SMOOTHIE KING - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Development Officer
Chris Bremer has a diverse history of driving profitable growth within multi-unit franchise organizations, spending nearly six years with TGI Friday's as the Development Director in Asia Pacific, leading rapid expansion across the region. From 2006 through 2017, Bremer was the Vice President of Global Franchise Development at Brinker International, implementing strategies to help the brand expand its presence from 90 locations to almost 400 in over 38 countries.
Josh Nicosia joined Smoothie King as the chief legal officer in March 2021 where he's responsible for compliance, mergers and acquisitions, data privacy and all legal matters pertaining to Smoothie King's franchise business. Most recently, Nicosia held the title of North American general counsel for IWG plc, the world's largest coworking provider, and served as the general counsel & head of franchise development for Jamba Juice. With over a decade of experience working in legal departments at various franchise companies, both privately- and publicly-held, Nicosia is happy to be back in a familiar industry with a popular, growing franchise.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
Juan F. Salas, has served the restaurant/hospitality industry for over 30 years as a progressive technology leader, innovator, operator, and champion of acquisition/integration activities. As a Senior Technology Executive, Mr. Salas has led Technology, Business Process Engineering, Integration Management, and Change Leadership, within high-growth public, private-equity, and founder led organizations. Previously Mr. Salas served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Gordon Ramsay North America (GRNA) . During his time as CTO of GRNA Mr. Salas led the technology strategy, selection and implementation of next generation technology stack, serving as the enterprises foundation to support high-volume, high-growth, multi-branded experiential restaurants focused on delivering an experience worthy of Chef Ramsay. While serving as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at publicly traded Del Frisco's Restaurant Group, Mr. Salas, in addition to leading the Technology Team, spearheaded the Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, Business Transformation initiatives and in-sourcing activities. He brought a balanced blend of technological, strategic, and tactical skills to ensure that solutions and processes were developed to best serve the guests, drive operational efficiencies, and improve financial results. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Salas has served the Hospitality Industry in various Executive and IT Leadership roles. Previous roles include: Chief Information Officer for Good Smoke Restaurants Group (Private Equity Backed Jim ‘n Nicks BBQ and Dinosaur BBQ) , Information Technology Franchise Liaison at America's Favorite Chicken (Popeyes and Church's Chicken brands); and Vice President of Information Technology at Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers. He also served as an Independent Consultant supporting areas of: Finance, Warehouse, Supply Chain and Manufacturing Management . Mr. Salas' skills and experiences include strategic planning, process analysis, acquisitions, dispositions, operational efficiencies, life-cycle project management, operating models, franchise systems and team building. He has also led and built out various shared services, administrative and customer facing platforms supporting QSR, TSR, and fine dining restaurants, including carve outs and consolidations.
Job Titles:
- Chief People Officer
- Chief People Officer for Smoothie King Franchise, Inc
Laura Scavone serves as the Chief People Officer for Smoothie King Franchise, Inc. and is a member of the brand's executive management team. In this role, Laura, who has led the People function since joining the brand in 2018, is the driving force behind the brand's people strategy and its alignment to key business strategies. In addition to overall workforce planning, talent strategies, and talent management, Laura brings a particular focus on fostering a diverse and people-centric culture and enhancing team member engagement.
Job Titles:
- Chief Marketing Officer
- Chief Marketing Officer for Smoothie King Inc
Marianne Radley is the Chief Marketing Officer for Smoothie King Inc joining the organization in late September 2022. She brings with her a wealth of leadership experience in global marketing, advertising, product innovation and community outreach. Marianne was the Chief Brand Officer for the YUM! Brands overseeing Pizza Hut's $6.3 Billion US business with direct responsibility for the brand's advertising, media, marketing and culinary teams Prior to joining YUM! Brands, Marianne served as the Chief Marketing Officer for Monster Beverage Company, responsible for all marketing, product innovation and sponsorship efforts for the $32B global beverage company. Additionally, Marianne spent 15 years at Anheuser-Busch InBev and held various roles in new product innovation, marketing and sales. Marianne was the first female to lead the Budweiser brand in the company's history and went on to receive many marketing and product innovation accolades, including Forbes Magazine's Top 100 Women in Brand Innovation, Adweek's Top Women to Watch awards and the Cannes Lion Award for Marketing Effectiveness. Known as a purpose led executive, Marianne most recently served as the CEO for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Collin County, having assumed that role during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In that role, she grew the organization from 3 clubs serving 2,100 children annually to 8 clubs serving close to 8,000 youth annually. Additionally, she transformed the organization's financial outlook, growing their cash-on-hand from 12 days to 184 days within her first 12 months. Marianne was also instrumental in reshaping the organization's Board of Directors and leadership teams. Marianne is a proud graduate of Clemson University, and currently sits on the University's Board of Directors for the Erwin Center for Brand Communication. Clemson University's Erwin Center for Brand Communications is a practitioner-based educational program for future brand communications professionals. The Board of Directors were instrumental in building and establishing Clemson's first student-led creative agency CADENCY. Marianne currently calls McKinney, Texas home where she lives with her husband Paul and their four children.
Wan Kim - CEO, Chairman
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Chief Executive Officer
- Global Chief Executive Officer
Wan Kim is the global Chief Executive Officer for Smoothie King, an international Smoothie brand. Wan became Smoothie King's first international franchisee when he opened a store location in South Korea in 2003. Over the next five years, he launched and grew the brand to more than 130 locations in that country. In 2012, Wan approached Smoothie King's founders, Steve and Cindy Kuhnau, to purchase the company. Since then, Wan has led this 48-year-old brand on a journey to rediscover the purpose of Smoothie King and has reinvigorated the brand's mission to inspire healthy and active lifestyles worldwide. His experience as a guest, a franchisee, and now a global CEO continues to help guide his journey as Smoothie King's leader.