Contributors
Chuck Tanowitz
Andrew Robbins is CEO of Paytronix Systems, Inc. A product visionary, team leader, and a trained rocket scientist with an acute business acumen, Andrew has spent more than 20 years advising brands like Jimmy John's, Panera Bread, Caribou Coffee, QDOBA, and a long list of others, about their loyalty programs and customer experience technology. As a leader, Andrew motivates his team to bring innovative products to market that enhance the restaurant customer experience.Marla Topliff
Marla Topliff is leading Franchise Consulting at Kathleen Wood Partners, with over 20 years of franchise executive experience. Previously she was President of Rosati’s Pizza for 22 years, where she led the company’s franchising and growth program taking them from a local regional concept to an internationally known brand. Marla currently leads KWP’s Franchise Accelerator Program working with growing brands such as Cornbread Farm to Soul, Bango Bowls, and Big Chicken. She was recognized as one of the top 24 women in franchising by Franchise Update Magazine.Denise Tran
Denise Tran, a former attorney, is the founder and CEO of Bun Mee Vietnamese Sandwich Eatery, a gourmet fast casual restaurant concept with five locations in San Francisco—Pacific Heights, Financial District, SFO Terminals 1 & 3, and the Marina—and a plan to franchise nationwide.
Penni Tsavaris
Penni Tsavaris is a Brand Communications Manager at Tork, an Essity brand, where she focuses on the hospitality industry. Tork offers professional hygiene products, including napkins, paper towels and dispensers, to businesses worldwide such as restaurants. Through expertise in hygiene and sustainability, Tork supports customers to think ahead so they’re always ready for business.
Carl Udler
With over 25 years of professional experience,15 of which has focused on the franchise industry, Carl Udler possesses a rare blend of technology expertise combined with Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) and Certified Foodservice Technology Professional (CFTP) industry credentials. As a senior director at Hughes, Carl provides valuable guidance to Franchisors and retailers on a broad range of technologies, processes, networking best practices, and cybersecurity solutions, enabling them to solve the types of concrete challenges that impact business, customers and ROI.
Carl Van Ostrand
Carl Van Ostrand is Vice President of Consumer Insights for DISQO, an LA-based company, empowering clients with previously inaccessible behavioral and attitudinal data solutions.
Brittany Ward
As the Director of Customer Success at Back Office by Buyers Edge Platform, a leading digital procurement network for the foodservice industry, Brittany Ward works with restaurant operators to help streamline operations and create sustainable growth. Today at Back Office by Buyers Edge Platform, which counts 17 other unique national/international companies under the brand and analyzes more more than 170 million food operator purchases daily, Brittany’s expertise in training and operations serves restaurant operator goals by lowering costs, increasing sales and maximizing profit.
Mark Wasilefsky
Mark Wasilefsky is Head of Restaurant & Franchise Finance at TD Bank, where he leads the bank’s efforts to support growth, acquisitions, and innovation in the restaurant and franchise sectors. He brings over two decades of experience in investment and commercial banking, with a deep specialization in franchise finance. Before joining TD, he was senior vice president at RBS Greenwich Capital and prior to that, senior vice president at Bank of America. Mark holds an MBA in Finance from Western New England University and a BA in economics from the University of Connecticut.
David Werner
David Werner is Vice President of Product Marketing at HungerRush. He joined the team in 2021 from Oracle where he served as Senior Director of Product Marketing. He has a proven track record of increasing customer retention and focuses on data-driven marketing plans to ensure top notch customer experiences. David earned his degree from Drake University and is based in Houston, Texas.
Felicia White
Felicia White is an experienced leader in the hospitality industry, supporting individuals and businesses with achieving operations excellence, exceeding goals, and managing change. Felicia serves as a volunteer and board member with CHART (Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers), and President for the 2024-2025 service term. She also serves on the advisory board for Women in Restaurant Leadership (WiRL), and is a member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum. Felicia is also a sought after subject matter expert in Front Line Leadership Development.
Peter Wiley
I enjoy building brands, solving hard problems, helping teams grow, and encouraging people to use their gifts and talents. I'm self-taught across an eclectic mix of disciplines — graphic design, web development, audio engineering, video production, networking, and IT — which means I can usually build, fix, or lead whatever the moment calls for. When not working, you'll find me hanging out with grandkids, cooking, or running live sound for my church or a local country band.
Wayne Wilson
I was born in England and have lived in the United States since I was just 9 months old. My wife, April, and I have 3 children and 2 dogs. When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, golfing, playing pool with my dad, reading, trying to make a positive impact on my family & friends, and making people laugh.
I’m proud of the company that we launched and everything we have created for our clients since. We have a great group of people, working together to make a huge impact for our clients, their employees, their families, and their communities. What’s not to love about that?
Francois Wolf
Francois Wolf serves as Chief Marketing Officer for HungerRush. Francois has extensive experience leading and growing restaurant technology marketing organizations to drive growth.
Kathleen Wood
Kathleen Wood is the Founder of Kathleen Wood Partners (KWP), an innovative and award-winning growth strategy firm dedicated to propelling Founder-led businesses to new levels of success. Kathleen and her team work with Founders in scaling and accelerating their visions into actionable results through strategic growth solutions, operational excellence, competitive sales strategies, and transformative leadership development. The KWP expertise includes range of Founder-led businesses in the restaurant, hospitality, technology, and manufacturing industries.
Michael Zalay
Michael Zalay is a Principal at Much Shelist with the firm’s Business & Finance practice, where he advises clients across the food service and hospitality industries, including chefs, restaurant owners, and nightclub owners. Michael is based in the firm’s Chicago office.
Jana Zschieschang
Jana Zschieschang is Chief Marketing Officer of Revenue Management Solutions, a global enterprise providing patented, data-driven solutions and services that optimize sales, menus and financial health for over 100,000 restaurants in more than 40 countries and 20 languages.Featured Vendor
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