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Translated By The Community Of WWW.MY-SUBS.COM

This week on Undercover Boss...

The CTO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen,

the world's second largest fried chicken restaurant chain,

poses as a fine-dining employee

swapping jobs with a fast-food worker.

- I'm Pam. - It's nice to meet you, Pam.

You're new and you're training.

Baby, you gotta hustle.

Ooh, I'm losing 'em.

By working on the front lines...

You come back here, "I need dipping, I need dipping."

...she'll see what's really being served up

in her restaurants.

I like Taco Bell. You like Taco Bell?

And when she's faced with the truth...

They don't do that no more.

- Oh, yeah. - Oh... God, it stinks.

...how will she react?

Find out next on Undercover Boss.

Undercover Boss 3x06 - Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Original air date March 2, 2012

Sync and corrected by atrn97g www.MY-SUBS.com

Founded in New Orleans,

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen serves more than

200 million pounds of chicken

in more than 2,000 locations worldwide,

creating more than $2 billion in annual revenue.

Hi, welcome to Popeyes. Will you be dining in?

Overseeing the 40,000 employees

that keep this business cooking is one woman.

I'm Lynn Zappone, the Chief Talent Officer

of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.

I was born in Rhode Island, and that's where I grew up.

I come from a big Italian family.

I'm the youngest of five children.

Very much a working-class family.

And I always felt quite loved and protected.

I have one daughter. She's 15 years old.

People like to say she's a mini me.

I don't know if that's good for her or bad for her.

I'm not sure. - Hey, how you feeling?

Don't even talk. That doesn't sound much better.

She's my number one priority.

But it's hard sometimes.

Being a working parent is a juggling act.

I've been divorced for 11 years.

Oh, that feels good on my throat.

Thanks for my soup.

But I've been really fortunate

because I've worked for companies

who've been very supportive

of me making being a mother a priority.

I've been with Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

almost five months now.

As Chief Talent Officer, I'm responsible

for working with our team to make sure that

our crew members feel like they have the tools they need,

they have the training they need

in order to deliver the very best experience

to our customers.

Oh, thanks.

I have a big part to play in making sure

we create the right environment

so people would want to join the company,

and will want to stay.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is a quick-service restaurant.

We have more than 2,000 restaurants.

We're in 44 states and in 26 countries.

Popeyes was established almost 40 years ago in Louisiana

by a man named Al Copeland,

a really charismatic, family-oriented guy

who loved the food of New Orleans.

And so we're just very connected to the environment there.

When you think of this brand,

you can't help but think about New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina was devastating to the whole area.

People lost their homes, people lost their jobs.

So many of our employees were impacted.

We had to make sure we could step in to help them

in some big or small ways.

We had employees who were displaced for a long time,

but yet came back to work with us again

after they could come back to the city.

Knowing that is a really good indicator

that we're doing some things right.

Hey, Cheryl, still a good time?

Yes. Come on in.

Cheryl Bachelder is the CEO of Popeyes.

And she's been here for four years.

I'm in the restaurant so often everybody knows me.

- That's true. That's true.

So when I come, they plant flowers,

they wax the floors.

And I just don't get any sense of reality.

And I really want to know the truth.

Since I'm so new to the organization,

I'm a perfect candidate to go undercover because,

quite frankly, not that many people know me.

And I want you to go there knowing that you have

complete authority to step into situations

and make them better.

We are in this fight together.

If I see something that's a concern,

we will make a change.

I just feel really lucky to have this opportunity.

I mean, as much as it's a little bit scary,

that's just really exciting.

It's a heavy burden.

I feel the weight of that pressure on my shoulders,

and I don't want to blow it.

Well, I can't wait to see you make mashed potatoes.

All right, so I'll be back in a little more than a week.

- Okay. - Let's be really clear.

I'm not going undercover to help us figure out

how to be more efficient

or where we can reduce costs.

I'm going in to have a great look

at our long-term investment, which is our people.

My gosh, I'm gonna be so gone a long time.

- I'm gonna miss you... be good. - Okay.

Make sure you do your homework, all right?

- Promise? - I promise.

- All right. Pinky promise? - Pinky promise.

It's a really simple equation.

If you have happy team members,

they deliver a great experience to your guests.

And those guests keep coming back,

and that equals profits.

While undercover, I'll be going by Pam Hawkins,

a shift supervisor at a fine-dining restaurant

in Jacksonville, Florida.

The front-line employees will be told

that this is a reality show called Job Swap

that gives people a chance to swap jobs for a day.

What do you think of your new look, Pam?

- You like it? - Yeah, I do.

I'm in New Orleans, Louisiana, the birthplace of our brand.

Today I'm gonna be working in the back of the restaurant,

helping to prep and prepare food for the day.

It's a big responsibility because I'm really trying

to gather as much information as I can

for the whole leadership team.

- Hi. Good morning. - How you doing? Good morning.

I'm Pam. I'm looking for Aaron.

Aaron. Pam here for you.

It's important that you go out there

and you take off the rose-colored glasses

and you really see things as they are.

- Hey, you Aaron? - Hey, how you doing?

