Working Jane of Farragut

Cogdill a customer favorite at Jet’s Pizza in Farragut

Lorrie Heron walked into Jet’s Pizza, 11124 Kingston Pike, with her grandsons recently.

“Jet’s is our favorite pizza joint,” she said as she settled in with Dresyn and Dominic Overcash.

She was greeted right away by server, Trish Cogdill.

“She’s really good,” Heron said. “I think she connects with the customers. Anytime I’ve see her she’s been great.”

Regular customer Sarah Scheafnocker, an employee of First Baptist Concord, also is a fan.

“Both the manager, Angie Sanders, and Trish are great. ... They know your name,” she said. “They’ve created a very friendly, welcoming environment. I’ll go in with my computer and work for a couple of hours at lunch.

“I love Trish,” Sanders said. “I’ve helped her a lot and she’s helped me a lot.”

Cogdill has been at Jet’s a little more than four years and said the favorite part of her job is helping people.

“Where I am in my life right now, it helps me feel good to know I’m serving people. I’m a server — I bring you food, but I want to give you the best experience you can get. Probably my next favorite part is knowing people by name, having repeat customers. I’ve been able to serve quite a few families with children. Kids grow a lot in four years.”

Cogdill lives with her parents on 72 acres. She said her passion is animals and she has plenty: cats Oreo, Pumpkin and Church; dogs Marley, Zima and Spot; a hamster, Rolo, and a hermit crab that is nameless.

“I really enjoy spending time with my animals,” she said. “I’m really close to my family. With 72 acres, there’s a lot of yardwork to do, but I’m more of a condo low-maintenance person. But my mom loves to be outside.”

Cogdill said her next goal is to start a medical assisting certificate program through The University of Tennessee in June, but she’ll keep working for Jet’s.

“I’ve always had a desire to be a doctor, or a nurse,” she said. “I’ve always been interested in the medical field and took medical courses in high school to help with that.”

Cogdill said along the way she fell into a drug problem, went through rehab and continues to go to counseling. She likes to share her story with people if she thinks it would help them and may eventually get specialized training to work with addiction or substance abuse.

Ten years from now she hopes to have a family. “I didn’t always want that, but I’ve finally gotten to the point where I want a family,” Cogdill said. “I hope to be a medical assistant or something in the medical field and I want to work on my spirituality, to grow as a Christian.”