Speakers

Jim Bitticks is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Dave’s Hot Chicken. He oversees the day-to-day operation of the company with direct oversight over operations, training, procurement, construction, marketing, and technology. Jim joined the Dave’s team when there were just four restaurants open and has helped grow the brand to nearly 300 locations across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and the Middle East. In addition, Jim is a franchisee of Dave’s Hot Chicken with four locations currently open in the Inland Empire of Southern California. Prior to his current role, Jim was the Chief Restaurant Officer and EVP of Operations, Training, and Construction for Blaze Pizza, and oversaw the successful growth of that brand from two restaurants to three hundred seventy-two restaurants before making the move to Dave’s in 2020.

Before joining Networld Media Group as Vice President of Events, Cherryh Cansler spent several years as VP of Editorial managing the Networld’s nine B2B publications. Throughout her 20-year career as a journalist, she’s written about a variety of topics, ranging from the restaurant industry and technology to health and fitness news. Her byline has appeared in a plethora of newspapers, magazines and websites, including Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine. She also serves as the managing editor for FastCasual.com.

Clean Eatz co-founder Evonne Varady launched the business alongside her husband, Don, in 2013 with a mission to “Change Livez” through clean, balanced food, thought-provoking education and motivational support that inspires results. As a personal trainer who wondered why her clients in her kickboxing group were working so hard and not losing weight the idea of creating Clean Eatz was born. She began prepping and packaging healthy meals for them, and six weeks later, they had all lost weight. The prepared meals were wildly successful and before long, she was making hundreds of meals in her home kitchen. She soon realized she needed to rent space to keep up with the demand, and that was the beginning of Clean Eatz. Today, Clean Eatz is a health-focused cafe and meal prep service offering a range of options including dine-in, takeout and meal plans with customizable menus catering to various dietary needs. With 100+ restaurants open in 23 states, Clean Eatz is now one of the fastest-growing franchises on the East Coast.

Ellis Winstanley is a seasoned restauranteur and business executive with a successful track record of starting up, turning around and growing businesses in the hospitality, software and several other industries. Ellis began turning around historic restaurant brands while in college and has played key roles in dozens of restaurant related operations over the years. It was during this time that Ellis realized there was a huge opportunity to flip restaurant technology on its head by focusing on front-line engagement with company goals. His passion for solving this problem led him to found the revolutionary technology platform Axial Shift.

Kathleen Wood is the Founder of Kathleen Wood Partners (KWP), an innovative, award-winning growth strategy firm committed to scaling businesses for success for over two decades. Kathleen and her team specialize in transforming visions into reality through strategic growth solutions, business optimization, competitive sales building, and leadership development. Kathleen's work spans across various industries, focusing on transforming small companies into national brands. She is a nationally recognized strategist who has scaled businesses into market leaders and billion-dollar brands. Kathleen also authored Founderology, a guide for improving workplace dynamics. Kathleen has extensive leadership and operational experience as the former President and COO of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and executive roles with MasterCard, TGI Friday’s, and the Educational Foundation of the National Restaurant Association.