13. Balancing Family, Career, and Health with Leslie Neslage
**Transcription Below**
Ephesians 4:2 NIV “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
Leslie Neslage is the Category Lead of Menu & Packaging for Corporate Chick-fil-A but she will tell you she is first a daughter of God, wife to Stephen, and mother to two children and one dog. Leslie is a passionate speaker with plenty of practical examples of ways to flourish at work and at home.
Leslie’s 5 Important Roles:
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Spiritual Being– Follow God’s example in everything you do, live a life filled with love for others
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Wife – I am a wife Stephen adores and is excited to come home to at the end of the day
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Mom - I am a faithful Parent my kids want to hug.
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Chick-fil-A Leader – I am a Chick-fil-A Leader who inspires and brings out the best in others
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Athlete – I am an athlete who thrives off exercise, clean eating and journaling
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Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”
Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”
Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“
Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“
Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
**Transcription**
[00:00:00] <music>
Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.
[00:00:17] <music>
Laura Dugger: I want to say thank you to Leman Property Management for being such a loyal sponsor of The Savvy Sauce. They're located in Central Illinois. And with over 1,600 apartment homes in all price ranges, they have listings throughout Morton, Pekin, Peoria, Washington, and Canton. They can find the perfect spot for you.
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Hey everybody! As you already may know, my husband is the owner-operator of our local Chick-fil-A. And because it's a family business, I have worked with him for the past 8 years in various positions, ranging from a front counter cashier to director of HR and marketing in his restaurant. [00:01:17]
There have been multiple Chick-fil-A trainings that I have attended, where Leslie was the instructor. She is approachable, warm, and full of energy and fun. So I reached out to see if she would be willing to join us today. So it is my privilege to get to introduce you to Leslie Neslage.
Hello, Leslie.
Leslie Neslage: Hi, Laura. Thanks for having me today.
Laura Dugger: Absolutely. So excited to chat with you. Can you just start off by telling us a little bit more about yourself?
Leslie Neslage: Absolutely. I'm Leslie and I am married to Steven. We have been married for eight years. I'm originally from the Midwest. I grew up in South Dakota and Minnesota, but I've been in the South since 2002. I went to Auburn University, which is where I met my husband, and started at Chick-fil-A in Atlanta in 2006.
We have our sassy minx, Helen. She is two. And last December, we had our son, George. He's my little cherub, I call him. And then we have a labradoodle, Stella, who is our firstborn, but she's not getting quite as much attention right now. [00:02:23]
Laura Dugger: Certainly. So you are in the thick of it. You have kids at home, a great career. And you've mentioned you have five important roles you play in life. Can you just share those and the definitions that you've created?
Leslie Neslage: Absolutely. Several years ago, I started working with a personal coach, Tommy Newberry. He has a group here in Atlanta that he works with as well as clients all over the country. One of the things he really challenged me on was what are the five most important roles you play in life? And these can look different in different seasons. But that really helped me clarify what are the things that I need to say yes to and what are the things that in this season of life, it's just no, I just don't have the hours and I can't.
So mine are number one, spiritual being. A verse that just is near and dear to my heart is Ephesians 4:2, "Follow God's example in everything you do, live a life filled with love for others." [00:03:22] That's something that I really try to keep at the core of who I am is how can I live a life filled with love for others and how can I be a light that is reflecting what God created in the world? Whether I talk about it or whether I just do that through actions. So that's something that really grounds who I am and is the most important thing for me.
After spiritual being it's wife. My marriage is the most important thing to me. God has blessed me tremendously with an unbelievable husband, Steven. I say my role is I'm a wife and my little tagline is I'm a wife that Steven adores and is excited to come home to at the end of the day.
Marriage is hard and it's great and it's fun and it's crazy, but that has to be at the center of our family. So as long as I have my faith, my marriage and my kids, the rest of the world can kind of fall away. But those are the three things that I just can't compromise. [00:04:23] So those are faith, then wife.
And then third is mom. So I'm a faithful parent that my kids want to hug. And faithful, I was really intentional with this. My friend Penny is a children's pastor and she really challenged me when I was getting ready to have my daughter. I kept saying, "Gosh, I just hope I'm a good mom. All I want to do is be a good mom."
And she really challenged me. She said, "Leslie, nowhere in the Bible doesn't say be a good mom. God doesn't call you to be a good mom. God calls you to be a faithful parent. That really struck me because for each individual mom or dad or parent, what's important to you could look very different than what's important to someone else.
