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.

Michael Dolinger is a veteran in multi-unit restaurant operations, having worked for companies like Caribou Coffee and Glory Days Grill. Mike started his career as a franchisee with ExxonMobil and earned degrees from Johnson and Wales, L’Academie de Cuisine and Radford University.

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.

Gabriela Keown is a hospitality and operations professional with extensive experience managing catering, client relations, and multi-brand restaurant operations. She specializes in event coordination, corporate accounts, operational problem-solving, and creating seamless guest experiences across multiple concepts and teams. Known for her strong communication skills and hands-on leadership approach, Gabriela works closely with partners, vendors, and internal teams to drive growth, improve processes, and deliver exceptional service in fast-paced environments.

Brittany Mercer is a results-driven marketing executive with over 16 years of experience leading high-impact strategies across the restaurant industry. She specializes in local store marketing, off-premise growth, and brand development that drives both top-line sales and long-term brand equity. With a background rooted in operations and catering sales, Brittany brings a deep understanding of what matters most to restaurant operators: practical, actionable marketing that moves the needle. Known for blending creative storytelling with data-informed decisions, she’s passionate about building loyal guest relationships, supporting field teams, and creating marketing programs that feel as authentic as they are effective.

Claudie Newman is a hospitality leader with more than 20 years of experience in food and beverage, event sales, private dining and catering. Her career has taken her from South Africa to Las Vegas, and San Francisco and Washington, DC, where she has focused on driving growth and innovation for multiple nationally recognized restaurant brands. Claudie currently leads catering sales for New York Based Founders-Table, the company behind: Chopt Creative Salad Co. and Dos Toros Taqueria. Claudie is focused on strengthening brand reputation and sales to deliver a best-in-class catering product that continues to expand in step with her company's rapid growth.

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.