Modern Market President on Business Acquisition, Menu Innovation & Female Leadership in Hospitality

The Menu Mix is a regular podcast that takes a look at looking at leading restaurant groups to reveal the techniques and considerations behind the way they design their menus and run their businesses. Subscribe on YouTube to follow.

In this episode George Wetz (CEO) and Matt Holy (Director of Strategic Projects) talk to Robin Robison, President of Thrive Restaurant Group, to discuss the recent acquisition of Modern Market Eatery. 

Robin, formerly COO of Modern Market, shares her unique perspective on this transition, from the early days of the franchise partnership to the key considerations that led to the acquisition.

5 Key Takeaways

• Cultural Alignment is Paramount: Robin emphasizes the importance of shared values and brand ethos when considering acquisitions or franchise partnerships. The cultural synergy between Thrive and Modern Market was a driving force behind the successful acquisition.

• Prioritize People-Centric Approaches: Robin highlights the significance of people in the hospitality industry. She believes in creating a positive and supportive work environment where employees feel valued and empowered. This people-first philosophy extends to both internal teams and customer interactions.

• Embrace a Data-Driven Menu Strategy: Modern Market leverages guest feedback and data analysis tools like Yumpingo to inform its menu development process. This ensures that menu offerings resonate with customer preferences while also meeting financial targets.

• Value Extends Beyond Price: Robin argues that true value in dining encompasses not just affordable pricing but also a holistic positive experience. This includes delicious food, accurate orders, timely service, and genuine human interaction.

• Mentorship Matters: As a prominent advocate for women in leadership, Robin stresses the importance of mentorship and support for women in the hospitality industry. She believes in fostering an inclusive environment that empowers women to break barriers and thrive in leadership positions. Join us as we explore the intricacies of this acquisition, the future of the Modern Market brand, and the enduring importance of people and culture in the ever-evolving restaurant industry.

Episode transcript

Matt Holy: Hello everybody and welcome to this week's episode of the menu mix. I'm Matt Holy.

But first let's jump into some hospitality trends that have caught our eye this week. This is the menu mix.

 They definitely are. They're back, baby. They're really back. ever since Jay Powell announced those rate cuts , recently, half a point reduction, getting the bulls very, very excited. I think we're going to see a ton of new deals come through towards the end of this year and into the beginning of 2025.

There's been a bunch all since May. Yeah, essentially prior to May, it was almost silent, , in anticipation of these rate cuts combined with a couple of other factors, all these deals have been coming through. It's really kind of told the story of the K shaped recovery where some of these acquisitions are happening because.

Brands have like really high brand recognition, but maybe their sales were declining a little bit closing some stores , so either private equity or the other group that acquired them thought it was a really good deal. They got the brand at a discount or there's some other Groups who've continued to crush it over the past few years really really high growth , and private equity or, or again, the restaurant group that acquired them just wanted to continue riding that wave.

So, uh, interesting to see, , really excited to see the next few that, we'll see come through towards the end of the year. Hope right.

So joining us today is Robin Robison, former COO of Modern Market, but as of very recently, now the president of Thrive Restaurant Group. Her extensive industry experience includes leadership roles at Red Robin, Bob Evans, and Chili's, and she is a prominent advocate for women's leadership in hospitality, Having previously won the women's food service forum leadership award.

You may have seen her speak at conferences, including RLC and the ICX summit. And now we are incredibly excited to have her on the menu mix. Robin, welcome to the show.

Robin Robison: Hi, Matt. Hi, George. Great to see you guys.

George Wetz: You too, Robin. You too. Well, we're really excited to have you on the show. And first I was going to dive straight in and we'd love to ask you a few questions about the recent acquisition by Thrive. So you just start by giving us some context of how this, how this deal came about?