So examples of that are some people it's really important to nurse. Some people can't. It's just their body doesn't work. Some people they want their kids to eat all organic. I don't cook. So my kids have never had anything organic. [00:05:27] Unless, you know, we happen to be in an organic restaurant, which is few and far between. Some people they are big fan of letting their kids cry it out. Some people never let their kids cry it out. And all of those options are fine.
What Penny really challenged me on was a faithful parent is someone who teaches their child about the Lord, they teach their children to love and respect, and care about others. So literally what I did was I just read verse after verse after verse and made a list of what are the things that faithful parents do. I printed this list and I have it hanging up in my closet.
So at the end of the day, when it's been a long day and my daughter has slammed the door in my face or hit me and said, "No mommy. Move mommy," and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, what am I doing?" Well, she's two, that's going to happen. But I can always try to go back to that true north and say, "Am I showing her honor, dignity, and respect? Am I loving my kids? Am I praying for my kids? Am I helping them learn about the Lord? Am I nurturing them? Am I giving them a safe place to come home to? [00:06:34]
If the answer to that is yes, that's the most important thing. So I really want to be a faithful parent that my kids want to hug. And hug is really just more, they feel safe and they feel comfortable. I want my kids to know that they can always ask me anything, that we can talk about anything, and that home is a comfortable place to be.
When they go off to college, I want them to think about what their home experience was like, and I want it to always be safe and a place where they felt they could come home and get a hug. I'm not saying it's always going to be glamorous and perfect, heck no, but I want them to feel that it's safe.
So spiritual, being mom, wife, Chick-fil-A leader. So I've had the privilege of working at Chick-fil-A for 12 years now, which is crazy. I started as an intern and kind of have worked my way up throughout the Chick-fil-A support center, which has been such a blessing in my life. [00:07:28]
But my goal at Chick-fil-A is I want to be a leader who inspires and brings out the best in others. So I've gotten to do that in a variety of different ways: encouraging operators and their team members in the local restaurants, helping teach training classes, and most recently in the menu development department, helping launch and test new items for our restaurants. So it's been a blessing.
Then last but not least is athlete who thrives off of exercise, clean eating and journaling. And I will be honest, right now in this season, this is not totally happening because if any of these... This is the one right now that I'm like, "I can't not have my faith in God. I can't fall short on my husband or my kids and work is critical."
So, athlete, this is something that's super important to me and is more aspirational. Maybe when I get out of the three-month newborn fog I will find time to exercise a little bit more. [00:08:27]
But one way that I really connect and reflect, especially with the Lord is journaling and having quiet time, having prayer time, and journaling. So that's something that, for me, even if it's just five minutes to look at notes that I've written on my iPad or look at posted notes in my closet, that's what I do. So those are my five rules.
Laura Dugger: Those are so good. What's encouraging about that is you've got it clearly laid out, here are five priorities, and yet there's a flexibility built in that we can all relate to that sometimes you weigh out which are most important if one has to go for a season. So I feel like you've just offered us grace with that.
But you mentioned you work with Chick-fil-A at the support center. So what is your favorite part about working for Chick-fil-A?
Leslie Neslage: All of it. I know that sounds cheesy, but it really is. I have been so unbelievably blessed. So I grew up in Minnesota in South Dakota. I never had Chick-fil-A until I went to Auburn. [00:09:26] I knew nothing about this company. I knew nothing about Truett Cathy or the Cathy family or our waffle fries or any of it.
At the end of my college career, my professor, I needed an internship and he was like, "Hey..." My background was television and media relations. And then I realized I did not want to go into that. And he said, "Hey, you should look at Chick-fil-A. They really align with your values." And here you are. And I'm like, "The restaurant company?" And he was like, "Yeah, they're actually awesome." I was like, "Okay."
So I started, I applied, I was an intern. And over the course of the last 12 years, I can honestly tell you every aspect of my life is better because of Chick-fil-A and because of the people I get to interact with on a daily basis.
I have incredible parents and great family, but the people that I'm surrounded with here have just really challenged my thoughts and challenged me and given me perspective on "here's some really amazing things to think about in marriage. Here's some really great things to think about in terms of raising kids. Here's some things to think about in terms of community service." [00:10:33]
I just had a coffee with Rodney Bullard who's our vice president of community affairs. He worked for the White House and has this unbelievable background. He went to the Air Force Academy and now he's leading the Chick-fil-A foundation and helping develop scholarship programs for our Chick-fil-A restaurant operators. And it's just like, "Wow. I sit down the hall from you and I can have coffee with you and you're doing these unbelievable things."
