E145: The Gopher of This Love Boat: Shelly Hockenbrocht

Host: Carol MacAllister Guest: Shelly Hockenbrocht, Lead Morning Hostess and Mentor Description: Shelly Hockenbrocht is the kind of employee HR Directors dream of hiring. Eager to work hard and learn everything, Shelly started at Willow Valley at age 17, still a Junior in high school. In her Senior year, she worked full-time in WV in culinary, afternoons and evenings. Thirty-nine years ago, when the total WV staff was about 50 and residents maybe 300, Shelly served in the dining room at Manor. Dining was formal in the early days: staff wore white nursing dresses, clean and crisply ironed, with matching nursing shoes. Resident men wore dress slacks and suit jackets; resident ladies wore dresses, hose, and heels. All practiced good manners, soft voices, and proper comportment. The staff all knew each other, became friends, some found spouses, and hung out together after hours. It was a family. And when weather or illness resulted in short staffing, the administration pitched in, sometimes bringing their entire families to do whatever was necessary—serving meals, washing pots and pans, or mopping the floors. Shelly fit right in and has ever since. Always in culinary, Shelly has served and prepared food, cooked breakfast, and been the morning hostess. When her personal life hit bumps, the administration adjusted her job or hours to help her out, always committed to keeping a good employee…. and that is still the case. And from the beginning, WV has always handed out Christmas bonuses, in those early years it was cash, now it is checks. As Shelly says, WV is a great employer. Getting to know the residents is her greatest joy, and losing them is her greatest sorrow.