Maria Villicano is an Area Coach (AC) for Diversified Restaurant Group (DRG) who brought 16 years of Taco Bell experience to the job when she joined us three years ago. As an AC, Maria covers a lot of ground in our Los Angeles, CA market. “I’m a little everywhere,” she laughs.
One thing that was not a laughing matter, were the recent California wildfires that impacted three of the Taco Bells Maria oversees. The Eaton Fire forced temporary closures of those restaurants, the longest of which lasted five days.
“The first two days were very, very scary,” Maria shares. “Employees couldn’t go back home, they had to evacuate.”
Acting with Care
Maria immediately sprang into action. “I called the stores to make sure they were okay,” she says. The next call was to our Director of Operations, Isaiah Ritchie, who agreed to immediately close down impacted restaurants for the safety of everyone.
Maria appreciates the way DRG cares for their people. “They don’t just say it,” she says. “They show it.” In this instance, she says that DRG paid team members for any days they were scheduled to work and were not able to as a result of the wildfires. Many people were staying in hotels due to the evacuation order, and this kind gesture lessened the financial impact.
“DRG truly cares about every single person that’s part of their team.” – Maria Villicano, Area Coach
After a very tense few days, the haze lifted, literally and figuratively. “From there, everything just kept getting better,” Maria says.
Miraculously, none of Maria’s team members lost their homes to the fire. “I’m very grateful for that,” she says. And we’re grateful for leaders like you, Maria!
