For Hannah Overton, a little over a decade at a Jackson-based pizza restaurant has been a journey of professional and personal growth.

Overton started at Klavon’s in 2014 as a host at the age of 19. Over the years, she worked in various positions and now serves as their full-time assistant back-of-house manager, where she is overseeing the kitchen staff and developing the next generation of employees.

“It’s a culture that you don’t find in a lot of restaurants,” she said. “You have a lot of people that will start businesses, but they don’t know how to manage people even though they can make the food so just the dedication to the development of people here is something that has been the most fulfilling for me that I’ve been able to connect with and really dive into.”

At the start of her Klavon’s career, she was also attending Jackson College. Balancing college and work wasn’t easy.

“I was young, and I had different priorities, and I wasn’t always responsible and well planned,” she said. “Jackson College gave me that opportunity to go at my own pace, to pretty much do college the way I wanted to do college, but I also could pay for it because it was affordable.”

Hannah eventually earned an Associate of Arts degree. At first, however, she had her sights set on a career in theater.  

She credits former Jackson College theatre director Andrew Sutherland with helping her navigate that period and think more intentionally about her future.

“I was young and still trying to figure out who I was, who I wanted to be, where I was in that journey and how to get there,” she said. “He really had a big hand in my mental maturity when it comes to thinking about my future career-wise.”

Her growing passion for her work at Klavon’s eventually helped bring her career path into focus. Hannah said her dedication to the restaurant was something everyone noticed, including Sutherland.

“Once I got a job here is when things sort of started to make a little bit more sense because I was passionate about this job. I cared about it more than other people did,” she said.

Sutherland helped her recognize that what she enjoyed doing at Klavon’s matched with her theater background.

“He said, ‘you know being in the front of house, it’s like you’re performing in a way for your guests. You want to put on that face, that hospitable personality which really for me is genuine. I very much enjoy what I do here.”

Now she is continuing her education through Texas Tech University to go into human resources with hopes to further build her career at Klavon’s because she finds pride in developing young people.

“Jackson College really helped me build a lot of respect for a lot of different people from a lot of different places, and I want everyone to feel welcome and safe, especially as a part of the team, and that’s like one of my biggest focuses in the area that I find I have the most passion for.”