The weeks of historically cold weather in Texas were a great challenge for the Emerge! Sonic Units. The Winter storm that affected Texas between February 13th and February 17th, 2021, caused failures in electricity, water supply and food accessibility for Texans and our different units in the area, with an aftermath that impacted communities for many more days. Our units’ response was “No Electricity, No Problem!”. Our team showed great dedication and did a great job taking care of our customers to make sure they had a meal during the tough times for all of us in Texas! We have gone through pretty rough times but we always go above and beyond!
We want to share some of the stories of our teams and their heroic work:
Dawn from unit 4402 managed to open her store on Monday and Tuesday and lost power on 2/17/2021. She picked up people from her store and ensured she was open for business. She did not get any help from any of her managers as they were all scared and stranded in their homes due to the weather and road conditions, but that did not stop her as she stayed from open to close at her location both days without hesitation. We are truly proud of people like Dawn, a true example of what every manager would like to have in their team and shows true ownership and dedication to her store.
Santos, from unit 1123, when asked if he was ok and ready to go to his store, did not hesitate at all to say “Yes, ma’am. I am heading to the store and I am picking up employees to get there”. His store was also open every day of the week. They lost power two days but never hesitated to stay open and until close if necessary. We are proud to have him representing our team as he is truly a team player and always says yes when something needs to be done. from me anytime I ask something to be done.
Eduardo from unit 1054 went to his store every day of the week finding back roads to make sure that he had power. Not only did he travel from Baytown to his house every day but he also made sure that his store had enough product to open every day. He led the team in sales last week. We were happy to see this type of ownership and dedication every day. Lapold Ka from unit 5507 was the first one to make it to his drive-in every day of the week to make sure the roads were safe for his team to drive. Once he would make it to his drive-in, he would check for power and then he would call his team. If his team had no ride to work then he would pick them up and open the unit.
Alex really went the extra mile to help the entire team. Starting on Monday, he took the lead and drove around 4 stores down on the South: his store in Fairmont, Laporte, Space Center and drove back and went to check on Bellfort store. Not only did he do that on Monday, but he went twice a day, 2 days in a row. He took products from his store to Baytown so we could stay open, went back to his store and did 3 trips to 2 different locations to ensure we had bread and products. The next day his store still didn't have any power so he gathered 3 employees, took them to the nearest location -Laporte- and stayed to help. Alex is a real MVP!
Antonio really took the lead. He drove through all small streets to ensure to get to the nearest location -which was Main 4394- and helped the 2 days his store went out of power. It was impossible for him to make it to Laporte, his home store, and there was no power either way. Antonio helped 4394, 2 days in a row, without hesitation. The moment he found out he had power at his store he called everyone and took them back. He knew he was going to be busy. He kept updating us on sales as he was concerned about sustaining losses. That’s someone who really owns their numbers!
Nicole went out and helped 2 different locations those first 3 days she was out of power at her own home store. Even though she was scared to drive, she took the lead and drove 3 employees to 4394, and the next day went to help 3379 by bringing employees with her to help Antonio. Nicole really showed us that she's a Team player and a real MVP. While she was at different locations helping out she had someone that stayed closed by the store checking up 3 times a day to ensure power was still out.
Lisa De Los Santos from unit 4028 went above and beyond. Unable to open up her own unit due to the fact they had no power, Lisa got her team together to go help out at 1122 because they were busy and didn’t have enough employees for the business demand. Lisa not only packed up her team to get to the store to help, but the unit was running low on product and she gathered products from her unit and another unit without power to make sure they had what they needed for their business demand. Lisa and her team went above and beyond to help out another unit gather people and product until she was able to open up her own unit on Thursday. Lisa showed great leadership and teamwork.
Adrian Mallory, from unit 1122, had determination that made it possible to open up his unit despite the terrible weather on Monday. The next day it was the same; he got there and opened his unit without hesitation despite the challenges.
Syed from unit 5702 went above and beyond to ensure his store had product and was open from day one of the storm. He picked people up in his car to bring them to work and ensured they were open to serve our community. He worked 14+ hours each day to make sure he had the product and the people to continue service and his store was indeed open the whole week, until we lost power on 2/17/2021 at 6:30pm. It is people like him that fill us with pride when they give 120% for their store and their teams. We never got a “No, I can’t” from him, it was always a “Yes, ma’am. I am on my way. I will make sure to do it no matter what.”
We are so lucky to have team members who showed ownership and responsibility when they were most needed. Thank you for your hard work and commitment! We pulled together as one!