Kevin Smith was no pepperoni-piling prodigy, no Michelangelo of the mozzarella when he began working at the Pizza Hut in Hawaii Kai back in the late ’80s.
"I thought I was going to lose my job," says Smith, chuckling at the memory. "It was so fast-paced and I had trouble keeping up. They kept me in the back washing dishes for the first month."
But Smith, who spent the first six months of his freshman year with both legs in casts following surgery to correct structural problems in his knees, was never much of a quitter.
He kept at the job, assumed more and more responsibility, and before long was raking up the overtime working upward of 70 to 80 hours a week.
Twenty-five years later Smith is still with the company, serving as general manager for the Pizza Hut in Moiliili.
"They’ve committed to me, and I feel a sense of commitment to them," Smith says.
Smith spend his childhood in Vancouver, Wash. His father worked at United Airlines’ air freight department in Portland. When the department shut down, the elder Smith was given the choice of transferring to New York, Boston, Chicago or Hawaii.
"We were West Coast kind of people, so it was an easy choice," says Smith, who was 12 when the family moved to Honolulu.
Smith attended Niu Valley Intermediate and Kaiser High School, where he played football and basketball as a senior.
When the sports seasons ended, Smith’s father told him to find a job.
And so young Mr. Smith went to Pizza Hut, the only employer he has ever known. All things considered, things could hardly have worked out better.
When Smith turned 21, the legal age to serve alcohol, he was promoted to shift manager. Over the next several years, as he moved from location to location, Smith steadily advanced in the company.
During a consolidation of two Pizza Hut locations, Smith met a young woman named Maribeth. As they worked side by side, Smith came to admire her quiet, hardworking nature. But he was a manager and Maribeth was an employee. The scrupulously ethical Smith could do nothing.
"Fortunately, she decided to quit," Smith says, laughing.
The couple dated for a few years before marrying in 2005. They have two children: 6-year-old Maika and 4-year-old Kalena-Lee.
Smith never intended to make a career as a fast-food manager. There was a time when he considered being a paramedic or a firefighter. But he’s good — great — at what he does, serving customers with genuine warmth, handling the register or making pizzas (often both) right next to his staff, staying well beyond closing time to make sure schedules are posted and paperwork is put to bed.
Making ends meet is always a concern, but Smith knows a good life when he lives one.
"I love my family, I’m happy with my job and I like where I live," he says. "I just want to keep it going."
