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‘A Joyous Responsibility:’ How One of Chick-fil-A’s Youngest Operators Got Involved with the Chain
Chick-fil-A restaurants in the Orlando market occasionally partner with the Opportunity Jobs Academy, which offers disadvantaged and at-risk high school teens and young adults the chance to engage with business leaders for mentoring and education. Skills taught in this program include how to interview for a job, how to present themselves in public, how to network, etc. When an OJA group recently visited Holly Rivera’s Chick-fil-A restaurant in Orlando’s Lake Nona community, they were a bit surprised. They couldn’t believe how young she was, or that she was a woman, or Hispanic. “Wait, you’re the owner?” one participant asked. For Rivera, having the opportunity to show this diverse group the possibilities in front of them was very meaningful. “I think of it as a joyous responsibility, not a heavy responsibility,” she said during a recent interview. Rivera’s path to becoming a Chick-fil-A owner/operator in Lake Nona three and a half years ago is paved with serendipity. She studied hotel and restaurant management at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management with an objective of “doing something service oriented.” “I loved people, and I knew if I got that degree, I could be successful by taking care of people. Awesome,” she said. That initial opportunity came from longtime Chick-fil-A operator (and UCF alumnus) Charlie Fish, who is known as an "operator tree with a knack to coach up" by some in the company.
Nation’s Restaurant News