When the pandemic hit...

You’re right.

When the pandemic hit, CK and the entire company sheltered in place while *we* worked in our restaurants and kept the business running alone. That period was one of the most rewarding times of my career. We learned the rules, implemented CDC guidelines, and took every step to keep operations going, we did all of it without their help. Their help came, maybe 2 months in, in the form of a 17 page compliance manual. Rather than help, they created rules.

Then came the most profitable run in our history, achieved completely without their help. They were too busy on Zoom calls, talking about what we were actually doing.

During this time, we learned how expensive the dining room is and how efficiently we can operate with proper staffing in our DT. Our current business model is broken, they simply take too much out to allow us to staff for growth. This is an absolute fact.

The lack of value current leadership brings became painfully clear. They don't help—they complicate things, creating problems where there are none. I’ll never forget the perfect COVID commercial Blake/NOA produced. It hit every right note, yet it was ignored and instead ran terrible commercials, missed a golden opportunity to truly connect in an emotional way with the American public who at the time were absolutely glued to their TVs. Why? Because they hated the NOA. They sacrificed a golden moment for their own lack of emotional control.

It’s obvious: the current senior leadership team has backed itself into a corner, outsourcing everything, even their own jobs to 3rd party vendors and volunteer owner-operators. They’ve squeezed every dollar with minimal effort, decimated institutional knowledge, and eliminated any perceived threats to their power. The culture is nearly destroyed and it’s on purpose, it makes no sense in any world.

We need real leadership—leaders who love what we do, serves others, and values the business as more than a transaction. Our leadership, our restaurants, our teams are the engine that powers this entire system. Every dollar is earned in our restaurants, and the SLT only adds hurdles, not solutions. They take, they do not give. They take and give nothing but a competing brand using money earned by us.

If we stand together—align with the NOA, set clear demands that remove barriers, and push for leadership that works *with* us—there’s a path forward.

The brand isn’t broken, the systems are outdated, and corporate leadership is the biggest threat to our future.

United, we can fix what's wrong and move this business forward. The future is bright if we get out of our own way, if those who play games stop, if the ones who must have their way just sit down, listen and help. If everyone agrees to disagree at times, but remains united in building what we are capable of being we have plenty of room for incremental and sustainable growth.

So long as the subjects are fighting each other, the king can pop his next bottle of Champagne and go about his day, going for his run, checking ESPN scores, and figuring out how to squeeze more out of the efforts of others with as little effort as possible while claiming credit for all that is good while blaming others for mistakes.

Just another day at the office, restaurants are beneath him.

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