QSR June 2023

YOUNG LEADERS

were impacted by the storm. Aggarwal became president of KK Corporation in 2019, and a year later, he was tasked with leading the business took some lessons he learned during the hurricane, working to keep stores open while providing financial assistance to employees through an emergency relief fund. Today, he leads a company with 146 Subway franchise locations, including 136 stores in Houston and 11 stores in upstate New York. He says Hurricane Harvey and COVID-19 reinforced the importance of the people making the business possible. As president of the company founded by his mother, Aggarwal has focused on infusing KK Corporation’s culture with a sense of fun. Successes are celebrated and shared across the organization, and training processes have been updated to be more energetic and engaging. “One of our core values is that we’re built on joy,” he says. “Hard work and dedication are important, but it’s also important to have fun. If you look at our Instagram or our LinkedIn, you can see how much fun we’re having with our staff.” He has focused on creating more con fidence across teams by giving staff more ownership over their areas of exper tise, whether upper-level management or store-level employees. “In order to create confidence in teams, you have to set goals and you have to set expectations. In order to set goals, you have to provide data,” Aggarwal says. “There’s a lot of feedback and fol lowing up on those goals, but we always try to make it fun with the way we’re cheering everybody on.” He also is a big believer in self-edu cation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship and has earned cer tificates in corporate management, real estate development, and leadership strat egies. “I’m really into doing education seminars with my team,” he says. “For example, we had a professor of psychol ogy come and talk to upper management about how to think with a different part of their brain when issues arise. For me, it’s all about how we can keep learning, keep getting better as an organization, and keep bringing innovative ideas to be a successful top franchisee.”

to be reckoned with, she joined Wingstop in 2017 as a communications associate and quickly climbed the ranks to senior director of public relations and chief of staff. She grew the communications team and crafted media approaches that have helped Wingstop on its way to becoming a top 10 restaurant brand, all with kindness and resil ience. She was a key driver of Cannes Lions award-winning campaigns such as Thighstop and Blazed & Glazed. Thighstop delivered over 5 billion-plus impressions alone. But Sprague’s leadership influence extended beyond the communications team. She also served as the chief of staff to Wing stop’s executive team, pushed event strategies, and spearheaded platforms such as “Flavor for Good.” Additionally, during the pandemic, Sprague led both the Wingstop COVID-19 task force and the Social Justice task force fol lowing the death of George Floyd. She also helped the brand grow from 1,000 to 2,000 locations while living “The Wingstop Way.” In May, she was named head of public relations for Raising Cane’s. Mason WIEDERHORN CHIEF BRAND OFFICER FAT BRANDS AGE: 32

KK CORPORATION

Keshuv Kash Aggarwal joined KK Corporation as a store manager when he was 16 years old, but his intro duction to restaurant leadership started well before then. The company was founded in 1997 when his mother, Renu Aggarwal, purchased her first Subway restaurant in Houston. Aggarwal says being raised in the company and surrounded by strong lead ership has shaped his approach as he’s worked his way up the company’s ranks. After managing a store as a teenager, he became the company’s IT manager. From there, he was elevated to business development manager, then vice presi dent of operations, and eventually chief operating officer, a role he held in 2017 when Hurricane Harvey devastated the Texas Gulf Coast. Under his leadership, KK Corpo ration provided meals for Houstonians without food and water. Aggarwal and his team kept stores open late and created catering packages that were delivered to temporary shelters and local hospitals. His car and the company’s office both flooded during the hurricane, but that didn’t stop him from setting up an emergency fund for employees that Keshuv KASH AGGARWAL PRESIDENT KK CORPORATION AGE: 33

Mason Wiederhorn joined Fatburger in 2012 as a videogra pher before quickly moving to creative director and most recently chief brand officer in 2021. Overseeing more than 25 employ ees across various departments, he is responsible for creative and con struction initiatives.

He’s personally designed more than 100 res taurants across FAT Brands’ portfolio and overseen construction timelines and devel opment processes for 150-plus upcoming openings in 2023. Wiederhorn is also behind Fatburger’s refreshed store design, where he balanced vintage branding with modern upgrades. Johnny Rockets, Pretzelmaker, and Native Grill & Wings also underwent compre hensive rebrands. FAT BRANDS

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JUNE 2023 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com