- Hey, I'm Pam. - Hey, Pam. I'm Aaron.

Nice to meet you.

Basically, we'll be showing you

how to do the prep and the fry station.

Between 9:30 and 9:45 is when your chicken should be

- in the grease. - For the opening.

For the opening, 10:00.

I'll show you how to do the first one exactly.

- Okay. - Get four legs, four thighs,

- four breasts, four wings. - All right.

- Put 'em in the basket? - Put 'em in the batter.

And you said four thighs?

- Right. - One, two, three, four.

One, two, three... okay, got it.

- You pick it up... - Okay.

- Let it drain. - Okay.

- Pour it over here. - Okay.

Now you're gonna flip it around, like you're at home.

- Oh, that's cold. - I know, baby.

Get a little rough with it. Yeah, yeah.

Then you take 'em and you pat 'em like that.

So hit it. Hit it! Put 'em in there.

- Put 'em in there? - Put 'em in there.

Pam is not used to getting her hands dirty at all.

I'm like, "no, no, no, don't flip, tumble!"

If you gotta waste flour all over the floor,

just get it done.

All you gotta do is get that speed with it, and we good.

Speed, that's the problem.

You still gotta do chicken strips,

- still gotta do spicy chicken. - Okay.

- Need all this coming up. - Okay.

To be honest with you, I don't think she never even

probably worked in a fast-food chain before.

I don't think she ever worked for a fast-food chain.

Wendy's, Rally's... nobody.

The chicken strips go in exactly like the chicken,

except they're flour, batter, flour.

- You remember that? - Flour, batter, flour.

- So you flour 'em twice. - Yeah. You got it?

- Okay. Flour, batter, flour. - For the strips.

Hey, Aaron, does it go in that same batter?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - So I floured 'em first.

- Right. Then put 'em back... - Then I put 'em in there.

Yeah. You gonna do the same thing for the spicy ones.

Pam asked me again.

So same thing... flour, batter, flour?

And I'm turning around, like,

"what the hell you mean 'flour, batter, flour'?"

Flour, batter, flour... the same thing?

You know what she tells me? "Oh, I forgot."

What, girl? You forgot just that fast?

I be, "well, dang!"

Have you always worked for Popeyes?

Yeah. So far so good.

I gotta, you know, make my way up the corporate ladder.

Yeah. Yeah. What do you want to do?

I actually met this training manager,

and I like what she did so much

because she could just see everything.

Then they gonna be all over the world,

and I'm, like, "well, I wanna do something like that."

Yeah.

And you never wanted to be a corporate clown?

A corporate clone?

Clown. You never wanted to be one of them?

Well, uh... well... well, I...

I would love to come in there with a button-down shirt on,

with a tie on, and see everybody go frantic.

Mm.

- Do they come to visit? - Yeah.

And some shouldn't come visit.

Just complete and total @#&* for no reason.

Like, "what are you mad about?"

"You're not back here frying chicken."

"You're not back here doing none of these things."

"You came in here smelling like Dolce & Gabbana cologne,"

"you left outta here smelling like Dolce & Ga..."

"what are you @#&* about?"

Aaron is very open and honest,

but of course I want to change his perception.

Because I definitely fell into the category

of a corporate clown for him.

What would you do differently?

I would check my stores better,

spend more time with my employees.

Let 'em know that I'm here with them,

and I'm always here with them.

Like, "if you need something, call me."

- Yeah. - You know what I'm saying?

"I'm not too far away."

Have you ever seen any of them act like that?

- Have any? - No. None of 'em.

I actually appreciated Aaron's candor

because that's a message I can take back and say,

"do you know this is the impression"

"that we sometimes leave?"

Now, I'm gonna show you one time how to do this

- so you won't get burned. - I hope that too.

Kinda like lay it down in there.

I'm a little afraid.

The same way I just showed you.

When I cook at home, I've got olive oil everywhere.

- Oops! - Yeah. See what I'm saying?

I've gotta find my technique.

- There you go, baby. See? - There you go. That's better.

Just drop it in there. It's gonna fry.

All you gotta do is drop it.

All right.

We have to do a lot. From 8:00 to 10:00,

we just gotta crank it out.

You're gonna need more nuggets,

you're gonna need more popcorn shrimp,

you're gonna need another mild dropped down. Okay?

Okay. I think.

You're new and you're training,

but, baby, you gotta hustle.

I know it.

We ain't got no chicken, we ain't got no customers.

- Give me 12 mild strips. - 12 mild strips?

Give me another four on spicy, another four on mild.

If you haven't noticed, your spicy chicken

went off already.

Oh, I'm losing 'em. Shoot.

What that is beeping, Ms. Pam?

- Ms. Pam... - Yes?

What?

Press that button. That strip button.

Aaron, come on.

- That's the man? - Yeah.

What does she need?

That white man is up there with the hat on.

That man crazy.

He ordered up one order just for chicken.

Stop yelling that out! I heard you.

It's not really appropriate for Aaron to be yelling

across the line to another crew member

with a guest right in view.

