Round Table Pizza manager shares her ‘Undercover Boss’ story
FORT BRAGG, CA » On February 25, 2022, Laudalina Parks, manager of Round Table Pizza in Fort Bragg, and her employee, Trish Fernandez, were featured on an episode of Undercover Boss that aired on CBS. The episode followed the president and CEO of Round Table, Paul Damico, in disguise, on a cross-country trip to check on a few unsuspecting restaurant managers. Damico wanted a first-hand account of what the restaurant chain needed to do to expand nationally, modernize and attract younger generations of diners. Round Table operates 420 restaurants on the West Coast, employing 8,000 people and earning over $400 million annual revenue. In particular, he was curious to discover how the Fort Bragg restaurant, tucked away in a remote, rural town, steadily rang up sales that continually placed it in the top 25% of profitable Round Table restaurants.
Damico took on the guise of a middle-aged “hipster wine bar owner” making a documentary about starting over in a new career. Guided by Laudalina Parks, the bearded and long-haired Damico spent time in the kitchen learning how to make Round Table’s chicken wings from start to finish. Viewers acquired an appreciation for the job’s intense focus and Parks’ insistence for speed without compromising the quality of each diner’s order. In a scene comically reminiscent of the dirtiest jobs in the world, Trish Fernandez showed him how to clean out the kitchen’s
grease trap.
Later, Parks told Damico that she uses her own money to reward her employees with Starbucks gift cards. Pay is low, she noted, but her employees work hard and deserve appreciation. “It makes the morale so much better,” she said, adding, “They’re like my family.” Damico then took the time to ask Fernandez about her experience working with Parks. Fernandez related a story of herself coming to Round Table as “an active alcoholic trying to get sober at the time.” Eighteen sober days later, Parks understood her employee’s
personal struggle when Fernandez admitted that she was not okay. She recalled telling Laudalina, “I’m not okay. I just want to get drunk.”
Laudalina’s rescue mission began by connecting Fernandez with Alcoholics Anonymous. “That was the day she saved my life,” said Fernandez. She added, “I’ve been going ever since. This Saturday it will be four years. I’ve gotten sober. I’m a good and healthy mom. I’ve graduated college. I couldn’t have done it without her.” As Damico listened, he was visibly moved by Fernandez’s success
story. Damico said about Parks, “She’s amazing. Lauda has built an incredible team here that truly loves to support her and ensure her success.”
Parks invited Damico, still undercover, to her home at the end of the workday. As CEO of a large restaurant chain, Damico had the rare opportunity to see the reality of a chain manager’s private life. In this case, Parks is helping raise her grandchildren, facing a future retirement with no employee pension plan, and acknowledging she has no means to fulfill a dream of taking her grandchildren
to Portugal to see her birthplace. Damico was visibly moved by Parks’ life and her genuine affection for her employees.
The episode ended with the real Damico meeting with Parks in Sacramento to update her on his documentary. Parks reported that she was genuinely surprised to discover who “J.J.” really was. Damico generously donated to her gift card project, set up a retirement fund for her that included a starting cash amount, and arranged to fund a trip for her and her grandchildren to Portugal. Damico also commended
Parks for her forty years of service to Round Table. “My time with you was spectacular. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you do for this company,” he explained.
Not shown in the episode was Damico’s generosity toward Fernandez. He included her in his donations, awarding her a sizable sum of money to help her continue building a better life. Although all the filming events took place over a two-week period last June, both Parks and Fernandez still feel amazed by good fortune. They have become close friends over the past four years, and neither of them sees herself as deserving of any special consideration. Fernandez is excited by the changes the gift of money brings to her life. These days she works for the Fort Bragg Food Bank as the CalFresh Outreach Coordinator. “She’s flown the coop,” Parks confirmed.
Parks can’t easily express what this whole experience means to her. Pausing to think, she then said, “I feel humble. I was a needle in a haystack. I just can’t believe this happened to me.” For Parks and Fernandez, this experience was surely a remarkable Cinderella story. Yet, from Damico’s perspective, he had justly rewarded a dedicated forty-year employee. “This little place in the middle of nowhere is successful because of her. In our focus to modernize, we can’t lose sight of the spirit that makes Round Table so special,” he explained. Supposedly, the mantra of “all things being equal” reigns in advertising in the franchise world, but many Fort Bragg Round Table patrons already knew about Laudalina Parks’ special spirit.