(Pt. 2) Denny's CEO Kelli Valade on making the brand "America's diner for today's America"

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation's Restaurant News

Business, Entrepreneurship

2.5 • 15 Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In part 2 of Sam's interview with Kelli Valade, CEO of Denny’s and Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, he talks with her about the business of Denny’s, its status as “America’s diner,” the potential she saw in the brand when she took the CEO reins in 2022, and her vision for the company going forward. They also talk about Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, the emerging fast-casual brand that Denny’s acquired right about the same time that Kelli joined the company, and the role it plays in franchisees’ success.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

Your dine-in and digital guests could be completely different people
Secondary concepts in your portfolio — even competitive ones — can make you a franchisor of choice
Sustainable growth sometimes requires a course correction or reset
You should teat your employees as if they are future world leaders — because some of them probably are
Restaurants have a responsibility to provide mental health resources to teams

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey there, welcome to Takeaway with Sam Ocas, a podcast from Nation's Restaurant News.
0:14.2	I'm Sam Ocas, editor-in-chief here at NRN, and this is the show where I give you an all-access
0:18.5	pass to the restaurant industry's most influential decision makers. This is part two of my interview with Kelly Valade, CEO of Denny's
0:27.3	and Kiki's Breakfast Cafe. Kelly is featured in the second episode of our new signature series,
0:32.6	which are conversations with some of the biggest CEOs in the restaurant industry,
0:36.5	powered by the Coca-Cola company. In today's episode, I talk with Kelly of the biggest CEOs in the restaurant industry powered by the Coca-Cola
0:37.8	company. In today's episode, I talk with Kelly about the business of Denny's, its status as
0:43.6	America's diner, the potential she saw in the brand when she took the CEO reigns in 2022,
0:49.3	and her vision for the company going forward. We also talk about Kiki's Breakfast Cafe, the emerging fast
0:55.0	casual brand that Denny's acquired right about the same time that Kelly joined the company
0:59.1	and the role that it plays in franchisees and success. In this second part of the interview,
1:03.8	you will learn more about why your dine-in and digital guests could be completely different
1:08.4	people, how secondary concepts in your portfolio can make
1:11.6	you a franchisor of choice, and why restaurants have a responsibility to provide mental
1:16.9	health resources to teams. Of course, you can also check out part one of our interview in which
1:21.5	Kelly talks about her career and the lessons that she's picked up along the way about leadership
1:26.0	and culture. As always, be sure to like and subscribe to Takeaway on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
1:32.4	You can also leave your feedback on those platforms.
1:34.3	A little bit of love goes a long way in getting us some new listeners.
1:37.6	You can also now follow me on TikTok, where I will be sharing special insights from this show,
1:41.6	but also other exclusive content, including behind the scenes, looks at my industry travels and experiences. Go follow me at Takeaway Sam. That's at Takeaway Sam.
1:50.2	Jumping out into part two of my interview with Denny's CEO, Kelly Vallade. Also, don't forget
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Nation's Restaurant News, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Nation's Restaurant News and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.