Service Champion Gracie Salazar is one ambitious young woman. We’re so lucky she’s kicking off her career at our Paris, CA, Taco Bell, because she’s proving to be an MVP-in-the-making!
Gracie just received $25,000 — the highest-dollar scholarship possible from Taco Bell Foundation’s Live Más program for restaurant employees!
Check out her impressive application video:
According to Gracie, she really didn’t think she’d win, so she was definitely caught off guard. Actually, several times, and we’ve had fun participating in all of the surprises!
“She’s loyal, she’s educated and she’s earned it.” – Gracie’s Relative
SURPRISE, SURPRISE
In April, Taco Bell Foundation flew Gracie to Las Vegas under the guise of her sitting through one final scholarship interview. Instead, this lifelong sports fanatic got to meet one of her fave players in person, Raiders’ wide receiver Davante Adams! The prearranged encounter timed perfectly with news that our very own Gracie had won Taco Bell Foundation’s $25,000 scholarship award. She says Davante was very excited for her.
But one surprise just isn’t enough when you live más, so sneaky us, we invited Gracie to come “work” on her day off and in the meantime, filled the restaurant with lots of special folks (including her parents, friends, close relatives, and even school officials) to witness receipt of the big check.
“It was honestly a really big surprise,” she recounts. “I had walked in … I kind of saw it was really packed and busy, and I was like, oh goodness, I’m going to have to deal with the rush as soon as I clock in.”
The rest of that celebratory day lives on in memory and photos!
EARLY INSPIRATION
Gracie’s scoring pretty high in life right now. She’s only been with Taco Bell and DRG for eight months, but is already experiencing this incredible support for pursuing her dreams.
So where did it all start? Gracie attributes her inner drive to her parents and grandparents.
“They have sacrificed a lot, working numerous amounts of jobs to just provide for us,” she says. “They were very hardworking despite challenges that we faced as a family. They’ve never shown, you know, truly a moment of weakness that allowed them to suffer.”
Gracie plans to start at a two-year community college and then apply to universities with strong business programs, where she’ll focus on sports management and marketing. Her dream is to become general manager of a professional baseball team.
Here at DRG, we applaud Gracie’s will to be successful in a male-dominated profession. Empowering women to rise up is part of our evolving culture!
Gracie’s not the only lucky scholarship winner. Check out who else received Live Más support this year!
