We’re introducing you to our passionate team of experts. Today’s featured Deli crew member is Catering Manager, Payton Jablonski
MEET PAYTON JABLONSKI
Payton grew up in Holly, Michigan—“a tiny town with only about 3 intersections worth of street lights before you find yourself in a different town.” She initially went to school at Oakland University for a degree in nursing and biomedical engineering, but found herself following a different path and went back to school to start a new journey in business administration.
She feels fortunate to have a really close-knit relationship with her family and loves spending time with them whenever she can. And although Holly will always be home to Payton, she’s long harbored a soft spot for Ann Arbor. Numerous family members work at the University of Michigan and her oldest brother is a Wolverine, so she says, “it wasn’t hard to be convinced that Ann Arbor is truly magical.”
PAYTON AT WORK
Payton’s previous positions range from being a wedding, events, and catering manager at a country club to a stint in cardiology and more. In every role, she’s been passionate about providing the best experience possible. That’s true here at the Deli, too, for both her team and our guests and it’s clear that she loves what she does, as she says:
Zingerman’s is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. We have so many creative, outgoing and inspiring people who work here! I truly couldn’t be more thankful and excited for the future of Zingerman’s.
As our Catering Manager, Payton provides support, reliability, and guidance to her team. She’s grateful for the amount of support and guidance she received when she first started at the Deli and now is dedicated to doing the same thing within the Catering Sales office. She’s helped her team create a vision for where they see themselves in the coming years, set expectations and standards that they hold one another to in order to have a transparent workflow, and makes herself available for any and all questions to help her team feel supported and confident. Payton has worked incredibly hard to form strong relationships to foster trust and determination and is really proud of their teamwork and ability to rely on each other.
One of Payton’s favorite things about her job is telling guests, “YES!” Whether it is a last-minute order, a budget constraint, or a food allergy, she always does everything possible to make a guest’s dreams happen. No matter what the challenge, she’s dedicated to always going above and beyond to rise above it. As she says, “Everyone deserves the chance to experience Zingerman’s!”
5 FUN FACTS
Payton loves travel and adventure and hopes to one day travel with Zingerman’s Food Tours or to Switzerland (maybe both at the same time!).
Her favorite Zingerman’s food is the Creamery’s Pimento Cheese because it’s so flavorful and goes with everything. (She also admits to having zero self-control around it, so you might want to pick up a tub before she does!)
She’s convinced her family’s chocolate chip cookies are the best around and shared the story behind their origin: Growing up, my father was always the one in the kitchen, creating new and old family recipes. My dad is 100% Polish and always tried to implement as many Polish recipes as he could when cooking or baking. Every holiday, my dad would make his famous Polish Chocolate Chip Cookies. I asked him all the time, “How come our chocolate chip cookies are so much better than everyone else’s cookies?” Even to this day, his response is always “because no one makes better cookies than the Jablonskis!”
She’s a big fan of the Deli’s sandwiches of the month and even created one herself, called the Gobble Wobble.
In a previous job, Payton showcased her knowledge, speed, passion, and creativity in the art of coffee by competing in the Regional Barista Championships—she earned 3rd place!
5 FUN FACTS