Robin Robison: Yes, of course. Um, well, first, thank you for having me. It's exciting what you guys have started with the podcast. So thank you very much for asking me to be a part of your podcast. Uh, so the acquisition, I am absolutely thrilled with this acquisition. And, you know, we were previously owned by a private equity firm, Butterfly, who were amazing partners for us.

very much. I think everybody knows private equity buys and sells companies all the time, and I couldn't be more excited about the sale from Butterfly to Thrive Restaurant Group. Thrive was our first franchisee of Modern Market Eatery. I describe it as when we started this journey with Thrive years ago, that We were dating them, right?

And then when we got to meet them in person, uh, and really understand the culture and the culture being around being very people centric still taking great care of the business, we knew it was a perfect match for us. uh, so we quickly got engaged and got married and they, uh, actually opened, they bought our Austin market and they've opened to in Kansas city.

And when this opportunity came about. were really excited to purchase Modern Market Eatery. And so we've now become even more of a family through this acquisition. So I have personally taken on, an opportunity to not only operate and oversee and lead Modern Market Eatery, but a second brand called Homegrown, which is a daytime eatery. I'm really excited about the opportunity and mostly about the people I get to work with. and work for and what we can do in the future to help, help our restaurants and our people thrive. 

George Wetz: That's great. Great summary. I mean, we're so excited for you and to see where this partnership goes and you, You talked a little bit like it's like dating 

Robin Robison: Yeah. 

George Wetz: in the early days. Um, I'd love to cut for other companies that might be out there. They, they might be thinking about an acquisition process at some point in their brands evolution. it would be really fascinating to hear from you kind of how that early experience in the in the partnership went and then as talks began to emerge, share a bit of insight into the kind of the thoughts, the feelings, the excitement, the worries that you had along the way to give a bit of an insider feel as to how that process is. 

Robin Robison: Yeah. I think that's such a great question because it's so important as you grow your business partner with the right people. That's everything from vendors to your team that you hire. but in our first venture to franchise was really, really important to us and to thrive to find the right partner. is a very big organization. They have Applebee's. They're the second largest. We are the second largest Applebee's franchisee, as well as just signing a 30 unit deal with Qdoba. And then they've developed, or we have developed two companies within Thrive ourselves. I mentioned it earlier, the homegrown eatery concept, and then also Carlos O'Kelley's, a Mexican concept. then they dip their toes into a better for you brand through a modern market. I would say to anybody that's thinking about an acquisition or thinking about a franchise or becoming a franchisee, uh, that the cultural fit is really, really important to find, organizations that share your brand ethos. Share your passions, uh, are really important. And for us, it was really around making sure, as I said earlier, that people became the center of what, what you do. we know that we can't accomplish anything without the right people in place, engaged and excited about what they're doing then, um, you know, making sure that the food is something that you can be proud of.

I once had a mentor tell me if you can't wear a shirt around with the name of your organization on it with pride. Then you're probably not with the right organization. And so being really proud of the food that you serve and the people that you partner with, or you franchise with, that they can have that same, same level of pride. 

George Wetz: Absolutely. And that's one thing that's critical to any acquisition process and the success is the team and the people who have been, you know, working for one owner for a period of time. And now they're also transitioning to working for a different owner. So could you give some insight into how you went in the process and how you communicated that change to the team?

And maybe, you know, how you, how you kind of communicate the opportunity. To them to, to make them feel bought into the journey. 

Robin Robison: Yeah. I think, I think a lot of people shared my excitement around it because we had the opportunity to interact with so many people from Thrive through them being our franchisee, which I don't think you always get that right.

You don't always get that opportunity. But knowing that we had worked with such great people everywhere from their finance team and accounting team to their facilities team, you know, clear up to the CEO, John Rolfe, that those experiences were good, uh, that we were to challenge each other respectfully in the process was, was the best part of it.

So bringing people on the journey. Honestly, it was pretty easy because of those past experiences. I'm a firm believer that experiences create beliefs with people. And if you're creating those right beliefs along the way or those right experiences along the way, people's belief will be aligned with the organization.

