- 13 hours ago
Holly Smith, Chief Marketing Officer of P.F. Chang’s, is focused on reconnecting one of the restaurant industry’s most recognizable brands with modern diners. As a marketing leader, she blends storytelling, digital engagement, and data-driven strategy to keep the brand culturally relevant.
Watch now to learn how Holly Smith is rethinking restaurant marketing, why engagement matters more than followers, and how P.F. Chang’s plans to stay relevant with modern diners.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
Watch now to learn how Holly Smith is rethinking restaurant marketing, why engagement matters more than followers, and how P.F. Chang’s plans to stay relevant with modern diners.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
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NewsTranscript
00:00Is there any plans for leadership to be on camera, given our friend at McDonald's?
00:07It's a delicious product.
00:09Are there any plans for your CEO to go on camera to eat lettuce wraps?
00:13Yes!
00:13Jim did come to me and he was like, should I do this?
00:17Do it!
00:18I don't know, we didn't pull the trigger.
00:20God damn it!
00:22Like, we were this close.
00:24Ah!
00:33Welcome to Restaurant Influencers, presented by Entrepreneur.
00:36I'm your host, Sean Walchef.
00:37This is a Cali BBQ Media production in life, in the restaurant business, and in the new
00:43creator economy.
00:44We learn through lessons and stories.
00:47And my, do we have a story today.
00:49We are talking with a brand that has over 300 restaurants worldwide.
00:53They're represented in 23 countries.
00:56They have 183,000 followers on Instagram.
01:00985,000 followers on Facebook.
01:0310K on YouTube.
01:04106,000 on TikTok.
01:0677,000 on X.
01:08And I am talking with the new Chief Marketing Officer for PF Chang.
01:14Holly Smith, welcome to the show.
01:17Hi, thanks for having me.
01:18We believe deeply in storytelling.
01:21That's why we started this show.
01:23We're so grateful that Toast, our primary technology partner, gives us the opportunity
01:27since 2022 to have conversations like this.
01:30I have restaurants here in San Diego.
01:33We've been in business for 18 years.
01:34We built a media company on top because we believe so deeply in technology and storytelling.
01:40A modern marketer is faced with many challenges and many opportunities.
01:45Can you share what was the story that pulled you in to take this opportunity to accept the
01:53position of Chief Marketing Officer of PF Chang's?
01:56Yeah.
01:57I mean, I think it was definitely an easy decision just given, you know, the history of PF Chang's.
02:01I think PF Chang's is just such an iconic brand.
02:05I mean, I think as I was kind of talking to friends and family members about the opportunity,
02:09the interesting thing was everyone kept saying, like, I used to love to go to PF Chang's.
02:13And that really kind of resonated with me because I just feel like, you know, there's such an
02:19opportunity here.
02:20Everyone loves PF Chang's.
02:22Like, we all have really fond memories of going there, growing up, celebrating occasions.
02:26And when you look at PF Chang's in the marketplace, I mean, for a pan-Asian brand, I mean, there's
02:33really no other national brand.
02:35So it serves such a market, unique position in the market.
02:40So really, to me, it was just like a no-brainer on, you know, if we can get, you know,
02:45all the
02:46engine running in the right direction, there's just like no way that we can't be successful here.
02:50And so it was just such an exciting opportunity.
02:52Talk about what is brand equity?
02:55Brand equity.
02:56I mean, I think that, you know, being a pan-Asian brand, just the position of the company with the
03:03Asian heritage, I think that, you know, that that holds so much brand equity.
03:07And just, you know, I think the relevancy of, you know, the memories that we all kind of have of
03:13PF Chang's,
03:14you know, I think that that really holds true with a lot of people in ways in which other brands,
03:19you know, don't really have that positioning.
03:22Do you remember your first visit to PF Chang's as a consumer?
03:27The answer is no, but I think I've met many times growing up, but I do remember, and I've
03:36kind of talked about this a lot, and I've only been here kind of 90 days.
03:39It feels like, you know, it feels like nine years, but it's been 90 days.
03:42But I have talked to several people, and I do, one of my core memories is going to PF Chang's,
03:48and they used to sit down like three sauces in front of you, and the server would kind
03:53of mix them in front of you.
03:54And it was just this whole idea of like tableside theatrics and, you know, just kind of experiential
04:00dining that I don't think a lot of people were doing at that time.
