Today, women make up only 16.1% of executive positions in the consumer sector. While rare, some companies are adding to this percent by having more than woman leading the charge. The fast-casual salad chain, Salata has two female C-Suite executives at the helm.
With over a handful of well-known fast-casual salad chains across the nation, how are these companies finding ways to continue to be successful and stand out? Franchise owners are continuing to turn to corporate experts for guidance and innovative, proactive thinking. Salata believes the answer to staying on top is by adding experienced, knowledgeable experts to their executive team, who happen to be two fierce ladies.
Chief Marketing Officer, Michelle Bythewood and Chief Development Officer, Iris Campos are taking the reins – not only of Salata’s growth, but the brand’s longevity. With 80+ corporate-owned and franchise locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Georgia and Southern California, Salata ranks among the fastest-growing small chains in the U.S. by Restaurant Business.
Michelle Bythewood, Chief Marketing Officer of Salata
Bythewood began her career in restaurant marketing over 27 years ago as a Field Marketing Manager with Schlotzsky’s FOCUS Brands. Throughout her time at the company, Bythewood developed keen insight into the development and growth of marketing and product strategy. She worked her way up to VP of Marketing where she was in charge of re-branding, store design, product packaging and making sure everything in the restaurant was up to par. This role taught her the importance of brand messaging and how to properly use it in driving traffic to the restaurant. After 22 years of successfully leading the marketing efforts of several notable restaurant brands including Cici’s Pizza and Raising Canes Chicken Fingers, Bythewood set her sights on a new business venture: starting her own marketing consulting firm, Field Marketing Focus. Through FMF, Bythewood began working with Salata, and soon after, joined their executive team as the Chief Marketing Officer. In her current role, she continues to lead brand management, national marketing, field marketing, digital media strategy, and product innovation efforts. She has brought to Salata her passion for restaurant marketing, leadership skills, wealth of knowledge and experience in the industry, and her determination to build the brand’s identity through marketing.
Iris Campos, Chief Development Officer of Salata
Building a foundation in Human Resources since 2001, Campos began her journey as a human resources manager at KBR. In 2006, she moved to Staffmark as the onsite performance director and in 2011 to Flexi Compras as the regional human resources manager to oversee the Houston, Gulf Coast and Rio Grande Valley regions providing human resources consultation, support and guidance to multiple levels of management and staff. With almost twenty years of experience, Iris Campos draws upon her laddered successes within these acclaimed corporations to spearhead the development, culture, communication and implementation of effective growth strategies and processes for Salata. Campos began her career with Salata in 2013. She has held several positions within the company, recently promoted to Chief Development Officer. In this role, Campos will create and implement strategies and policies in alignment with corporate goals, in addition to leading and developing all internal teams including finance, operations, training and development, human resources, real estate and construction, manufacturing, purchasing, product development, vendor relations and information technology.
