Jason Vaughn Email & Phone Number

Tucson, Arizona, Us

Cincinnati, Ohio, Us

Led the brand—recognized by Fortune, Entrepreneur Media, and Bloomberg BusinessWeek—as leading the restaurant revolution during the pandemic due to early adaptation, innovation, team engagement, and commitment to guest safety. Named as one of the most influential CEOs in the country by Nation’s Restaurant News and CEO of the Year by Cincinnati Business Courier.➤ Developed a 5-year plan—“Evolution, Revolution, Elevation”—to reimagine the brand, leading 5K team members in supporting key initiatives and fueling YOY sales gains, 5% guest satisfaction improvement, and doubling EBITDA.➤ Rebuilt the organization by creating a new sense of empowerment and accountability and a culture of performance, building a high-performing nationally recognized team and a highly effective ($20M in savings) and scalable structure.➤ Earned excellent financial audit ratings from BDO, representative of solid internal controls; adherence to policies and processes; and ‘standing up’ an environment of unwavering ethics, quality, and fiscal integrity.➤ Built a 12-month culinary calendar through a partnership with the Menu Innovation and Culinary teams, conceptualizing new flavor profiles, expanded healthy options, and core product expansions to ensure audience relevance.➤ Increased commissary productivity 20% and third-party sales 40%; managed the mission-critical pivot vital—as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic—and transformed digital / touchless sales to surpass 15% of all revenue.

Memphis, Tennessee, Us

Ideated and ‘stood-up’ the organization’s infrastructure—operations, real estate, training, talent management, and brand communications—reporting to the owner to reengineer the culture, develop processes, instill discipline, engage and retain top talent, and grow franchise network by 30+ units. Increased guest count 4%, transactions 8%, EBITDA 6%, and satisfaction 14%.➤ Developed training curriculum for all levels of the organization, clarifying roles and responsibilities, instituting measures of success, and empowering managers and associates to own the guest experience and embody the brand’s mission and vision.➤ Led the Franchise Advisory Council on State of the Business and Future projects, building best-in-class franchise and market development capabilities, driving best-fit real estate selection, and driving local area marketing and community engagement.➤ Increased sales 8% through the development of a new brand image, concurrently reengineering internal and franchisee communications, and building a new annual conference format yielding record-setting ratings.➤ Upgraded the organization’s technology systems and infrastructure—POS and reporting system, mobile platform, and Frequent Rewards program—and shaped and tested best practices models through pilot store groups.

Dublin, Ohio, Us

Oversaw the execution of Wendy’s rebranding and modernization, partnering with facilities, operations, and marketing to reimagine the brand, optimally allocate a $30M marketing budget, and deliver on ROI objectives. Unified company and franchise operations around a shared brand vision, fueling improved Division stability and improvements across all KPIs.➤ Influenced legislation by serving on the Political Action Committee Board to address franchisee and business challenges in the restaurant industry, working with congressional representatives and senators in DC to fuel change.➤ Attracted and retained quality talent, identifying and closing skill gaps through the strategic professional development of team members, ensuring the talent and training to fulfill successions plans for company and franchise organizations.➤ Played a key role in the research, analysis, and identification of new-unit sites, collaborating with Real Estate and Development teams to pinpoint growth areas, perform site reviews, and capture best-fit real estate assets.

Louisville, Ky, Us

Delivered transformational leadership to revolutionize the brand and the CX, reengineering processes and systems, developing and executing aggressive annual business plans, and delivering 6 consecutive years of net profitability exceeding $200M; earned national recognition for record-level profitability, people development, and field process and system development.➤ Drove the turnaround of struggling Designated Marketing Areas (DMAs), coaching operations leaders in adopting best practices, working toward excellence, and executing strategies and tactics to elevate customer-facing metrics.➤ Built organizational capabilities through targeted coaching and development of operations leaders, identifying and closing skill gaps, and providing growth counseling critical to the delivery of unprecedented profitability gains.➤ Shaped and sustained a high-performance culture resulting in industry-leading turnover (75%), defining professional development pathways, recognizing and empowering success, and influencing 100+ promoted individuals.➤ Owned the strategic operational objectives of each DMA, training operators on strategy execution, coaching key leaders to optimize efforts, and ensuring DMAs operated exceptional restaurants and promoted brand stewardship.

Louisville, Ky, Us

Modeled the “How We Work Together” principles to promote cultural excellence, leading One-System field visits to calibrate operating systems and brand standards, proactively identify and mitigate risks, and drive the achievement of business plans.➤ Ensured the comprehensive execution of National Operating System initiatives, acting with a sense of urgency to resolve brand protection issues, and analyzing performance metrics to identify continuous improvement opportunities.

Louisville, Ky, Us

Louisville, Ky, Us

Louisville, Ky, Us

Louisville, Ky, Us