6 marketers-turned-CEOs share how they made it to the C-suite

April 19, 2023 | Restaurant Business Magazine

The road to the C-suite may often travel through the marketing department, but if there’s one thing marketers-turned-CEOs bring to the table, it’s a focus on the customer.

The guest-first mindset was a recurring theme during the CEOs in the Hot Seat session at the Restaurant Leadership Conference in Phoenix on Tuesday, when six chain restaurant leaders shared their take on the need to lead holistically.

All of the CEOs had moved from marketing into leadership—which doesn’t necessarily guarantee their CMOs are happy to see them at the watercooler.

Here are some tidbits from their rapid-fire conversations with Chris Keating, executive vice president of conferences for Winsight Media, and Peter Romeo, Restaurant Business editor-at-large and vice president of content innovation.

Kathie Niven, president and CEO of Biscuitville:

Niven said she had intended to go to law school when a friend asked her to help her revive a defunct Arby’s unit on the weekends. They didn’t know what they were doing, she said, but turned it into a $1.6 million restaurant and went on to open more.

That turned into a career in restaurants that brought her to Krispy Kreme, Burger King and Quiznos. She joined Biscuitville when it was a 45-unit family-owned chain, with a very lean corporate office.

As the company built its infrastructure and began to grow, they focused on hiring people who were very guest centric, she said. “I think in general one of the reasons Biscuitville has had the success they have had is because there is really just the disciple of starting everything with the guest in mind.”

Niven said the company set aside heritage thinking, and sacred cows, “and said let’s just ask the guest what they want,” she said.

“And that was probably the beginning of the growth spurt for us, it really made a difference from a branding perspective,” said Niven. “ And since then, everybody really does keep that lens in check.”

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