Love in the Workplace: The Hacketts
I decided to open a restaurant and bring my wings to Joplin, and God has truly blessed us here. Floyd Hackett
By Kathleen Swift
Q: How long have you been married and worked together?
Jacqueline: We’ve been married for 15 years, and we started working together at our wedding reception. We had an outside reception, we stopped by our home to change, and I received a call letting us know that everyone was waiting on us to cook wings. Floyd was known for his wings even then, so we pitched right in and cooked at our own wedding reception. We got married in June 2003, moved to Joplin in July and opened our first restaurant in September, so we’ve worked together since we first got married.
Q: How do you divide the roles in your restaurant?
Floyd: When we started with our place on Broadway, we did everything. Now, we have divided the work load. Jacqueline does the office and accounting, works downstairs when needed and works the private parties.
Jacqueline: Floyd is the mastermind behind the sauces, rubs and food items. He is the greeter, maintenance man, janitor and the bouncer. His patience is better than mine, so he handles most of the personnel issues, and he’s great with guest relations.
Floyd: If I taste something somewhere, I remember it and try to recreate and improve it. Sometimes I taste something and think it would be a great taste on a wing.
Q: How do your work styles differ?
Jacqueline: We enjoy working together. My style and his sometimes collide and occasionally we bop heads. We really feed off each other for ideas. Floyd likes to talk to people. He goes to Sam’s and will direct customers to items or help someone load their car. He talks to people like he’s known them forever. I have to call him and ask if he is on his way back. I have a background in accounting, so I spend a lot of time in the office.
Floyd: In the end, we don’t let anything or anyone come between us. We don’t take our work home, and we don’t bring home stuff to work.
Q: How has working together strengthened your marriage?
Floyd: If we have decisions to make, we pray about it. Prayer, wisdom and patience are important. I have found my calling here. I thought my career was going to be in the military. Then I left the military and worked for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals for a while. I decided to open a restaurant and bring my wings to Joplin, and God has blessed us here.
Jacqueline: It was Floyd’s dream to have a wing restaurant, and I told him I would support him all the way. We have invested a lot of hard work and tears into our business and we have each other’s back. I had worked as a waitress, managed a restaurant at the Memphis Airport and had several years working in the accounting field. I also operated my own Avon business for over 10 years before I met Floyd. At the time, I didn’t know why I was being led in a certain direction, but all of that prepared me for our business and working together.
Q: How do you keep the romance in your marriage?
Jacqueline: We are still very attracted to each other, and Floyd even flirts with me at work.
Floyd: We get a chance to see each other every day, and we don’t get tired of seeing each other, making decisions together and hanging out together.
Q: How do you spend your personal time away from work?
Floyd: We both like to work out, and I like to chill out at home. We go to a concert now and then, and this year we were able to be gone on a couple of overnight trips. Our boys, Floyd Jr., and Jevon, are in charge and can hold the business down, so that we can sneak off once in a while. We are truly blessed we have a great team.