The Power 20
This year's 20 elite leaders of the restaurant industry
The Power 20
Sheilina Henry
As Sheilina Henry climbs her own career ladder, advancing from an area coach with Pizza Hut to an Outback Steakhouse joint venture partner to a regional vice president with the chain, it becomes all the more important to raise others up along with her, she says.
The Power 20
Kiran Pinto
While Kiran Pinto originally started in the industry with the dream of becoming a chef, she quickly realized her passion and purpose didn’t align. Now, she’s been with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE) for 17 years and has established a career that has let her explore different areas within the food industry while also driving growth vehicles for the multiconcept operator.
Sweetgreen is among the most digitally savvy restaurant brands, often cited for its willingness to be a pioneer and trial new tech advances, processes and more. Dan Beranek, a former dDirector of dDigital for Starbucks, is one of those leading the charge for the growing fast casual, focusing on driving the best digital experience for both diners and employees. “It goes back to being customer obsessed,” Beranek said at the FSTEC cConference last fall. “That drives everything we do. We have to remove friction from not just customers getting the food, but for our team too.”
Marcus Byrd was merely a fan of fast-casual Mexican chain Dos Toros when he sent a LinkedIn message to the emerging chain’s CEO. A coffee date meeting led to Byrd becoming the brand’s fourth corporate employee when the concept had just four units and was making about $10 million annually. Now, Dos Toros pulls in nearly $60 million a year and was recently acquired by Chopt.
Danika Brown first joined Auntie Anne’s as an intern, coming on full time after graduating college. “Since that time, she’s been promoted quickly because of her work ethic, her strategic thinking, her respect from her peers and franchisees, and her ability to produce results, over and over again,” says Auntie Anne’s President Heather Neary. Now, says Neary, she’s responsible for the brand’s off-premise initiatives, which Brown has grown six- to ten fold since the program first started in 2017.