Mason MacDonald topped 55,000 other Sodexo employees in a national competition. Photo by Ron Aira.
Sodexo USA, the food service provider for George Mason University, has 12 regions, 100 districts, 480 university accounts and more than 55,000 employees. Earlier this year George Mason’s Mason MacDonald won the National Customer Experience Award for his lively efforts behind the counter at the Northern Neck Starbucks on Mason’s Fairfax Campus.
“The fact that Mason is being recognized at the national level is extraordinary,” said John Teeple, resident district manager for Sodexo, referring to the coincidentally named student. “We’re extremely proud of his accomplishments and positive contributions to Starbucks, to Sodexo and to the George Mason communities.”
We caught up with MacDonald during a rare break behind the counter.
Q: What is your year and major?
A: I am a senior here and my major is environmental and sustainability studies.
Q: What do you do at Starbucks besides brighten customers’ days with a sunny disposition?
A: I am a “lead” at Starbucks, meaning that I am in charge of the location and the crew during my hours. On top of being able to make drinks and interact with customers, I do several deep-cleaning tasks to help the overnight supervisor.
There’s also some less-entertaining logistical work like counting the money in the safe, stocking and moving inventory, and documenting temperature logs [of the perishable merchandise]. I’ve been working at this location for about two years, and I became a lead last semester. Added to my experience here, I've also been working on and off at Starbucks locations since I was 16—I’m 22 now.
Q: What motivates you to out-perform 55,000 other Sodexo workers?
A: My favorite part of work at the moment is about finding the art in what I do to keep it interesting to me. When I’m on bar I tweak my milk steaming and pouring techniques—I know, what a blast—in order to create better quality drinks. Of course, I also like cracking jokes with customers. That never gets old.
Q: What’s next after graduation in May?
A: After graduation I would like to work as a park ranger or a [marine] bycatch analyst for NOAA. I'm expanding my career search to the private sector as well. My end goal, once I've gained lots of experience, is to work as a climatologist.