04:03So I do, like, that really does stick out to me as something, you know, that kind of
04:07really, you know, made the brand special to me kind of back, you know, back then.
04:14What's really exciting for me to talk with someone in your position right now in your
04:19first 90 days is, is where do you start?
04:22I mean, in a leadership position, in a storytelling position, in a modern marketing position,
04:27like, like, where do you start?
04:28What, what have you learned in 90 days?
04:31You know, I think there's like really no rule book, you know, you kind of get like thrown
04:35into it.
04:36I'm kidding.
04:37There's not many 300 units.
04:39I have to have a better answer.
04:40I wish I could like very clearly, succinctly tell you what the plan was, but no, but I
04:46think definitely, you know, you start with the team, and I'm very fortunate, like, I have
04:53a team of such talented individuals here that are really experts in their individual channels
04:57and their individual lanes.
04:58And, you know, for, you know, I'm really fortunate for that.
05:01So I think that what I wanted to focus on, especially like in the first few weeks, is
05:05just getting to know the team, getting to know the team dynamics.
05:07And then, of course, how do we collaborate cross-functionally?
05:11Because I think that's something that's sometimes missing with marketing departments is they kind
05:15of work in silos.
05:16And that's just not how, you know, I was raised in the industry.
05:19I have an ops service background.
05:21So, you know, really wanting to collaborate cross-functionally with not only, you know,
05:28the operations team, but the finance team, the purchasing and procurement team, because
05:31it all, you know, it all works succinctly, right?
05:35So it really, you know, when you can get everybody kind of marching in the same direction with
05:38the same sort of goals, I think that's when you really start to see, you know, top performance.
05:43How does PF Changs structurally look like from a marketing perspective?
05:48Like how do you, what buckets are you?
05:51Yeah.
05:51So, you know, we're still kind of working some things out on the team, but I think, you know,
05:58initially we have, it starts with menu innovation.
06:01So, you know, we have one team that works on menu innovation, menu strategy, you know, everything
06:07to do with kind of the onset of what our campaign calendar is going to look like.
06:12And then we have a brand team.
06:15So that's brand, branding, creative, you know, all kind of project management that runs through
06:21the brand team.
06:21We have the social team.
06:23So that's all of our, you know, social channels, influencers, paid media, digital media.
06:28And then we have what we call a 3PD and OPD, which is a third-party delivery and on, on
06:35off-premise delivery, excuse me, and catering.
06:37So that's its own unique channel.
06:39And then we have another channel that we're, we're putting a lot of increased focus on,
06:44which is loyalty.
06:45Okay, great.
06:47How do you think of branding from a global perspective?
06:53So it's a, it's a unique opportunity.
06:56I, I spent some time working for TGI Fridays and they have a big, you know, kind of global
07:00footprint.
07:01So, um, kind of got my, um, feet wet in, in that regard there.
07:06But I think, you know, for PF Chang's specifically, we have such a large global footprint.
07:11So, um, you know, I think for me in these first kind of 90 days, it's just getting to that
07:16global team.
07:16We've got some really strong leaders over there.
07:18And I think, you know, the most important thing is they, they work independently as licensees
07:22of the brand, but what, you know, I've wanted to focus on is how can we work, we're all flying
07:28the same flag, right?
07:28So how can we work and learn from each other from an innovation point of view?
07:32I mean, they're doing some incredible things, um, you know, not only in, in media and their
07:36campaigns, but also in food innovation.
07:38And there's so much closer to, you know, you, you know, the continent, um, you know, what
07:43can we kind of learn from them?
07:44And how can we take those learnings and, um, bring them to the United States and then
07:48scale them, um, across the country?
07:51How do you think about content?
07:54Content, um, specific.
07:56Content for social, specifically video content in a TikTok, YouTube, Instagram reels world.
08:03Yeah.
08:04I think that, um, we've, we've had, uh, a lot of conversations about this.
08:10And when I, um, okay, let me back up.
08:13I think a lot of brands look at content in very different types of ways, but I think
08:18you have to have contents for very types of users, right?
08:21So the content you like to consume might not be the same content I like to consume.
08:25So I think that we have to be very, um, considerate of that.
08:30And so we've taken really a strategy of, you know, we want to be appealing to, you know,
08:35all of our demographics.
