Hamra High Fives
The people who choose to build their careers and lives with us are what makes Hamra Enterprises so special. Whether someone is learning essential skills at their first job as a Sandwich Maker, or has grown their career with Hamra to become a member of our senior leadership team, every member of the Hamra Enterprises family has an important role to play in providing excellent service and serving delicious food to our guests, and supporting the communities in which operate.
We’re proud of our team and the incredible work they do each and every day. We’re happy to share some of the amazing stories behind the faces of Team Hamra and give them a big HIGH FIVE!
Jordan Pittman
Wendy’s Crew Member | Springfield, Missouri
Meet Jordan Pittman, an exceptional high school student who effortlessly balances his athletic and professional commitments. Despite having a busy schedule, he still manages to spare some time to share his typical day and his favorite Hamra core value, FUN. Hamra Enterprises is proud to help Jordan and thousands of teammates Iive the life they love.
Ashleigh Hoefl
Noodles & Co. Shift Lead | Chesterfield, Missouri
Ashleigh started her very first job in 2020 at 16 years old, working at Noodles & Company in our South St. Louis County location. She graduated from Affton High School (Go Cougars!) two years later, and became a full-time Noodler. Ashleigh is passionate about taking care of people, so we were happy to support her interest in working as a home health aid for people with disabilities while maintaining a part-time schedule at Noodles & Company.
In 2023, she returned to a full-time position as Shift Leader at our Richmond Heights location, and today she’s working toward becoming an Assistant General Manager at our Chesterfield location. Along the way, Ashleigh bought her first car before graduating from high school, and recently purchased her first house–all before the age of 21! We’re lucky to have Ashleigh on Team Hamra, and we’re so proud of all she’s accomplished–we can’t wait to see her career continue to grow!
Take it from Ashleigh: “I plan to continue to grow in my career, and work to move up the ladder to secure my future and continue to build on the success of Noodles & Company.”
Josh Sloan
Wendy’s, Regional Training Manager | Springfield, Missouri
Joshua’s favorite value in Hamra’s employee-created charter is FAMILY: he believes deeply in nurturing and cherishing relationships. That value comes through as he gives credit to mentors at Hamra for helping him to grow his career, especially Danny Miles, his first General Manager, who taught him about how to provide great service to our guests every day. He credits his next General Manager, Steve Snider, with helping to develop his skills as a manager. And during the first 10 years of his career at Hamra, Joshua says District Managers John Zollman and Randy Halterman “saw something in me” and helped guide his professional development as he took on increasing responsibilities and leadership roles.
Joshua says it best: “It’s great to work for, and with, people that genuinely want you to live your best life. Thank you to the Hamra family for allowing me to do that and find my place in life.”
Abigail Crimmins
Panera Bread, Regional Training Director | Boston, Massachusetts
As an experienced trainer (and trainer for trainers!), Abi’s favorite core value in Hamra’s employee-created charter is DISCOVERY: We have the courage to create the future. She says that as she has grown into her role of training and developing people, she has deepened her understanding of the importance of discovery as she watches members of Team Hamra grow in their own lives and careers.
One of Abi’s greatest lessons as a member of Team Hamra is the importance of working with good people: “Nothing about running restaurants is easy. It’s about the people we surround ourselves with that matters.”
When she’s not at work, Abi’s favorite people to surround herself with are her family–she enjoys going to sporting events with her son and enjoying the beach near her home in Massachusetts.
Kimberly Chalifour
Panera Bread, General Manager | Bartlett, Tennessee
Kimberly has built an incredible career with Hamra, working for Boston Bread as a General Manager, Training Manager and Market Manager before moving to Southern Bread to serve as a General Manager, and now a Training General Manager. Her favorite value in Hamra’s employee-created charter is FUN: “I believe life is hard enough and work shouldn’t make it any harder. Have fun! Every day presents a new challenge and when you go after your goals, the possibilities are endless.” When Kimberly isn’t working and building connection with her Southern Bread team members, you can find her spending time with her family, going to great restaurants–and getting her nails done.
Kimberly loves building and training dynamic teams, and that begins before anyone says a word: “The best advice I was ever given was that there is no such thing as neutral energy. You either add energy into a room or you take it. Bringing energy into a room makes a huge impact on your team and their work ethic.”
Pat Kenneavy
Hamra Management, Financial Planning & Analyst | Aurora, Illinois
Pat joined Hamra Enterprises in 2011 as a Manager at Chicago Bread. During his first week, he worked overnight shifts alongside the bakers. In his first few years, he worked as a Production Manager in the Geneva and Batavia cafés, opened the Aurora Kirk Road café, and then joined the Chicago Bread team as a Production Specialist. As a Production Specialist, Pat had fun traveling to different cafes and coaching each team on production systems and controls.
While Pat initially planned to work at Hamra for just a couple years, he soon found himself invested in his colleagues and the results they were achieving together. He built relationships and was guided by a mentor who helped shape his values as a leader, and today still follows the advice to “focus on what is important now.”
Pat’s favorite core value from Hamra’s employee-created charter is SELF-EXPRESSION: We can count on to be authentic in our speaking and generous in our listening. For Pat, this means honest communication: he can be his authentic self, say what needs to be said, and listen openly to what others are telling him.
When Pat isn’t working, he loves to be outside in the yard or hiking, and travel to new places. He’s also an automobile enthusiast, who enjoys window shopping for cars.
Jimmy Guiett
Panera Bread, General Manager | Jonesboro, Arkansas
Jimmy started his career with Hamra in 2011 on the production line at a Panera Bread cafe, and worked his way up to his current position. He has since opened four drive-through cafes, and created the training program for those openings. Jimmy said the most important lessons he learned early in his career was “to be on time,” and he strives to make it known that he is always willing to help and do whatever needs to be done. His advice for new team members is to always ask questions, and not be afraid to speak up.
In his spare time Jimmy enjoys painting and other creative pursuits, hanging out with his dogs, and taking vacations to Disney World. He said his favorite core value of the Hamra charter is self expression, adding: “Anyone who’s ever taught me anything knows I’ll get it done, but add my own little touch to it.”
Rachid Guerrab
Panera Bread, District Manager | Lowell, Massachusetts
Rachid grew up in Morocco, moving to the U.S. in 2001. He began his career with Panera Bread in 2014 and joined Team Hamra in 2022. The core value he embraces the most is development & growth. “Coaching and learning from one another for me it’s the only way to be successful and help others to succeed,” he said.
Rachid currently lives in Lowell, Mass., where he enjoys spending as much time as possible with his children and cooking Moroccan food, which he feels is important to keep traditions alive.
Rachid said one of the important lessons he learned working for Hamra was “to reach my goals I have to accept the coaching feedback positive or negative, accept the changes and adjust, be patient and work hard.” This is a lesson he is eager to pass along to new team members.
“Don’t bite off more than you can chew,” he said. “Don’t take on too many projects at one time, learn the systems step by step and be patient.”
Wendy Buffum
Wendy’s, Regional Training Manager | New Hampshire
Wendy began her career with Wendy’s 36 years ago, starting as a teenager and working throughout high school and college, and as she said, “met some of the greatest people and never left.”
She said one of the most important lessons she learned was when she was first promoted to store manager: “People work for people they know and trust. So invest in each of them if you want a happy team!”
Wendy said the Hamra core value most important to her is “family,” saying: “Relationships are everything. Without the teamwork, support, and work-family friendships I have made at Wendy’s and Hamra I could not get through the tough times or enjoy the best of times.”