George Wetz: Very interesting. And talking of experiences, your own role and portfolios change through this process as well. Give us a bit of insight of going from leading, uh, the operations as a COO role into a president role. Like what are some of the differences? And. I think for people that might be going on this transition later in their careers, have you learned so quickly?

Like, who have you leveraged? Like, how has the learning process been for you? 

Robin Robison: Well, I will, I will full on admit that I think learning is a journey, right? And you don't learn it all at once and then move past it. So I anticipate that there's going to be a lot more learning. Um, and a lot more people that I'm able to tap into. I call them my personal board of directors. So people that, you know, you can trust and that have either walked the road before you or have great insights into the road that you're walking. Um, and that'll be honest with you and truthful with you. So I think that's important to acknowledge that and find your own personal board of directors, people that are going to look you in the eye and say, Hey, Actually, that's probably not the right thing to be thinking about or doing or applaud you for what you're thinking about or doing with your organization.

So I think that's important. Um, but in terms of the transition and the learning there, I'll set it up by saying that, you know, I spoke earlier to all the brands that are within Thrive. And so there are actually three presidents within Thrive, all reporting to John, our CEO, John Rolfe. Uh, one is the president of our shared services or our, our office, our office in Wichita. then we have two verticals that are restaurant focused specifically. So Mike Coffey is my partner in crime. I've known him for years, known him in the Chili's days. He is the president of franchised brands, meaning we've franchised from Applebee's. We've franchised from Qdoba. He's leading those brands. leading the other vertical, which are the brands that we want to take to market and franchise eventually, while still running our corporate owned restaurants. So those two brands specifically right now are Modern Market Eatery and Homegrown.

George Wetz: Great. So it sounds like you've got, it's great that you have that partner in crime. someone you can bounce ideas off and learn and be peers in this, in this journey together. And as you're talking about franchisees, it made me think about this deal and, this is the, maybe an unusual or less typical. way for an acquisition to come about. Do you think we're going to see a trend as more franchisees are going to look to, um, kind of buy out a franchise or brand? Is that something you think we might see more of? 

Robin Robison: Look, you know, you never know in this business. I mean, we've all seen the news and the headlines as of late with a lot of bankruptcies, a lot of sales. So I think there's all sorts of different ways this can happen. Do I think a franchisee can be strong and grow and potentially from acquisition perspective of acquiring corporate team? I would say yes. Is it going to be a trend? I don't know. think it's also important to recognize that Brands go through stages, life stages, right? And so there are times that are growing and sometimes they're not in a growth phase. And I think that speaks a lot to what people think about in terms of whether or not want to acquire brand.

And I'll give you an example. So I think that the trend right now may be larger. Franchisees, smaller franchisees within the same concept, Thrive is one of those. Thrive has acquired for Applebee's through the process and those restaurants part of our portfolio. So they've bought out another franchisee within the same system. So I think that's probably more likely because you already know how to operate the brand. This is a very unique space in which , a parent company would be purchased by a franchisee, but I don't think anything's off the table right now in the landscape of what's going on in the industry.

George Wetz: that's for sure. Yeah. There's, there's just loads, going on and interesting deals we've been seeing coming through. And I wanted to pick on one thing you mentioned, which was You know, brands being at different stages and there's a growth stage to it. Modern markets clearly within that as a brand.

So now that you're part of the thrive family, can you share some of your plans for how you're looking to grow the brand over the next couple of three years? 

Robin Robison: Yeah, our hopes are to continue to grow from a company owned perspective as well as a franchisee perspective. So anybody out there that's listening to this podcast that wants to be with great company. As a franchisee of Better For You Food, we're your place, we're your one stop shop, to be honest with you. But our internal plan is to continue to market to potential franchisees, grow the brand across the country with that, as well as continuing to grow from a company owned perspective. 

George Wetz: Great. I think it's a nice segue in this idea of kind of marketing, you know, you've put the name out there to potential franchisees. What would your advice be to brands who are looking to position themselves engage in an acquisition conversation at some point in the not too distant future? 