08:36Um, and then how do we, you know, take that in mind and then implement that with very types
08:42of influencers, I think influencers is a big part of our strategy, you know, not just,
08:46uh, having, you know, one kind of, you know, high tier celebrity, but how can we maybe use
08:52some of the mid tier creators, even, um, using, you know, platforms with micro influencers.
08:58How do we kind of vary, you know, those strategies so that we can really appeal to all different
09:02types of people with all varied types of content.
09:04And so whether it's, I hate, hate this term, muck bangers.
09:07So imagine this.
09:08So I had to go into a board meeting and explain.
09:14Is that on a slide?
09:15Did you put that term on the slide?
09:17I didn't put it up there because I couldn't spell it, but, um, I did, I did talk through
09:21it, but, um, but, but back to the point, like all kinds of varied types of content.
09:26So like people that like to, to consume that versus people that, you know,
09:29And for those that are wondering, a muck banger is people eating on camera.
09:33So in their car, right?
09:35In their car.
09:37That's separate.
09:37Like they're showing their teeth.
09:39It's a whole thing.
09:42Yeah.
09:43Uh, can you share a little bit about how you think about collaboration?
09:50I noticed, uh, I'm a San Diego, San Diego chargers fan now, Los Angeles chargers.
09:56Um, I saw the collaboration that PF Chang's did, um, recently, actually this season, I
10:00know it's probably coordinated well before you arrived, but, um, can you just talk about
10:05partnerships, um, in general?
10:09Yeah.
10:09I mean, I think that partnerships are so important and I've really stressed the team and we,
10:14we have, um, some new people on the social team.
10:17Um, and you know, I just, I've really stressed them.
10:20Like, let's, let's have, we want to have more fun, right?
10:23Like we're a restaurant brand.
10:24We're not an oil and gas company.
10:26We don't need to be like super serious.
10:28We should have more fun.
10:29We can collaborate with people, um, and really like having a voice.
10:33And I think there's a lot of content and comments too.
10:36So we've put a lot of effort into making sure that we're really talking to, to our guests
10:41and talking to people and making sure that, you know, we, we are reading the comments.
10:45And I saw, um, I saw a video that somebody posted the other day and they were like, you
10:49know, whenever you, uh, whenever somebody responds to your comment, it's, um, you know,
10:53it's, it's just me at the low level.
10:55And I wanted to respond to her and say like, no, it's not like I read every single comment.
10:59Like I read every single comment.
11:00I'm constantly watching videos and I want our guests to like feel that authenticity around,
11:04like, just because it's P.F. Chang's doesn't mean it's not, we're, we're, we're not a voice
11:08and a brand and a person.
11:09And, um, you know, we, we really do care about the guests and we want to engage with
11:12them.
11:12Did you know that toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada
11:19and UK?
11:20It's an incredible company.
11:21I'm on the toast customer advisory board.
11:23They are proud sponsors of this show, restaurant influencers.
11:26We couldn't do it without their support.
11:28They power our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
11:31If you have questions about toast, if you're thinking about bringing toast on to be your primary
11:37technology partner at your restaurants, please reach out to me.
11:40I'm happy to get a local toast representative to take care of you.
11:43You can reach me at Sean P. Welch on Instagram.
11:47Once again, thank you to toast for believing in the power of technology, the power of storytelling,
11:52the power of hospitality.
11:54Back to the show.
11:55Is there any plans for leadership to be on camera given, uh, our friend at McDonald's?
12:01Uh, so I have an interesting, I would love to hear your take because, um, I haven't
12:06publicly talked about it, but, uh, go ahead, Holly, please tell me, tell me, are there
12:11any plans for your CEO to go on camera to eat lettuce wraps?
12:16Jim did come to me and he was like, should I do this?
12:20Come on, seriously?
12:21Yeah.
12:22Yeah.
12:22And I was like, I don't know, like, we don't have burgers.
12:24Like, you know, we went back and forth and like, we did, like, we were this close to
12:29having him eat like Mongolian beef and be like something to the extent like we have the
12:33best beef, but like, it was just, um, I don't know.
12:37We, we, we didn't pull the trigger.
12:38So, and then, and then it got to the point where it's like too late.
12:41So, you know, but we, we were close.
12:44We almost, we almost did, but we just, um, felt like it wasn't our lane really with, with
12:50the burgers.
12:50But, um, you know, I, I feel like he had the best of intentions.
12:54Um, and look at all, look at all the publicity they're getting, like, they're getting so many
12:58views and, um, I feel like more people are buying the burgers and just do a parody.
