This week’s Shoutout goes to the good people at FSR magazine and QSR magazine and specifically our friend Mr. Danny Klein and the Women in Restaurant Leadership (WiRL) Together Summit 2026, which concluded yesterday down in Charleston, South Carolina.
This annual event brought together hundreds of women from across the restaurant and hospitality sectors for leadership development and networking. WiRL is a unique event b/c it’s one of the few national platforms exclusively dedicated to elevating women within the restaurant and hospitality sectors.
Specifically, this “Together Summit” is designed as an authentic and safe environment rather than a traditional sales-focused conference. It encourages raw, and candid conversations about industry-specific issues like the gender gap in leadership, where women hold only 38% of executive roles despite making up 63% of the entry-level positions.
The summit provides actionable tools to help women move from entry-level and mid-management into C-suite roles, and addresses topics like Financial Acumen, The Path to CEO, and overcoming Imposter Phenomenon.
Beyond individual career growth, the summit aims to "change the industry for the better" by promoting inclusive leadership models and diverse problem-solving approaches that benefit entire organizations.
And now a shoutout within a shoutout, which goes to the collaboration between WiRL and GLEAM with a structured mentorship program. The WiRL X GLEAM Mentor Program, a six-month structured partnership, kicked off at the summit, and pairs emerging leaders with seasoned executives for one-on-one strategic support.
Branded was proud to have two members of our team, Julie Zucker and Drewe Raimi, attend the event, and our “Queen Z” (Julie) was part of a panel, Habits, Boundaries, & Self-Talk: Leading When You’re at Capacity, that included some rockstar friends of Branded, Tawanda Starms, Chief People & Culture Officer at Din Tai Fung North America, Catarina Bill, Chief Mission Officer at Southern Smoke Foundation, Jenn Johnston, Chief Marketing Officer at FAT Brands, Jennifer Dodd, CEO at Main Squeeze Juice Co., and Alexis Parra, Co-Founder and Chief Visionary Officer at Nékter Juice Bar.
To everyone who rallied down to Charleston for this event, to the event sponsors and to our friends at WTWH Media, congratulations on another fantastic event!
