December 14, 2023 | Restaurant Business Magazine
Frances Allen, the CEO of Checkers and Rally’s, was once told by a boss that he didn’t want women in his group.
“Because, you know, when you coach them, [women] you tell them off, they just cry,’’ Allen’s boss had told her.
“And he was a mean son of a gun. And I was just determined that he was never going to reduce me to tears,” Allen said.
Allen was the only woman on his team. If that interaction had happened today, it would have been a different story, noted Allen, who said today she would tell a younger version of herself to march straight to HR and file a formal complaint.
But it was the 80’s and behavior like this was much more normalized.
“You just cannot have people in the workforce who believe those things and treat people that way. So, I think there’s a lot more options open to women today,” said Allen.
The environment for women in the C-suite is improving these days, and it’s even better in the restaurant industry, but it remains far from perfect. According to a 2023 study by the consulting firm McKinsey, 28% of C-level executives are women, up from 22% in 2018. That percentage is even higher in the restaurant industry, where 38% of executives are women, according to research from the National Restaurant Association.
Yet that remains far below the composition of the overall workforce. Women make up more than half of restaurant workers. And that percentage is growing, as 63% of entry-level restaurant workers identify as female, according to The National Restaurant Association. About half of all restaurants are owned or co-owned by women.
The industry’s problem with representation has historical roots. Restaurants were historically male dominated. Women were not even involved until the mid-20th century. But that has clearly shifted over the past several decades, and the C-suite is only now catching up.
Representation is important, said Allen, who noted that leaders tend to “promote in their own image.”
At Checkers and Rally’s, for instance, Allen said the company has achieved diversity at the restaurant level, with its executive team and even its board of directors. But there is always room for improvement, she said.
“There’s that middle layer, which is the next level of leadership for women above GM where we got some work to do,” she said.
That middle layer is an area of improvement for women in leadership roles as a whole, said Therese Gearheart, CEO of Women’s Foodservice Form (WFF), a nonprofit organization that seeks to advance gender equity in the foodservice industry.
“We continue to be desperately behind in representation for women of color, at any level and especially in the C-suite ranks.”
One of the biggest challenges in getting women to the top is what McKinsey and LeanIn.org call the “broken rung” concept, where fewer women than men are tapped for that first promotion. “Instead of saying trying to break the glass ceiling is the biggest barrier, we continue to say the biggest barrier is the challenge around the broken rung, where we’re seeing difficulty in progress continues at that manager director level,” Gearheart noted.
Not all is bad, Gearheart said, as more women are now finding themselves in the Csuite. But both restaurants and the corporate world in general have a lot to of work to do when it comes to women of color. “We continue to be desperately behind in representation for women of color, at any level and especially in the C-suite ranks,” said Gearheart.
So, why are there so few women CEOs in the restaurant industry?
Allen put it simply: It’s just harder for women to succeed in the industry.
“Look, I think that women, by definition, we have to be better. I don’t think that was any different for me,” she said. “I had to figure out a way to stand out and I had to figure out a way to make sure that I developed my own brand, my own identity as a woman, and I had to ask for what I wanted.”
In addition, it’s especially tough to hold a leadership position while trying to raise a family.
“For those who have families it’s very difficult, difficult to manage the family life and the work life especially for this job, it requires so much work and attention,” said Elisia Flores, CEO of L&L Hawaiian Barbeque.
One way to address the problem is to create pipelines of career growth for women working in the restaurant industry.
“I think the more direct pathways we can create from the restaurant into the office,” Flores said. “I think that will help as well, because you’re just naturally pulling from a very diverse workforce. We need to create more of those pathways that go directly from the restaurant into the corporation.”
Allen was drawn to marketing early in her career. She spent years running marketing for three Frito-Lay brands: Lays, Doritos and Cheetos. Allen first found her passion for the food industry when she landed the role of head of marketing for Dunkin’.
From there, Allen led marketing for seven years at Denny’s, where she helped the brand recover from the Great Recession. Allen then wanted to expand beyond just marketing when she found the opportunity to become president of Jack in the Box. She helmed Boston Market for two years before she joined Checkers and Rally’s in 2020.
Allen said she got to where she is by taking opportunities presented to her, but more than that, by asking for what she wants.
“You know, I think that sometimes women, including me, tend to think that if you work hard and do a great job, the opportunities will come to you, and that’s really not how the world works,” she said.
Allen said instead she had to get out of her comfort zone and ask for opportunities, such as the chance to run the remodel program at Denny’s.
Kelli Valade, CEO of Denny’s, agreed that women sometimes hold beliefs that may keep them back, such as hesitancy to ask for what they want.
Valade got her start in the restaurant industry at a young age, and she knew almost immediately it was the industry she wanted to advance in.
By the age of 21, Valade was working as a general manager and she decided to get her MBA, studying HR and marketing. She then worked for brands like TGI Fridays and Brinker International before eventually coming to Denny’s as CEO.
One initiative she spearheaded at Brinker and has brought over to Denny’s is a women’s leadership series called The Power Within.
“To kind of have that discussion, this same discussion around addressing the beliefs that women might have that hold them back, about how to tell your story in a way that can resonate for whatever position you want,” she said.
Those types of initiatives are important to Valade as she noted that women often have difficulties asking for opportunities.
