By William Smith
Her ultra-polite staff — some of who have parents who worked for Bailey — are a testament to that support system.
“I speak a very fluent language called sarcasm, which can lead to a lot of fun, engaging conversations. So I think that helps,” she said.
Bailey was recently featured in an edition of the magazine, “Nation’s Restaurant News,” where she was called “the Michael Jordan of restaurant managers.” She was flattered but gave all the credit to her staff.
“You have to help them build up that ego,” she said, noting the difference between confidence and arrogance.
A proud stepchild
A West Burlington native, Bailey is the oldest of five children. It wasn’t a typical childhood.
“I feel we were pioneers in being a blended family. My mom got pregnant with me at 16, and she married my dad. They were married for five years, had me and my brother, and then my parents got divorced. And my mom gave us to our dad. And he remarried. And so I was raised by my stepmom, who is an amazing woman. And my mom lived like 1,000 miles away my entire life. We’d see her every summer, things like that,” she said. “She was always welcome in our home.”
There was a stigma to being a step-parent back then, Bailey said.
Bailey knew nothing but love from everyone in her family. She and her husband, Antonio, run their family, consisting of a 26-year-old and a 17-year-old, much the same way. Her daughter Amari, an EMT in training who already works with the Burlington Fire Department, used her birthdays to buy gifts for others.
That kindness runs in the family. Antonio coaches middle school football in the Burlington School District. He also acts as a lifeline for troubled youth who need positive guidance. The two of them help others without thinking, asking each other for permission later. They clicked from the start.
“It was just like kismet, you know,” Bailey said.
Fostering others
When two of their friends — a married couple who was deployed to South Korea at the same time — they immediately offered to take in their 1-year-old daughter Adrienne for the duration of the deployment.
They made one solemn promise to the parents. They vowed to shower her with love but would not try to replace them.
“That’s just what family does,” Stephanie Bailey said.
Since Adrienne’s parents were dressed in military fatigues the last time she saw them, Stephanie filled her house with copies of a photo of the Army couple before they left. Bailey reminded Adrienne of who was in the picture and even hung a copy in the crib.
“She said good night to Mommy and Poppy, and she picked up the phone and asked for Mommy and Poppy,” Bailey said.
Favorite customer
A picture of Bailey’s favorite customer, Kevin, hangs on the wall. Kevin suffered brain damage, was paralyzed, and was confined to a wheelchair. Bailey met Kevin when she was a delivery driver in the 1990s.
Kevin always ordered a Taco Little Joe and a Mountain Dew. When Bailey would return after delivering to Kevin, her manager asked why it took so long.
Bailey explained. She delivered the pizza to Kevin’s nursing home unit, opened the straw for him since he could not do it, and opened his sauce packets. She even put the sauce on the pizza.
“I told him (the manager), ‘I’m just going to be extra long on that one,’” Bailey said, noting the manager agreed with her.
When Bailey moved up to manager, she ensured delivery drivers would always open sauce packets and the straw for Kevin. Sometimes, delivering the order herself.
Bailey got Kevin to come into the restaurant (with the help of his parents) on his birthday to make his own pizza, which became an annual tradition.
“He would call and talk to me on the phone. He could carry on very good conservation. He called me to wish me happy holidays and things like that,” Bailey said. “Our relationship grew.”
Kevin died of bone cancer two years ago. Bailey will never forget the last conversation she had with Kevin. The walls of his room were decorated with his Happy Joe’s to-go cups.
“He asked me if I would dance with him in the streets of heaven when I got there. He was very religious. And he told me loved me,” she said.