November 2022 Special Needs Living Akron/Canton

COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT SUCCESS SPOTLIGHT: DEE-DEE MILLER Putting the “Freaky Fast” in Jimmy John’s Delivery!

Dee-Dee Miller’s Employment Experience Story

BY DEBORAH RILEY

Dee-Dee Miller has worked for Jimmy John’s since Aug. 12, 2017. If you’ve ever ordered delivery from the Arlington Road or Barberton locations, she may have been the one to get you your food “freaky fast,” as they say in the commercials.

Over the past five years with the company, Dee-Dee has made sandwiches and worked as a delivery driver. Currently, due to challenges with severe bilateral carpal tunnel, she is only working as a delivery driver at this time. Prior to her challenges with carpal tunnel, Dee-Dee worked around 20 hours/week, Monday-Friday.

Currently, she is still working Monday-Friday but has reduced her hours by half until she is able to see a surgeon for her carpal tunnel. Dee- Dee is confident that once she is able to complete her carpal tunnel surgery, she will make a full recovery and be able to return to her normal hours, as well as sandwich-making duties. For the majority of her career with

Jimmy John’s, Dee-Dee worked at the Arlington Road location; however, due to that store’s recent closing, she was transferred to the Barberton location in August of this year.

After high school, Dee-Dee found work as a drive-through cashier at a popular fast food chain and worked there for eight years. Unfortunately, due to her disability, she experienced bullying by management and was turned down for opportunities to do other positions within the company. After years of frustration, Dee-Dee left that position and opted for a worktraining program at United Disability Services’ Taste Buds program.

Dee-Dee worked at Taste Buds for a year before moving to Hattie Larlham’s Doggie Daycare and Boarding work training program in Green, Ohio. Dee- Dee worked at Hattie’s Doggie Daycare for seven years. It was at this program where this author was fortunate to meet Dee-Dee about eight years ago. During her interview, she had the same bright and positive energy I remembered from when I met her all of those years ago. Throughout our conversation, Dee-Dee was so optimistic, even when talking about challenges from her carpal tunnel and past challenges with unkind management.

In 2017, Dee-Dee began working with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities and chose Hattie Larlham as her Job Development provider. This was when she was able to find work with Jimmy John’s, where she has been successfully employed for the past five years. Dee-Dee really loves her job and especially enjoys driving around and making deliveries.

Right now, her biggest challenge is dealing with her carpal tunnel, which has caused her to lose feeling in her hands. Carpal Tunnel aside, Dee-Dee really hates to make mistakes and is her own worst critic. She says she is very hard on herself when she feels like she has messed up. That said, Dee-Dee must be doing a lot of things right to have been successful at Jimmy John’s for over five years!

If you’re in the Barberton area and want a Jimmy John’s sub “freaky fast,” you just might have Dee-Dee as your delivery driver.