Two female C-suite leaders discuss mentorship, finding a place in leadership, and how to make restaurants betterTwo female C-suite leaders discuss mentorship, finding a place in leadership, and how to make restaurants better

This week on Extra Serving, we have a special episode featuring two women in C-suite restaurant roles that aren’t typically held by women: finance and technology.

There are two interviews with female executives, recorded last month during the Women’s Foodservice Forum Leadership Conference, that cover everything from how they’ve achieved success in their career to mentoring to what it means to be a woman in the industry.

First is a conversation between NRN senior editor Joanna Fantozzi and Kate Jaspon, chief financial officer at Inspire Brands. Jaspon began her career at KPMG LLP, the international financial services corporation, culminating in a role as senior manager, in which she supported both public and private companies as an auditor. There, she worked with Dunkin’ before it was acquired by Inspire Brands. That led her to her position at Dunkin’, where she served as CFO before transitioning to CFO at Inspire Brands after the acquisition in 2020.

Then, NRN executive editor Alicia Kelso spoke with Shannon Garcia, global chief operating and digital & technology officer at Pizza Hut Global. Garcia had experience at Starbucks as the senior vice president of US Business before joining Yum Brands-owned Pizza Hut in 2022. Garcia has a long resume, beginning in 1999 when she began 16 years at casual-dining company Darden. She left that company in 2015 as senior vice president of US Business.

Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts.