Clicks 2 Bricks Ep 08: Starting Virtuous Cycles with Kat Kole, COO and President of Focus Brands
Kat Cole is the COO and President of Focus Brands, a role in which she oversees the leadership teams of seven major franchises: Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Jamba, McAlister's Deli, Schlotzsky's and Moe's Southwest Grill. Today we chat with Kat about her career, the early steps she took as a teenager, and the massive leaps she made during her time at Hooters, taking up leadership positions at the age of 20! Our conversation with Kat is especially relevant as we spend some time focusing on her work at Cinnabon in 2010, at the end of the recession, and the steps she took to get the brand back on track and prepared for an economic upturn. These lessons are really useful in the current climate, and Kat expands on her approach to the COVID crisis and how this has played out through the array of brands under her watch. Kat goes so far as to call crisis her 'jam'! We talk about the power of dedicated leadership teams within a large corporate and brand structure and how this setup serves the Focus Brands family so well. We also get into how Kat goes about empowering the leaders of these teams to work to their strengths while adhering to an overall culture. The conversation covers technology, local constraints on franchises, and the bottom line. Make sure not to miss this fantastic conversation!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Kat's amazing career path leading up to her current position at Focus Brands.
- The branding education that Kat received early on in her young career.
- Kat's transition from her position at Hooters to a new title for Cinnabon and Focus Brands.
- Learning while serving and networking for everyone's benefit.
- Becoming the president of Cinnabon and dealing with the effects of the recession.
- How Kat approached rebuilding the Cinnabon brand and tackling the challenges it faced
- The three questions with which Kat began her process with the franchise.
- Empowering the franchisees and systematizing and reinforcing the business.
- Keeping the focus on people and building a culture of excitement and progress.
- Mapping Kat's achievement at Cinnabon in terms of revenue.
- The portfolio of brands under Kat's watch at Focus Brands currently.
- The response from Focus Brands to the COVID crisis and how this played out across different brands.
- Investments in new technology; how these advancements are implemented across brands.
- The management of brands and their own leadership teams; the view from the top.
- Acting local in the current economic landscape and adapting to new, localized regulations
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
'CMOs Need To Think And Act Locally In The Age Of COVID-19 And Beyond'