September 19, 2007

SHOPTALK: Amanda Hiltbrand serves up yogurt and service with a smile
The Portola Hills resident manages Golden Spoon in Trabuco Canyon.
By NAYELI PAGAZA
STAFF WRITER

Name: Amanda Hiltbrand

Job title: Manager at Golden Spoon, 21702 Plano Trabuco Dr., Trabuco Canyon

Residence: Portola Hills

Years in the profession: I have been working at Golden Spoon for 2 1/2 years now, although I have not been manager that long. I have been manager for almost a year.

Describe your job: As a manager at Golden Spoon it is my responsibility to watch over the entire store. That includes doing the schedule, doing inventory and ordering supplies we need, watching over the employees to make sure they are doing their job, opening the store each morning, and doing my part in serving customers and making sure they have a great experience at Golden Spoon.

Your education and background: I graduated from El Toro High School and am attending Saddleback College, and from there I will transfer to Cal State Fullerton.

Your typical day: On my typical day I wake up around 6 a.m., get ready, and leave for work. I get the store opened and ready for the day and I usually leave around 2 or 3 p.m. I usually go to the gym afterwards and if I don't have class that afternoon, I go home and catch up on some homework or run errands. Occasionally at night I might go out with some friends to dinner or go see a movie but most of the time, during the week, I try not to stay up to late considering I have to get up early for work and school. I leave the late nights for the weekend.

Best thing about the job:Besides the yogurt itself, the best thing about my job is that it's pretty flexible. Do to the fact that I do the schedule if I need some time off or can't work for some reason I can schedule someone in my place. I also get the benefit of choosing how long I work each day.

Another thing I love about working at Golden Spoon is the customers, especially the regulars. The regular customers who come in each day are so sweet and I have really been able to get to know them very well, so well they feel more like friends than customers.

Biggest challenge: I don't really feel like I have any real challenges with my job. Yes it's very tiresome to be manager and I am always on call 24/7, but I love the responsibility and I love being in charge.

How many hours a week do you work? I work about 35 to 40 hours a week.

Advice for someone interested in a job like yours: Be responsible and don't sweat the small stuff. As manager, it's so easy for me to get stressed out and overwhelmed so you have to know what things are important for you to be really worried about and what things to just let go. Multi-tasking and a good eye for detail also really help in my job.

What motivates you to do your best? I am a little bit of a perfectionist so I always want to do my best. I like to make people happy and I like to make my self happy and for me that's doing the best that I can and putting all my effort in to reach my goals.