WHITE OAK HOSPITALITY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- VP of OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
From his beginnings cooking during the holidays with his Polish grandmother, a Highlandtown native, or working as a cook at Chick-Fil-A, Bobby Jones has worked hard to learn how to succeed in the hospitality business. After several jobs in the kitchen, he moved onto the management side of the business, but never lost his love for the kitchen. His experiences in the Back of House laid the foundations for his ability to understand all aspects of the hospitality industry. Bobby assisted in the opening of The Fillmore in Silver Spring in 2011 as Food & Beverage Director before moving to Federal Hill, where he's worked since.
Bobby joined White Oak Hospitality in 2011 and now oversees all operations at White Oak's five restaurant experiences - Wayward Fed Hill, 101 Baltimore, Banditos, Wayward White Marsh, and The Curious Oyster. His vision for the company is to always provide great service and inspired fun and approachable restaurant brands. To achieve this, he and the White Oak leadership team are committed to forming the best team possible to execute consistently, while always having a good time doing it.
Job Titles:
- CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
- CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Dom has been an Executive in the IT, Analytics, & Operations/Supply Chain space over the last 25 years. Dom's servant leadership approach, business acumen, and analytical prowess is well documented with demonstrated experience across many divergent industries. Industries the likes of Restaurant/Hospitality, Manufacturing, Distribution, E-Commerce, Consulting & Big Box Retail. Dom has led Operations/Supply Chain, Information Technology & Analytics teams organizationally for some of the major leaders in these respective industries within North America. These include P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Pei Wei Asian Diner, Medifast Inc., Datavail Inc., Intertape Polymer Group, First Data, Barco Uniforms, and Office Depot.
Other notable brands where Dom has held senior level IT & Analytics roles were Krispy Kreme, National/Alamo/Enterprise, and Art Van Furniture. Dom has touched at some point throughout his career many of the technologies used within the IT, Operations & Analytics landscapes. Dom has an Economics degree from Villanova University and an MBA from NSU. He has also been awarded a certificate from the highly acclaimed Georgetown Executive Leadership program and has held his Six Sigma Green Belt certification for the last 15 years.
Job Titles:
- SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT of MARKETING
Jennifer Cruise has 25 years of omni-channel marketing experience in companies ranging from small start-ups to Fortune 500's. Within her various roles primarily in healthcare, food and wellness, consumer packaged goods, and finance, Jennifer refined her digital and brand marketing skills. In doing so, she developed strategies to craft thoughtful consumer experiences and continuously drive revenue. Her marketing approach often stems from utilizing the angle of, "the customer first," when developing strategies and program initiatives. As a colleague once said to her, "Execution is equally as important as strategy, because the only thing a customer sees is the end product."
After working numerous years engulfed in corporate environments, Jennifer returned to what really energizes her; a small company looking to expand beyond its entrepreneurial spirit to that of a national, recognizable brand. In her current role she focuses on building local and national brand awareness, developing revenue streams, and increasing geographical expansion. Jennifer also works to create executable marketing processes, scale the business's marketing efforts, create efficiencies, and develop credible rapports with internal team members, guests, and partners to elevate and strengthen the brand.
Jennifer holds a B.S. in Marketing with an emphasis in Management from Missouri State University. She has served on the AMA (American Marketing Association) Board Baltimore Chapter and was an active member for six years thereafter.
Chef Josh White, born in Rhode Island and growing up in Central Pennsylvania, has made Baltimore his home base off and on for the last twenty years. Bouncing back and forth from East to West Coast, Josh has lived and cooked in many different area codes bringing an eclectic feel to his food, just like him.
After living an entire life in the LA music scene, working in kitchens "just for a paycheck" and absorbing all the cool, fun food in the area - Josh eagerly headed back East with a excitement to go to culinary school and take cooking seriously. Once he graduated and had several years of real life and industry experience, White decided to open "Smoke", a modern American BBQ spot.
Cool, fun, punk rock, expertly crafted food is Josh through and through, which could be easily seen through all three iterations and locations of his famed and nationally regaled BBQ brand.
Looking to settle down, when presented with the opportunity to creatively mastermind the menus for all White Oak Hospitality's locations, he jumped at the opportunity. Josh brings all his culinary expertise with him to create the most well-crafted, playful, lovingly executed food that has come to be expected at all our restaurant concepts, in addition to maintaining a healthy, family-like culture in our kitchens.
Krista Lang is passionate about the people she leads and the programs she develops to help them succeed, both personally and professionally. With a degree in Psychology and over 20 years in all areas of Human Resources, she has a solid understanding of what it takes to develop a company's greatest asset, People.
Early in her career, Krista spent several years working in hospitality, both front and back of house. After college, she worked her way through all areas of human resources including recruiting, compensation, benefits, policy development, and employee relations in the Trucking, Financial, and Restaurant industries. Krista is a graduate of Indiana University and is certified as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) by the Human Resource Certification Institute in addition to holding certification as a SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) by the Society for Human Resource Management. She has been a long-standing active member in the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) organization as well as local state chapters, the American Payroll Association (APA), and the Women's Foodservice Leadership Forum (WFF).
Prior to joining the White Oak Hospitality leadership team, she most recently served as Vice President Human Resources and Training where she led LJS to be awarded one of the Best Places to Work for five consecutive years.
Job Titles:
- CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER
- Leader
Michael McDevitt has been a dynamic leader in the health and wellness industry for the past twenty years. He began his career as one of the earliest employees at the Blackstone Group, a leading investment and advisory firm. From there, Michael went on to become the youngest CEO in the history of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and founded more than six successful businesses in the health and wellness space.
Michael founded Tandem Growth in 2013. He leads a team of seasoned executives focused on helping companies grow. They do this by identifying organizations that are proven in their industry and would benefit from Tandem's experience in leadership, strategy, marketing, and operations resulting in driving rapid and profitable growth.
Michael first entered the hospitality industry in 2015, as an investor and advisor to a vibrant and growing restaurant group. Since 2015 he has been an integral Partner in White Oak Hospitality, helping to guide the group to currently operate four different concepts throughout multiple locations. Michael has helped grow total restaurant revenues from $3 million in 2015 to an expected $30 million in 2023.
Michael currently serves on multiple Boards, continuing his passion to help maturing organizations achieve growth in both their top and bottom lines. Mr. McDevitt holds a B.S. in Finance from James Madison University. He currently resides in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife Dr. Danielle McDevitt and their three children, Kai, Logan and Blakely.
Sean White is a Baltimore native. He graduated from Calvert Hall, located in Towson, Maryland, and moved on to Salisbury University, to play lacrosse and earn a Business Degree in Finance and Accounting. During his college career, Sean had his first experience with the hospitality industry working summers in Ocean City, Maryland. After graduation from Salisbury University, Sean spent four years working in finance; but the hospitality industry, his first love, beckoned for his return. Finally giving in to the desire, Sean began exploring his lifelong dream of owning his own business. He opened his first restaurant, The Reserve, in 2010 and never looked back.
Sean is driven by his desire to create unique brands ensuring his guest have memorable experiences every day in his establishments. A hands-on leader focused on developing his teams both personally and professionally. Embracing every employee's own unique abilities resulting in added value to the White Oak brand experience.
Since the initial opening of his first project, he and his partners have opened and launched the well-known and loved Wayward Smokehouse, Banditos Kitchen & Bar, and 101 Baltimore in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, MD. In 2019, the Wayward Smokehouse brand opened its doors in White Marsh, Maryland along with a new restaurant project, The Curious Oyster. White continues to be passionate about the hospitality industry and for fostering great teams of people around his successful restaurant brands.