Tue Feb 09 2010
When Sherry Wells was asked for an interview, she never looked up from what she was doing.
"Just ask 'em to wait. I have to take care of my customers first."
And so it is with Wells, general manager of the new Dairy Queen located on the east side of Frankfort (near Kohl's).
Wells, 34, describes her management style as aggressive and competitive. But watching her is more like watching an orchestral performance, with Wells directing the individual but coordinated movements of her staff into an "order up" crescendo.
Wells hails from Cutshin, Leslie County, Ky., and says she caught the serving bug at a young age. Standing on a milk crate in her grandfather's restaurant, Wells remembers making her first milkshake when she was 8. She knew then that she wanted to have her own restaurant.
She grew up under the work ethic of her grandparents who believed, as Wells puts it, "you have to work to have anything."
Wells laughs at herself when she talks about being the oldest of four siblings from the "hollers" of Eastern Kentucky.
"It's Loretta Lynn all over again."
She can even claim the title of a "coal-miner's daughter" as her grandfather, father and brother all worked in the mines. Her family bears the scars of the harsh labor; her grandfather had black lung, and her father and brother are both disabled from mining accidents.
Wells' relationship with DQ started when she was 16. She became restless in high school and decided she wanted to be independent, but that required money.
Wells started part time at a DQ in Hyden, Ky.
"First two paychecks, I bought my first car."
After high school Wells became a full-time employee at DQ and was on her way to becoming a general manager. But her ailing grandfather couldn't run his restaurant anymore, so Wells went home to help. After the restaurant was sold, she wandered into unfamiliar territory.
"I tried sit-down work for awhile," Wells says, "but it's not for me. I need to be on the floor and around people."
Fortunately for Wells, her former DQ boss called and asked her to open a new DQ in London. She gladly accepted.
"I've never worked for another brand and never will."
Loyalty and dedication are not exclusive to Wells' work, however. She hasn't forgotten her roots and the inspirational lessons of growing up in Leslie County. She makes the trip twice a month to visit family.
"It's easier to get there these days," she says with a laugh. "Used to have dirt and gravel back home; we have all kinds of pavement now."
A single mom with a 14-year old son, Wells couldn't be happier with her current assignment in Frankfort.
"Opening a new store is the thing I love most," Wells says. "It's like a new birth; you watch it develop every day. Right now we're at the crawling stage."
The future for Wells is simple.
She'll be working hard over the next months to make the new store flourish. She likes to paraphrase the DQ motto.
"We want every customer to leave with a story and a smile."
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