Imagine Your Impact

"TO BE CONSIDERED FOR A MANAGERIAL ROLE FRESH OUT OF SCHOOL IS A GREAT FEELING”

Almitra is one of our most promising emerging leaders. She started in our student Accelerate to Leadership Program and has since been brought on full-time as a housekeeping manager, overseeing an entire department. Almitra has thrived in her new, full-time leadership role and is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.

I have been working with Aramark’s uniforms services in the Bay Area for more than 22 years, starting in 1993 as a sales representative with a local uniforms delivery route.

Since then, I’ve spent the better part of my career moving up through our uniforms business, taking on larger responsibilities with each new role. I moved from my sales route to manager to account executive, all the way to director of sales. Now, I manage the entire Northwest region for our strategic uniforms business, as well as cleanroom business development in the US and Puerto Rico.

The best advice I can give people is that you have to be patient, but take advantage of the good experiences you get along the way. 

Aramark taught me that every day I should always make customers feel like they made the right choice. When I was a district manager, I had a customer who was looking for something new and innovative from his uniform services, so I paid attention, understood what he was looking for and offered the help of my team. Shortly after, he was so pleased with what we had accomplished, he renewed his contract with us and we picked up two new locations. By listening, following up and building that relationship, I was able to make sure he had an excellent experience.

While I’ve enjoyed a long successful career personally, I consider the people I’ve trained and promoted to be my biggest accomplishment. I work closely with my team, develop them and use my experience as a guide to help carve their own career path. Seeing them succeed gives me a great sense of pride.  

As part of my development process, I encourage all new account executives to go on community service trips, so that they understand how their role at this company goes deeper than selling uniforms. It always ends up being a great experience for them in connecting with the community. One time I was painting a local community center in San Francisco and turned to discover that Aramark’s president was painting right alongside me. I thought that was really impressive.  Aramark is about people and community and I’m proud to work for a company that knows the importance of giving back.

In 2009, shortly after serving on my 3rd tour in Iraq, I joined Aramark as Director of Environmental Services at Fort Healthcare. I honestly didn’t know if I was going to get the job because I had no prior experience in the field, but I was given the chance to learn on the job and lead a team of 25 people.

Right away, what I liked most was that every day was different—it wasn’t boring. I knew I wouldn’t have liked a typical desk job, so it was great to always be on the move. My team and I have been able to work directly with healthcare organizations and completely rejuvenate their facilities, whether we were replacing the floors, eliminating waste or helping reduce risk of patient and doctor infection. We’re able to make immediate changes and our clients couldn’t be happier. 

I found my military experience helped me learn the job quickly. We’re trained to make speedy calculations under pressure, so my ability to react quickly and calmly helped me stand out and respond to our customer’s needs in the most effective and efficient manner. 

Above all else, I want my customers to have complete trust in what I’m doing and know I will take care of what needs to be done. Service means anticipating needs and coming up with innovative solutions before they ask.

I also try to bring that same level of commitment to my community. I’m a member of our regional Star Team, which is our employee volunteer group that gives back to underprivileged communities.

It wasn’t long before I was ready for the next step within Aramark. I took a job leading a bigger team at Bellin Health and after just three years, I became the general manager for the Cook County Health System and Center for Jewish Elders in Chicago. 

Now, I’m leading five directors with over 60 full time employees and overseeing a budget of more than $8 million. 

In my years of experience, the one thing I’ve learned is that the only person you’re limited by is yourself. You can grow far as you want to grow.