QSR October 2022

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ScottDeviney President and CEO CHICKEN SALAD CHICK

What was your first job? My first job was pumping gas in a full-service gas station at age 15. What’s your favorite menu item at Chicken Salad Chick? I love our Jalapeño Holly paired with our grape salad. What’s your favorite cuisine aside from Chicken Salad Chick? I bounce back and forth between Mexican and Ital ian food. Who inspires you as a leader? Russ Umphenour built a great company in the Arby’s system, and he helped people grow and develop into leaders, many of whom are CEOs of other companies. He continued that at Focus Brands and with us. Cheryl Bachelder and Patrick Doyle created significant shareholder value while instilling a culture of servant leadership and being forward-thinking. I’m also extremely impressed with the Cathy family and their Chick-fil-A business. What’s the best piece of advice that other restau rant executives should hear? Be disciplined about growth. There is pressure to grow, but too many times companies fail because they grow too quickly or stretch the boundaries of supply chain and marketing reach. What are some of your in terests outside of work? I am very lucky to have a great wife, Kristy, and three wonderful kids, Conner (16), Coleman (14) and Abbey (11). Much of my time out side of work is spent around them and their various activities.

H ow many CEO job descriptions include enriching the lives of others and spreading joy to as many people as they can reach? That’s our purpose at Chicken Salad Chick, and it’s one I never tire of putting into action. Chicken Salad Chick was founded in 2008 with a dedication to serving fresh, house-made chicken salad from the heart. We continue the mission today by working with franchise owners and company store teams who share the same values. It was those qualities that carried our com pany through the challenges of the past several years and brought us to the other side stronger than ever. We rallied together through the pan demic to serve others in our communities with pop-up drive-thrus and food deliveries to front line workers. As restaurants opened back up, we made sure our pre-portioned Quick Chicks were readily available to grab and go and honed our ser vice times to accommodate more drive-thru and pick-up orders. Since I came onboard in 2015, the Chicken Salad Chick brand has grown from

32 restaurants across six states to over 210 in 17 states. Through it all, our commitment to serving made-from-scratch food with fresh ingredients has remained steadfast. Last year was a testa ment to the success of our brand and our purpose, as we opened 30 new restaurants and achieved $255 million in systemwide sales. Looking ahead, we’re gearing up to introduce the Chick brand to new states like Colorado and NewMexico. Our CSC Foundation continues to raise money for local food charities and to help in the fight against cancer, which took Chicken SaladChick co-founder Kevin Brown’s life in 2015. Thanks to the success of our annual Giving Card program in 2021, we just donated over $105,000 to CURE Childhood Cancer and $315,000 to local food banks in the communities our restau rants serve. We are proud to offer craveable, scratch-pre pared meals served from the heart, and we are on our way to becoming America’s favorite place for chicken salad. q

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OCTOBER 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com