Kat Cole went from Hooters waitress to Athletic Greens COO without a bachelor’s degree. She credits a simple exercise—the ‘hotshot rule’—for her rise

Fortune

Throughout her unorthodox rise to the top in business, Kat Cole has stuck by one rule. The president and COO of Athletic Greens shared the practice at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit last month.

Transcript

00:00 So the resume overview, I started first mowing lawns

00:04 and cleaning yards and roofs when I was very, very young.

00:08 My first paycheck job was at the age of 15, working in malls.

00:13 I then added in cleaning gym equipment

00:16 because I was a cheerleader and a track athlete

00:18 and needed to help pay for athletics.

00:22 I then became a hostess at Hooters at 17,

00:25 a waitress at Hooters at 18.

00:27 At 19, the company was growing around the world

00:29 and I was asked to join the training team

00:31 to open franchises around the world.

00:33 By the time I was 20,

00:34 I became a corporate training coordinator

00:36 and employee training coordinator,

00:38 moving to Atlanta to work for the corporate office.

00:40 Fast forward, promoted every few years as the company grew.

00:43 At the age of 26, I became one of the vice presidents

00:46 of the company when we were doing hundreds of millions

00:49 in annual revenue.

00:50 Stayed as an executive there for six years,

00:52 then left to become president of Cinnabon at the age of 31.

00:56 Helped turn that business around out of the great recession,

00:59 expanded into multiple channels,

01:01 crossed the billion dollar

01:03 in total global multi-channel sales mark,

01:05 then became group president of Focus Brands,

01:07 the parent company, launching CPG

01:09 and multi-channel initiatives across all brands.

01:12 I was 34, 35 at that point.

01:15 Then a few years later,

01:16 became group president of the entire company.

01:19 So president and COO of Focus Brands.

01:24 And that turned into where I am now,

01:26 president, COO, and board director of Athletic Greens.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended