Gerald Walden has risen through the ranks and been promoted five times in The Fresh Market’s legal department. Last year, he added a new title that adds responsibility, pressure and pride—and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “The new position is the culmination of a journey I’ve taken much of my adult life,” says […]
Features Food & Beverage
Odeth Zepeda Ramos – Sizzling Platter de Mexico
While the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994 did much to incentivize and encourage cross-border commerce among the United States, Canada and Mexico, inequities persisted. This was especially true on the labor front, with trade imbalances stemming from Mexican workers being paid significantly less than their counterparts to the north. Subsequent arrangements, including the […]
Cherise Latortue – Flynn Restaurant Group
In May 2019, Cherise Latortue accepted her first in-house counsel role at the Flynn Restaurant Group, a franchisee whose properties include well-recognized brands like Arby’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Wendy’s, Applebee’s and Panera Bread. While it’s been a drastic change from working at law firms for nearly a decade, Latortue says she’s enjoyed plying her […]
Jennifer Rote – TGI Fridays
There’s been a change in the leadership at TGI Fridays, the casual dining chain transforming the brand and wanting its franchisees to share a common vision with headquarters. While most have been comfortable with the new approach, a few have opted to depart the chain and, at last count, the mothership has bought back five. […]
Andrew Glickman – sweetgreen
When lunchtime rolls around, most people are looking to get their food quickly—but some things are worth the wait, like the unique salads at sweetgreen. When someone visits one of the over 150 locations, they can expect to wait for 20 minutes or longer to get their hands on dishes like the Guacamole Greens or […]
J. Scott Melton – Denny’s Corp.
It’s a well-deserved retirement for J. Scott Melton, who in December wound down nearly 27 years of counseling with what’s now Denny’s Corporation. Though he reduced his work week to around 30 hours and moved back to his native Arkansas with his wife in 2019, he still helped transition the legal team for a new […]
Donna Bunch Coaxum – OSI Group
For Donna Bunch Coaxum, food isn’t just something that goes on her dinner table; it’s her career. Her first job was as business counsel for Kraft Food Inc., where she stayed from the early 1990s to 2001. Following that job, she became senior counsel for OSI Group LLC, an over $7 billion global consumer food […]
George Pauta – sweetgreen
While attending Georgetown University in the mid-2000’s, a trio of friends—Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru and Jonathan Neman—would often lament how difficult it was to find affordable, healthy food quickly. As business students, they knew there was a demand for such fare. They just needed to create the supply. After graduating in 2007, the three opened […]
Mike Snider – Jack in the Box Inc.
Mike Snider hasn’t made a career of flipping burgers or asking clients to pull up to the drive-thru window. But in the nearly 25 years Snider has been an attorney with Jack in the Box, he’s helped the company shift its business model and keep its menu fresh though development of a state- of-the-art research […]
Ashley Fischer – Tiff’s Treats Cookie Delivery
In 1999, when University of Texas sophomore Tiffany Taylor accidentally missed her date with Leon Chen, she baked and delivered a batch of cookies to him as an apology. Inspired, the sophomores took a $20 budget, a cell phone, a recipe they created, and Leon’s college apartment oven and started Tiff’s Treats Cookie Delivery. At […]