Our office and our operators have that incredible life. So truly, at the end of the day, if I had to boil it down to one word, it's the people and it's the stories and not just of the support staff of the individual owner-operators who have really touched and changed my life. It's unbelievable. It is a blessing. It is truly a blessing to have the opportunity to sell waffle fries and chicken and milkshakes.
And at first blush, you think, "What? There's no way." [00:11:29] But everything about my life is better because I have the opportunity to connect with the people I do here.
Laura Dugger: That's incredible. And your character even comes out. We were just walking through the support center a few minutes ago. There was actually a piece of trash on the ground and I noticed that you were walking in front of me and you didn't just pass by it. You bent down, picked it up and threw it away. And even those small examples show what you've been shaped by with Chick-fil-A.
Leslie Neslage: And you know what? If I had taken a different career path I know that I would not be the person I am today. My faith would not be where it is today. The things that I look for in life and in the world would not be what they are today.
I mean, it was funny on my wedding day, believe it or not, my mom and I were having a conversation and she said, "You've turned out to be this amazing person." She's like, "There were years I never thought it was possible." And that's probably because I was a sassy five-year-old, I don't know or when I was 16 I was more concerned with cheerleading than others. [00:12:32]
But I think so much of how I've turned out and the person I've become and the person I'm continuing to become is because of Chick-fil-A. I know it is. 100% it is.
Laura Dugger: Well, when you say that, it makes me think, what are some specific stories that come to your mind of how someone at Chick-fil-A has influenced or shaped your life?
Leslie Neslage: Oh my gosh, I have about a thousand. So one of my mentors here is David Salyers. He was the second person hired in the marketing department. I had a coffee with him when I was an intern my second week here, and literally I told him my whole life story. I got in the car and I called my boyfriend, who is now my husband, Steven, and I said, "I think I just made the biggest mistake of my life," or "I'm going to have a lifelong friend." And he's turned out to be a lifelong friend.
But he has given me so many little nuggets of wisdom. So a couple that I'll share with you are marriage. [00:13:30] I was talking to David about marriage and just, you know, investing in your marriage and when to get married. Steve and I dated for five years and David and I sat down and I was like, "I just don't know when I'm ready and I don't want to make a rush decision because my parents got divorced and my husband's parents are divorced and basically everyone in our family except for one of my aunts and uncles and my grandparents are divorced."
And David said, "Les, there's no sprint." At the time I was 23 or 24. And he said, "If you and Steven were together until you're 80, it doesn't really matter if you're together for two years, five years, seven years, 10 years. If then you're married until you're 80, enjoy whatever season you're in. Because once you cross through that hurdle, you can't go back. So enjoy the dating phase because then you can't go back. When you're engaged, enjoy the engagement phase and then enjoy the married phase."
And that has been life-changing for me because it sort of took this time pressure off. So we dated for five years, we were engaged for a year and a half and we waited six years to have kids. [00:14:33] And every time I would talk with him, he would just say, "Leslie, enjoy it, just slow down and enjoy it." And it was wonderful.
Another thing that David's taught me on a totally opposite front than marriage has so much to do with parenting. He always talks with me about investing in your kids and raising your kids. But one thing that has given me such a piece of heart is he always says, "Leslie, parents take far too much credit and far too much blame for how their children turn out." And it is so true.
He just said your job is to create experiences for your kids to grow and learn and make mistakes and learn how to get back up and persevere. But he kept saying you can't take too much credit for how they turn out. You can't take too much blame. You just have to continuously teach and have teachable moments, spend time with them, have conversations with them. [00:15:31] But at the end of the day, they're going to learn to make choices."
And one of the best things you can do is give your kid an opportunity to have those experiences. And okay, if you want to do this and jump off the couch, you're going to fall. Obviously, don't let them run in the street or anything. That's been a huge help for me.
So those are just two of the things. I mean, I could go on and on. We could do a whole podcast on life lessons learned from Chick-fil-A.
Laura Dugger: Oh, maybe we should do that at some point as well. But many women can relate to having a family and a career that they love. So what encouragement do you have for those ladies who are listening and they're in your same position?
Leslie Neslage: In some ways, you got to fake it till you make it. I don't know. I mean, I was up at four this morning with one kid, six with the other, and up at seven. But I think the best piece of advice was, again, for one of my friends here at Chick-fil-A, her name is Lindsey Baron. And she told me right before I had Helen, she said, "Leslie, you can have balance. It just doesn't all happen on the same day." [00:16:37]
That has been such a weight off my shoulders because I work full time and I travel and my husband works full time and he travels and we have two little kids at home and we have zero family in Atlanta. So God has tremendously blessed us with wonderful friends. My friends, Penny and Donna and a lot of great friends here at Chick-fil-A that I'm like, "Hey, can you pick Helen up today from daycare? I got to take George to the doctor" or vice versa. But I think the thing with balance is you can do it all. You just can't do it all on the same day. And giving yourself grace to realize that.
Last week, for example, I was traveling in Washington, D.C. and I left at four in the morning before my kids got up and I didn't get home until 7:30 at night on Friday night. I left on Thursday morning, got home at 7:30 at night after they both went to bed. And nursing on the road and Lord, that's a whole nother podcast. But I was doing it for work. [00:17:33]
And I had the chance to meet with eight Chick-fil-A operators and spend time with their team members. And I absolutely loved it. And it was awesome. And my husband held down the fort at home and he was on deck and he was great with that. But that day my kids, I didn't get to spend as much time with them.
This week there's... Lord, we've already been to the doctor once this week and it's only Tuesday. I had to come in late. I'm leaving early to get my kids because my son has his four-month checkup. You just kind of have to make it balanced.
Some days your kids are going to be the last one picked up at daycare and some days you're just not going to get to the email or you're just not going to get to the phone call that you need to respond to. And you just have to give yourself grace.
Something that I will say has been super helpful is for me, my accountability partner is my husband, but we'll go on walks or in bed at night when we're talking, I'll just say, "Are we doing okay? Are we totally out of balance?" And there have been seasons in life, actually, a lot before kids where he was like, "Yeah, no more email at night." [00:18:36] Like, "You can't keep doing this." And then there are seasons where he's like, "No, we're totally great."
So just having those candid conversations of this week was a little crazy, but as long as it evens out... I like to think of it in terms of a month, as long as it evens out over the course of a month. A tactical thing, if it's helpful for you or for any moms or parents out there is I'll look at my calendar and I'll kind of make a check like, Okay, this was a big work day. So I put a W on it. If this was a big mom day or family day, I'll put an M on it. And then I'll look at the calendar and I'll say, Okay, this kind of evens out. And if it doesn't, then you really got to reevaluate.
But that's something super tactical for me so that in the thick of it when I'm like, Okay, I have 97 emails in my inbox and I'm sitting in the doctor's office right now because we have our 11th ear infection. It's like, Okay, but I'm the only one who can be Helen's mom right now. Those emails can wait. [00:19:35] Or when Helen's healthy and my husband's on deck, then I can go and travel. And it works. You just make it work. You make it work one day at a time.
Laura Dugger: It's so good. I love that idea. You've given us a few takeaways. The question to ask, first of all, who is our accountability partner. Checking in with them: Are we doing okay? Looking at our calendar, balancing out over a month. These are so good. Do you have any other practical tips for us?
Leslie Neslage: Yes. Okay. So this was also given to me by another Chick-fil-A friend and female coworker, Elizabeth Dixon. When I was pregnant with Helen, we sat down and I'm like, "Okay, how do you do this?" And she was like, "Leslie, outsource everything and anything you can afford that you're not emotionally tied to." That for me was brilliant.
And she really focused on "that you are not emotionally tied to". So she said for her, she's like, "I love cooking meals and I love cooking with my kids and we have an experience and we cook organic and she... I think she made her own baby food. [00:20:39] And I'm like, "Wow. That is so not my thing." I'm like, "I am not that. That is not for me." But that's her thing.
So one thing that my husband and I did after we had Helen before we came back to work is I said, Okay, we've got to outsource some stuff. So we've carved and worked the money out of the budget. So we have someone who comes twice a week to help us do laundry and grocery shopping and cleaning and cooking so that we can come home and at the end of the day we can literally kick our shoes off and sit on the floor and read stories and play with our kids.
