Hawk Fuel, Subway, Hot Stuff manager knows work

OTHELLO — Some people work, some work a lot, and some, like Pennie Brady, work even more.

It’s not that Pennie’s forced to work. She just became accustomed to working from the age of 8.

Pennie is the manager of the Hawk Fuel gas station and mini-mart, Subway sandwich shop and Hot Stuff Pizza, all at First Avenue and Highway 26.

Theses businesses are three responsibilities but involve only one employer. Hawk stands alone. Subway and Hot Stuff share space in a nearby building.

In addition to keeping business records, Pennie manages five employees at Hawk and nine at Subway and Hot Stuff. Hawk operates from 4 a.m. to midnight seven days a week. Subway and Hot Stuff open at 7 a.m. daily and close at 9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Pennie works for Sukhi Dhaliwal, owner of the three businesses and others. She considers him the best boss she’s ever had.

“I’ll probably stay here forever,” she said. “I don’t like changing jobs, and I know this one.”

Retirement? Someday, maybe, but it’s not on Pennie’s mind. She’s healthy and, at 50-something, she doesn’t consider herself old.

“I would get bored not working,” she said. “I love fishing and camping, but you can do only so much of that.”

Pennie picked up that attitude from her father while growing up in Dayton. He had a tree removal service, and Pennie started helping him when she was 8.

“I grew up learning how to do rope work and running a chain saw,” she said. “We all worked. It was just our way of life.”

She added: “Dad said, ‘If you want it, you have to earn it,’ and that’s the way I raised my kids.”

Pennie’s last employment before coming to Hawk Fuel was with a fruit company. She had to take a three-year break because of a bulging disc in her neck she suffered doing mechanic work on a tractor.

“I used to work on cars, too,” she said. “If they’re old, I can still fix them.”

As those three years came to a close, Pennie received a phone call that led to where she is today. Her son’s then-girlfriend, who worked at Hawk, knew Pennie was eager to get back to work.

Pennie started as a cashier-stocker. She was the manager in three years.

Pennie stayed with Hawk when Dhaliwal bought it. Later, when Dhaliwal offered her management of all three businesses, she thought about it for a week.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in food service,” she said.

From the age of 15 to 32, Pennie had been a server at several different restaurants. But this was not quite the same. She took on the challenge.

“There was a learning curve taking on Subway and Hot Stuff,” she said.

Dhaliwal took care of that by sending Pennie to Subway School in Tri-Cities and paid her while she was there. Hot Stuff is not as demanding.

Pennie tries to keep her schedule at 40 hours but, sometimes, she works between 50-60. On a normal week, she’s in the stores seven days.

Salaried, Pennie doesn’t receive overtime pay. But she enjoys comp time. If she needs a day for personal matters, she takes it. When she feels exhausted, she goes home.

“(The boss) doesn’t have a problem with that,” she said.

The reason Pennie can take days off or go home early is that some of her employees can hold down the fort. Manuela Aresti, who has been at Hot Stuff 13 years, is one.

“She knows everything; she knows the ordering. She still has to train me on that,” Pennie said.

Pennie is training college student Carrie Scott as an assistant manager. Online sandwich training takes three to six days for most new people. Carrie did it in one day.

When Pennie goes off on a break, she trusts her staff to handle problems. However, she’s only a high-tech minute away.

“Most things I can fix over the (cell) phone,” she said.

And if physical help is needed, Pennie can count on Kim Collins, manager of the Shell service station and mini-mart. Owned by Dhaliwal, Shell is in the same building as Subway and Hot Stuff.

And, of course, Pennie will come in if needed. It’s her habit. She’s been working nearly 50 years.