Massachusetts Dunkin' manager inspires customers with "Cheers-like" environment
WATERTOWN – A manager at one Massachusetts Dunkin' location is going above and beyond to make every customer feel like they are at Cheers, where everybody knows their name.
Watertown, Massachusetts Dunkin'
You don't expect people to linger at a Dunkin' on a weekday morning. Customers lucky enough to snag a parking spot at the restaurant on Main Street in Watertown are almost always heading to work or school.
But once inside, no one is in a hurry to leave. They're laughing with the staff and catching up with the manager, whose steady banter has a rhythm all its own, punctuated with laughter.
Celebrating her first year with Dunkin', Julianna Tosta said this is the job she was meant to do.
"I love the interaction I have with people," she said. "I'm a friendly person. So I like to be talking all day and listening to them talking about their lives."
Dunkin' employee finds "second family"
Beyond their names and favorite menu items, Tosta knows about customers' children, their pets and their struggles.
"I'm not trying to take their pain away. But I'm trying to make that single moment be important for the day," she said.
She wants them to know, even in a brief interaction, that they are not alone.
"Those are the things that make me grateful — to know they're coming here to talk to me. And somehow, some way I can take that and try to change their day for the better," Tosta said.
Dancing, singing, posting photos of work parties, and celebrating the staff's babies and birthdays, Tosta's efforts strengthen the bonds between members of her "second family."
Journey from Brazil
It is not a phrase she uses lightly. For all her happiness now, she knows what it's like to hurt.
"You can either live with the misery of your past or you can make something greater with it," said Tosta, who was just four years old at her family's home in Brazil when her father was gunned down in front of her. She explained that he became a target when he witnessed a crime. "My dad was parking his car in the garage. We had an old one that you had to open with both hands. My dad saw a car approaching. He pushed me behind trash barrels, and he got shot multiple times."
Thankfully, she has no memory of the violence. But the trauma of that loss would not be the last.
When Tosta moved to Massachusetts eight years ago, she spoke almost no English. She said she learned the language by listening to people and forcing herself to talk with them. Encouragement boosted her spirits and gave her the confidence to keep talking.
"The great thing about people in the United States is that you guys are really patient when you see somebody's actually trying to learn. I'm really grateful for that," Tosta said.
Impact on Watertown
Watertown High School principal Joel Giacobozzi said he's grateful for Tosta's willingness to speak with students in Portuguese.
"A lot of our students speak Portuguese. You'll hear them come alive. They are able to speak in their native language with somebody who's so successful, someone from a similar area in Brazil. So it's really been awesome," Giacobozzi said.
It's not just the casual conversations that draw customers to Tosta. To some, she is also a trusted confidante and a source of support.
Andrew Tomeo, who frequently walks his dogs to the restaurant, committed to losing weight. He and Tosta began encouraging one another and sharing recipes. He has lost 75 pounds. She has lost 34.
Barbara Biancone moved to Watertown nine months before her husband suddenly died of a heart attack. While there were days when she says she could hardly get out of bed, she willed herself to visit the restaurant because, if only for a few minutes, she felt happiness there.
"Like, I knew it was there. I wasn't happy. But I knew it was around me. It's Julianna. She's amazing!" Biancone said.
Tosta is quick to return the compliment to the customers who share themselves with her. Very often, she says, they make her day.
"I'm actually doing the job I had in mind — making every person leave this place satisfied and happy with what they had the experience they exchanged with us," Tosta said.
Starting in January, she'll be taking on more responsibility as a full-time trainer, sharing her positive energy and service philosophy with even more Dunkin' employees.