Robin Robison: I think that's a really good question around what the future state is for each brand, right? And so thinking through that, I'll go back to the cultural piece and then just connecting within the industry, continuing to go to trade shows, uh, continuing to find people in your own communities that could be a potential company to sell to. that could acquire you is important. I do think at the same time, you really have to evaluate what you want for your future, for the future of the brand and really be clear at defining the future of your brand is before you start to go to market to talk about somebody else acquiring you.

Because at that point, as an owner of your brand, you have three options. time you go through something like this, you have less and less control over what the brand is going to look like in the future. And if that's appealing to you and exciting for you, then go for it. If you're an owner operator that wants to keep things close to the vest, I would take some time to grow your brand yourself before you put it out there to market to others.

George Wetz: Very good advice. Interesting. 

Matt Holy: Yeah, no, really interesting. And yeah, I mean, you were talking a lot about the state of the industry right now, kind of positioning yourself to, to grow your brand. And I, and I think , in looking at modern market, especially over the last. Few years , I certainly think you've done a great job at positioning yourself in terms of offering like a really unique menu.

So can you walk us through, I guess, your, your menu development and menu innovation strategy and, why it works so well for a concept like modern market?

Robin Robison: Absolutely. You know, George also asked earlier about the plans, moving forward. And I neglected to mention that we are also, licensees, licensed partners with airports and major universities with Modern Market. That is also a great way to get your brand out there, to get branding occurring more frequently, , because so many more people are exposed to it.

So talking about menu, and that's what reminded me of it, that was As we develop our menu, we have company owned restaurants to think about. Franchisees, pretty easy to think about because they are required to serve your menu. But licensees can be a little bit different, right? Because on a college campus, there may be some different needs. We don't serve breakfast at Modern Market in our, what we call our street locations. But, for example, at the airport, we serve breakfast. It's a known entity at the airport that we need to, need to make sure that our menu is versatile enough meet the needs of our licensees and the guests within airports for students on campus. I think we have an amazing culinary team led by our VP of Culinary, who is Nate Weir, Chef Nate, we call him. and he does an awesome job of staying up on current trends, menu development. But quite frankly, we are with Yumpingo, um, not only for being able to have insights around the voice of our guest and really hearing what our guest has to say, but also as we put surveys out there to our guests, whether they're off prem guests or dine in guests, uh, we are able to extract some really valuable menu information. Because our guests rate us on every single menu item that they order, and they rate us on a number of metrics within each menu item, and Chef Nate is actually able to take that look at what menu items are performing well, not only from a culinary innovation perspective, from an execution perspective.

He's able to come back to, to the operators, to my COO and say, Hey, we think there's some opportunity to get better at this item or these items based on execution of the items, but he's also able to go back to his team and say, Hey, people are really loving, as an example, salmon, people love our salmon, and it's served, uh, roasted, baked, roasted salmon, fresh salmon from Norway, he's able to take that item and say, That's a star on our menu.

What else can we do with the salmon? And so we're in the middle of a limited time offer and LTO right now that Nate and his team did an incredible job of putting together a fresh, cold salmon salad. Think chicken salad, think tuna salad, but sub in salmon, which is just an amazing item. And we're serving that both in a wrap and on a salad.

And the guest feedback has been incredible, both, uh, on our on prem. with just interacting with our guests and talking to them. also through Yumpingo, through our surveys, uh, Chef Nate has been able to see, what, how the guests are responding to the salmon salad, but we're also able to see from an operational execution perspective, what we're doing well and what the guests love and what we can work on.

So it's been, it's been an amazing journey. We'll continue on that journey with twice a year LTO development. then we also do twice a year just menu development, really centered around more seasonal. moving as an example from salads, a couple of our salads in the summer have strawberries, fresh, beautiful strawberries that are really applicable to a summer menu. But as we move into winter, transitioning those to grapes, and those are fresh grapes in the winter and fresh strawberries in the summer. So small menu tweaks. twice a year that also gives us the runway to introduce new menu items Nate and his team develop those.

