Sarah Cattanach was born in Boone and moved to Wisconsin in 2010. She started her career with Kwik Star, known as Kwik Trip outside of Iowa, in 2011 and returned to Grimes in May 2021.
Excited about both the new store and Perry—she loves small town stores—Sarah’s the Store Leader of Perry’s Kwik Star, which opens July 22.
Starting as a part-time coworker, she progressed from that role to shift leader, assistant food service leader, assistant store leader and then to the store leader role, which she’s held for almost four years. That leadership role encompasses the overall running of the store, ensuring the team is working well together, products are ordered and the food is out along with responsibility for the overall morale in the store.
She’s one of six kids — four boys and two girls. The eldest, a brother, is 16 years older than her, and the youngest, her sister, is 19 years younger. Sarah was both the baby of the family and the only girl for 19 years until her sister arrived.
Laura: Name a song you could listen to on “repeat” for forever.
Sarah: “Hold on to Me” by Lauren Daigle.
Laura: App on your phone that you use the most.
Sarah: Instagram.
Laura: What is the most scenic landscape you’ve ever travelled through?
Sarah: Yellowstone (Sarah was 14, and she learned how to drive on that trip).
Laura: What’s the most impressive thing you can cook?
Sarah: Parmesan chicken.
Laura: What’s the best trait you inherited from your parents?
Sarah: My work ethic and my faith.
Laura: What are you most looking forward to in the next 12 months?
Sarah: Getting the Perry store up and running—a successful store.
Laura: What do you wish you really understood about Perry?
Sarah: The history. It seems like a town that use to be very big back in its prime. I would love to see it restored.
Laura: What’s your favorite way to waste time?
Sarah: Just watch TV at the end of the day.
Laura: What is the best TV show of all time?
Sarah: I love “Chicago Fire.”
Laura: Most enjoyable way to spend $50?
Sarah: Go to Sephora.
Laura: Favorite Perry comfort food?
Sarah: Bacon cheeseburger and cheese balls at Lou’s Diner, the closest this Wisconsin woman can get to her beloved cheese curds. (As Sarah said, “You can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but you can’t take Wisconsin out of the girl.)
Laura: When people come to Perry for the first time, what do you think surprises them the most?
Sarah: The community. Everybody knows everybody. I think it’s good. You don’t see that much anymore.
Laura: What’s the one thing that you really wish all Perryites understood about you personally?
Sarah: I have a strong desire to please everybody. It gets me in trouble sometimes. I overextend myself all the time.
Laura: Name one of your hidden talents or interests that may surprise people.
Sarah: I enjoy camping. (Although she once wondered for a moment while sitting in her father’s RV with cable TV, a fireplace and A/C if something wasn’t wrong. She’s ready to rough it in a tent, too, and has.)
Laura: What was your favorite thing to do on the playground when you were a kid?
Sarah: Tetherball.
Laura: Favorite Iowa day trip?
Sarah: Going to Adair (where she has family).
Laura: Do you check the expiration date on food before buying it?
Sarah: All the time (emphatically).
Laura: Motto/saying/rule to live by.
Sarah: Give it to God (when she’s personally overwhelmed).
Laura: Did you try anything for the first time in the past year?
Sarah: Opening a new store (the Polk City Kwik Star).
Laura: Person you’d most like to meet.
Sarah: Living, Garth Brooks. Dead, Abraham Lincoln.
Laura: What’s an item on your bucket list?
Sarah: Go to Ireland.
Welcome back to Iowa, Sarah. We’re excited for your time in Perry and your exploration and discovery of more Perry spots. We’ll look forward to your visiting us after your year at Perry’s Kwik Star ends and you make your next career move within the company.
An Irish blessing of good luck for you and all Perryites: May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.
(Did I try anything new in the last year? Improvisation! Terrifying. Significantly out of my comfort zone from the moment I walked through the door. Frightened sitting in a chair anxiously waiting for class to begin. Tiny flashes of fun began to poke through the fog of terror during the fourth week of class.)
If you would like to see this feature continue, then please personally venture to spend approximately 30 minutes with Laura answering her Quick Questions, or nudge (either gently or with politely more forceful encouragement) others in the community who you’d like to see featured. Anyone with a connection to the Perry community is welcome. Send an email with your name and the best way to contact you to: theperrynews@gmail.com. Be “Perry Nice” and provide Laura a helping hand. She enjoys gathering answers to her questions and desires to strengthen and enhance personal connections through her articles, but the introvert in her hates entreating.
