You don't have to be a celebrity to receive star treatment in Nashville. That's the creed of the convention and visitors corporation's ‘Hitmakers’ award. It's rewarding hospitality workers who go above and beyond. And, for this month's winner, we're back on Broadway at Assembly Food Hall --home to two Hitmakers already -- and I want you to meet the third! Her name is Michelle Fox.
You know, not at superheroes wear capes. Sometimes, it’s a dark blue shirt that says "Assembly Food Hall." Her home base is the welcome desk at the hall. Giving direction and making experiences memorable is in Fox’s DNA. ‘"I’ve got my dad’s personality and his love. It’s special,” says an emotional Fox.
She carries his spirit with her, as he passed just before her birthday last year. It's why she volunteered to work April, 11th – her birthday. Fox says it was actually a welcome distraction from being down about her Dad. Little did she know, she'd be passing down that hospitality to a Kentucky twosome in trouble. An elderly couple, coming off the elevators for the Skydeck, sweaty and tired.
“There's a gentleman with a walker -- upset -- and a woman I don't know if she had a cane or not but I knew she was limping and I approached them," Fox says. She could tell something was wrong, and she was right. The couple was in from Lexington, Kentucky in Nashville for the first time, seeing their son's band perform. They'd unfortunately been given bad directions about where to park at the Hall. “I said…I can make this right for you." The couple had to trek 45 minutes from blocks away in spring humidity. Fox says "I apologized and acted on my own instinct." The hero they needed...in that moment. With their health issues, Michelle wasn't going to have them walk far to get back.
"She went to give me her credit card and her keys, I said ‘No you keep the credit card I’ll pay for your car to get out.’" Michelle started her hike to find the couple's car in a downtown parking garage. “She just gave me the floor," which was floor 5, and she knew it was a blue Ford. “I was going to each car pushing her key fob," says Fox. Fox found it. And re-parked the car much closer, so it was only an elevator ride away. "When I opened the door -- the car was right there. She cried. She was so happy."
Fox spent her birthday giving back to her two new friends. "She actually had to pay me back for paying for her ticket, because I paid for their ticket to get out of the garage, and I assured her she didn’t have to that because I knew I’d get it back somehow in blessings." The biggest blessing she says is being at Assembly Food Hall. “I couldn’t work for a better bunch of people. And I mean that wholeheartedly." Music City is full of people like our humble ‘Hitmakers’ hero, Michelle Fox, who serves our city for the reasons her Dad taught her. “He would be very proud of me." Because it's the right thing to do. "To do something that you should already do and be nice to people regardless...to get an award for it is pretty cool," concludes Fox.
Hitmakers are all across Music City! So, if you know of a hospitality worker in Nashville going above and beyond the call of duty — nominate them! https://www.visitmusiccity.com/members/hospitality-community/hitmakers/nominate
