“I was actually licensed in property and casualty insurance sales.  I needed to get something out of an office, so I just took a part-time position creating sushi rolls just for fun.”

Meet Damon Clapp, who discovered his passion for food creation could evolve into a long-term career. He recalls the skills he learned selling insurance and making sushi carried over into what he is doing today: assistant meat manager at the Halls Food City location.

He says, “like that I have a job where it’s… I can ask myself, like, what am I offering to the general person’s day?”

Damon’s honest perspective on the importance of a person’s job is inspiring in a world where complaining can seem the norm. He reflects, “There are a lot of careers that people have where it’s a job, but, you know, is it really? Impacting somebody else, making a difference, that is in every job if you think about it.”

Damon has been with Food City since 2018, supporting every store in the district at some point, but always full-time at the Halls location.

In line with his sushi beginnings, his favorite aspect of his current position is cutting meat to showcase in the department cases.

Once again, Damon is not one-dimensional; he also favors merchandising and learning the steps of the whole process, which helps with stocking the meat department. “You know, when you’re walking through a grocery store, you see steaks on a shelf. How did they get there? It’s a process.”

Damon loves his location because of the relationships and interactions with the customers who come in regularly. “If I were working somewhere else, I wouldn’t be seeing the same people every day, but in this location, specifically and well, all Food Cities, you get dedicated people.”

Damon values his coworkers as well. As the manager, he works to give everyone a set schedule, even though many people rotate in and out. He says, “I like to set schedules for everyone that helps everybody line up with their family, or line up anything important.

As for Damon, his wife works at a bank, so he prioritizes taking Sundays off with her.

It is always interesting to find out what an average day entails. Damon’s day begins with making sure the cases are filled: hamburger and chicken as number one and number two. He pulls any expired products or anything that needs to be marked down. He says he follows those tasks with straightening up the department. The balance of his day consists of being the manager, the pivot man. “I want to spend the majority of my time on the floor talking to people as much as I can. I think about it personally. Your number one cost in business is advertising. So, I can put the product out here on the shelf all day, but if there’s not a face to this product, then it doesn’t matter.”

Damon values the opportunity to mentor others in the department.  He’s proud that the newest person in his department has actually been there for three years. “There were people who trained me, and I pass it down to the people here, and so on. And it’s led to a great team that works together.”

Drop into the Halls location to meet Damon (just not on Sundays) and find the personal treatment he strives to provide.

Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook and Instagram. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our Free Newsletter.