Fast Forward: Women of Fast Casual
Meet the inaugural class of WILD-certified brands
FastCasual is honoring fast casual brands dedicated to ensuring that women have a seat at the leadership table.
December 16, 2020 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
Last month and nearly 100 years after women earned the right to vote in the U.S., FastCasual announced that we were partnering with Messner Reeves to create Women in the Lead, a certification program that recognizes fast casual restaurant brands doing their best to ensure that women are fairly represented on their leadership teams.
To earn WILD certification, brands must nominate themselves and prove that they are adhering to the following criteria — which sounds simple but sadly isn't common practice in the restaurant industry.
Any restaurant brand meeting the following criteria is eligible to become WILD-certified:
Have at least one female on the C-level executive team.
Have a minimum ratio of 1:1 male-to-female employment.
Have women empowerment initiatives in place.
We were thrilled with the responses from the industry and are proud to introduce the first class of recipients. This is an ongoing certification program, however, so Interested brands may apply here by answering a few questions about their employees.
Meet the first class below.
Noodles and Co
Noodles and Co., which has seven females on its executive team, follows a company mission of "nourishing and inspiring every team member, guest and community," according to HR Director Jennilee Childs. And that means making sure all feel welcome regardless of gender or background.
"Noodles' leadership team is comprised of impactful women who are leading the charge in becoming the best place to work for those who love life," she said. "Empowering our female team members is a critical component to Noodles' success."
The company supports the initiative by:
- Offering a robust benefits package that supports families and working mothers. It has maternity leave paid at 100%; Maternity phase-out/phase-in, backup childcare assistance, adoption assistance of $10,000, surrogacy assistance of $10,000, bereavement paid time off for miscarriage, dental services at no cost for children under 14, tuition assistance development and promotional opportunities.
- Career progression plan (My Road Trip).
- Internal-first mindset when filling leadership positions.
- Women in leadership support and mentoring events.
- Recognition and Inclusion: Inclusion and diversity council-company-wide recognition (Super Noodler, Noodler of the Month, and Operator Spotlight).
- Pronoun use on name tags and/or email signature Fair Employment Practices-Regular market analysis of compensation broadbands and audits for pay divergences.
- Application and interview process that is fair and open.
- Senior leaders that support I&D initiatives, including those around gender disparities.
Organic Krush
Founded by Fran Paniccia and Michelle Walrath in Plainview, New York, Organic Krush features a vegan and organic menu. The company has a career path to ensure equal opportunities for hourly employees as well as salaried managers, said Dave McKlveen, VP of Human Resources.
"(We're also) launching a mentorship program in 2021 to identify women with potential, driven by our two founders and CFO," he said.
The chain has three females on its leadership team.
Cava
Washington D.C.-based Cava, last year, founded NOW — a Network of Women with the goal of empowering the growth of women at Cava through mentorship, knowledge-sharing and community, said Lori Goldstrohm, VP of Ops Services and NOW founder.
"The goals are to be the employer of choice for talented women, retain the talent, create career paths for existing employees, and build a leadership team with women in executive positions," she said.
Since the program's launch, Cava has added three women to fill executive roles: CPO, CFO and SVP of Marketing.
Jersey Girl Cafe
Female-founded Jersey Girl Cafe has three women on its executive team and offers tuition reimbursement for majors in hospitality or business as well as detailed job descriptions with programs to achieve promotion.
"I've been in this industry for over 13 years, and have never wanted for input or advice," founder Kathy Rana said. "I've been given bad advice from well-meaning, but ill-informed people, and have received great advice from people who know the service model my restaurant is a part of (fast casual). When I can help women in this industry out, I feel that not only am I paying it forward, but also improving the local economy by supporting female entrepreneurship."
NN Burger
The leaders of NN Burger, a two-unit burger joint in Virginia, believe its important to foster support for women within the company to encourage one another and to seek advice, said Falon Robertson, assistant director of Operations. The brand, which has five women on its executive team, not only encourages female staff to train and apply for upper management positions for current and future locations but also provides a flexible environment for parents.
"(We) revise discriminatory policies often with women in leadership roles so that women in our workplace are comfortable and work with POC Women and seek to pair them with POC Women in upper management positions so that they have opportunities to really feel heard and excel in the workplace," Robertson said.
Sky's Gourmet Tacos
Sky's Gourmet Tacos CEO Barbara Burrell said she actively seeks women for open positions as well as for an informal advancement training program that she personally oversees. The Los Angeles-based company has a cafe, grab-and-go business as well as a food truck. Two women are on the leadership team.
Please &Thank You
Please & Thank You, a four-unit cookie shop and bakery based in Louisville, Kentucky, boass six females on the executive team and believes it's important to help women excel in leadership, President and Owner Brooke Vaughn said. The company has paid for women on its management to attend Women in Leadership conferences FAB workshops, which are created by women for women in the hospitality industry, as well as the online "Business Class" by Sophia Amoroso of GirlBoss.
Noodlelove
Noodlove, which calls itself a "female-driven concept," boasts a 90% female executive team and outsources primarily to women for consulting and branding, said Christopher Potter, the Broomfield, Colorado, company's director of Business Development.
"We are in the process of opening our second location and looking for a female to run that unit," he said.
The Place Downtown
The Place Downtown, not only has females execs leading it, but co-owner Kim Stiegler said she was passionate about cross-training all of her employees to enable them to learn every aspect of the operation from dishwashing and serving to cooking and management.
Salad Collective
Although Salad Collective, which is made up of Mad Greens and Snappy Salads, has no formal female-focused initiatives, CEO Daren Coors said the culture is supportive of female leadership, and the number of women filling top spots has grown every year. The four-person executive team includes two women, and 53% of the company's restaurant GMs and 67% of assistant GMs are women.
"Sixty-one percent of our corporate team is female," Coors said. "While our eight area managers happen to be male, two of our three lead GM/AMs-in-training are female. As a female CEO, I'm really proud of how we are developing our people and particularly our women."
About Cherryh Cansler