No, 'cause you keep calling that out

like this man has ordered damn near 100 pieces of chicken.

I'm talking, and you come back here,

"I need dipping. I need dipping!"

You just heard me call that. Chill out.

You come back here and do it if it's so easy.

The hardest part about going undercover is

not to break cover when there's an opportunity

- to coach about something. - Don't start.

The guest sees everything.

Everything becomes part of their experience.

I heard you five times say you need dipping.

Like the man gets to order all the chicken.

Hold on. I'm talking to you.

To me, that's a coachable moment.

- Y'all better chill. - He's wearing that uniform.

He's wearing that Popeyes logo.

He represents the brand.

She ain't fixin' to come back here and drop nuggets.

She don't know how to drop nuggets.

And if he has a desire to move up with the company,

he's got a way to go yet.

You got any more nuggets?

Coming up...

They don't have no cleaning stuff for us.

...the boss dives in...

You see a toilet brush anywhere?

- No. - Oh, it stinks.

...and drives out.

I'm getting, actually, pretty hungry.

- Okay. - I like Taco Bell.

You like Taco Bell?

I came to these restaurants so I could see

what good practices we have in place,

and other opportunities that we need to fix.

And not all of them are delivering that employee

the experience the way we want.

Hi, I'm Pam. I'm here to see Gina.

Oh, yeah, this is Gina. Come on in.

I'm here in New Orleans to work with a trainer tonight

to find out what's working, what's not,

- what we could do differently. - How you doing?

Hi. Good. Thanks for that warm welcome.

- Welcome. - Thank you.

- Welcome to the Popeyes family. - Thank you.

Well, the first thing we do when you come in,

- we wash our hands. - Okay.

They want you to go to your elbows.

- I'm a trainer. I teach people. - That's pretty cool.

I've been working 27 years at Popeyes.

27 years? That's a long time.

I got this down pat, girl.

Now, here's your registers right here.

This is my favorite part right here.

This is how it all starts off.

When a customer comes in,

they're gonna order off the menu board.

We have the five steps of service.

Greet the customer, then you're gonna take their order,

and suggest a sell.

You're gonna repeat the order, total the order,

and collect the money.

You gotta take your hands off your hips.

They don't want you to do that.

Hi, welcome to Popeyes.

Will you be dining in with us today?

- That's all you gotta say? - Okay.

Want to say it to me, like I'm a customer?

Welcome to Popeyes.

Would you like to eat here or to go?

Yeah, "will you be dining in with us?"

- So I need to say it... - "Dining in."

- Dining in with us. - Yeah.

Welcome to Popeyes.

- Will you be dining in with us? - Yeah.

- And be sincere. Okay? - Okay.

If not, I'm gonna take one of those chicken bones

and whip you with that chicken bone.

There you go.

Okay, here's a real customer. Watch me in action.

All right.

Hi, welcome to Popeyes.

- Will you be dining in? - No.

Okay, now, that'll be to go.

So you hit "Other functions," "To go."

- May I have your order, please? - Number three.

Okay, that's a combo three.

May I add anything else to your order, please?

Okay. Wasn't that easy?

- It's easy. Right. - Uh-huh.

- Let me suggest to you... - Mm-hmm.

Whenever you're waiting on the customers,

keep your hands visible, where they can see 'em.

- Right. - You need to wash your hands.

You had your hands on your back,

and that's a bad place to have 'em.

Okay, so do you want me to wash my hands?

- You need to wash your hands. - Okay.

Pam did have a bad habit. The manager made her

wash her hands again too.

That was funny.

- Okay, we got a customer here. - Okay.

All right, ready?

Yeah, hi. Okay, go ahead.

I want a large onion ring.

Welcome to Popeyes. You dining in with us tonight?

- I'm just teaching. I'm sorry. - That's all right.

- You got you a Guinea pig. - Sorry.

Gina is being so gracious and so kind to me.

The register just puts me in a panic!

Just keep working with me and you gonna get it, girl.

Her body language is completely open

and saying, "I want you to succeed."

And give her her cups.

Oops, cups, so...

- She ordered a medium, right? - She ordered two.

And then, it comes with a drink.

Yeah. Oh, gosh.

Oops. That can't be good.

If Patrick sees that, he'll kill you.

- I'm in trouble. - You gotta throw 'em away.

That whole stack.

Ms. Pam dropped a whole bunch of cups.

We're lucky Patrick didn't see that.

If the General Manager saw that,

we would have been in a lot of trouble.

He would have screamed us out.

- We gotta hide 'em. - I'm such a klutz.

- Put the towels on top of 'em. - Hide it. Beautify it.

I kind like saved her a little bit on that one.

What we do is, at Popeyes, we clean as we go.

Okay.

So they said if you got time to lean, you got time to clean,

now, I'm gonna let you know, I'm gonna tell you the truth...

that bathroom stinks.

They got some kind of broken pipe in the wall.

And nobody never did come and fix it.

Mm, that's not good.

And the customers are constantly complaining.

- Oh, yeah. - Oh...

- God, it stinks. Tell the truth. - It does.

Oh, my God.

