{"id":200558,"date":"2025-04-15T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=847730"},"modified":"2025-04-15T20:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T10:30:00","slug":"in-the-starlight-tina-preyan-fuels-the-future-at-johnson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=200558","title":{"rendered":"In the Starlight: Tina Preyan Fuels the Future at Johnson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exploring the unknown and preparing for humanity\u2019s next giant leap really works up an appetite. Thankfully, employees at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston can count on Tina Preyan to help them fuel up and stay focused. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Preyan is a food service specialist at Starport, a quality-of-life program that contributes to Johnson\u2019s mission by providing employee services and activities that enhance work life and promote mental well-being and physical fitness. Part of the agency\u2019s network of 12 NASA Exchanges \u2014 each located at a NASA center or facility \u2014 Starport offers everything from group fitness classes to retail shopping, with programs designed to engage, energize, and support the workforce.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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\"Johnson<\/a><\/figure>
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Tina Preyan supports a NASA Exchange display at a Johnson Space Center event. Image courtesy of Tina Preyan<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Preyan oversees the on-site dining options at Johnson, from its caf\u00e9s and food trucks to vending machines and mini markets. She helps set the budget for food services, creates monthly calendars of food offerings, schedules vendors and pop-up events, and ensures annual food safety inspections are conducted. She also works with teams across Johnson to order food and related supplies for NASA events.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best part of my job is working in customer service, meeting new NASA workers every day, and making everyone feel welcome and at home when coming to Johnson\u2019s caf\u00e9s,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Preyan has been a fixture at Johnson for the last 19 years. She previously worked at NASA\u2019s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans but transferred to Houston shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005. At Starport, she worked her way up from prep cook to lead cashier and then to lead assistant. She also served as the office\u2019s administrative assistant before transitioning to her current role.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Tina Preyan poses for a photo with NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Victor Glover. Image courtesy of Tina Preyan<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Preyan has enjoyed meeting many NASA astronauts and Johnson team members and learning more about the work they do. The occasional celebrity sighting is another job perk.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Preyan is something of a celebrity herself. \u201cSo many employees know my name. I am proud of meeting so many people, and the love they give me every day just being here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

She was also proud to receive Starport\u2019s Jackie Kingery Award in fall 2024. The award recognizes extraordinary customer service and exemplary dedication to the NASA Exchange mission at Johnson. \u201cIt felt amazing to receive this award and know that I am doing a great job in everyone\u2019s eyes,\u201d she said. \u201cI value high integrity and am always willing to help others in the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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\"Johnson<\/a><\/figure>
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Tina Preyan receives Starport\u2019s Jackie Kingery Award from Starport Deputy Operations Manager Sam Miller in October 2024. Image courtesy of Tina Preyan<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Another source of pride for Preyan? Her son, Cameron, who is set to graduate from the University of Texas at San Antonio in May with a degree in Finance and Marketing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In addition to her son\u2019s graduation, Preyan looks forward to continuing her work in a positive environment and pursuing more growth opportunities. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to stay busy and stay focused on ensuring proper procedures are being used by vendors,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd making sure all customers are happy and will continue to return to caf\u00e9s.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exploring the unknown and preparing for humanity\u2019s next giant leap really works up an appetite. Thankfully, employees at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston can count on Tina Preyan to help them fuel up and stay focused. Preyan is a food service specialist at Starport, a quality-of-life program that contributes to Johnson\u2019s mission by providing [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15606,15634,15662],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-johnson-space-center","category-people-of-johnson"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=200558"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200724,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200558\/revisions\/200724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=200558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=200558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=200558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}