Matt Holy: Yeah. The approach is, it's always a tough balance, especially when you have quite a few locations to deal with of what sounds great on paper, what is good in practice, and how could you kind of balance the two? You did touch on a couple of interesting points, uh, I guess around supply chains.

So you, mentioned the salmon was kind of a protein that your guests really, really liked. The data said guests want more salmon. What else could we do with it? You have salads, you have wraps. What Um, but then you also mentioned for some of like the college campuses or airport locations. You have, uh, you have to serve breakfast.

So could you walk us through how, I guess your menu strategy and like supply chain come together to make sure that it makes everything makes sense from a food cost perspective and execution perspective while keeping your guests as. Happy as possible.

Robin Robison: Yeah, know, it's really a team effort as you, you really just mentioned it, Matt. How do you work with your supply chain team to make sure that we're all moving in the same direction around menu development? then how do you get menus set work across both company owned franchise and licensed partners? And I think we do an amazing job with it. It's in transition right now. Quite frankly, we are working with some new folks in a newly established supply chain team with Thrive. So we've started out of the gate with having weekly calls to make sure that not only are we talking about existing items and any potential supply chain challenges that the operators are having, but we're also doing a good bit of forward looking saying what's in the pipeline of development. that we need to start looking at. in addition, just those simple menu changes that I talked about, moving from one ingredient to a different ingredient just because it's a seasonal So seasonal veggies, seasonal fruits, so it's been, it's been a really great process to watch Nate and his team develop an ongoing pipeline of menu items and getting those products in, testing, tasting those products. You know, six months, eight months out, uh, before we actually put anything into development. And then we do several iterations of a menu item. Uh, we, when we developed the salmon, we probably taste tested 15 different salads before we actually landed on one specific salmon salad. And then we had to go back and do taste tests on both the actual salad that it was put on, as well as the wrap. the builds of those and the taste profiles around those before we landed. So it's a bit of an iteration process. I will say that when you think about supply chain in general and what you mentioned with costs, you know, you have to, you have to develop what I would call the Cadillac of the menu item. What is the very best possible menu item you can develop that is, you know, the whole goal is to increase traffic and to increase sales. Through these new items and to give our marketing team new things to talk about right as we take it to market. said, we also have a responsibility to our financials. And so we set targets internally around what our cogs should be, our cost of goods should be, for menu items, and we do really a barbell approach to it where you could have a few, few menu items that are on the higher end of the cost of goods. Platform and some that are on the lower end that allow you to land in the middle at your goal of, you know, what you want to accomplish with your COGS line so that you're responsible to your P& L, but developing really tasty, delicious items your guests as well. 

Matt Holy: That's great. Yeah. It's a really interesting approach. I know supply chain is very much in the spotlight right now. I feel like for a lot of brands, um, especially in just trying to find creative ways to cross utilize ingredients and that type of thing. But, yeah, you mentioned something interesting that I feel like could help transition us into the next part of the conversation, which was your.

Barbell pricing strategy. Uh, it's no secret that, customers are feeling the pinch, some of them are definitely feeling the pinch of, of the economy in the market right now, and George, I believe you have some thoughts on this kind of flight to value that we're seeing. So if you want to take it from here and go into the future, that'd be great.

George Wetz: I, we're on the same page, Matt. I had the same thought of segue in my mind. Um, which is, yeah, thinking about pricing strategy. I'm so curious to hear from you because I speak to a bunch of people, trying to make sense of what the US consumer is doing right now. there's, you know, compared to a year or two ago, things kind of seemed clearer in terms of behavior. Now, there seems to be a real mix. So. When you think about, you know, modern market customers, differently to the broader Thrive group, actually, can you give your analysis on how you would describe, consumer habits and preferences and behavior having. over the last year or 18 months or so? 

Robin Robison: Yeah, I think, you know, when you talk value, I think there's so much more to the equation than price. Right. Price is just a part of it, but as a guest, I think about when I go out to eat, what do I value? I value good pricing, but I also value a great experience, right? Am I with my food? Am I happy with the service?