I might throw up on you, girl.

That would not be good.

They don't have no cleaning stuff for us.

Now, you see a toilet brush anywhere?

No.

So what you gonna use?

I guess just paper towels.

Oh, it stinks. We gotta hurry up

'cause this smell is really getting to me.

I gotta get up outta here.

Look. See, I don't get too close.

Make sure you're, like, far away, you see?

Nasty.

Whew! You got this spray, and you got them brown towels.

- That's all you got. - That's it. I know.

That's just the way it is.

It's our responsibility to make sure our crews

have the tools they need to get the job done.

And clearly, they didn't have the tools

to clean the restaurants according to our standards.

I mean, what you gonna do?

What's a girl gonna do?

We gonna take us a little break

because that smell is a little nauseating.

But yeah, you're doing a great job.

- Thank you. - I'm proud of you.

It's not no easy job.

Now I gotta spray myself... excuse me... with perfume.

- There you go. - The smell of that bathroom...

- You just can't get it out of... - Yeah!

I'm sorry. Excuse me.

You want a little bit?

- Yeah. Let me see that. - Yeah, girl.

That's the good stuff.

- I don't wear cheap perfume. - No.

Oh, yeah, you know the good stuff.

Mmm. I'm gonna put some in my hair too.

Yeah, put some in your hair.

I have a friend, she always puts perfume in her hair.

- My niece taught me that. - Yeah.

So other parts of your family still live

out here in this parish?

No, all my family's scattered all over everywhere.

Before the hurricane, my life was close to perfect.

I'm not gonna say it was perfect.

Hurricane Katrina.

You were actually here when the storm came through?

Yes. I stayed here a whole week

after the hurricane.

It was like a ghost town.

They had water all over everywhere, no food.

We went, like two days without no water.

Oh, my goodness.

What I did is I cut... I had a lot of canned goods.

So I cut all the corn cans open,

drank the water from the corn juice.

That was smart. Wow.

Oh, man, that's bad.

- I had to leave the state. - How long were you gone?

I was gone about three or four months.

Popeyes kept telling me, "if you don't come back"

"in a certain time, you're fired."

I was six days late, and they fired me.

- After 20 years! - Oh, my goodness.

So how'd you get back to the company?

Well, I had to get fired and come back.

That was terrible, huh?

Gina faces a lot of challenges during the storm,

but clearly, you know, her perception of what happened

would not be how I'd want someone to feel.

- I'm so sorry. - Yeah.

You know, it really broke my heart to hear that,

so I want to find out exactly what the circumstances were.

We better get back inside 'cause it's getting close.

Unh!

I know. Take your time.

You know, we getting old, girl.

That's it.

Now, don't forget, when we go back in,

- we've got to wash our hands... - Yep.

- ...for at least 60 seconds. - Okay.

I'm in the middle of my undercover experience.

You know, it's... it's exhausting.

The more time I spend in the restaurants

and with our crew,

I've seen some challenges and some opportunities

for us to fix some things.

But quite honestly,

I'm a new person in the company coming back

and saying, "hmm, here's something I saw,"

"and here's what I think about it."

And, you know,

there are many people who I work with

who have many more years' experience

in the quick-service restaurant.

It's a heavy burden because everybody always likes

to come back with good news.

No one wants to come back with bad news.

And I surely and truly don't want to be

in a situation where it's "shoot the messenger."

What I've noticed through this experience is

the moment I walk in the restaurant door,

I get a sense of what that environment feels like.

And my experience is, so far, is that it's inconsistent

across our restaurants.

You can teach anybody a skill and how to do a job,

but you can't teach them to have that heart and soul

and spirit of service.

- Hi, I'm here to see... - Hi.

- Oh, are you Josh? - Yes. How are you?

- Good. I'm Pam. - It's nice to meet you, Pam.

Good to meet you too.

So you'll be working with us today?

Yeah.

I'm gonna introduce you to everybody.

- Great. - This is Pam.

Pam, nice to meet you. Doreen.

- I'm the assistant manager here. - Nice to meet you.

- This is Ms. Cynthia. - Hi, I'm Pam.

- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you too.

- And that's Mr. John. - Hi, I'm Pam.

Nice to meet you.

Thanks for welcoming me so much.

The moment I walked in the door,

I could see that the atmosphere in there

is just so great.

Well, the way I do it in drive-through,

I say, "thank you for choosing Popeyes."

This is Cynthia speaking. How may I help you-oo-oo?

Do your thing, walk it out, set it off,

I say handle your business,

who dat, baby?

That's how we do it over there.

They don't do that at my Popeyes drive-through.

Well, I'm gonna have to go over there and train 'em.

- I think so. - Yeah.

As a customer, what a delightful experience

that is too... an unexpected experience.

- Today, we're gonna be packing. - Okay.

Packing means filling the order,

packing the stuff, putting it in the boxes,

giving it to the customer.

We're waiting on your shrimp, okay?

We're frying your shrimp fresh for you.

So since he has it to go,

we get the small box with the shrimp,

and then we always have to put the paper in.

And then he has the French fries with this.

