In the latest episode of Turning Tables, host and growth strategist, Kathleen Wood, and her guest, President and Chief Executive Officer of Native Foods, Carin Stutz about guiding and mentoring the next generation of leaders in the industry.

Stutz has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Red Robin, President of McAlister's Deli, CEO and President of Cosi, President of Global Business Development for Brinker International, Executive Vice President of Operations for Applebee's International, the Pacific Division Vice President for Wendy's International, Regional Operations Vice President for Sodexo, U.S.A., and was Vice President of Corporate Operations for NutriSystem, Inc., prior to joining Native Foods.

Wood asks Stutz about her secret to success, she says, “You can go out and find money, you can figure out how to fix the brand, you could find real estate, although they're all expensive and they're all equally challenging but people are the key.” She adds, “so having a good pipeline of talented people who believe in the mission and people who believe in the brand certainly makes any path to growth much more manageable and much more successful.”

Stutz talks about how she approached mentoring in the past as opposed to how she mentors now. She says in the past the conversations would address leadership competencies and now she finds the one big thing that can make a huge impact when working with an individual.

They talk about GLEAM Network which is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization that's mission is to provide mentorship and leadership development to the underserved community in the restaurant and foodservice industry. Stutz says, It's the people on the front lines, management and middle management that aren't necessarily getting the development that they need. She adds, it started out during the beginning of Covid. We saw a lot of people in our industry unfortunately being laid off and we were all getting a lot of calls asking for help.

To hear Stutz talk about her drive to keep making an impact, what leaders should focus on in 2023 to increase their probability of success and Stutz turning the table on Wood, tune into this episode of Turning Tables Podcast on Spotify.