Lucy Lantis is an entrepreneur, a Fulbright Scholar, and an organizational facilitator. Through her firm, Inward Inquiry LLC, she helps organizations and teams create people-first cultures rooted in their mission and values. This article was written in paid partnership with Omaha Steaks as part of a content collaboration exploring workplace recognition.
I used to work in international higher education, which meant every day I figuratively traveled the globe by working with people from different cultural backgrounds. My office was full to the brim with beautiful gifts from students: ornate Japanese fans, Egyptian hieroglyphics painted on papyrus paper, a Larimar stone necklace from the Dominican Republic, a gorgeous abaya cloak from Saudi Arabia … and the list goes on.
From South Sudan to South Korea, I helped students acclimate to life in Nebraska, which was sometimes a difficult transition. Hey, you try going from sunny Peru to a polar vortex and see how you fare!
But no matter who I worked with, one common thread ran through it all: generosity. These students shared their stories and cultures freely, and when it wasn’t through gifts, it was through food. I quickly came to discover that food is the great, universal connector. Events where food was at the center were the most consistent way to bring people together, get someone to light up, and spark a conversation around the story and meaning of a dish.
I can’t tell you how many students went out of their way to make me food from their home country. I tried delicious Nigerian jollof rice, Middle Eastern lamb kabsa, cheese bread called pão de queijo from Brazil, the most amazing Indian biryani, and more. International students hosted the best potlucks, because they understood that sharing a meal was so much more than just physical nourishment … it was nourishment of their spirits, their stories, and who they are.
That message shows up around every table, not just the ones tied to a specific culture or country, but the ones that bring people together. Food becomes a vessel that carries the time, love, and thought that went into the meal. It’s rarely just about the food; it’s about what the meal stands for.
And it doesn’t stop at the family table; it shows up in the workplace too. When a company takes the time to send a meal to an employee going through a hard season, or even someone celebrating a win, it’s tapping into that same sentiment I witnessed at potlucks back in my higher ed days. It says: you matter here and we care about you.
What’s beautiful about that gesture is that it rarely stays contained to one person. A gift of food finds its way to a kitchen table, a break room, a Sunday dinner with kids or roommates or neighbors. It becomes a story someone tells: “My company sent this because of my 10-year milestone,” or “My manager remembered I mentioned this was my favorite.” That story travels … it reaches spouses, kids, friends, people who will never work a day for that company, but who now associate it with warmth and generosity.
If you’re looking for a way to build that kind of connection in your own workplace, corporate gifting is one of the simplest places to start, and it’s why I’ve chosen to partner with Omaha Steaks. They know what a meal signals to your employee, in a language that everyone understands. All it takes is a company willing to send that message and let the meal do the rest.
And speaking of a dish’s origin story … is there anything MORE Nebraskan than Omaha Steaks?
Check out what a local partner had to say about its Nebraska roots:
“As a Nebraska-based organization, we’ve always valued doing business with companies that understand the importance of relationships and personal service. That’s one of the reasons Omaha Steaks has been such a natural fit for our client gifting program. There’s also something special about being able to give a nationally recognized brand that comes from right here in Nebraska. It reflects our roots while giving our clients an experience they actually remember.”
– Nebraska Law Firm, Omaha Steaks Partner
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