Q + A

Hear more from our conversation with LaKeith in the Q&A section below.

• What inspired you to work in the university environment?

  I'm able to spark individuals’ minds. If the food is good, and the customer service is good, we can bring people from all walks of life together because young minds are going to be the pathway to spark change in the future. If I become a great leader and become able to provide a great food service program to these individual students, I’m going to be able to bring together people from all walks of life and all backgrounds to the table. I’m able to help them spark a conversation about how we can change the world.

• How has Aramark empowered you to get involved in your community?

  At Sources United, we help put students on a path so that they can get into college. There are some individuals that want to go into the culinary program. With Aramark, we did a partnership with the Goodwill program in Winston-Salem. There’s a food bank in Winston-Salem that teaches a twelve-week course in basic culinary skills, and students get a certificate. When they graduate, they have to do an internship. In this partnership, Goodwill pays half and Aramark pays half. Once they graduate their course, they come and do an internship with us at Aramark, where we often hire them as cooks. They go through the twelve-week course. They get a certificate. It’s a whole ceremony. We, as managers, show up and speak on their behalf, congratulating them. They’re then able to come back into our operation and move from dishwashers to our elite cooks.

• How do you put paying it forward into action in your career?

  Without Aramark, I wouldn't be here today. I wouldn’t be able to help so many people in the community that I help. I’m a first-generation college student and understanding the path that I took to get to college and earn a degree helps me give back. I take this job very seriously because my mother used to be a food service worker. I take this job very seriously because I remember times when my mother’s check was short. Sometimes she worked extra hours, and sometimes her boss didn’t input her hours correctly. We had to wait, do without, or miss certain things. I understand that struggle so well because my mother went through that same struggle. Sometimes I’m the only support these employees have, so I take it an extra step because I understand that food service checks provided me something to eat and helped me get to college.

• Do you think Aramark embodies the entrepreneurial spirit?

  To me, Aramark is like ‘The Field of Dreams.’ If you build it, they'll come. If you build yourself up, become the best you possibly can become, and work to do everything the right way, people will come and watch. People are going to want to come and ask, what are you doing? What do you do that makes your place creative? What makes you do what you do? Once again, I'm an African American kid, first generation college graduate. Nobody in my family was a business operator overseeing projects. That's my background, and I'm making it. I'm still striving because of my hard work. Everything I wanted at Aramark I was able to get.

• What is your approach to leadership at Aramark?

  I want to motivate. I want to help as many people as I can while working with Aramark. I want to leave a legacy and say, “I did it the right way and helped people along the way.” I don’t want to ride this ride by myself. I want to make sure that I bring up and coming managers with me. It doesn’t matter what their background is – if they believe in what we’re doing and the service we provide, I’m here to help them along the way.