- So we take the bag like this... - Mm-hmm.

And you scoop it.

And you slide it in, and there you go.

Here you go. And you're all set.

You're welcome. Have a good day, sir.

Come back again, all right? And there you go.

Okay, now, see, we're getting a little bit of a rush.

Yes.

So now I'm gonna have to pick up the pace a little bit.

- Okay. - But it's cool.

Big D, can we have a mash, please?

- Small mash up. - Thank you.

So we're gonna put the mash with a biscuit... ooh!

Anything happens at Popeyes.

I can tell you that packing is

a lot harder than it looks.

One... oh, it's so hot.

The pressure is tremendous.

And everybody else is just doing it so fast.

Holding on three spicy tenders.

How do you know what thr... all right,

so I know a breast is white, right?

Yeah, the breast and the wings.

So you give 'em a breast and two wings.

Sometimes it gets a little crazy, and it's hard.

But I love that Josh has a real warmth to him.

Here you go, sweetie. You're welcome.

And you see that in the way he interacts

with the other crew members and with the customers.

- And you're all set. - Thank you for your patience.

Sorry about your wait.

It feels very genuine.

Um, I think everything's pretty done.

It's pretty... pretty much clear.

I'm getting, actually, pretty hungry.

I like Taco Bell. You like Taco Bell?

Mm-hmm.

You know, 'cause I don't really eat here because,

you know, it's just... it's too expensive.

So you don't get a discount for dinner?

No. And that's one thing that's, like,

really difficult here, dealing with the food costs.

Mm-hmm. I have a car. You want to drive over?

- Sounds lovely. - All right, let's do that.

I mean, I normally walk because I don't have a car.

- That's kind of a bummer. - It is!

So how long do we have for a break?

We get 30 minutes.

And 30 minutes pass by very quickly.

Yeah. Especially when you have to go somewhere else

- to get something to eat. - Yes.

I would like two five-layer burritos.

Okay.

When Josh mentioned to me

that part of the reason he has to go to other restaurants

is because he no longer has an employee discount,

that was disappointing to hear.

We've gotta find other ways to manage our costs

so that we don't take away that benefit for employees.

When I get off at, you know, 12:00 or 1:00 in the morning...

- Uh-huh? - I walk home.

And it's an hour walk from my house.

Walking to and from work, that's not easy.

- Yes. My legs are very strong. - I bet.

So what are we gonna do now?

Now we're going to go and butter some biscuits.

We're gonna do ten pans of biscuits.

- Ten pans of biscuits? - Yes.

Just take the pans, and all we do is just

- re-butter the biscuits. - Okay.

Is there supposed to be a certain amount?

Like, is it supposed to be covered,

or just enough to sort of make it...

A nice glaze, I guess you can say.

Okay. Seems like it's not too bad of a place to work.

Yeah. A change for me in general, being here,

because, you know, I've dealt with a lot

- from my past, you know. - Mm-hmm.

And that's why I'm really trying to work hard

to get a car, so I can continue trying to go to school,

because I want to go to school for hospitality management.

Because coming from, you know, being homeless

and stuff like that, and...

Was it just you or your whole family?

- Just me. - Just you?

Yeah, you know, because of issues

at my household.

And my sexual preference was a big problem too.

They're not 100%, you know, comfortable, used to it.

I was actually staying under a bridge.

Do you have a lot of support here at work...

- from everybody at work? - Yes. Yes.

You are carrying two.

I hope I can carry two without dropping any.

- I can try to... you got it? - No.

- I got it. I think I got it. - Okay.

You seem to know a lot of customers here.

Have you ever had a hard time with customers?

Yes, I actually did.

There was one guy. For whatever reason, he came,

and his friend had the nerve the audacity to tell me,

you know, "when you fix my food,"

"can you put gloves on?"

- That won't fly with me. - No. That just...

I told my manager, and she came,

and, you know, she told the guy, you know,

"we don't have to serve you because we're professional."

"He's just doing you a favor by fixing your food."

I really appreciated what she did.

It really made me happy to hear Joshua tell me

how he feels about the team that he's part of at Popeyes.

He's found an environment where he gets

really good coaching and support,

whether it's his shift supervisors or managers here.

And he feels loved and cared for

because he's getting support from the crew

within his restaurant.

Coming up, the boss sees the dirty side

of the business...

These ones here hasn't been cleaned in two days.

Ooh, that's nasty.

And later, breaks down.

What you might think is a challenge for you

is nothing compared to what other people are facing.

Lynn Zappone is a boss undercover

in her own company.

She's currently posing as a manager

at a fine-dining restaurant

swapping jobs in a fast-food chain.

Oops. Lost one.

Her journey continues.

I'm here in Horn Lake, Mississippi.

I'm here to work undercover in the janitorial department.

This restaurant has made a decision to dedicate someone

to that role, and I'm interested in finding out

if it's making a difference.

I've already been to one restaurant

that was lacking the resources they needed

to keep it clean.

As I've gone through this experience,

I've seen some things that disappointed me.

So we have some more work to do.

Hey. Hi. I'm here to see Doug.

