The first day Planet Fitness team member Crystal Lopez met the new intern, she didn't quite know what to expect.
"He was doing a walk-through, just filling some of the paper towels," Lopez remembered.
"I looked at him and we made eye contact, and for some reason he was like, 'Now is my time to dance.'"
Lopez wasn't sure where the inspiration came from, but when the new employee began to bust a move on the floor of the busy gym on Panama Lane and Ashe Road, it immediately lifted the mood of the employees up front.
"We all looked at each other and we all started dancing with him," she said.
As it turned out, lifting moods and raising spirits seems to come naturally to Emmanuel Agbonkonkon, 32, a special needs intern who started part-time at the workout center about eight months ago through a Pathways to Work paid internship program.
"I could go on all day about what a wonderful person he is," said Ayla Drennan, general manager at the south Bakersfield location.
"He sparks joy wherever he goes," she said. "And he’s the hardest worker here, hands down."
Bright and early on a rainy Monday morning, Drennen, Lopez, and several other Planet Fitness team members, supporters and family watched as the smiling intern was honored as Employee of the Month, and was presented with a certificate of excellence, a pair of bongo drums and a selection of Planet Fitness swag.
"Today I feel honored. It's a special day in my life," said Agbonkonkon.
He acknowledged that he has a positive effect on the workday at the gym. He calls it "spirit."
"When I'm in a good mood, I try to bring joy, so people can be happy," he said.
It seems his bad moods are few and far between.Â
Emmanuel Agbonkonkon and his parents are of Nigerian descent. Decades ago they moved to Ukraine, where Emmanuel was born, and in 2008, they came to the United States, said Emmanuel's father, Frank Agbonkonkon, who attended Monday's event with his wife, Olubukola.
"It's a thing of joy to see Planet Fitness honor our son, Emmanuel," said the elder Agbonkonkon.Â
"Emmanuel has found a home here, and has found a family among the people he works with here," he said.Â
When he was born, Emmanuel was affected by birth asphyxia, his father said, which happens when a baby's brain does not get enough oxygen.
But as an intern through Community Support Options' Pathways to Work program, which is designed to assist adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in obtaining paid employment, Emmanuel is supported by a job coach until he can work on his own without the coach.
Drennan believes he's already there.
"We do have an interest in hiring him on once his internship is over," she said.
Fellow team member Lopez said that's a very good idea.
"Oh, my goodness, I don't like to think of what would happen if Emmanuel left," Lopez said. "Emmanuel is such an amazing and bright personality.
"He brings such a positive energy to the table."
