‘They stuck by me,’ Boston restaurant owner surprises staff with trip to Disney World

By Paul Burton

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    HULL, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Workers at a small business on the South Shore received an enormous holiday surprise. The owner of Toast in Hull is taking all of her employees to Disney World.

Jessica Travis said it’s her way of saying thank you for all their hard work during the pandemic.

“I survived Covid because of my employees,” Travis said.

Toast is a breakfast and lunch restaurant located right along the water in Hull.

At a time when restaurants are struggling to hire and keep workers on the job, Travis said making sure employees feel appreciated is critical.

“I feel like if you take care of them, they will take care of you. I feel like my customers have been amazing,” said Travis.

“She treats us like family every day that we come in, treats us like one of her own kids,” employee Caitlin Ryan said.

Travis bought Toast just a few months before the pandemic hit. She lost her entire staff and wasn’t sure she was going to remain open. That’s when she pivoted to takeout orders and hired new people who have been with her ever since.

“For the last three years, they stuck by me. Dedicated themselves just to make Toast what it is today,” said Travis. “So I had the idea, what better way to reward them than Universal Studios and Disney for a week.”

Just before Christmas she gathered the team and had them put a 30-piece puzzle together. “It spells surprise we are all going to Walt Disney World,” employee Sean Lally said.

“I was kind of in shock. I thought it was a joke at first,” said employee Stevie Ryan.

A total of 27 employees including family members are going on an all-expenses-paid seven-day trip to Disney this May.

Travis said the trip may mean more to her than those she invited. Her mother passed away a few years ago and left her some money behind. She has been waiting for just the right opportunity to do something special with it.

“She will look down on me and I’ve been waiting to do something where she’d be like ‘now that’s what I what I wanted the money to be used for.’ So that’s what I am doing.”

Her employees are also learning valuable lessons early in their careers. “I think having a really good team behind you makes all the difference,” employee Katarina Spear said.

And that is something to toast in 2023.

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