Kendra Shier, vice president of operations for Bread Winners Cafes, has been appointed co-chair of the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) Marketing Executives Group (MEG), one of the NRA’s 10 independent, non-profit study groups. She begins her two-year term on June 1.
Shier replaces outgoing Co-Chair Bill Ruby, vice president of field marketing/vice president of company operations for Denny’s, who has served in the position since 2012 and joins co-chair Jennifer Weerheim, brand director for Yard House Restaurants, who will serve with Shier until 2015.
Founded in 1980, MEG is one of 10 independent, non-profit study groups established by the National Restaurant Association. The community of restaurant marketing professionals meets twice a year to help raise the level of industry excellence by connecting with one another to inspire, teach and challenge each other professionally. Earlier this month MEG held its annual spring convention in Chicago, which takes place each year just prior to the start of the Restaurant Show. The group will gather in Atlanta for its annual fall meeting October 27 and 28.
Shier has more than 27 years of restaurant operations and marketing experience. She came to the Dallas-based Bread Winners Cafes in 2012 after serving as Vice President of Marketing for Pizza Inn/Pie Five Pizza. Prior to that, she served as the Vice President of Branding for The Melting Pot Restaurants. As Vice President of Operations for Bread Winners Cafe, Shier helps to direct the company’s overall operational and marketing strategies for the brand’s four company-owned restaurants with a focus on sales building strategies, team development and expansion of the brand while guiding a team of more than 350 based in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Bread Winners Cafe also operates a corporate catering serve as well as a popular lounge at its Uptown Dallas location.
In addition to her full-time position with Bread Winners Cafe and her co-chair duties with MEG, Shier also serves as the liaison for Bread Winners Cafe’s membership in the Texas Restaurant Association and the National Restaurant Association. She holds a bachelor’s degree in corporate telecommunications with a concentration in marketing from Texas Tech University. Shier also lends her time and expertise to such philanthropic endeavors as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. She resides in Dallas with her husband and three children.
posted by: Eric Fujimori
7/3/14
