever eaten inside Chick-fil-A at Jefferson Pointe, you may have met Aunt Shirley or possibly Grandma and Grandpa who are Chick-fil-A employees complete with nametags accordingly.

I spent some time with Shirley Lawson, Extra Mile Person and Andrea Detlefsen, Unit Marketing Director earlier this week because I was always curious about Aunt Shirley. I learned that Shirley is NOT a blood relative at all to the owner, Jeff Hoffman, or anyone on the Chick-fil-A staff.

It all started a few years ago when Shirley was looking for a quick place to eat for a nice salad or healthy lunch of some sort. She really liked Chick-fil-A’s chargrilled chicken garden salad specifically because of the variety of vegetables; she also appreciated the moderate price---so much so that she kept coming back—“a regular” I guess you would say.

She was very comfortable going to Chick-fil-A at lunch time—it was working for her. Jeff must have noticed his happy, loyal customer and commented to Shirley. However, Shirley shared with me that Jeff’s comment hurt her feelings; she couldn’t quite remember what he said exactly but she perceived it as if Jeff thought she didn’t have anything else better to do and she was slightly offended! She decided she better “lay low” for a while and find somewhere else to eat lunch.

Shirley’s sister suggested that since she liked Chick-fil-A so much and she was looking for work, why not ask them if they were hiring. Well, Shirley thought about if for a while and decided to ask Melanie Stauss, the General Manager if they were hiring.

Shortly afterwards, Shirley found herself on the opposite end of a table from Jeff who had just offered her the job as the “Extra Mile Person.” She asked what the job would entail, in which he replied something to the effect of “just do what you want to do.” Jeff’s goal was to go that extra mile for his customers and thought Shirley could provide just that. He already had Grandma and Grandpa working for him (his in-laws, by the way) why not have “Aunt Shirley.” Thus her title was born.

It is obvious that Shirley has a servant’s heart and has no problem whatsoever, wanting to make sure each and every guest at Chick-fil-A is cared for be it offering something you may need from her condiment cart (her idea, by the way) or the young mom needing help with the little ones, or the senior citizen wanting someone to chat with over lunch and everything in between.

Shirley feels like she has come full-circle from a time when she was in first grade and had a part in the school play in which her line was “May I help you?” She loved having that part and she loves her part at Chick-fil-A.

Luckily for Jeff, Shirley Lawson went from what could have been a disgruntled customer to “Aunt Shirley” valued employee.

If you haven’t met Aunt Shirley yet, I highly suggest you stop in; she will give you her card which is good for a free dessert for all first-time guests. It’s important to note that she does have set hours but you will most likely catch her during the lunch and dinner hour.

Please know the peach milk shake is out of this world! Tell them Teresa sent you…..