Customer Care Agent Yasheika “Shay” Acevedo Garcia knows a thing or two about caring for Publix customers.

She started at Publix in the bakery at #754, Tampa, Florida, and now works in the customer care department at our corporate office in Lakeland, Florida, as one of our bilingual customer care agents.

“We get so many Spanish-speaking customers, and I’m happy I can help answer their questions,” Shay said.

Born in Puerto Rico, Shay moved to New York with her mother when she was 10. When Shay was 18, she and her husband moved back to Puerto Rico while she pursued her bachelor’s degree in human resources management from Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.

Shay’s goal is to work in Publix’s human resources department.

“I like helping others and want to be part of a team who can help recruit people to this wonderful company,” she said. “I have worked for other companies, but I have never been part of one that truly cares about their people until I came to Publix. I fell in love with the company, and the fact that we can be company owners makes me proud.”

Publix is a family — a big, 250,000-person one — with backgrounds from across the country and around the world. This article is part of a series featuring associates from a variety of backgrounds, age groups and cultures, and we love sharing their successes. We hope our articles help you learn a little more about your fellow associates who make up our Publix family.