I don't have to worry about the laundry or running to the grocery store because at the end of the day in 18 years I will still have laundry, I will still have to go to the grocery store, but I will not have two little babies who want to sit in my lap and read Llama Llama Red Pajama. So, that's what we do now.
And it's funny, when I tell you that I do not cook, I really don't. [00:21:36] And my daughter, we got her a kitchen. I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing, but it's reflective of our life. She's like, "Here, mommy, I'll make you hot dogs." And she opened the refrigerator on her kitchen, put the fake hot dog in the microwave, hit the beep, and then she took it out and put it on a plate.
I'm like, Yeah, that's all you see because all I do is microwave your food. I'm so sorry. But at the end of the day, that's where I come back to. I'm a faithful parent. She's healthy. She knows she's loved. If she's living on microwave hot dogs right now and cheese and pears, then that's what she's eating and it's fine.
Laura Dugger: That's great. I love it.
And now a brief message from our sponsor.
Sponsor: Today's episode is made possible by our Central Illinois sponsor, Leman Property Management. They offer over 1,600 apartment homes throughout Morton, Pekin, Peoria, Washington, and Canton. Whether you're looking for the newest property in the hottest area of town or an economical location where you can get the most value for your dollar, they have you covered. [00:22:38]
From efficiency apartments to 4-bedroom units and single-family homes, Leman Property Management has been providing a place for people to call home for nearly 40 years. Whenever you start a search for a rental, start that search with Leman Property Management. With a professional and friendly staff to serve you from the first time you walk in their doors, you won't be disappointed.
Check them out at MidwestShelters.com. And there you can search for their different communities. You can also like them on Facebook or call their leasing office at (309) 346-4159. So moving back to the work side, how did you end up working a corporate job with Chick-fil-A?
Leslie Neslage: So I worked as an intern and then part-time temporary for about a year and a half for an hourly wage and would work with operators and team members helping write their press releases for their community events. [00:23:35] And I absolutely loved it.
My family in Minnesota kept saying, "What are you doing? Where are you working? We have never heard of this chicken restaurant. Are you sure?" My dad especially was like, "I don't know about this." It's like, "Trust me, this is a really good place." And it's not like I could tell him, go down the road and go to Chick-fil-A because in 2006 there weren't any Chick-fil-A's in Minnesota. We were barely in the Midwest.
But I'm so glad that I did because it's shaped who I am and it shaped my life. And I never thought a television degree from Auburn that I would now be helping launch new menu items to our Chick-fil-A restaurants. But Rick, my professor who helped me find Chick-fil-A, would always tell me, "Leslie, what you do first, you don't have to do forever. It could lead to something else. So if you like it and you like the people and you like the work, stay. Don't feel like you have to change. You can make an unbelievable career at Chick-fil-A. It just might not be what you thought it looked like." [00:24:36] So that has been huge.
One of my friends here, Robert McLaughlin, who is a great mentor to me, he led the sponsorships and event marketing department for a long time. He would always say, "Leslie, if you look back at the course of your life, you can see these pinpoints and these pivotal moments, kind of like the dots on your life." And he said, "When you look back at some point, they'll all connect."
So I think for me, just having faith and taking a jump, "Well, I'm going to start at Chick-fil-A as an intern. I don't know anything about the company, but I'm going to give it a shot and we'll see what happens" has been the biggest blessing of my life. I never would have done that had Rick not just said, "What you do first, you don't have to do forever. Give it a try. You never know where it could lead."
Laura Dugger: That's so good. And maybe somebody is listening right now and they're a college student, but they don't know what they want to do after graduation. Or maybe somebody else has been in their field for years, but they're starting to feel that nudge to look elsewhere. [00:25:37] What other careers are available to them through Chick-fil-A?
Leslie Neslage: What I would say to anyone listening is go and download the Chick-fil-A app on your iPhone or on your Android. Find the closest Chick-fil-A to you and just go ask to talk with the owner operator and say, "Can I have breakfast with you?" or "Can I have coffee with you? Tell me about Chick-fil-A. Tell me about what you do." Because the career opportunities within the restaurant and within the support center side are endless.
We are in the people business. We serve chicken, but it's everything from, you know, I'm in the marketing department but really I'm in many development. We have careers in finance. We have writing. We have content we have to write for our websites and for our communication. We have social media. You can do social media at the restaurant level.
