#HappyPeople is a series dedicated to the humans who make Happy + Hale special. Today we’re introducing you to Erick and Hannah. Hannah is a manager at our North Hills location and Erick is the General Manager of our Downtown store. Erick and Hannah show us how much they love each other through all the hard work and joy they put into their relationship. They both are passionate about what they do at Happy + Hale. We are incredibly lucky to have this power couple in our Happy + Hale family. Happy Valentine’s Day!
How long have you been married?
We have been married for just about 2 1/2 years, together for 4.
What is your family’s “why”?
I think our why is defined up by a bunch of smaller parts, but at the end of the day can best be summarized by the goal of making a positive impact in the lives of those we meet. Whether we only ever meet you once or you become a part of our family, we want to make an impact for the better. We also want to create a safe haven in a world of toxic trends. While we don’t have our own kids yet, we do have lots of children. Former and current employees who we try and help support and nurture as they try and figure out this life. We want to make sure that our home is always a safe place and that no matter where life takes them, we have done everything we can to make them stronger people.
What is your family’s dream?
We would love to own a restaurant empire. Cooking is a passion for both of us, and there are stories that can be told through good food. We want to share these stories and make people relive significant moments of memories when they take that first perfect bite. They say “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but we believe good food is worth more.
Erick, what 5 things you absolutely love about Hannah?
1. Her passion. She is one of the most passionate people I know when it comes to her interests and hobbies.
2. Her drive. When she is determined or set a goal for herself, there is absolutely nothing you can do to discourage that.
3. Her nurturing heart. She is a caring person by nature and wants to make sure everyone feels safe.
4. Her willingness to try new things. I hate to just sit around soI'm always dragging her to do things, and she is always willing to give everything a chance.
5. She is the most beautiful person in the world. And not just on the outside. She has a true heart and that makes her absolutely amazing, I wouldn’t trade her for the world.
Hannah, what 5 things you adore about Erick?
1. How kind-hearted he is.
2. That he can always make people feel at ease no matter what is going on.
3. His sense of humor.
4. His love for life and adventures (he always pushes me out of my comfort zone).
5. How committed and hard working he is. He is always striving to be better.
“Being able to experience both the good times and the hard times with your best friend and knowing that in the hard times, you’re not alone.”
How did Happy + Hale impact your family?
Happy and Hale has allowed us to enjoy being married and has greatly impacted our quality of life. Before we started working for this company, we were both working 70+ hours a week, never had days off together, and only saw each other while getting ready for bed. Happy and Hale has made work life balance a priority and indirectly made our marriage a priority to them as well. Its the little things like the Sunday morning coffee and playing with our fur baby as a family, day trips to the beach or mountains that we were missing out on that are now becoming a part of life again. Happy and Hale prioritizes people and has allowed us to do the same.
What do you think the best part of being married is?
Having someone to help do the chores. Haha. I think this question is dependent on who you ask. For Hannah she says its definitely snuggles. But I think we can both agree that its having someone special to walk through this life with. Being able to experience both the good times and the hard times with your best friend and knowing that in the hard times, you’re not alone.
Your perfect date?
Again, I think this is dependent on who you ask. For Erick, sports followed up by more sports after dinner at one of our favorite down town restaurants. Our first date was to a hockey game and that’s when I knew she was the one. Now often times she’s the one who get more excitable at games. Hannah loves going to the farmers market and walking around smelling all the fresh produce and flowers followed by brunch or heading up to Ashville and hanging out at our favorite brewery. At the end of the day we can both agree that the context of the date doesn’t matter, it more about how you utilize the time you have together to build those memories and foundations as a family. It could be something as simple as grocery shopping. It what you take out of those little ‘dates’ as well that can make the most impact. Except for folding laundry. There is nothing fun in those little moments. We also love going to concerts, especially AJR. We have traveled as far as 12 hours to see them live and even planned our anniversary trip last year around seeing them play in new your. Its important to have something in common that you can do together.
What is your favorite food at H+H?
This is easy. For Hannah, Avocado Toast, no red pepper flakes (hates all things spicy), eggs scrambles, bread lightly toasted. For Erick, Definitely the Bida Bowl or the Bueno Bowl.