13:03So, I mean, that's a success.
13:04So good for him.
13:06Yeah.
13:06I mean, I, I would love to learn more about how you and Jim think about just storytelling
13:12in general.
13:13Um, it's, you know, when you have a brand as iconic, um, as PF Chang's, uh, there is the
13:19risk.
13:20And I think the problem that I see in the market is that a lot of brands saw what Chris
13:25did,
13:25the CEO of McDonald's, um, and they're terrified of putting their leader on camera because of
13:30something like that.
13:31But I would argue Chris and his social team have been doing that for a while now.
13:35Like I've been following his Instagram account, his Tik TOK accounts when he had hundreds
13:40of followers.
13:41Like I couldn't believe that the CEO of McDonald's was actually, you know, doing day in the life
13:45content.
13:46Like this is me, the video, obviously a lot of people jokes, late night comedy, um, they
13:54came out, but to your point, the brand recognition of how many people, like, isn't that our job
14:00to get attention for the brand and how you recover, right?
14:03Like, how do you recover from that?
14:05Is he going to stop posting on social media?
14:07I hope not.
14:08I really hope not.
14:09And I hope that other brands, you know, to your point, there's a lot of CEOs of burger
14:14brands that decided this was their first time on camera making a social video, but
14:18like, are you going to stop or are you going to keep going?
14:21Because I would argue that the brands that will win into the future will be more relatable.
14:26And those CEOs are going to be willing to be more on camera, show up more on platforms,
14:30show up more in podcasts and YouTube content and that kind of thing.
14:34I, you know, and I've thought a lot about this and I, I saw someone like talking about this
14:39in a video, um, on Tik TOK over the weekend.
14:41And I think the struggle is, is like, how do you have a person in leadership, um, creating
14:49content that's relatable to somebody that's on Instagram?
14:53And like, where, where's the, it's, it's kind of a far disconnect.
14:57So how do you make, how do you make it relatable?
14:59What, what is the content that that platform wants to absorb without it sounding inauthentic?
15:05And I think that, you know, if we can solve that puzzle, like absolutely.
15:09Like, um, but how do you,
15:11I would argue that it's easier to solve than most people think.
15:14And that's because content doesn't need, we're not actors.
15:19Yeah.
15:20It's literally a day in the life of who you are as the CEO of the brand.
15:24So how do you share what, like, we're not going to make a fake scene of him, you know,
15:29going into a test kitchen that doesn't exist, but wherever he is, whatever he's doing,
15:34whatever she's doing, that CEO has the opportunity to literally turn a camera on behind the scenes.
15:40It doesn't have to be overly produced.
15:41And I think that's kind of the challenge that bigger brands have is that we're used to seeing
15:47the Superbowl commercial.
15:48We're used to seeing the polished, you know, agency work, but what social wants is like,
15:54they want it real.
15:56So like when you fake, when you fake something that isn't real, social media responds, you
16:02know, very, very authentically.
16:05But the challenge is, you know, do people really want to see what goes on in a boardroom?
16:10I would argue, yes.
16:12I would argue that the brands that will win and connect in over the next five to 10 years
16:16are going to be willing to do that type of work because no one else sees it.
16:20There's nowhere on the internet where you can actually like recreate.
16:24No, it's not.
16:24We're not recreating anything.
16:25This is, this is actually what, how he, how he lives.
16:28Right.
16:28Or she lives.
16:29Yeah.
16:29No, it's, it's, it's interesting.
16:32And yeah, I mean, Jim would be all about it too.
16:34So hopefully he doesn't hear this because he'll be like, hopefully he does this afternoon
16:41to day in the life.
16:42Jim is on.
16:43Yes.
16:45Amazing.
16:46Talk to me about key performance indicators.
16:49Our favorite term is marketers of the finance team, the chief financial officers.
16:53They want to know what are the, what are the metrics and the data that we're tracking?
16:57Yeah.
16:58I mean, I think, well, you know, I think that the standard answer is, you know, salespeople
17:03profit, but I think, you know, specifically around each of the members on my team, you
17:08know, we have specific kind of tactical goals that roll up into our strategy around, you
17:12know, increasing loyalty metrics and what does that look like into the future?
17:16I think loyalty kind of got into a place that was really inauthentic and, you know, like,
17:22you know, starting to like sunset email clubs.