Oh, thanks.

Hey, you're Doug?

- How you doing? - I'm Pam.

I'm here to train with you.

- I'm Douglas. - Hi, Douglas. Nice to meet you.

You like to go by "Douglas"? - Douglas or Doug is fine.

Okay. I'm Pam. I just go by Pam.

Okay. I'm the maintenance man.

I'm responsible for anything... cleaning outside the building.

I'm responsible for all the cleaning

inside the building.

That sounds like a lot of responsibility.

A lot of ground for you to cover.

It's not a mind-boggling job.

To be a maintenance man, you know,

everybody thinks it's the lowest part of the totem pole,

but actually, it's the heart of the restaurant,

because if your restaurant ain't clean,

you're gonna lose business.

Okay, what we're doing here is cleaning the parking lot.

- And you ready to go? - Great.

I'm ready to start whenever you are.

What we do is we wet down the area like this...

Yeah.

...'cause I got soap on it already.

And just walk your water up like this.

- All right? - Yep.

All you gotta do is from right here to there.

And I'm gonna scrub this little black stuff while you do that.

Okay.

Doug, how many times do you clean the parking lot?

- I clean it every day. - Every day.

I think the customer, if they come here,

and they're walking through coke and garbage and everything,

they're not gonna come back to my store.

I consider this my store.

It belongs to Popeyes, but it's mine.

As Chief Talent Officer, to hear, "this is my Popeyes,"

"this is my restaurant," that's like I'm in heaven!

This guy is an angel, and where can I get more of him?

I ain't supposed to have to scrub that garbage can.

It don't belong to us, but I do a lot of things

I don't have to do.

Well, you know, I have a 15-year-old daughter.

You could be great to have at my house too,

reminding her of the standards of how to keep her room clean.

- You know how you do that? - How do you do it?

Get you a locked closet, and start taking stuff...

if it's on her floor, take it and put it in the closet.

That's true.

When she's down to nothing, what's she gonna do?

- "I'm gonna clean my room." - Clean my room!

That's good advice.

Okay, we're done with this.

You just spray this little bit of soap right here off,

- and we're done with this area. - Okay.

Okay, we're gonna clean the garbage cans.

- Okay. - The garbage cans,

I try to clean as much as possible

- so they don't get nasty. - Okay.

These ones here hasn't been cleaned in two days.

- Okay. - This is de-greaser here,

and I just spray it on the cans like this.

I got you a pair of rubber gloves here.

What you do is you take that little spatula thing,

and you tip it to where this runs to one side.

And you just scoop this out like this.

- So you have to scrape it. - Scrape this out.

- Put it in the box. - In the box.

Okay. Thank you.

All right, let's make sure I get that right.

So I'm scraping.

Let your water run clear to the bottom

of where you're not scraping.

So you get that away from it.

- And then you turn your can. - Turn your can.

Whew, that's nasty!

They smell like rotten chicken,

I mean, just straight up.

And I was shocked that she cleaned it.

Because usually people stand there and watch you do it,

and Pam jumped in there and got the nastiest garbage can.

- It's not a clean job. - No.

But it's an important one, I guess.

Yeah.

The board of health came in,

and I got... I think it was a 98 or a 99 last time.

That doesn't surprise me.

I'm cleaning the outside too, right?

This is what I want my garbage can to look like.

That's impressive.

We used to have... they cut it all out,

but we used to have, like, employee of the month.

- Mm-hmm. - I won this in '89.

- Got a watch. - Very cool.

- Was that for, um... - Employee of the month.

They gave me a watch.

And everybody wants to be employee of the month,

so they're gonna do a better job

to get recognition to do it.

- And they don't do it no more. - They don't do that anymore.

I see "employee of the month" in all the Burger Kings.

You see their pictures. All the McDonald's.

But how about other Popeyes? Do you know?

Oh, no. No Popeyes are doing it.

I think that if Popeyes would do more for their employees,

they'd get more quality work and better employees.

So now we're gonna go in

and we're gonna do the lobby check.

Okay.

I buy this soap from the kindness of my heart.

- Okay. - The company don't buy this.

I buy it because it's harmless to children.

- Okay. - It's harmless to adults.

The kids put their hands on everything.

- Yeah. Yeah. - You know?

And I don't want to hurt a baby.

So I buy this soap out of my own pocket.

- The company don't buy this. - Mm-hmm.

When Doug is telling me that he's paying

for this special-oil soap himself...

he's all about giving and doing the right thing.

But as someone who works as part of our team,

I don't like the idea that he's personally using

some of his own resources to support the organization.

We need to get the front while it's slow right here.

If you push these buttons, they're gonna squirt coke.

So we don't want to do that.

Lay your hand... go up behind 'em like this.

Oh, yeah. Because it splashes.

Boy, the devil is in the details, isn't it?

So where you live at?

Right now I live in Jacksonville, Florida.

I've lived there for quite a while.

Well, I'm actually from New Orleans.

- Okay. - But because of Katrina,

- I lost everything I ever owned. - That's really sad.

I lost everything. I mean, it destroyed the house.