Whatever the service model is, whether it's fast, casual, full service, fine dining. Am I happy with the level of interaction from people? And do I feel, honestly, my value equation is, do I feel more joyful? When I leave than when I came in, if I do, I feel like that gives me the value I'm looking for as a consumer, and I truly believe more and more people looking for dining experiences that not only they can afford, for what they can personally afford, gives them joy, gives them accuracy in their order, that it's the time expectations that they laid out, whether it's a business lunch or a therapy, a casual dinner with your family or a friend. and that the food was great. We can never lose sight of the fact that the food has to be right. It has to be great. It has to taste lovely and delicious. Um, but the people interactions are, are really important. I really believe that the hospitality industry and in particular in the restaurant industry, we have to get back to providing great experiences all the way around for our guests. that guests will give us high marks on value. Even if they paid a little bit more, it's going to be worth it. they got the food that was delicious. They received the food that they ordered. And it was accurate and timely. And their interactions with people made them happy. So, if I were to say for the future of a value equation means, is that we're still going to be in the middle of people tightening right now.

People are tightening. We have an election coming up. There's a lot of unknown. Um, people are still, people are still nervous out there and they're cutting back and we know that. And so just to provide pricing, in my opinion, is not enough. have to get back to the basics of the industry, which is people centric, amazing food. And all of that is wrapped into the price and the value that you expect as a consumer.

George Wetz: I think that's a fascinating answer because you've spoken there not about a tangible, like the food itself or the service, but the feeling. part of what the consumer is paying for is the feeling that they get from having had that experience. And I think that's really, that's a really interesting perspective. And thinking ahead. know, over the next two, three years, there's a lot of talk about, how technology changing the guest experience and how technology could be used back of house as well. And I guess that could come with some changes to how brands interact with their customers. I mean, from your perspective, if you look forward, you know, three to five years. , what do you think of some of the trends that consumers might be looking for when it comes to their experience and how technology might be able to, to facilitate that?

Robin Robison: I think you have to look at, everybody's different in this world, right?

And how they want to use brands can be very different within your brand. There are some people that just want to use a digital platform, and may have their food ordered and delivered through a third party. They may order from your website, but still have the food delivered.

That's a very different interaction. And from a value perspective and a hospitality perspective, what we've been trying to figure out is what does that look like, right? What is hospitality in a bag when you don't really have a human interaction, but you have a digital interaction? And, you know, what we've been talking about internally and really working on is, and I mentioned it before, is you have to make sure that that order is accurate because you don't get that second chance like you do if the guest is in your restaurant. You don't get a second chance to make that first impression and to fix it for the guest. it also has to be timely. If your platform says, Hey, your food's going to be ready in 10 minutes and you've communicated that to the guest, you better deliver on that expectation to the guest. But I think that in the restaurant experience, depending on where you land as a brand, whether it's fast, casual, casual dining, fine dining, dining, uh, could look really different in five years as well, meaning I've seen several brands that have gone to just kiosk model, No guest interaction from a cash perspective. Uh, I've seen a couple of pieces of technology around. a, an iPad or a tablet at the front, but it actually has a real person on it versus just the digital platform on a kiosk. Um, I don't know what people are more comfortable with. I think it's, it's definitely age demographic in terms of comfort of a kiosk versus a live person on an iPad or a tablet versus an actual human standing in front of you. And it makes it much more complex for this industry. But I do agree, George, there's going to be so much more around AI voice ordering, digital ordering. You're going to be able to ask Alexa to just place your order for you. There's so many more components than there were years ago, I would say that it's just going to continue to grow. I think the challenge for the restaurant industry is going to be guest adoption and picking the right tools, the right technology that integrates with your current platform so you don't have yet another standalone piece of technology, but that also speaks to numerous guests and not just Not just one demographic.