Each individual operator a lot of times will hire someone to do marketing for that specific restaurant. So if you're a college student interested in marketing, go talk to your local operator. [00:26:38] It's called marketing director is the program or restaurant marketing director, and you would have opportunities to really have hands-on real-world experience with coordinating and setting up events, leveraging and figuring out how to do social media.
Maybe you're interested in graphic designs. Our local restaurant owners always need graphic design work done. Maybe you're interested in youth and leadership development. That is probably one of the biggest and most important roles a Chick-fil-A restaurant owner-operator plays is developing the people that get to work in their restaurant.
I don't think there's a better career for someone just starting out or who's maybe midway through their career and says, "I gotta make a change." I think the best thing you could do, honestly, is look on your phone, search Chick-fil-A, find a local restaurant operator, call them up. I cannot think of one operator in the chain who would not be willing to talk with you about the career opportunities within the Chick-fil-A restaurant or at the support center. [00:27:41]
Laura Dugger: That's great advice and something we could each do today. You also work with healthy menu items. Some of our listeners maybe have never tried Chick-fil-A because they fear it is really unhealthy. Could you just shed some light on that myth?
Leslie Neslage: Yes. Oh my gosh. This is probably one of my favorite myths to debunk because we have so many healthy items. And when you think about healthy, everyone has a different term for healthy. No additives or ingredients.
Our chicken is all-natural, whole breast chicken meat that we hand-bred fresh in the restaurant every single day. You know, we have grilled nuggets for our kids' menu. We have fruit cup. We have three amazing entree salads. We have a cool wrap. We have a superfood side that's broccolini and kale. I think we have the healthiest kids' meal in America. That's one of the things that I know we've talked about. [00:28:39]
There are so many options. So it really determines on what your definition of healthy is. But I can tell you it's fresh ingredients. A lot of our operators get six produce delivery trucks a week. So the same produce, the same tomatoes, the same kale, the same fruit that you would pick up in your local grocery store, our Chick-fil-A operators are getting. The delivery trucks literally go to Publix, they go to Kroger, they go right to Chick-fil-A.
I can tell you that I feel so good about feeding my kids Chick-fil-A, both the grilled nuggets and our pressure-cooked classic nuggets. What I'll do is I'll go into a Chick-fil-A restaurant and a lot of Chick-fil-A restaurants will sell the 30-count nuggets. So I'll buy the 30-count nuggets and then I'll take them home.
I told you I really don't cook. So I'll take them home and I'll put them in individual baggies and I'll put them in the freezer and then I'll pull them out. And that's because I know exactly what I'm giving my daughter and I know all about that chicken and it's whole breast chicken meat that's simply cut up into little nuggets. [00:29:40] There aren't any preformed shapes or anything like that.
A lot of nights too my kids love the yogurt so we'll get a couple Greek yogurts and just put them in the fridge and make them for their lunches the next couple days. There's so many different options. Additionally, when you walk into a Chick-fil-A restaurant, and for me, I've usually got two kids, one on each hip, a stroller, and a diaper bag, the thing that I love the most is they'll help you to your table. So I'll go and order and they'll help me to my table.
Or one of my favorite things is a program that a lot of Chick-fil-A restaurants offer called Parents Valet, where you can order through your app on your phone and just put the instructions in, pull up into the parking spot, and they'll actually bring the food out to you. So that for me... I mean, Lord, that is the biggest blessing because if the drive-thru line is wrapped around, even though our Chick-fil-A drive-thrus are fast, I sometimes don't go through because where our drive-thru is the play place is right there and my daughter absolutely has a meltdown. [00:30:43] Play, play, play, play, play.
So if I can go on the other side and do the parents' valet, they'll deliver the food to the car, then we can go home and plate it up and serve it. But if I go through the drive-through and we don't go in the restaurant, it is a meltdown for two and a half hours. I kid you not.
Laura Dugger: I love it. And there's even one additional thing that you just keep touching on. If somebody doesn't have the Chick-fil-A app, just tell us a little bit more about that because it's amazing.
Leslie Neslage: Oh my gosh. Yes. So all you have to do literally is go into your App Store and download the Chick-fil-A app and you can pull up any menu item, the nutrition, the calories. You can order items on the Chick-fil-A app.
So, one of the things that I've historically done is I'll get all the kids in the car, we'll be sitting in the driveway, I'll plug in my order, or I'll plug it in even before we leave the house. And then right when I pull up and park at Chick-fil-A, I'll click "I'm here". [00:31:40] And then that cues the team to start to prepare the order.