- There was just nothing left. - Oh, my goodness.

They sent me to the Superdome.

I said, "this ain't the place for me."

Yeah, it's scary.

I hitchhiked from there to Alabama.

I met a man named David Vincent, a pastor,

and he had a place he said I could come live.

Told me I could come up and stay at his center.

He's paid for everything for me for two years.

Now, the last year, I've been taking care of myself.

But for two years, the man just totally took care of me.

He really, really stepped in for you.

He's my angel, really, you know.

He's my pastor. But I mean,

he's changed my life 100%.

I volunteer for the church. I'm the chef there.

- Oh, my goodness. - I cook from...

for 140 to 160 people every week.

Very cool.

We're gonna make Sloppy Joes... homemade Sloppy Joes...

- not out of a can. - Not out of a can.

- All right. That's good. - And we're gonna make that.

Great.

Come in the kitchen and help me, if you want.

I would love to come in the kitchen and help.

I'm really at home in the kitchen.

You know, I'm always amazed by the determination of our people,

and Doug is just another example of that.

I mean, he lost everything in Katrina.

I love feeding people. My goal in life is

to have a soup kitchen.

Doug really impressed me with his commitment,

not only to our brand,

but really has a personal purpose...

to serve others.

I was honored that he would invite me to join him.

We're done, so let's... we can go.

- All right. Sounds great. - Just come on with me.

Okay.

- How are you this evening? - Good.

You want some beans, sir?

- Okay, that's fine. - Excellent.

- So who comes tonight? - About 135 to 140 people.

That's a good amount of people.

- Would you like some beans? - Please.

- All righty. - This is the highlight

of the church... everybody loves my cooking.

- Pickle for you, sir? - Please.

All righty.

It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle

of your work and your life.

- Would you like a pickle? - Pickle on the side.

Pickle on the side. Beans, sir?

But I always have to remember that there are other people

with much bigger struggles than mine.

How you doing, young man?

I have many blessings in my life,

and this is a great opportunity to remind me

to think about how I want to be treated,

and to treat other people.

I appreciate you coming to help me

and volunteering here at the warriors church.

And be blessed. It was nice meeting you.

It was nice to meet you too.

What you might think is a challenge for you

is nothing compared to what other people are facing.

And what moves you the most is people's willingness to give.

And, uh...

and what's so impressive about Doug...

Somebody'll be thinking I'm cheating,

giving you two plates at one time.

...is he's chosen a life that is about serving.

And those are the kind of people

we want at Popeyes.

New Orleans is the heart and soul

of our brand and our company.

So I felt it was fitting to reveal my true identity

to our crew members here.

They think they are in New Orleans to swap jobs

and work at a fine-dining restaurant.

I'm kind of nervous of swapping jobs with Pam

because I would have never walked in here.

Never. Ever!

Not even on Valentine's Day.

I'm looking forward in working in a fine-dining restaurant.

I've been in the food industry for 27 years.

I can handle anything.

Hi there.

Hi.

- Do you know who I am? - Pam.

You're Pam, ain't you?

- Ms. Pam. - Ms. Pam? Yeah!

You know me as Pam Hawkins, don't you?

- How you doing, Ms. Pam? - I'm good, I'm good.

But I'm not really Pam Hawkins.

My name is Lynn Zappone,

and I'm the Chief Talent Officer with Popeyes.

Oh...

I'm just so shocked.

I can't believe you tricked me.

I'm sorry.

It's hard to trick Gina Peppina.

I believe that. I know it.

And I've been undercover all week

working in our restaurants.

So all the things I was joking and playing

and laughing about,

I was actually speaking to my boss?

Yes, you were.

So yep, I'm one of the corporate clowns.

I didn't like the way you were always speaking

to the other crew members.

I didn't like the way you were talking

about the customers.

You're representing the brand,

and that behavior is not acceptable.

Like, I did that with you that day,

but I honestly don't do that with them, and it's funny.

I wouldn't let them get away with it,

but I was doing it, and I was supposed

- to be training you. - That's right.

- I knew... - You know it.

I knew that was gonna come back to get me.

I knew that. I knew it.

Now, here's the thing, though.

Take away all the joking with you,

and take away your tough-guy image,

and I know underneath there is a really smart guy

- who knows what is right. - Right.

And I know that.

And you have... you know, you have big goals.

Um, and one of them is you want to be a traveling trainer.

- Right. - And so I think that,

with a little guidance, you could actually get there.

- For real? - And so,

I'm gonna set you up with a mentor...

- Okay. - ...in Popeyes.

And she's gonna keep in touch with me

and let me know how you're doing.

And when she thinks you're ready,

then we'll have you participate

in training new crew members.

- Cool. That's all right. - All right.

So you ready to put some skin in the game?

- Yeah, yeah. - All right.

Ms. Pam, that's my girl.

That's my boss, but that's my girl too.

I like Ms. Pam. Ms. Pam is giving me a shot

to prove myself, and I can't let Ms. Pam down.

Gimme a hug!

Doug, I was really impressed

- when I was working with you. - Thank you.

You just took so much pride

in cleaning and maintaining the restaurant.

