Celebrating 20 Years: Terisha Smith's Contagious Joy
Twenty Years of Laughter on the Line
Some people clock in. Others come home. After spending time with one of our longest-tenured team members, a woman whose laughter you can hear from across the floor, it's clear which kind she is.
Terisha Smith has been with us for two decades. She stepped away once, briefly, and then came right back. Why? "My coworkers aren't just teammates," she says. "They're family." And when you watch her work, you believe it.
"I don't come for a paycheck. I come because I love it here."
For most of Terisha’s career, she's run the same production line, and she's good at it. Really good. There was a stretch where she worked in an area measuring product, but she found her way back to the line she knows best, where her accuracy and efficiency speak for themselves.
Her advice for newcomers? Pure warmth: "This is a wonderful place to work. Everyone here is friendly." She means it. For her, this isn't a job to endure, it's a place she genuinely loves showing up to.
Showing Up Ready
Ask her what it means to be dependable, and she'll tell you it starts long before she walks through the door. She rests outside of work so she can bring her best to it. She thinks ahead about the day's tasks, big and small, and mentally sets herself up to succeed. Preparation, for her, is a quiet form of respect for the work and the people she does it with.
Learning New Moves
She'll be the first to say she loves the line she knows. But she's no stranger to a challenge. When she tried a new line in production, it meant learning a whole new motion, unfamiliar and a little tricky at first. So, she practiced. And practiced. Before long, she "got in the swing of things." These days, she lights up talking about getting to rotate between different tasks. Turns out that a little curiosity goes a long way.
The People Who Make It Family
"Good, very good," she beams when asked about her coworkers. Terisha has worked alongside the same faces for years, including two teammates she partners with every single day. That kind of bond doesn't happen by accident.
And she gives as much as she gets. Being someone others can lean on? "It feels good to help others." She loves encouraging her peers, coaching them through tricky tasks, and offering guidance whenever it's needed. She's the kind of coworker everyone hopes to have.
Looking Ahead
When asked what she'd change about the culture here, her answer was simple: nothing. "I'm very happy here." As for the future, she doesn't know exactly where it leads, "but I'm hopeful it'll be great." Honestly? With an attitude like hers, we're hopeful too.
Beyond the Floor
Outside of work, you'll find her resting up, spending time with friends and family, and doting on one very lucky chihuahua.
The values that guide her at home are the same ones she brings to the line. She has more good memories here than she can count. including fond chats about food with a past supervisor she deeply respected. He was strict, she says, but she admired his standards and values, and she's proud to call herself a rule follower. Her biggest challenge over the years? Simply having to ask for help now and then to keep production humming, which, if you ask us, is just another sign of someone who cares about doing things right.
Work is family to her. She shows up, keeps her stress in check, and stays happy. And Terisha’s laughter is simply wonderful, and contagious!
As we step into producing Super Cereal plus again (a specially fortified cereal engineered to deliver the critical nutrients that children aged 6 to 24 months need most, that we've produced for generations), we couldn't be luckier to have her right here with us. Here's to twenty years of merriment echoing in our hallways, and to many more.
