I’ve been an educator and an entrepreneur and for the past twenty-three years a restaurant industry executive. The latter journey began in restaurant operations and eventually led to several positions of increasing responsibility in corporate training based in equal parts on my record of accomplishment in operations and on my background as an adjunct professor and collegiate athletic coach.
Regardless of my role; teaching, training and coaching and the desire to impart knowledge and improve the performance of teams and individuals has always been a passion of mine. When, therefore, I found that my restaurant operating company was deficient in their food safety culture it was as if I had found my purpose.
My work included the design and implementation of food safety solutions as well as ensuring regulatory compliance with a span of control over thirty-thousand associates in one thousand six hundred locations across twenty-six states. In the process of leading this transformational culture change I developed an almost single-minded belief that building relationships between industry and the regulatory authority is a critical and often overlooked element in the successful implementation of food safety management systems for controlling risk factors in food establishments.
Creating and nurturing such relationships has become my guiding principle. In the course of a rich, diverse and rewarding professional life I have learned to lead when necessary and follow when appropriate.