17:24And how do we really use loyalty into the future in a way that's meaningful to the guest?
17:29What is the guest really looking for from a loyalty perspective?
17:32So, you know, kind of making sure that we're hitting all of the marks there.
17:36And then of course, like, you know, socially, I think it used to be about how many followers
17:39do you have?
17:40And, you know, those types of metrics, I think now it's more about engagement and how
17:44many views and impressions and, you know, it's more top of the funnel and, you know,
17:48where, you know, from a reputation standpoint, you know, how are we conversating with
17:53the people online and, you know, like, what does that reputation score kind of look like?
17:58And then from a creative standpoint, I think, you know, I've really challenged the team to
18:03how do we really position ourselves in a more, you know, polished, casual, elevated way?
18:10And how does that appear creatively?
18:12So, you know, a lot of our creative getting, you know, more, we just recently did some photo
18:17shoots that are a lot more editorial, kind of like moodier, like I was like, I would like
18:22it to look like, you know, not like it belongs in a casual dining restaurant, but more so like
18:27it belongs in a magazine, you know, something that you'd like to see online or something
18:30that would belong on like an Instagram girly speed, right?
18:33Like, so something that like is very culturally relevant and just kind of bringing us kind of
18:37forward in an elevated manner, you know, so I think that, you know, from a KPI standpoint,
18:44like having those individual kind of tactics across the team, but then ultimately, you know,
18:47when you kind of hit the marks on all those things, then, you know, you start to see sales
18:51and profit increase.
18:53And of course, we have a great relationship with the finance team and we are constantly,
18:56I think something that's really important is that I've really stressed to the team that
19:01we should be data driven.
19:02We have so much data that comes into a restaurant from literally, you know, 20 different sources.
19:07There's no reason that we can't make data driven decisions and any, any decision that we need
19:11to make, there is a data point out there to support or, or, you know, kind of guide our
19:16decision-making.
19:17So, you know, it's, it's important that we're listening, we're listening to that data and
19:22making, making those decisions.
19:24So we're, I'm fortunate.
19:25We do a lot of work with Google, their restaurant team, Lisa Landsman, she's been on the show.
19:31I've never had the opportunity to speak with someone like you from a global perspective of
19:36how you think of Google business profile.
19:38Like, how do you think about Google specifically?
19:41And then also how do you think about LLMs and chat GPT perplexity, Claude, all of the
19:46search results that you want PF Changs to show up in?
19:50Yeah.
19:50You know, we've had a lot of, a lot of conversations around, um, is it long learning model?
19:55Yeah.
19:56Language learning.
19:56Language learning.
19:57Language learning.
19:58Language learning.
19:59And, um, we've had conversations with Google.
20:01We have a great relationship with Google and Amazon.
20:03And I think, you know, kind of ultimately we're looking at more, um, behavior driven first
20:08party data.
20:09So I think that that's kind of a shift in, in ideology, um, that we've kind of implemented
20:14in, in these last 90 days.
20:15So really what are people doing online?
20:18What are their shopping habits?
20:19You know, where, where are they going?
20:20There's so much data that we can use, um, to impact how we advertise and to really maximize,
20:26you know, that advertising dollar.
20:28Um, and then I think back to your question about, um, kind of chat GPT and those sorts
20:33of things we've looked at, like, you know, what kind of feeds into that and kind of going
20:37back to like content lives in the comments.
20:38Like, you know, I think it's about, uh, you know, um, your website, making sure that our
20:44website is really clean.
20:45We've done a lot of optimizing, a lot of optimization on our website, making sure all
20:49of those Google events and all of our SEO and all of our, um, Google analytics is kind
20:53of in the right place.
20:54You know, making sure that we get, you know, those reputation points from Google there.
20:57Um, we've looked a lot at Reddit and seeing like kind of what, you know, kind of where
21:01we need to live there.
21:02I don't have, I don't have the answer on that yet, but if someone has the answer on Reddit,
21:08please send me a DM on the radar.
21:10But I think all of those things are just interesting.
21:12It moves so fast.
21:13And, you know, certainly, um, you know, kind of what I, what I really appreciate about the
21:17team is that they're, um, young and hungry and curious.
21:21And I think that's the most important thing in business is just being curious, just asking the
21:23questions like, I don't, I don't have all the answers.
21:26Um, but I certainly, you know, want to ask the questions and try to try to figure it out.
21:32Couldn't agree more.
21:33Um, how are you evaluating your marketing tech stack, the existing tools that you're using?
21:40How are you, how do you walk through that evaluation process?
21:43Yeah.
21:44So we, um, have started that process here recently in the, in the last kind of 30 days,
21:48just to kind of look at everything from, you know, not just, not just the marketing tech
21:52stack, because I think it's much more than marketing.
21:55I think it really, you know, being in a restaurant company, everything boils down to operations.
21:59Like there's no cash registers at the global support center here.
22:02Right.
22:02So we don't like, we don't take credit for any of that.
22:05It really comes down to our operations.
22:06So we need to start there.
22:07So that boils down to looking at our POS systems, looking at everything that feeds into that.
22:12Um, and then from there, how do we stack on what works, you know, POS system?
22:16What can we stack on from a loyalty point of view?
22:19How do we make our website engine work best for us?
22:21And then what's our online ordering system?
22:23And then how do we kind of fan out from there on all of the other, all the other sort
22:27of pieces?
22:27But it really, I mean, it really boils down, um, you know, kind of to, to the core engine,
22:32which is operations.
22:33Sure.
22:34Um, can you talk to me about consumer packaged goods?
22:37Yeah.
22:38So I actually just, um, got back from Chicago last week with consumer packaged goods.
22:42And, um, you know, we, uh, we are involved, um, you know, with them hand in hand on, you
22:50know, kind of the, um, certainly like the approval of products and the tasting.
22:53Um, but what's really interesting, uh, you know, in that regard is just their consumer insights.
22:58I was so amazed that, um, you know, grocery is 18 months out.
23:04So they're buying what's on the shelf for grocery 18 months before it actually makes
23:07it to the shelf.
23:08So they're making decisions, you know, way in advance.
23:11And so they have, um, you know, just a crazy amount of, uh, data and consumer insights.
23:18So they were able to kind of give us lanes in which we should be traveling in for the
23:22next 18 months.
23:22It's like, here's, what's going to hit the shelves.
23:24Here's what we're seeing trends in now.
23:25Here's what, you know, it kind of, here's what spices people are buying.
23:28Here's what we're seeing interest in.
23:30Um, you know, so from an innovation standpoint, uh, and a culinary standpoint, you know, they've
23:34been really great partners to kind of help us, uh, build that pipeline.
23:37You know, certainly not like a core sort of channel for us.
23:40Um, but definitely something that, you know, we work, we work hand in hand with.
23:44What kind of tools, education, podcasts, what do you, what do you do to improve your own
23:50personal development in the marketing space?
23:53Yeah.
23:53So I love to listen to a podcast, you know, I'd love to listen to podcasts and, um, outside,
24:00no offense, like outside of restaurants.
24:02Cause I, you don't, you don't, you're not offending me.
24:05No, no, no, no.
24:06Cause I, I like to, I like the whole dichotomy around like, what can I learn from other industries
24:12and how can I make it relevant to, to, to my industry?
24:15Um, you know, I try to, I, I had a goal last year of reading one book per month.
24:20I failed, totally failed.
24:23I think I read like two all year, but I do try, I do try, um, you know, to, to,
24:28to read,
24:29um, you know, obviously, uh, I think in this day and age, um, you know, getting a lot of
24:34information from, um, TikTok and Instagram, you want to know, like, here's this, here is
24:39a tip and trick for anyone, um, going into a board meeting.
24:42If you want to reference a TikTok or Instagram video, just say that you saw, um, in the wall
24:47street journal and everyone in the room will give you so much credit.
24:50So every time, so if you ever hear me say, I heard it in the Reddit wall street journal,
24:54I really saw a TikTok video.
24:55There you go.
24:58Yeah, there you go.
24:59The, uh, the wall street journals, it's still, still, uh, still has that street cred.
25:03New York times, you can say wall street journal and Harvard review, like any of them.
25:07But, uh, but if I ever do say that I saw it, it's really, it's really, it's on TikTok video.
25:11Uh, bring me into a board meeting.
25:13Like what, what is like, what was that like your first, your first board meeting?
25:18Yeah.
25:19So, um, you know, I think it is obviously, you know, I'm not going to lie.
25:25It's, it's overwhelming, right.
25:26Uh, cause you want to be impressive and especially like being brand new in the role.