George Wetz: That's, that's really interesting. And I, I think from the conversations I hear there's one set of conversations that saying, how can we use AI? How can guests interact with it? How can we make it so that guests would like  that as part of their experience? And there's another school of thought I hear emerging, which is. should use AI in a way which means guests can have more human interactions because that's what will differentiate our brand and our experience by giving them great hospitality. I'm fascinated to see how those two sides interplay, and maybe one of them will kind of win out for certain brands, and maybe the other, the other in the future.

So we'll keep watching that as it, um, as it emerges. Matt, you're going to finish us off with your final questions. 

Matt Holy: Yeah, we're, we're going to transition a little bit back to, something we spoke about a little earlier in the podcast, but just about leadership, and you know, you're, you're prominent, figure and advocate for female leadership in hospitality. And one thing we'd really like to know is just like, how good a job do you think the hospitality industry is doing right now on, um, one, attracting female talent, but also nurturing female leadership. 

Robin Robison: I am a huge advocate for women in leadership. I think, you know, I, I referenced back to when I first started in this industry, my background was teaching. I graduated from college with teaching degree, uh, worked in restaurants to help supplement my income and just fell in love with the industry. That said, I was, when I was promoted to general manager, you know, years after entering the industry and had my own restaurant. with Chili's, I was the only female general manager the state of Colorado and one of very few across the company, I saw that not only as, an opportunity. help other women on their journey of business and restaurant industry. also as, sort of my responsibility, to be honest with you, my responsibility to, to grow as a leader, to be the best possible version of myself that I could be and help others on their journey. And that's always stuck with me and been important. I think mentorship is extremely important that women leaders. still face obstacles that male counterparts do not. You can talk to women across our country now that still face the obstacles of people wanting to speak to the male boss versus the female boss of people wanting to not promote females because of various reasons, right?

But females still face that in the industry. And I think it's important for us to acknowledge that there are differences, and there are differences that make us great. There's tons of studies out there around gender equity, and when your teams are more balanced with male and female, that results get better for the business. Um, so I really lean into that. I also think it's really important to be that person for somebody else, to, to pay it forward to somebody else, and be there for somebody else. I'm involved in an organization called LEAD, Leadership, Exploration and Development, and we provide for emerging leaders, not just female leaders, but emerging leaders across the country. We host three to four events a year where we have a variety of development that occurs at a very low cost because we know that small organizations don't always have the money. Thank you for listening. to provide ongoing learning and development for people in the organization. And so we came in wanting to fill that gap. It's a one evening workshop, very low cost right now. The cost is 40 to enter and you get four to five hours of development with key leaders within the industry, talking about everything from their life lessons to financial decisions, uh, to customer engagement, there's a ton of development within lead that happens and a lot of work that goes into it.

And our next one actually week, uh, in Houston. Uh, so I'm really excited to be in Houston and get in front of, we cap our, our entry to a hundred guests. and it's really exciting to see these emerging leaders come in and be able to interact with CEOs, COOs, brand presidents. VPs of franchise, CFOs.

We have a great lineup of people depending on the city we go to. So it's really exciting, uh, to see the emerging leader of our brand have some attention. Yes, 

Matt Holy: Very well said Robin. And, uh, I believe actually at the next one, I saw Katie from your team will actually be speaking there as well. Is that right? 

Robin Robison: she's on our panel this time around. Uh, she's, she'll be amazing as you know, uh, but I think it's really important for people to see  other people who are either in the role that they want to be in. Be that a COO or a CEO or a CFO role, that's important, but emerging leaders also want to know, Hey, how do I just get to the next level?

How do I become a director in my organization? What are the steps I should take? And so Katie is on that panel and I'm really excited for her to talk about her experiences as a mom and as a business leader in the organization. She's a tremendous leader. 

Matt Holy: We will definitely be posting more information on lead in the description below. Uh, this was Robin Robinson, president of thrive restaurant group, Robin. It was amazing to have you on the show. Thank you so much for joining us. 

Robin Robison: Thank you, Matt. Thank you, George. Appreciate you guys. 

George Wetz: Thank you, Robin.