Fayetteville, AR–Sherrod Bryan, 22 is an Assistant Manager at Zaxby’s and said he, “has never had a bad customer.” Bryan shares a living space with not only his fiance, but also his sister and her girlfriend. He makes $11.50 an hour and has been a member of the Zaxby’s team since 2014 when he was in high school.

In Bryan’s time working at Zaxby’s he has even experienced pay increases that occurred due to the minimum wage for Arkansas being raised.  He explained that when he started his job at Zaxby’s he was more focused on, “doing school, hanging out with friends, and playing video gaming.” However, he said one of the reasons he’s happy to have the opportunity to manage at Zaxby’s because he was able to move up at his own pace. There is a considerable difference between a management position, and the cooks or the register workers. Bryan has experienced both of these wage levels as he moved through the ranks. It’s important to consider Bryan is making $11.50 an hour which is less than the median wage of $15.13 estimated for his position in Northwest Arkansas, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There is evident impact in the addition of a few more dollars an hour adds to an annual income, and furthermore an individual’s quality of life.

Bryan said as manager he is in a very trusted position, “you have to have a lot of integrity being the manager, cause you handle money all day.” As an Assistant Manager he is often responsible for 2 different locations throughout the week, where his responsibilities vary between location. He said he tries to keep the dynamic between him and his coworkers cohesive, “ The way I like to try to manage is to keep it more family and fun, than business and money,” he said, because that’s the best way to get work done and make the best food they can.

Bryan said it was an easy job for him to have in high school, while still being able to focus on his life as a student and his personal relationships. Now that he is full time, and trusted with more responsibilities it can be difficult to make time for his friends, “As far as just generally having a social life, it’s not as hard as some would think it is…I think you just gotta set time aside.” Bryan said.

In his free time Bryan said he enjoys doing parkour, reading, playing video games, and singing. He sang a bit of a song from one of his favorite movies, “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Aside from those interests Bryan said he is passionate about cooking and that it is not strange for him to attempt dishes he’s seen on The Food Network. He and his fiancé try to make their food at home to save their extra cash. Bryan said most of the money he makes seems to go to his cable bill, and he admitted he was talked into a fancier package than he had intended on getting initially. Bryan’s cable bill comes in at about $200 a month. He expressed that rent is also costly but is significantly less being split between four people. Bryan and his fiancé have been engaged for about a year and a half, but he said they haven’t set a date for the big day just yet.