Franchising Power Hour: What Every Operator Should Know About Building Leaders and Restaurants

Every franchisee has a story that never makes it into a conference keynote.

It's the difficult hiring decision that changed a leadership philosophy. The operational mistake that became a turning point. The conversation with a mentor that reshaped an entire career. Those moments often reveal more about building a successful restaurant group than a list of best practices ever could.

That's the idea behind QSR magazine's next Franchising Power Hour.

On July 21 at 2 p.m. EST, Franchisee Advisory Group members Mandy Ristic, operating partner with OM Group, and Lela Dinakaran, a second-generation Bojangles franchisee with Georgia Foods, will sit down for an exclusive one-on-one conversation about leadership, growth, and the realities of operating restaurants in today's environment.

Instead of a traditional presentation, the discussion will be an honest discussion between two operators who understand the challenges of growing restaurant companies. Ristic will interview Dinakaran about her journey helping lead a 46-unit Bojangles organization across Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, and explore the leadership philosophies and operational lessons that have shaped her career.

The conversation will examine the challenges facing franchisees today, including leadership development, labor, technology, culture, and preparing companies for long-term growth.

Ristic says the goal is to deliver practical insights attendees can immediately apply in their own businesses.

"My hope is that attendees leave feeling inspired, but also equipped with something they can use the very next day," she says. "As operators, we're all chasing growth, but I've learned that the most sustainable growth starts with people. Whether you have one restaurant or 50, leadership is about developing others, building trust, and creating a culture people want to be part of. If someone walks away with one new idea that helps them become a better leader, then we've accomplished our goal."

Ristic also hopes the discussion goes beyond polished success stories and uncovers the experiences that often have the greatest impact on operators.

"I want this to feel like a genuine conversation between peers, not a scripted interview," she says. "Lela has an incredible story, but I'm most interested in the moments behind the success, the challenges, the tough decisions, the mistakes, and the leadership lessons that shaped her along the way. Those are the conversations operators remember because they're real, relatable, and immediately applicable. If attendees feel like they just listened in on two franchisees sharing ideas over coffee, then we've done exactly what I hoped."

Dinakaran plans to share lessons learned from helping scale one of the Southeast's largest Bojangles franchisee groups, including how growth changes not only a business, but the people leading it.

"The biggest lesson I've learned is that growth exposes everything, including potential," she says. "When you're scaling quickly, it exposes the gaps in your systems, the strength of your leadership, the clarity of your communication, and the resilience of your culture. But it also exposes what people are capable of."

She adds that operators must evolve alongside their organizations.

"The way you lead a few restaurants is not the same way you lead a much larger portfolio," Dinakaran says. "As the business changes, your leadership has to change too."

Dinakaran also stresses that discipline is the foundation for sustainable growth.

"Expansion is exciting, but clean restaurants, hot food, fast service, strong managers, good training, and consistent accountability are what protect the business as it grows," Dinakaran says. "Scale does not just reward vision. It rewards consistency."

The Franchising Power Hour is free to attend. To register, visit: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/sxbKKBySSf23g1gkgE3slw#/registration

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