25:30But I will say that like, you know, I have such a good team around me, um, you know, that
25:35helped prepare myself and, and really gave me, you know, all the right tools that I felt
25:40really confident, um, in the strategy and where we're going.
25:44So, you know, someone gave me advice one time going into, I think it was my very first board
25:48meeting that I ever had to present at.
25:50And somebody, uh, the night before I was like, Hey, I've, I've got to go like study and practice
25:54my slides.
25:55And they were like, you know, listen, like you do this every single day.
25:57You're an expert at this.
25:58You're going to tell people about what you do every day.
26:01Don't be nervous.
26:02Like you just need to be yourself and talk about what you do and talk about your strategy.
26:06And like, you know, so I always kind of think about that advice, like going into a board
26:10meeting, like I do this every single day.
26:12I'm telling you, I'm excited about what I'm doing.
26:14I believe in what I'm doing.
26:15So to me, it becomes, um, you know, one of those things like it's, uh, at this point,
26:20you know, it's exciting.
26:20It's exciting to, to share those things and, um, you know, get it.
26:26And, and also like from a mentorship, like that's what a board's for, right.
26:29To, to mentor you and to kind of help you kind of, you know, craft the strategies with
26:34precision.
26:34So, um, you know, I, I, at this point, you know, I get, I get excited about him knock
26:38on wood, you know, so, uh, what are, what are you excited about now?
26:44What, what can you share the PF Changs that our audience can expect, you know, over the next
26:48couple of months over 2026?
26:51Yeah.
26:51So I think that we've got a great, a great plan for, you know, the balance of the year, even
26:55into 2027, we've got some really, um, interesting, um, collaborations, uh, that I think are going
27:01to be really unexpected, um, that we're working with, um, you know, I think just bringing us,
27:06um, kind of more relevant across all kind of demos and, you know, you know, not just focusing,
27:13excuse me, on millennials or, you know, boomers or, you know, I think really just working towards
27:20being relevant to, to kind of all demographics.
27:22So looking at how we can, um, you know, achieve those different kinds of things and then also
27:27bringing innovation to the table.
27:29So how can we be, have more theatrical, um, dining moments, you know, more table side moments,
27:34bringing people back into the restaurants.
27:35I think, you know, kind of, you know, we're outside of COVID now five years, but I think
27:40people are just now kind of really starting to come back to restaurants.
27:43So really giving them, um, you know, fun and interesting reasons to come, to come back in,
27:47you know, so preserving, preserving our core classics, the reasons that you love PF Chang's,
27:51the Mongolian beef, the fried rice, all of those types of things, but then giving them new and fun
27:55and interesting ways in which they can enjoy the brand.
27:58Um, and one thing that, you know, we've really kind of focused on is, you know, looking at, uh,
28:03a lot of innovation going to, you know, the Tows in New York, the Mr. Chows, the Hakkasans,
28:08the Budokans, how can we take things that they're doing, um, and really scale them across
28:13the country.
28:13So for a person that might never have the opportunity to enjoy a giant fortune cookie
28:17at TOW that they hit open and, you know, that the fruit spills out, but how could we, um,
28:21you know, take some of those really unique and special opportunities and scale them across
28:24the country.
28:25That's really cool.
28:26Um, if you guys are watching, if you're listening, uh, we would love for you to join our live
28:30show.
28:30So we do a live show every Wednesday, every Friday, it's called Rising Tides Live.
28:34You can go to betheshow.media slash rising tides and join.
28:37Um, you can always find me.
28:39I'm weirdly available at Sean P.
28:41Well, Jeff, uh, Holly, before I let you go, I need to ask you about your personal tech
28:45stack.
28:47So are you an iPhone or Android user?
28:50iPhone all the way.
28:51I hate a green text.
28:52Sorry.
28:53You don't need to apologize.
28:55I have 99% of our guests are iPhone.
28:57So no, thanks to anyone out there.
28:59Um, I will respond back, but it just irks me.
29:03Which version of the iPhone?
29:05Uh, I don't, I, I don't know.
29:07Not the newest, maybe like the, you don't line up, you don't line up to get the newest
29:12iPhone.
29:12I do.
29:13I'm so often now.
29:14So I feel like I'm, I'm relevant.
29:17I'm close, close to the newest, but maybe not for phone calls or text messages.
29:21Text all the way.
29:22Don't call me.
29:24Do you leave voicemails?
29:26No.
29:27How many emails do you get a day?
29:29400.
29:30400.
