While it may sound like ‘Woo’ describes those who are simply enthusiastic, ‘Woo’ actually stands for Winning Others Over. Those with ‘Woo’ as a top-five strength draw from the “Influencing” domain and find great satisfaction in making connections with new people and love engaging everyone in the room. Food bankers with this strength never meet a stranger and love to “break the ice.”

According to Gallup, those with Woo “want to learn [your] name, ask [you] questions and find some area of common interest so that you can strike up a conversation and build rapport.” Read more about it here and what some of your colleagues with this strength say about it:

Nutrition Education Specialist Jamie Palefsky said, "After taking a deeper dive, I believe [Woo] to be quite fitting and connects to some of my other strengths...

These qualities allow me to engage and connect with a variety of participants (children, adults and seniors) when I am teaching a Nutrition class. Additionally, this strength makes me a strong collaborator with other NTFB departments and our Partner Agencies, especially when it comes to onboarding new partners for the Nudge Pantry Program," Jamie said.

But "Woo" comes with a downside. "[It] can be exhausting at times. However... you learn a lot about someone when you take the time to talk to them!"

Food Donations Specialist, Sr. Austin Rowe said, "For me having Woo as a strength in my position on the retail team and visiting stores/agencies each week is very helpful. I enjoy meeting new people and trying to quickly build rapport with them and win them over. This is helpful at store visits because the contacts can change overnight, and I end up meeting a new contact and having to build that relationship up again to grow donations," he said. 

"I am very approachable and social; I enjoy talking and getting to know new people and can find something we have in common. I don’t really consider others as strangers, just friends I have not met yet."

Programs Manager Madison Messinger said, "I see my Woo shine more with my friends and family, but it definitely comes in handy at food insecurity events/coalitions/summits. Having Woo as a strength makes me very comfortable navigating a crowd and networking."

Madison said, "At one point, everyone on the Child Programs Team (3 people) was a Woo, and that is made even funnier by the fact there are only 7 of us at NTFB!"

President & CEO Trisha Cunningham said, "My job has a lot to do with relationships. I represent NTFB with many different groups—donors, community members/organizations, elected officials, partners, volunteers, neighbors. The ‘Woo’ in me loves to learn about others. No matter where I go, I have found that people are just people, and there is always something you can find in common (did you read the recent peanut butter blog about my encounter with Ms. Clark?)"

Trisha has taken the ‘Strengths’ test four times, and she said "only here at NTFB has ‘Woo’ been one of my top five. I think different roles help you lean into different strengths."

Program Specialist, Sr. Brandon Boling said, "Being a Woo goes quite well with my position. I’ve had to start conversations with individuals to implement new School Pantries, like bringing on the first Early Learning Center in DISD, the first High School, the first whole district serving seven campuses into the program as well as the first brick and mortar School Pantry. Going into the field, bringing others to a bigger table to help with problem solving makes me happy."

Brandon echoed Jamie and Trisha's sentiments. "It does take a lot of energy and can be draining. I really want to have meaningful conversations, and ironically it gives me energy sometimes just because I’m able to talk about what excites them, gives them joy, matters to them most," he said.

Want us to highlight a less common strength? Send your ideas for Strengths content to NTFB News. Tell us more about your strengths here.