Magda Balbastro thought she was fine with her employment situation when she agreed to interview with Desert de Oro Foods (DDO) nine years ago. At the time, she’d already secured a manager position with another quick service restaurant (QSR) company. But, a peer insisted she take the interview.
“I honestly wasn’t looking for a job,” Magda recounts. “I just kind of did him a favor by going. He said it was ‘too good to be true’ what he was telling me about this company.”
“This company,” of course, was DDO. And how humbled we are to hear stories like this! After all, our 42 years in the restaurant industry have been focused on growing the business while ensuring our team members (and guests) are happy.
Part of DDO’s mission is to be the company our employees deserve.
After two interviews, Magda accepted an offer to become a manager for DDO. But it wasn’t before making sure she wouldn’t have to start from the bottom again!
“Look at me as an investment,” she recalls saying in her interview. “You’re not going to regret it.”
According to Magda, DDO was impressed with her customer service experience and team management skills, lengthy tenure with the other company (15 years!), and the fact that she hadn’t been actively looking for a new job when she was approached.
Fast forward through a few well deserved steps up the career ladder and today, Magda is a Restaurant Training Leader (RTL) at one of our Yuma, AZ Taco Bells nestled into the foothills.
HOW DDO IS DIFFERENT
Magda first connected with DDO out of what seems to be mild obligation, but she’s stayed for the DDO family. She expresses gratitude to owners Mark Peterson and Krystal Burge.
“Every single year, they show their support toward me, and their appreciation,” she says. “And that just makes me keeps going. Nine years later, that’s why I’m here — because of them.”
She’s also here because she says she’s found balance and stability. Although there’s opportunity for more career growth, Magda admits that she’s good with where she’s at. “For me personally, I just love the position that I’m at right now.”
“I like the way I have balance between my personal life and work.” -Magda Balbastro, RTL
REWARDING FEELING
“When I was working with my previous company, I didn’t feel valued,” Magda shares. She’d help accomplish company goals, really give it her all — and not feel appreciated. She heard DDO was different and only one month in, found herself invited to an award ceremony. That really stuck with her. “It was mind changing … really motivated me.”
So imagine what Magda thinks of us now after earning a spot on our inaugural Estrellas de Oro reward trip to Cabo!
“It means a lot,” she says. “It’s priceless … and I wouldn’t have done it by myself without the support of my team.”
Estrellas de Oro is a new DDO tradition, a chance to show our best and brightest restaurant leaders how much we appreciate their unwavering dedication. Magda says she and her husband of 28 years enjoyed every minute of it. But this wasn’t Magda’s only tropical trip this year — she also attended Taco Bell’s Golden Bell trip to Hawaii!
“With Golden Bell, it’s something that as a team we’ve all been striving for,” she says. “And we finally got it this year and we’re still celebrating!”
Together with Magda, we acknowledge that being rewarded for a job well done is a team effort in our restaurants. She offers advice for others hoping to be tapped: ”Make sure your whole team knows the goals, and invest in achieving those goals. When you invest, these are the results!”
This wisdom comes from a gal who admittedly changed her childhood motto from “you only live once “ to “you die once, but you live every day.” So love what you do and join our team!