29:31No, no.
29:32I feel like, I feel like 400 probably.
29:34I mean, realistic.
29:35I'm being very realistic.
29:36I probably get a hundred.
29:37A hundred.
29:38And how many of those do you enjoy reading?
29:42All of them.
29:43I enjoy every email that everyone sends me.
29:46Every email is marketing gold.
29:49I love them all.
29:50You've opted in somehow, somewhere to some newsletter, some product to purchase.
29:57Google meets Zoom or Teams?
30:02I mean, probably, I use Teams most, most.
30:07I don't mind the Zoom.
30:08I'm not a big fan of Google because you can't use the filters.
30:11So if I'm not going to lie, like I, I enjoy the filters.
30:17Google Maps or Apple Maps?
30:22I don't care.
30:23Apple Maps, I guess.
30:24Apple Maps.
30:25Do you prefer?
30:26There's actually some interesting, we could get into a whole conversation about Apple Maps
30:29and Yelp, but that's for another podcast.
30:33Okay.
30:34Next time.
30:34Next time we're going to talk, we're going to talk about Apple Maps and Yelp.
30:39Do you, what's your favorite social media app?
30:46Probably Instagram, I would say.
30:48Or yeah, probably Instagram.
30:50Okay.
30:51Do you prefer taking photos or videos?
30:54So I, I'm old now, so I prefer to take a photo, but I've learned from all my Gen Z
31:02employees
31:03that videos are where it's at.
31:05So I'm trying to get, I'm trying to get better about taking videos, but I prefer a photo.
31:10I'm just old school.
31:11What's your notification management?
31:13Do you have, so like if we pulled up your phone, you would just have notifications on
31:18all the apps?
31:19Yeah.
31:20I, I, um, below expectations needs improvement.
31:26Expectations needs improvement.
31:27Um, is there, is there a cool app that you use, um, that's valuable to you that you think
31:32our audience doesn't know about?
31:34No, I don't think so.
31:37Which AI app do you use?
31:39I use chat GPT.
31:41I named her Carol.
31:42So because I didn't want to, I was tired of in meetings being like, oh, I asked chat GPT.
31:46So now I just say, ask Carol.
31:47And I think they think, I think everyone here thinks that someone on my team is named Carol,
31:51which I'm okay with.
31:52So, um, Carol all the way, she's the best.
31:55So for all the audience that loves PF Chang's, what is the one place that they should go?
32:00Where, where, where's an exciting digital playground that they should interact with the
32:04brand?
32:05You know, I think that, um, you know, kind of back to my point, um, depending on, you
32:10know, kind of what kind of content you want to see, I think, um, there's a space for us
32:13on tech talk.
32:14Um, you know, we're, we have a good influencer strategy, so I would say, stay tuned to kind
32:18of see what we're doing.
32:19Um, this, this summer, we've got some really exciting campaigns.
32:22Coming up.
32:23So, um, you know, follow us on Instagram, follow us on tech talk.
32:26Um, you know, those will you, you're in for a treat this summer.
32:30Amazing.
32:31Uh, Holly, thank you so much for taking the time.
32:33Thank you guys for watching.
32:34Thank you for listening.
32:36Uh, always you can reach out to me on Instagram's the fastest at Sean P.
32:40Walsh F S H A W N P W A L C H E F.
32:43As always stay curious, get involved.
32:47Don't be afraid to ask for help.
32:48And, uh, please go check out what PF Chang's is doing under Holly's.
32:52Leadership.
32:52Thank you so much, Holly.
32:54Take care.
32:58Thank you for listening.
32:59If you've made it this long, you are part of the community.
33:02You're part of the tribe.
33:03We can't do this alone.
33:04We started, no one was listening.
33:06Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
33:10Please check out our new series called restaurant technology.
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33:14It's a sub stack newsletter.
33:16It's free.
33:16It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants.
33:19Also go to YouTube and subscribe to Cali barbecue media, Cali barbecue media on YouTube.
33:26We've been putting out a lot of new original content.
33:28Hopefully you guys like that content.
33:30If you want to work with us, go to the show.media.
33:33We show up all over the United States, some international countries.
33:37We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling.
33:40You can reach out to me anytime at Sean P.
33:43Welchef on Instagram.
33:44I'm weirdly available.
33:45Stay curious, get involved.
33:47Don't be afraid to ask for help.
33:48We'll catch you next episode.
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