FSR May 2023

Behind the Scenes BY CALLIE EVERGREEN

Inspire’s Entrepreneurial Activist As a multi-unit franchisee

under Inspire Brands, Karim Webb is working to embolden the diverse leaders of the future. BETWEEN OWNING and operating three Buffalo Wild Wings locations, being an airport commissioner for LAX, and participating as a member of boards such as EveryTable and the California Community Foundation, it’s a mystery how Karim Webb has time for much else. Yet, Webb is also an entrepreneur ial activist who is devoted to increasing social equity, ending the racial wealth gap, and removing barriers to entrepre neurship for people of color. When Buffalo Wild Wings and Arby’s merged and formed Inspire Brands in 2018, Webb brought his perspective and insight to the company while serv ing on the Franchise Advisory Council (fac). Now, he’s investing in the future leaders of foodservice at his restaurants while working to ensure people in under resourced communities have access to equity and ownership opportunities. What sparked your interest in civic engagement? I was operating a store on Crenshaw [Boulevard], which is in South Los Ange les, and my mother’s high school alma mater is blocks away. I was invited to the school [where] they had an entre preneurial program, developed a rela tionship with the teacher that taught the program, and then I ended up teach ing a class there. Other stakeholders of

KARIM WEBB SERVED ON THE FAC FOR BUFFALO WILD WINGS, THEN INSPIRE BRANDS AFTER THE ACQUISITION.

How does your experience as a franchisee of Buffalo Wild Wings and Inspire Brands inform your approach to entrepreneurial activism? We were very successful there, and it lent itself to a lot of civic engagement and community engagement. We added a lot of value and got noticed for it, and the community really responded to it in the success of that store, and at the time, so did Buffalo Wild Wings. So I was invited to be a member of the FAC, and served on the marketing subcommit tee as well, and was in that role at Buf falo Wild Wings when Inspire Brands and Paul Brown acquired Buffalo Wild Wings. And so I brought a perspective to the table amongst the FAC. At the time,

KARIM WEBB

Buffalo Wild Wings were very support ive. And we ended up teaching the kids how to open a pop-up restaurant, going through the entire process of supply chain, menu development, pricing strat egy, how to do food cost, how to do all of this stuff, and what to consider as an example of any other kind of business endeavor. And it was super fulfilling, so I really got engaged around at-risk youth within all of that.

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