Shirley Everett, associate vice-provost of the Residential and Dining Enterprises, has faced adversity throughout her life, from a last-minute Thanksgiving dinner to the death of her mother. But she said she has taken life’s challenges and persevered, both in her personal life and her culinary career at Stanford.

Everett’s talk, “What Matters to Me and Why,” was the first in a series of discussions sponsored by the Office for Religious Life, aimed at exposing the values and concerns of different Stanford faculty and staff.

“This is designed to give the community an opportunity to hear from those people in the University who play a significant role in shaping the community,” said Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann, senior associate dean for religious life.

Everett, who has won the Dining Services Entrepreneurial Leadership Award and the “Best Boss” awards from her staff, attributed her high regard for education and humanitarian work to the way in which she was raised. A childhood event may have even inspired Everett’s present-day profession in culinary administration.

“One Thanksgiving, my mother fell terribly ill and did not have the energy to prepare the meal,” she said. “I was 10 years old at the time, but it occurred to me that I could prepare it in her stead, so I asked my father to go shopping for supplies to prepare the dinner.

“That night at dinner was my first exposure to customer service,” she said, pausing for effect. “Siblings can be brutally honest.”

Everett also baked a three-layer cake, but did not keep it in the oven long enough. The cake came out lumpy and deformed, but her mother advised her to cut off the lumpy areas and add frosting and coconut to cover up the imperfections.

“To this day, my family still thinks I’m an excellent baker,” Everett joked.

But, she said, this experience taught her an important lesson.

“When life hands you lemons,” said Everett, “make lemonade.”

Her ability to face adversity would be tested in 2000, when Everett had to deal with the loss of her mother to cancer, her father’s remarriage and the murder of her nephew, all while keeping up with her administrative duties.

“I felt like my world was being turned upside down,” she said.

But Everett pressed on, committing herself to excellent customer service and expressing appreciation for the efforts of her staff. Her work brought big changes to Dining, too — when she arrived on The Farm, meals were prepared two hours in advance and left to sit until dinnertime. Today, meals are cooked in the open for students to see.

“I wanted students to see the sizzle, the spice, that goes into the preparation of their meals,” she said. “I wanted to make a change in the way we did things.”

And what, to borrow from the talk’s title, matters to her?

“What matters the most to me,” Everett said, “is that I do meaningful work, make an impact in the lives of the students and faculty at Stanford and leave Stanford a better place than when I came.”

Audience members reacted with enthusiasm and laughter to Everett’s talk.

“Every time you hear her, you can’t help but leave moved,” said Rafi Taherian, Executive Director of Stanford Dining. “There is such an incredible energy in the room.”

Emma Vaughn contributed reporting to this story