GoTo Foods
Atlanta-based platform company GoTo Foods (formerly known as Focus Brands) is a leading developer of global multi-channel foodservice brands. As of December 28 , 2025, GoTo Foods, through its affiliate brands, is the franchisor and operator of over 7,300 restaurants, cafes, ice cream shoppes and bakeries in all 50 states and in 71 countries and territories under the Auntie Anne’s®, Carvel®, Cinnabon®, Jamba®, Moe’s Southwest Grill®, McAlister’s Deli® and Schlotzsky’s® brand names, as well as the Seattle’s Best Coffee® brand on certain military bases and in certain international markets. The iconic GoTo Foods brands benefit from strong enterprise growth engines, including marketing, digital, technology and franchise sales & development to propel growth and brand performance. Please visit www.gotofoods.com to learn more. GoTo Foods is proud to be Certified™ by Great Place To Work®, the most definitive “employer-of-choice” recognition, and the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience for the second consecutive year.www.gotofoods.com
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Search complete. 9 mentions across 6 episodes found for "GoTo Foods".
Sep 19, 2026
Kat ColeGUEST
And so that was an incredible school to help me refine my appreciation of founder driven brands, brands at different places in the market with different jobs to do and extending the equity to meet different customers where they were while building on top of still running excellent franchise brick and mortar operations.
Kat ColeGUEST
And then after that, for the back half, I was at Focus Brands.
Kat ColeGUEST
It's now called Go To Foods, but I was the president and CEO of the parent company.
Kat ColeGUEST
So I had nine presidents, uh reporting to me seven brands two operating divisions three billion in annual revenue uh and and so i did bigger bigger bigger right but within that was a lot of change you know you think about it i started at focus brands uh during the heart of the great recession and i left focus brands the year after coven That's a lot of life.
Kat ColeGUEST
That's a lot of lessons in between.
Kat ColeGUEST
And what I would say, and people give me lots of credit, right? Cinnabon was billions and Hooters was iconic when you were there and blah, blah, blah.
Kathan ParikhGUEST
Yes, yeah.
Kathan ParikhGUEST
So the Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's and Carvel are owned by GoToFoods in the US and they're all the same, owned by the same parent company, which allows us to Me being the franchisor for all three allows us to chop and change of stores we want to build around New Zealand now where we can have a Cinnabon and an Auntie Anne's together, an Auntie Anne's, a Carvel together, and something exciting that's coming up soon is a Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's, and a Carvel together all in one site.
Ryan BridgeHOST
Oh, it sounds terrible for my hips.
Ryan BridgeHOST
So you've got the franchise rights to all three in New Zealand.
Kathan ParikhGUEST
Yeah.
Kathan ParikhGUEST
So the Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's, and Carvel are owned by GoTo Foods in the US, and they're all the same, uh, owned by the same, uh, parent company, which allows us to, me being the franchisor for all three, allows us to chop and change of stores we wanna build around New Zealand now, where we can have a Cinnabon and an Auntie Anne's together, an Auntie Anne's, a Carvel together, and something exciting that's coming up soon is a Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's, and a Carvel together all in one site.
Ryan BridgeHOST
Ooh, it sounds terrible for my hips, but so [laughs]
Kathan ParikhGUEST
[laughs]
Lisa JenningsHOST
has a new brand president.
Lisa JenningsHOST
GoTo Foods, the Juice Chain's Atlanta-based parent company, said that former McDonald's executive Lucy Brady has
Leanne ZitzmeisterHOST
taken over as the company's president.
Lisa JenningsHOST
The announcement of Brady's appointment came as GoToFoods announced several leadership changes.
GracieGUEST
That's us.
Jordan SweersHOST
And Gabby's Dollhouse celebrates the same curiosity, imagination, and joy that our guests love, said Carrie Christian, Senior Vice President of International and Retail Channels Marketing at GoToFoods, the longest title I've ever heard.
Jordan SweersHOST
Launching this first ever global partnership gave us the opportunity to create unique experiences while bringing a magical collaboration to fans around the world.
Jordan SweersHOST
From Auntie Anne's announces global partnership with Gabby's Dollhouse press release.
Kat ColeGUEST
Then became president of Cinnabon, turned it around out of the Great Recession in 2010.
Kat ColeGUEST
Led that brand for four years, then expanded to lead multiple brands in the parent company, which was Focus Brands.
Kat ColeGUEST
Uh, and then over that timeframe, which was from 2010 to 2020, so just think about those bookends, [chuckles] the Great Recession and COVID.
Kat ColeGUEST
That was my beginning, and that was my, uh, wrapping up at Focus Brands, 2021.
Kat ColeGUEST
So even if we just think about what was going on in markets and in society, uh, and in the economy in those time windows, um, I have had significant external macro disruption to navigate as a leader of scaled businesses, [lip smack] uh, as anyone who was leading at those times in most industries would have.
Kat ColeGUEST
And then there are things very specific to, you know, my company or my industry.
7 MINS LATER
Kat ColeGUEST
I've learned the most important first step is my immediate team, the other leaders in the company.
Kat ColeGUEST
Do we see things the same or similarly first before I go try to get the whole organization to see things similarly? So I remember, [lips smack] um, I, I'm thinking of two times.