Courtesy: Deepali Ramaiah
For four years, Stacey Klaff has been the backbone of the salad station at the Thunderbird Commons. Her culinary concoctions have become so famous that Thunderbird applicants frequently hear about them from student before they’ve even applied to Thunderbird! So it was no wonder that students, staff and faculty alike sighed in disappointment last Thursday when Stacey announced that the next fortnight will be her last at Thunderbird. Das Tor sat down with her to understand what brought about this decision.
“First off, I have to say I’m happy yet sad to be leaving Thunderbird” says Stacey. “It was good to be here and it’s the longest I’ve worked at one place, but I’m moving on to good opportunities.”
“The best part of my job was interacting with students, staff and faculty, who became my friends more than just customers. It’s always about the customer. I’m a creative person and I loved being able to create food for them.”
On leaving she says: “Somewhere along the line I lost the freedom to do whatever I want and not being able to focus on giving the best to every person that was coming to me for food, which is one of the biggest need and concern for students.”
“I’m sad to be moving on because of the great relationships I’ve built here, which is hard given the revolving door of students who are here for 2 years at the most. It came to a point where I began to feel unappreciated and had to constantly defend decisions that were not mine.”
Courtesy: Stacey Klaff
As for what dreams lie ahead: “I plan to start my own business, perhaps a free standing bakery/food stand. It’s something I have wanted to do from the start.” On a related note, she adds that she should have tapped into the student resources and the Thunderbird network much before. “The biggest concern for me was calling on friends as resource which made me feel uncomfortable. I definitely plan on doing so now!”
For students concerned that Stacey will completely disappear from Thunderbird, she says “I have built great relationships with people here that will endure. I won’t be too far away. I will definitely be around for all Thunderbird functions, regional nights, Pub nights and Global Gala.”
We at Das Tor wish Stacey the best in her future endeavors (whilst dearly missing her scrumptious food!)
I want to thank everyone for their kindness and best wishes. I appreciate all the e-mails, phone calls and love shown my way. The best thing about working at T-Bird was the staff, faculty and students. I tried really hard to make a connection and take care of all of my customers with good food, and good customer service. The direction that the Chartwells administrative staff at this school took, I could not deal with. It should always be about a good product and taking care of your customers. I would not put out lower quality food and take shortcuts on food that I served so I had to leave. I gave my two weeks notice and had hoped to stay and tell everyone goodbye. However, the current management did not appreciate the two week gesture and asked me to leave yesterday. It was not my decision, I tried to do the right thing, but it just goes to show what I was up against. Please stay in touch with me. Once again it was a pleasure serving you and making friends with all of you.