Heart and Soul

Maggie, 18th Street

Maggie is the type of person who will go above and beyond for
her Nandos family, she truly treats them all like an extension of
her family. She truly cares about everyone and has a different
relationship with each Nandoca always showing them that she
cares for them. She knows her team well, she knew Anthony’s
neighborhood grocery store closes at 3pm which makes it hard
for him to get to so she checks with him before she goes
grocery shopping to make sure he doesn’t need anything. She
celebrates all occasions and milestones without missing a beat.
She is the store’s historian and is always on hand with her
phone to take pictures and post. Maggie is strong and stern
but loving and caring at the same time. She has a great work
ethic and when she doesn’t know something she will teach
herself. She’s creates an environment that everyone enjoys
being in.

1

Manny, Hyde Park

Manny has developed a culture in Hyde Park
that exemplifies all five of our values. Since
the takeout-only model began a month ago,
Manny and his team have been able to
execute the business at a sales volume that is
currently beating last year’s sales volume,
without dine-in guests. With the dramatic
shift in operations, Manny has led his team to
continue to be motivated, be passionate, and
most of all be there for each other through
the difficult times. Thank you Manny, and
thank you to the rest of the team for
embracing change in such a positive way.

2

Kyle, Harbor East

“MD Who – MD2”…a cheer you can hear
throughout the MD2 region; created by our very
own Patrao of Harbor East, Kyle Potter!
Kyle is a compassionate leader who cares deeply
for his team and always leads with heart and
care. He always gives his best, voicing his
opinions honestly. He is willing to offer help no
matter the task; covering shifts, coordinating
making face masks for the region, picking up
products for other restaurants or helping any
manager who needs help with anything from
figuring out the chicken order guide to trouble
shooting in Micros. It’s an absolute honor and
pleasure to have Kyle as our Brother and
Cheerleader in MD2.

3

Lydia, Old Town

Lydia has been an AMAZING leader not just for Nandos Old Town but for all of
VA-South. She is an Assistant Patrao in Old Town and is working on steps to
become a Patrao. Last year, her aspirations were to get Nando’s Old Town to
be a Training store by her next review. Old Town achieved this goal months
before her target and she was a huge reason that this happened. She helped
John (Patrao) hire and train the right people along the way and created a
culture of accountability and acceptance. Lydia embraced Hot Spot and
became a subject matter expert. She got the entire Old Town team engaged
in and the scores on every level in Old Town rose; Shoppers, FCA’s and NPS.
Lydia is selfless in her leadership. She always remembers birthdays and
celebrates with her team all the time. She makes sure to have fun with the
team and always bakes them goodies. If you haven’t had one of her pies, you
are missing out. Recently, when Springfield needed support Lydia stepped up
to the challenge and made an immediate impact. In just a few weeks with
Lydia, they became the new Hot Spot champion in VA-South with 100%
completions across the board. She was able to achieve this all while COVID-19
was happening all around us. When we put tape down to indicate 6 feet
apart, Lydia made sure that the tape was in the shape of chicken feet. Lydia
always remembers how far the little things go. We are extremely proud of
Lydia and very lucky to have her as a leader in VA-South. Lydia will absolutely
hit her goal to become a Patrao at Nando’s and any store will be lucky to have
her. VA-South loves Lydia!

4

Jasmine, National Harbor

Jasmine has shown exemplary leadership of our values
throughout this entire pandemic. I’m grateful while also
being thankful for her poise and unwavering leadership.
When I asked Jasmine to take the donation ball for the DMV
region, she did not hesitate and welcomed the challenge
with open arms in order to serve our community. Jasmine
has been with Nando’s just over a year and in that time has
embraced and brought to life all of our values at National
Harbor. When you hear her speak about Nando’s and her
Nandocas she is all heart. Outside of Nando’s she has an
incredible husband and a smart, handsome son named
Harper who was born in 2017.

5

Ryan, Gainesville

From the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic Ryan has been an inspirational
example of how to lead through our values at Nando’s. Within days of shutting
down Ryan and his Nandoca’s were out in Gainesville delivering meals to the
medical community, pharmacies, and grocery stores.
Ryan embodies our family value and that has never been more evident than it is
now. When schools decided to close Ryan was brainstorming how to have a prom
and graduation for his high school seniors who were going to miss out. Ryan has
handled himself with great compassion for his Nandocas while providing clear
communication and expectations for the road ahead. When Reston closed the first
thing Ryan asked was what I needed him to do. Three days later Ryan had a team
in Reston to support me with getting expired food out of the restaurant while
putting together over 150 meals for hospitals and over 100 chickens for DC Central
Kitchen.
In our ever-changing world Ryan has challenged convention and has been
innovative trying to find new ways operate safely and build sales. Ryan has
repeatedly shown great courage asking the difficult questions that others aren’t
thinking about or unwilling to ask. As Nando’s begins to identify the “new normal”
we can count on Ryan to bring fresh ideas and to challenge us to evolve.

6

Purvi, Streeterville

Since COVID-19 began we have served
thousands of meals and delivered even
more throughout Chicago. Through this
time Purvi has taken on every order,
including taking phone orders at 8AM,
without a hitch! Being smack dab in the
middle of a medical campus during a
pandemic can be extremely stressful for
everyone in the neighborhood, but instead
of letting it get the best of her and her
team Purvi and her team have taken
everything in stride. In addition to all of
the community donations that Streeterville
has done, they have also seen a steady
sales growth WoW.

2

Andy, Wheaton

Andy’s store was the first required to shut down due to its Mall location and he handled it with
positivity and super organized grace from the moment we found out. In fact, even when we knew it
was coming, he did the BEST he could to increase sales for his looming last day by partnering with
COSTCO to hand out BOGOs and sample to them while they were in that God awful never ending
line. After that he and his team were all-in ready to help out the region in whatever way they could. I
sent the managers a redeploy schedule and even still Andy requested that he be allowed back to his
store for an hour or so each day with JC to make sure they left no corner unturned in regards to
cleanliness. I obliged and they cleaned places and crevices I didn’t even know existed and sent me a
TON of before and after pics that I shared with the team. His “Captain of the Clean Club” title is well
deserved.

When Bethesda lost 1/3 of their team to quarantine, Andy took the lead and rallied his team to fill
most of the open holes in their schedule.

He has been dubbed “Chicken B%&$!” by our team for always being willing at the drop of a hat to run
around getting all the stores whatever they need. The first time sales hit and we all ran out of
chicken, Andy spent hours driving to VA to pick up chicken then delivering chicken to each store in the
region, he’s now done that a few times now, sometimes on his day off “with pleasure Jennifer” as he
always tells me.

MD1 would not be the same without our “Chicken B%&$!”

8