As a child, Ted Rosenback’s father taught him that grey is not a color. Now the Marketplace Supervisor at Gustavus, Ted understands the meaning of his father’s lesson and continues to live by it.

“Obviously he knew that grey is a color, but he wanted to teach me to believe that there isn’t room for middle ground. There’s a right and a wrong and I should always do the job right the first time. He molded me into the person I am today both in my career and outside of it,” Ted said.

July will mark his third year working in the Marketplace. Within that time, he’s secured a highly positive reputation for himself both with colleagues and students.

“He’s always had such a funny, happy, and caring personality at work. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a bad mood. It’s been great working with him,” Marketplace Cashier Becky Blomgren said.

Ted says it’s easy for him to maintain his positive personality at work because he simply loves his job.

“Building and maintaining happy relationships with co-workers and students is a huge part of why I love my job. I believe that it doesn’t matter how much money you make, if you don’t love your job it isn’t worth it,” Ted said.

For those who know him, it’s always been obvious that he doesn’t come to work simply to make money.

“He legitimately cares for his job and the people he helps. He’s obviously not just here for the paycheck, he’s here because he loves what he does,” Marketplace Cashier Marlys Huber said.

Ted says his passion for the food industry has persisted from an early age. In college, he worked as a waiter, moving later to a career at the City Center Hotel as the Food and Beverage Director for three years.

“It’s apparent that he knows what he’s doing and enjoys it. He always puts a lot of effort into doing a good job and reaching out to others. On top of that, he handles any issues in the Marketplace wonderfully and makes and effort to connect with students” Huber said.

His effort to connect with students is one that hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“He always cracks jokes and asks how I’m doing. He even recognized my high school sweatshirt one day and complimented me on it. No one else had. I feel like he’s the person in the cafeteria who will always make your day better when you’re least expecting it,” Junior Samantha Heggem said.

Following his belief in “doing the job right,” Ted is passionate about creating and maintaining an atmosphere in the caf that everyone will enjoy.

“A lot of people don’t know about the heart and passion that goes into the process of putting food on their trays. I think for some, it would be an eye opener to learn that a lot of us really care about creating an  atmosphere and experience in the caf in order to make it one of the best places to be on campus. We aren’t perfect, but we’re sure striving for it,” Ted said.

In the future, he hopes to continue to inch the Gustavus Marketplace toward perfection. Seventh in the nation is impressive, but for Ted, it’s still in the grey area.