Kat Cole

Katrina "Kat" Cole (born March 18, 1978)^[1] is an American businesswoman. She is currently the President and Chief Operations Officer of Cinnabon, an American chain of retail bakeries specializing in cinnamon buns.^[2] She is a former executive vice president of Hooters.

Early career and Hooters

Cole was born the eldest of three sisters in Jacksonville, Florida, and raised in Orange Park, Florida. Her mother divorced her alcoholic father when Cole was nine years old, and raised the three girls as a single mother.^[3] Her mother struggled feeding Cole and her sisters on 10 dollars a week. Canned food and frozen lasagna was the only way her mother could feed them.^[4] Due to her mother's divorce Kat began working to help pay some of the bills.^[5] Cole worked at The Body Shop before starting her career at Hooters as a hostess.^[6][7]

During her first year waitressing at Hooters, Cole covered varied positions from manager to cook, nearly every position at the restaurant.^[8][9] Upon her manager's recommendation as the Jacksonville franchise's best employee, Cole was sent to Sydney to train and motivate the new owners and employees at the opening of the first Hooters in Australia.^[6][10] She continued to travel overseas in order to train employees in Hooters Restaurants abroad.^[11]

She became a Vice President at the age of 26.^[12] As the Vice President of Training and Development, Cole oversaw the growth of Hooters from approximately 100 locations and $300 million in revenue to 500 locations in 33 countries and $1 billion in revenue.^[6][13]

Tenure at Cinnabon

In November 2010, Cole was hired by Cinnabon Inc. and named president in January 2011.^[2] During the first three years of her tenure, Cinnabon added 200 bakeries, created partnerships with grocery stores and restaurants like Taco Bell and Burger King, and became a global brand in 56 countries.^[14][15] Cinnabon's 2013 sales was estimated at a billion dollars.^[9][9]

Cole worked anonymously in several of Cinnabon retail and production roles during her appearance on the American television show Undercover Boss.^[16] At the time the show went to air in 2012, she was the youngest CEO (34) to appear.

Among a number of other awards and accolades,^[2] Cole was also recognized by Fortune Magazine in 2013 for its 40 under 40 list.^[17]

Non-profit and humanitarian work

Cole has worked in Africa for sustainable development of women and children in need.^[18][19] She has also volunteered and advocated for many food service related organizations.^[2][12] Additionally, Cole serves as a mentor to young women and entrepreneurs.^[8]

Education

Cole received her MBA in 2010 from Georgia State University.^[20] She had dropped out of her undergraduate engineering program at the University of North Florida to focus on her global career at Hooters, so she had to take the GMAT and extra interviews in order to apply.^[21] She was only allowed to attend Georgia State MBA program because they are one of the few schools that allow experienced students that did not receive a bachelor's degree to apply.^[22] She also asked ten CEOs, including Ted Turner, for letters of recommendation to the business school program.^[23]

Personal life

Cole has been with her longtime boyfriend, Chris, for ten years.^[24] The two live in Atlanta in a 3,000 square foot home that was built in 1968.^[25]

Awards and memberships

• Apart of the Board of Directors for the Women's Foodservice Forum^[26]
• Motivator of the Year Award by Elliot Leadership Institute (2008)^[26]
• Serves as the chair of the Certification Governing Board for the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation (NRAEF)^[26]
• Awarded Georgia Restaurant Association Crystal of Excellence (GRACE) Award (2010)^[26]
• Serves as Past Chair for Georgia Restaurant Association (GRA) on the executive committee^[26]
• Women's Foodservice Forum Volunteer of the Year Award (2007)^[26]
• She has been a chair for many committees and projects of organizations dealing with food service and hospitality^[26]
• Ranked #40 in Fortune's 40 under 40 top young business stars (2013)^[27]

References

External links