Spotlight: Liz Swagerty

This weblog is all about LaVelle Vineyards. More importantly though, it's about my experiences with the company and the people that are invovolved with it. LaVelle Vineyards wouldn't be where it is today without the people that work here. So, talking about the people that work here and letting everyone know how important they are to not only LaVelle Vineyards, but me as a manager, is something I don't take lightly. This may be a little longer than normal post, but it's an important one about my friend and coworker, Liz Swagerty.

Let me start with a recent experience and how it relates to a simply wonderful person. In the last week of March every year there's a tradition that happens in every college town across the United States...everyone leaves. Also known as Spring Break, most college students leave their college towns and go blow off their previous-term-steam from school. Liz, being a college student, had the chance to go to Maui with a family that she'd been nannying with for a number of years previously. Of course, she took the opportunity and we adjusted the schedule so she could go.

She had an excellent time, as most would in a tropical paradise. When she came back, her skin was several shades darker and she brought stories of snorkeling, dancing and basking in the sun upon her return. Oh, and that's not all she came back with. She took most of the money she left with and bought a ton of caramel and milk chocolate covered macadamia nut clusters and Kona coffee for everyone. I got a package of each and just today I'm getting around to having a couple of couple of Hualalai Estate Kona Coffee. This has to be some of the best coffee I've ever had. Thanks Liz! This is just an example of the kindness of one of my coworkers, and of course friends. Not to take away from the gift of a great cup of Kona Coffee and a box full of Chocolate Caramel covered Macadamia Nuts, but this just scratches the surface in describing everything that Liz has done for me and my family business.

When I first started working full time in August of last year I was excited but overwhelmed. I came into a situation where I needed to learn a lot of about running a business as I went and I looked for help from my new coworkers. Within the first few months I had lost my Special Events manager, my chef, and my Bistro Manager. My Dad was (and still is) a huge help during this transition but what I was knee deep in was trying to run the day-to-day operations of a small company and learning how to hire the right people for the right positions and I had little history and experiences to help me make decisions.

I promoted Liz to my Assistant Manager of the Bistro and she kept everything on track during these transitions, some of which are still going on today. Liz was then and is now like a rock to the Bistro and therefore is a major part of what we're trying to do at LaVelle Vineyards. She does the scheduling, supplies inventory, planning and execution of private parties, and works the toughest server shifts we have down at the bistro. Last night a club member, making a baseball analogy, said that Liz and Dawn (another excellent server of ours) were like Mantle and Maris to LaVelle Vineyards.

I wanted to take this time to spotlight Liz Swagerty for everything that she is to LaVelle Vineyards and more importantly to me and my transition from a geek building websites in Roseburg to a manager working for my family business. I would not be able to do this without people like Liz Swagerty. Thank you my friend.