By Michael Buckley
Kayla Hollern is 24 years old and engaged to Scott Ford. She currently lives in Greeley. They are busy planning their wedding, taking care of their dog, Tucker, and use their Sundays driving to the mountains. Kayla has two siblings, who are a set of twins, attending universities in Kansas. She was born in Wichita, KS, but considers her hometown Ellis, KS, a small town of 3,500 people.
When she attended college at Fort Hays State University, she began working at an Applebee’s. Kayla started out as a host, and worked her way up the totem pole. She worked there for four years. During the summers, she also managed her hometown municipal pool. While there, her team went through a traumatic loss when a fourteen year old boy suffered a Shallow Water Blackout Drowning. After this happened, Kayla took it upon herself to lead conferences for local pools and emergency services to discuss this rare type of drowning. Because of her efforts, she was awarded the Helen Miles Award for safety and awareness within the region. After Scott and Kayla got engaged, he was offered a job through Pyramid Mechanical, Inc. located in Colorado.
While he started his job, she continued managing her hometown municipal pool and working at Applebee’s. After the season ended, Kayla joined Scott in Colorado where she couldn’t find a job right away. She decided to give the Applebee’s in Greeley a try and got hired on the spot. She started as a server and again, quickly worked her way up. She advanced to be a Key Hourly Manager. With this position came a management training opportunity. After finishing her training, she was transitioned to the Greeley store, but only for two weeks, in advance of her being transferred to Longmont, where she is a management staff member at the new Applebee’s. The new Applebee’s opened it’s doors May 5th for it’s Grand Opening.
50 Plus Marketplace News wishes Kayla and the new restaurant every success.