Right.

One of the things that you had a really strong feeling about...

cleaning supplies to clean the restaurant.

- Right. - And I just want you to know

I'm gonna have a conversation

with our supplier of cleaning products

so that they can provide you

and all of our restaurants

with some less-harmful products.

And that way, you don't have to keep spending your own money.

Well, thank you.

Now, when you pulled out that watch

that you had received years ago,

I thought, "wow, that really made a difference to you."

- Sure does. - So I want you to know

that I am going to be putting in place

an employee recognition program.

- That's wonderful. - And here's the good news.

You're gonna be one of the first recipients of that.

Thank you.

You really inspired me

when you were working in the church

and serving others.

We want to be able to help you and pastor Dave

to continue that good work.

So I've asked Popeyes to make a donation

to the mission for $10,000...

- Oh, wow. - ...in your name.

Oh, man. Thank you so much.

Oh, God, I'm about to cry. Thank you.

- You're welcome. - Oh, thank you, Jesus.

I feel like I'm on top of the world.

- Bless you. - It's an answered prayer.

I have to tell you, Josh,

that I had the most fun working with you.

I think that might have been the most fun

I've ever had at work.

- Oh, really? - Yeah. I mean,

you are just such a great spirit.

- You just make everybody smile. - Thank you.

You know, it really broke my heart

that we had to leave Popeyes to go to lunch

because you no longer get the employee discount.

That just doesn't work for me.

Because of what you said,

I am going to make sure that our employee discount program

is back in place at your restaurant

and all of our restaurants.

Oh, my goodness, I'm going to be ecstatic.

Now I can eat as much Popeyes as my little heart's content.

You talked about how much you'd like to

get a degree in hospitality management.

I will set up a scholarship fund with you,

on behalf of Popeyes,

to pay up to $20,000 of tuition for you.

Are you serious?

Um...

I am speech... do you know what?

This is the first time in my life I've been speechless.

I believe that.

Oh, my goodness!

You also talked to me about the fact

that you have to walk to and from work.

And, you know, that's hard.

Especially when it's late at night.

You know, as a mom, I would be worried about you

so we want to give you $10,000...

that you can use to buy a car

or help pay some of your living expenses,

or some of both.

- How much? - $10,000.

I... I... I don't even...

my mind is going all kinda directions.

All kind of directions.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

That's the thing I need to say most... thank you.

You're very welcome.

As my other half always says,

the sun will always shine tomorrow.

And, oh, boy, is the sun shining for me right now!

It was really great to work with you, Gina.

Oh, thank you.

You are so good at your job.

And...I... I just want you to know

that you are not forgotten out there.

I appreciate this, because I really needed it.

- I really needed it. - I'm sorry it took so long.

Thank you.

One of the biggest things that I learned from you

is that you need the tools to do your job.

I mean, having to clean the restaurant

without the right sanitizer, that's crazy.

- I know. That was crazy. - I know it.

So I want you to know that you are gonna have

all the tools you need in that restaurant.

- Thank you. - And that, most importantly,

- that pipe in that bathroom... - Oh, gosh.

- ...is going to get fixed. - Thank you.

Thank you.

We appreciate what you're doing for the company.

What's important to you is what's important to us.

And your family is important to you.

Yes, it is.

So we wanted to be able to bring you together.

So we would like to have a family reunion for you

here in New Orleans.

So we'll put you all up in a nice hotel,

and plan some activities

so the you can have a nice family reunion.

- How does that sound? - Wonderful.

- Is that good? - Yes!

Yes. 'Cause I miss and I love my family.

- Mm-hmm. - I really do.

I have to say I was really touched by your story

and all that you've been through.

- The hurricane. - You are one strong lady.

- I know it's been tough. - Mm-hmm.

And sometimes people just find themselves

in a really difficult space.

So one of the things that we'd like to do is

set up, like, an employee relief fund.

- I think that's a great idea. - Yeah.

Life can get really, really hard.

But I was thinking, you know,

if we were gonna start that relief fund,

we need to start somewhere

with someone who's really deserving.

And I think that person is you.

So we'd like to offer you $10,000

to help you kind of get your life back on track.

You want a tissue, sweetie? There you go.

The $10,000, it takes a big relief off of me.

It takes a burden off my heart.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

It's been a long struggle,

but this will help me out a whole lot.

Through this experience, I've gotten to see firsthand

that spending time with crew members

proved to me, without a doubt,

that they are so important to the success of our business.

Hi, I'm Lynn.

I've seen some challenges

and some opportunities for us to fix some things.

I'm Lynn Zappone.

- James. How you doing? - Hey, James. Nice to meet you.

So how long have you been with us, Steve?

- 11 years. - And so I look forward

to spending time with more crew members

all over the country, all over the world.

What kind of things would you like to see us bring back?

They used to do crew picnics

for the crew members. We've gotten away from that.

There's a lot more work to be done.

There's a lot more to learn...

Hey, I see you working hard out here.

- Yes. - Hey, I'm Lynn.

...to find out what's important to them

and what they need from us to be successful.

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