In our interview with Mary, she shares how working at FedUp Foods feels like being part of a family, where employees are genuinely valued and supported. With a diverse and fun atmosphere, excellent benefits, and a strong sense of purpose, Mary’s experience serves as an example of why FedUp Foods stands out as her best job ever. Want to know more? Read on!
What is your favorite part of working for FedUp Foods?
MR: My favorite part is the moment that I walked in the door, I felt a kinship. I felt like I knew these people, I knew what they were about, I knew who they were, and it makes you feel at home. They're really good to you, they listen to you, they make you feel important. They feed you, they give you time off, they don't make you feel like it's the end of the world if you have an emergency. They make you feel like it's home. If you're here 260 days out of 365, you don't hate coming to work. You like being here. That's the best part for me.
You don't feel like a number, you feel like a person. Like if you have a real genuine concern about something that's bothering you or something that might need to change, they actually listen to you. Yeah, they do their best to put people first.
What are people like here?
MR: Very diverse. I'm probably one of the oldest employees here, and they've never made me feel that way. They've always made me feel like I'm 18 or 20 or 30 or 40, and I'm older than that. (laugh) And I love that. I love no matter what your background or where you come from or anything that's different about you, they make you feel like you belong.
How would you describe the people here?
MR: They're fun. They're funny. They're fun to be around. Everyone has a good attitude. They're good people to be around all the time. I've never felt like I don't wanna be here. The atmosphere is so drab or bad. They're fun to be around, every one of them.
What are some of the purposes of working here?
MR: For me personally, I don't have to sit in a cubicle in the air conditioning somewhere. I get to move around. I get to see different people. I get to wear semi-casual clothes. They feed us really well. If you work on a Saturday, they feed you. They're like saying, hey, thanks for coming in. Here's some food. I love that. There's company trips they send you on. Everything, I love everything about this place.
There's kind of a theme here, even in your answers and with everybody else so far, there seems to be a general sense that leadership cares.
MR: What they do, what their belief system is, giving back to the local community — they're very mindful of what they do to the community, to the environment, to their employees. They care and that makes you really proud to work here.
Why did you start working here?
MR: It was close. I live here in the county, so it was really close. The pay is good, the benefits are outstanding. It's the best place I've ever worked and I've had a lot of jobs at my age. I've been a teacher, a coach, a bus driver. I've worked at the Biltmore Estate, I've worked at a university. I've worn many hats and this is by far the best job I've ever had.
How do you feel like you've grown here? You kinda touched on this before you learned something every day, but how do you grow here?
MR: They make you feel like you can do anything. When you walk in the door and they'll say, we see you in management or we see you being a machine tech. You're like, me, a machine tech? I'm a machine tech in a year. I'm working on these machines within a year. They give you confidence when you don't have any in yourself. They give it to you, management does.
What are some of the perks of working at FedUp Foods?
MR: What they do for the environment is amazing. They care about where it begins and where it ends, all in between. The producers, the consumers, they care about educating people, not only their employees, but they care about educating the public about what they do. That's important.
It makes you feel like instead of just being a number and “we need you to answer the phone all day”, you feel like that you're part of something where you're helping climate change, you feel like you're helping feed people, educate people. Even if it's not people in the local community, it's people all across North and South America right now. You feel like you have a bigger purpose than just coming in, clocking in, clocking out. You feel important.
Personally, what does that mean? How does that make you feel?
MR: Proud. Proud to say, this is what I do for a living every day.
