Elizabeth Smith preserves Bloomin' Brands' culture while helping the company adapt and evolveElizabeth Smith preserves Bloomin' Brands' culture while helping the company adapt and evolve

When Liz Smith was tapped as CEO of Bloomin’ Brands in 2009, industry folks wondered what this outsider could bring to the company. But a decade later when Smith announced she was stepping down as CEO, the industry asked what the company would do without her. 

Smith stayed on as executive board chairman of Tampa, Fla.-based Bloomin’ Brands Inc., and she’s not done surprising the business world.

When Smith was first approached about joining Bloomin’ she did what she’s always done — she considered the decision with her head and her heart. At the time, she was an executive at Avon, the cosmetics company, but as she puts it, she had “hopscotched” around to different industries in the past. Before Avon, she had worked at Kraft Foods where she t...