And I can get the diaper bags and the strollers and two kids out of the car. I'll walk in and I'll just say, "Hey, I'm Leslie. We're actually going to dine in right over here." And the Chick-fil-A team members will bring it. Helen's already off playing in the play place. But it just makes life so much easier.
When you're in the thick of it... I mean, I feel like we're in the fog right now. No sleep, newborns, diapers, bottles, all of it. Anything that can make your life easier, you want. So for us, the Chick-fil-A app makes our life easier and we are there at least two nights a week. At least two nights a week we go in. We probably go more through the drive-thru or do the parent's valet.
Laura Dugger: Well, and with that app, so not only do you skip the line, but from a budget standpoint, you eat more chicken. They send you more treats. They keep sending you free items.
Leslie Neslage: Yes, yes, yes. Oh my gosh, absolutely. Yeah, it's funny. I think I have multiple treats for breakfast items and dinner items on my phone right now.
Laura Dugger: Which is another benefit. [00:32:47] And you mentioned, I wasn't planning on sharing this, but you mentioned looking up the calorie content. And after our first daughter was born, my husband and I wanted to get more fit together. He was like, "Okay, every plan out there for healthy eating includes grilled chicken. He owns the local Chick-fil-A so we committed to that and we use my fitness pal for a calorie counter you just type in the Chick-fil-A Entree it also has the nutritional value and he lost 40 pounds in a short amount of time just through that more of a Chick-fil-A diet on a regular basis. He didn't have 40 pounds to lose, he already looked amazing, but that was really inspiring to me and also helped me lose the baby weight.
Leslie Neslage: That's exactly what I did. I signed up for Weight Watchers. This is not a plug for Weight Watchers. But in the new system that they're on, protein-grilled chicken is zero points. And it's unbelievable. And fruit is zero points. [00:33:48] So I can go in and get a diet lemonade, 8 or 12 grilled nuggets, and a large fruit cup, and that's zero points. It's amazing. That's how I lost my baby weight, living on Chick-fil-A.
Laura Dugger: Those grilled nuggets are amazing, too. If you're in a hurry, you can just pop those in.
Leslie Neslage: They're great. And they're awesome reheated. If you have to take them home, and like us, literally, it's a struggle to get our daughter to eat at Chick-fil-A because all she wants to do is play in the playground. When we bring her home, it's like, "All right, throw the nuggets back in the microwave, heat them up, keep them in the fridge, serve them the next day, they're totally fine."
Laura Dugger: Okay, so we definitely did not talk about any of this ahead of time, but you're telling our life story. That's what we do in the yogurt parfaits.
Leslie Neslage: Yogurt parfaits for breakfast, multiple days a week. Chicken biscuits. We do the 30-count nuggets and bag them up in individual bags. I keep trying the superfood salad. I love it. My daughter doesn't love it yet. But I have actually blended it in a smoothie before and that's been okay. Just take the cherries out. [00:34:49]
Laura Dugger: I'm totally trying that. Love it. So you've mentioned so many ways that Chick-fil-A has had a positive impact on your life. How can Chick-fil-A also have a positive impact on the life of anyone listening today?
Leslie Neslage: Oh my gosh, there's so many opportunities. I think the biggest thing that you could do is talk with your local owner-operator and see what they can do. But I mean, our team members, there are unbelievable opportunities for them with scholarships, with health and wellness programs, with marriage and parenting. We offer windshake and team members get to go to that. And if that's something that operators are willing to support. You know, there's so many different angles.
The operator that owns the restaurant that's closest to me is Jason Bilotti. And a couple of the unbelievable things that he does is he actually really is dedicated to investing in building schools in Niger, Africa, which is the poorest country in Africa. [00:35:49]
So our local Chick-fil-A, they do a family fun run every year, and that's sort of his mission. But you can figure out different ways to get involved. There's so many different avenues within Chick-fil-A that can support every aspect of your life.
Laura Dugger: So true. Like you said, if you talk to any local owner-operator, I know my husband, a few passions that he has, if you're listening and you're in the Midwest or really they're going all over the world now, Midwest food bank feeding the hungriest people on earth and St. Jude is big in our area. And so the impact of you even coming and supporting a Chick-fil-A, knowing where your money is also going to meet needs of others.
