Kat Cole, Focus Brands // Leading A $5 Billion Company, International Expansion + Brand Partnerships

Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders

Subscribe + Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/JcJIvhXdbt0 Let me know what you think on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bzaidi Who Is Kat Cole? Kat is one of the most impressive business leaders in America. Fortune magazine named her on their 40 under 40 list & her story is often cited as an example of the “American Dream”. She worked her way up from being a waitress at Hooters aged 17, to an exec at 26 and a president at 31. Today, she’s the president of a parent company doing $4-5bil in sales in 60+ countries, across 6500+ locations. Their 7 brands including Cinnabon, Carvel & Jamba Juice. In this conversation you’ll learn how she thinks about growth, adapting products to emerging trends, using brand partnerships to grow & the factors that go into expanding internationally. Five Things You’ll Learn

• Lessons In Leadership – how to establish credibility, even as a young leader, to lead a team through any situation.
• Emerging Trends + The Innovation Adoption Curve – how she thinks about adapting to emerging trends for brands like Cinnabon + Jamba Juice. Finding your place on the innovation adoption curve while holding onto where you came from.
• Impact of Lockdown On Malls + Airports – how recent events have impacted their 6500+ locations in malls + airports, and where she sees opportunities
• International Growth – the factors you should think through when expanding internationally, stories of mistakes made, and examples of situations she navigated in Argentina, Turkey + UAE
• Brand Partnerships – controlling your brand when expanding with partners, and when to consider licensing vs franchising vs joint ventures

Time Stamps (YouTube)

• 00:00:00 Preview
• 00:02:04 Welcome
• 00:05:01 From Waitress to Vice President of Hooters
• 00:08:41 Invaluable Lessons In Leadership
• 00:14:18 “I’m Friendly, But Not Your Friend”
• 00:16:49 Blending Humility + Confidence
• 00:20:57 Scale + Revenue of Focus Brands
• 00:22:12 Case Study: Turning Around Cinnabon
• 00:29:23 Opportunity = When Your Company Says “No”
• 00:33:03 Approach To Testing New Products
• 00:35:10 Adapting to Trends: Jamba + Cinnabon Example
• 00:42:11 Jamba + The Innovation Adoption Curve
• 00:48:54 Mall Traffic In 2020
• 00:51:47 Prediction On Airport Traffic
• 00:53:22 Increased Search Demand For “Near Me” + “Delivery”
• 00:54:35 DTC vs Third-Party Delivery Services
• 00:57:25 International Growth: Hooters in Argentina
• 01:01:11 Importance of Cultural Context: Turkey Example
• 01:04:47 International Context – Asking the Right Questions
• 01:06:29 Factors To Consider When Expanding Internationally
• 01:12:08 Growing Through Licensing, Franchising + Joint Ventures
• 01:14:51 Brand Partnerships – Controlling Your Brand
• 01:17:34 Wrap-Up

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