“Women do need to hear that you can do something like I did or be successful or see that role model and then women at times, it is in our DNA, and it is in our makeup, are not as good about saying I’m great at this,” Valade said. “It’s time for you to talk to me about the next promotion.”
But, Gearheart said, women aspire to leadership as much as men do.
“Women absolutely are ambitious, looking to advance and lead and are in no way discouraged at all in their desires to play major leadership roles across this great industry,” Gearheart said.
And yet, many women, including Flores and Valade, have felt underestimated in their careers.
Flores noted that she has felt underestimated because of her gender, race and sexual orientation.
“Just the combination of that, people kind of underestimate just because they haven’t seen someone like me do these things before,” she said. “There’s just a sense of, you know, can she do it? I’ve never seen somebody like her in the space.”
Kathie Niven, CEO of Biscuitville, says that the restaurant industry can be a difficult career path for raising a family.
“I think some industries are a little bit friendlier when it comes to lifestyle and raising a family. It can be a very gritty, very hectic, very complex industry,” she said.
Allen agreed that some aspects of the restaurant industry make it difficult for work-life balance.
“You can’t necessarily dictate your hours, can’t necessarily travel easily,” she said. “The unpredictability is tough, where childcare is concerned.”
And then there are the little things, such as ensuring you can drop your kids off at school.
For instance, one challenge Valade had early on in her career was making the morning meeting. It was important for her to drop her kids off at school, by many of her workplaces started their meetings at 7 a.m. or 7:30 a.m.
Then Valade became head of HR at Chili’s during her time at Brinker International. And she decided meetings would start at 9 a.m.
“I had women come up and cry. Like they were in tears, saying no one’s ever given us permission,” said Valade. “But I didn’t realize the impact it would have on so many other women that have been made to believe that you work within these parameters and only these.”
Christine Barone, soon-to-be CEO of Dutch Bros, said finding work-life balance was a challenge, especially as she raised her three kids. But eventually, she found a system that worked for her, fueled by support from her team. She also tried to involve her kids in her work life as much as possible. For instance, Barone recalled days of answering emails at the table while her kids worked beside her.
“I’ve worked for some really awesome brands that the kids have felt like they’re kind of a part of the family of the brands,” she said.
Another important aspect that helped Allen in her career is great leadership and mentors, who challenged her to learn. For example, one leader taught her how to conduct herself at quarterly earnings meetings.
“He made sure that I got to do one of them on my own, if I was ever going to be a CEO of a publicly traded company, I needed to know how to manage and answer analyst questions,” said Allen.
Biscuitville’s Niven said finding a community of women helped her throughout her career.
“It’s really important, particularly for females aspiring to progress in this industry, to find a community that supports you professionally,” she said. “I think you can do seminars, you can have a coach, you can do all of these sort of individual development opportunities, but I think community is a very strong way to go.”
Niven said one thing that may deter women from the restaurant industry is the lack of female mentors and leaders.
“They’ve seen mentorship mostly be men, so they just don’t really have females to emulate and to aspire to be and to see them being successful,” she said.
Organizations like WFF are also working to provide opportunities to support women looking to advance in the restaurant industry. Gearheart said the organization works as a community for both women and men to provide networking and support.
“One of the biggest things we all need and need to do a better job of is having that network of support and the WFF community provides that through membership,” said Gearheart.
WFF also offers leadership development programming for women at all different points in their career journeys.
Flores said she had several mentors she looked up to during her career journey, both male and female. But she acknowledged the important role men must play in the fight for gender equity.
“There is no way that we can do this by ourselves, we need the allyship of our male counterparts, because they’re the ones in power right now,” she said. “If they don’t believe in us and they don’t believe that there should be more diversity, then they’re not going to be helping give us space.”
Niven, Allen, Valade, Flores and Barone all have had the experience of being the only woman in a room. That can also present some challenges.
“How do you walk into a room as the only female and remain authentic and don’t try to assimilate disingenuously if that makes sense?” Niven said. “You know, to come in 100% yourself and make a mark and leave a really great impression for others to follow.”
Valade, meanwhile, felt a sense of responsibility to open that door for others.
“Putting your best foot forward and, and kind of representing to some extent and then hoping to bring people along into that room whenever you have the opportunity,” she said.
“One piece of advice is if a door opens for you, walk through it. Don’t have impostor syndrome.”
Flores said that, while she has had the experience of being the only women in the room in the past, in many ways things have changed.
“I’m standing on the shoulders of those before me,” she said. “So, it was those people who really broke the glass ceiling allowing people like me to come through. And now we just need to keep shattering more and more glass.”
Allen said there are some challenges that come along with being the only woman, like being ignored.
“Well, you know, the adage that a woman will say something and be ignored and 10 minutes later, a male colleague says the same thing and everyone goes Oh, that’s a great idea. So, you have to be prepared,” she said.
She added that its important to assume best intent from male colleagues.
“They’re not doing it on purpose. It just is. It’s just human nature. And you know, you’ve got to learn to work within it, not get angry about it,” Allen said.
She advised women to do a few things if they find themselves as the only woman in the room: Say it twice, speak when you have something to say, and open your ears to other opinions.
“One piece of advice is if a door opens for you, walk through it. Don’t have impostor syndrome,” added Flores. “Somebody believed in you and the doors open, just walk through it.”
