Speakers

Cherryh Cansler is VP of Events for Connect Media and publisher of FastCasual.com. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

Kelly Grogan is a highly successful executive in the hospitality industry with extensive experience and achievements in driving revenue growth in both B2B and B2C settings. With a keen understanding of market dynamics and consumer preferences, she has consistently devised and executed innovative sales strategies that have propelled her employers and clients to new heights of success. Her tenure in the restaurant space has been marked by a series of notable accomplishments. Through strategic partnerships, targeted marketing initiatives, and an ability to build from the ground up, Kelly has grown both new and established departments to achieve significant incremental revenue growth. By leveraging her expertise in identifying and capitalizing on emerging trends, as well as her ability to work cross-functionally across all departments, she has seen great success at both the corporate and local store levels.

Max Wills is a results-driven catering and growth leader at Starbird, where he has significantly expanded the brand’s catering business since joining in late 2022. He has driven over 50% year-over-year growth in catering sales and is currently pacing at +46% growth in 2026. Max oversees catering operations across 19 locations and manages a network of 14 third-party delivery partners to scale reach and efficiency. He has played a key role in building high-impact partnerships, including establishing and managing Starbird’s relationship with Kaiser Permanente across the Bay Area. Max also leads CRM and marketing innovation, implementing automated strategies in Omnirev that generated more than $37K in incremental catering revenue within six months, and directing email marketing campaigns to a database of over 400,000 loyalty members. His work blends operational excellence with strategic marketing to fuel sustained growth and brand visibility.