Kyla Hanaway-Quinlan
Kyla Hanaway-Quinlan is the Chief Operating Officer and Head of People at Feast & Fettle, a premium meal delivery company recognized on The Boston Globe’s 2025 Fastest-Growing Companies list. Since joining in 2021, she has driven 10X growth in both revenue and team size, combining operational discipline with a people-first ethos. At Feast & Fettle, […]
Lindsey Halson
Lindsey Halson’s work stands at the intersection of organizational development, learning strategy, and change management. Her unique expertise transforms training ecosystems to align with strategic business goals. As the Senior Director of Training and Development at Bojangles, she leads a team of over 15 professionals responsible for shaping leadership development, talent cultivation, and operational excellence […]
Lisa Gutierrez
In 2012, Lisa Gutierrez left her Cheesecake Factory manager position of 10 years to follow a wild dream of starting a food truck business with her husband. They started with nothing but a borrowed food truck, $2,000 in savings, and a whole lot of ambition. Through these hopes and aspirations, they brought Dos Hermanos Taco […]
Katie Grissom
Katie is responsible for leading a dedicated team of professionals that focus on retail and mixed-use investments. She oversees the overall strategy, performance and day-to-day activities of Nuveen Real Estate’s investments across this sector, which represent over $18B of value. Prior to joining Nuveen, Katie was a Managing Director at Asana Partners, a $6.5 billion […]
Eleni Gates
Eleni Gates (Kouvatsos), MBA, APR is an award-winning strategic communications leader based in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is the founder and principal of Gates Hospitality Group, LLC, a strategic communications and marketing consulting firm. She has extensive experience leading national communications strategy for both private and small-cap public companies, including Florida-based First Watch Restaurants and […]
Melissa Fry
Melissa Fry brings over 25 years of restaurant and hospitality marketing experience to her role as Chief Marketing Officer at Twin Peaks. Recognized among Ragan’s Top Women in Marketing 2024, she has built a career developing award-winning campaigns and leading high-performing teams that bring brands to life through experiential dining and large-scale activations. Before joining […]
Kelly Esten
Kelly Esten is the Chief Marketing Officer at Toast, and joined the company in 2017. Before becoming the CMO, she served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise. She also held various Toast marketing leadership roles across product marketing, pricing, market insights and partnerships. Before Toast, she spent the previous six years at […]
Jennifer Dodd
Jennifer is the CEO of Main Squeeze Juice Co., a trailblazing brand that’s redefining health and wellness with every bottle, bowl, and smoothie. Main Squeeze Juice Co. is proud to serve fresh-squeezed, cold-pressed, unaltered juices, hand-crafted, and good-for-you smoothies, organic acai’ bowls and plant-based food that is fueling customers with bold-natural flavors every day! A […]
Liz DiTrapano
Liz is highly skilled in developing strategic communications programs for consumer companies, with a particular focus on restaurants, franchised brands and restaurant technology providers. Liz helped to launch ICR’s fast growing restaurant technology practice more than a decade ago and her deep understanding of the restaurant industry has made her a trusted advisor to brands […]
Kayla Dillon
TRANSFORMATIVE, BRAND MARKETING LEADER with a passion for building brand equity, using data to drive results at a national and local level, and being an agile, collaborative partner with senior level leadership to deliver against key company priorities. 15+ years of sales, operations, and marketing leadership experience in the hospitality industry. Engaging, positive communicator with […]