I came to the United States from the Philippines, and my very first job here was at Luby’s. That was almost 38 years ago. I started at the vegetable table when a new Luby’s opened, and from the beginning, I was the person who wanted to help everybody. If another department needed something, I jumped in. Little by little, I learned how to do just about every job in the restaurant. Eventually, I became a supervisor. Then Luby’s sent me to San Antonio for management training, and I kept moving forward from there.

All these years later, I’m still here. And I still love Luby’s. People sometimes ask me how I’ve done this for so long, especially because restaurant work can be stressful. My answer is pretty simple: Don’t stress. That’s what I tell my managers, too. There are going to be hard days. Someone calls in. You’re short-handed. You have to hire and train someone new. Sometimes it feels like there is too much work and not enough people to do it. You can either spend the whole day worrying about it, or you can decide what needs to happen next and keep moving. I choose to keep moving.

There was even a New Year’s when one of my managers was sick and I had to run the restaurant myself. I told him to stay home, get better and come back when he could. Then I went to work. The most important thing was making sure our guests were happy and our team knew we were going to be okay. I think happiness matters at work. I tell my team that you have to love what you’re doing. Luby’s has taken care of me and my family for almost four decades, so I want to take care of Luby’s, too. And I want us to have some fun while we’re doing it.

Outside of work, I love dancing, going out to eat, spending time with my son and my two dogs, and traveling. My last big trip was 10 days in London, and now I’m trying to make sure I take a vacation somewhere every year. Guests sometimes ask me what my secret is for staying so happy. There really isn’t one. I smile. I don’t hold onto stress. I move on. That’s just Joy. And after 38 years, I still have a good time at Luby’s.