#20 - Kat Cole, Brand, Distribution, & Leadership

The Narrative Monopoly

Bio

Kat Cole is the former Chief Operating Officer and president of Focus Brands. Her journey began as a Hooters hostess at age 17, and within 2 years she was traveling around the world launching new locations for the company becoming a Vice President at 26. In 2010 she became the president of Cinnabon, turning the company around during the recession. That was part of Focus Brands — the parent company of Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, Moe’s Southwest Grill, McAlister’s Deli, and Schlotzsky’s. For 10 years at Focus she was a turnaround artist of its franchise businesses and grew global, multi-channel retail offerings to more than $1 billion in branded sales.

Times

• 1:00 - Into to Kat
• 3:15 - How did her career accelerate so fast?
• 7:30 - What is brand?
• 9:30 - What goes into brand?
• 12:45 - Interactions & brand
• 16:00 - Is brand centralized or decentralized in the org chart?
• 19:00 - Who are the brands that impress Kat?
• 20:30 - How to think about distribution
• 26:00 - Store in store concept
• 28:30 - Grocery store distribution
• 32:30 - Future of the restaurant industry
• 34:45 - Thoughts on ghost kitchens and virtual brands
• 39:30 - How has travel impacted Kat professionally?
• 47:30 - How to become a better leader?
• 49:15 - Where to find Kat

Links

Kat's substack

Kat's twitter

Jeff's twitter

narrativemonopoly.com