There are endless stories when you sit down and talk to these local owner-operators. Are there any others that come to mind? Any stories that you could share?
Leslie Neslage: Yes, absolutely. So one of my friends here that owns Chick-fil-A is Mark Reed. [00:36:45] And something that the Atlanta operators have become really passionate about is Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. That's our local children's hospital. And I say local in Atlanta, but it reaches, you know, people from Tennessee, from Alabama, from South Florida, from Savannah, all come to Atlanta to get health care for their children.
And that's one of the hardest things as a parent is seeing when you have a sick kid. And CHOA is unbelievable. We've only been there for fevers and stitches, but they serve a wide variety of needs. And the local Chick-fil-A owners really realized this is something that our community is passionate about. So they did a fundraiser last year with cookies and cookie sales and were able to give almost $200,000 to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. They're doing it again this year in the fall.
It's just unbelievable to see how people's lives are impacted and the beneficiaries of that. It's just unbelievable. [00:37:44] I know years ago, I think in 2013 or 2014, when the tornadoes went through the Midwest, Chick-fil-A restaurant owner-operators that were not impacted literally opened to their restaurants, started making sandwiches, brought in power strips, plugged in their phones and let people come and charge their phones, let people come, and have water, let people come and have food.
There are just so many ways that you can give back. I know of operators who are leading mission trips in Ukraine and in Africa and in South America. And it's just unbelievable how you can give back to not just your local community, but to the world at large.
Laura Dugger: I love that and that anyone listening can be a part of that.
Leslie Neslage: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Laura Dugger: So good. Well, as we're wrapping up today, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. "Savvy" means practical knowledge or discernment. And so we would love to hear your practical tips. [00:38:45] So as our final question today, Leslie, what is your savvy sauce?
Leslie Neslage: Oh my gosh, there's so many. I think I shared with you already the calendar. That's one way that I just really look at. Am I in balance? Am I not in balance? So I literally put a W on the calendar for work, an M on the calendar for marriage, and an F on the calendar for family. And I make sure that it's balanced out over the course of a month.
Outsourcing and getting people to help you. I really like iBooks for if you just need something really quick. So I do the You Bible app. And if you're in the middle of the doctor's office, or you've got a break between meetings, I like to look up the app and read the verse of the day. That's a good tip. [00:39:34]
And then something for me, accountability is huge. So I have to have accountability. So I have an app called Momentum and it's a habit tracker app. You can set it up to track anything you want. So if you're trying to drink more water, if you're trying to exercise more. I have it set up to track, did I read my verse of the day? And did I pray for my kids today? And like three other things. And then I just literally at the end of the day, when I'm laying in bed, go in and I track and I'm like, "Did I do this? Did I do this?"
That part of it is sort of robotic, but it forces me to really stop and think, Okay, yes, I am praying specifically for Stephen, for Helen and for George. Or did I exercise today? Uh, no. Oh, well, I'll try again tomorrow. But that's a good way that just really helps me hold myself accountable. And it's super easy. I think it was free. If it wasn't, it was maybe like two bucks.
Laura Dugger: That's incredible. So good. And Leslie, this has just been so fun to chat with you today. [00:40:34] You are a delight to spend time with. And I'm grateful that you took the time to share your love of Chick-fil-A with us today. So thank you for hanging out with us at The Savvy Sauce.
Leslie Neslage: Thank you so much for having me.
Laura Dugger: Hi friends, we wanted to share our love of Chick-fil-A with you, so head on over to our website, thesavvysauce.com, and find our "Giveaways tab", where you're going to find more information to enter to win a giveaway for a Chick-fil-A gift card. This is for a limited time only, so head over today!
One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners and God is perfect and holy, so He cannot be in the presence of sin. Therefore, we're separated from Him.
This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. [00:41:39] We need a savior. But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute.
This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.
We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
So would you pray with me now? Heavenly, Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. [00:42:41] Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change their lives now for eternity. In Jesus name, we pray, amen.
If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him, you get the opportunity to live your life for Him.
At this podcast, we are called Savvy for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you're ready to get started?
First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision my parents took me to Barnes and Noble to get the Quest NIV Bible and I love it. Start by reading the book of John.
Get connected locally, which basically means just tell someone who is part of the church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you. [00:43:43]
We want to celebrate with you too. So feel free to leave a comment for us if you made a decision for Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process.
Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.
If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.
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