Cheryl Bachelder is the author of the new book "Dare to serve: How to Drive Superior Results by Serving Others". Cheryl has served as CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. since 2007. Ms. Bachelder has led a remarkable turnaround of the company’s financial results with a compelling strategic roadmap for growth and an inspiring purpose and set of principles. The results – industry leading performance for the franchise owners and the shareholders. Ms. Bachelder has more than 35 years of experience in brand building, operations and public-company management at companies like Yum Brands, Domino’s Pizza, RJR Nabisco, The Gillette Company and The Procter & Gamble Company.

At the time of Ms. Bachelder’s 2007 appointment to CEO, Popeyes’ guest visits had been declining for years, restaurant sales and profit trends were negative. The company stock price had dropped from $34 in 2002 to $13. The brand was stagnant, and relations between the company and its franchise owners were strained. Ms. Bachelder and her team created a workplace where people were treated with respect and dignity yet challenged to perform at the highest level. Silos and self were set aside in favor of collaboration and team play. And the results were measured with rigor and discipline.

By 2014, average restaurant sales were up 25 percent, and profits were up 40 percent. Popeyes’ market share had grown from 14 percent to 21 percent, and the stock price was over $40. In 2012, Ms. Bachelder was recognized as Leader of the Year by the Women’s Foodservice Forum and received the highest industry award, the Silver Plate, for the quick service restaurant sector, presented by the International Food Manufacturer’s Association. She was also recognized as a 2012 Nation’s Restaurant News’ Golden Chain Award recipient.

Key Takeaways:

[4:23] Why the mom and pop restaurants seem to be fading away and being replaced by franchises

[6:52] How restaurants are starting to implement analytics and technology to get ahead in the marketplace

[10:19] How Popeye's is starting to forecast demand of their customers

[12:20] What a $15 minimum wage would mean to companies like Popeye's

[17:18] How having Louisiana roots has led to Popeye's differentiate from the competitors

Websites Mentioned:

www.cherylbachelder.com
www.daretoserveleaders.com

Chris Martenson, PhD (Duke), MBA (Cornell) is an economic researcher and futurist specializing in energy and resource depletion, and co-founder of PeakProsperity.com (along with Adam Taggart). He is also author of the book "Prosper!: How To Prepare for the Future and Create a World Worth Inheriting" As one of the early econobloggers who forecasted the housing market collapse and stock market correction years in advance, Chris rose to prominence with the launch of his seminal video seminar: The Crash Course which has also been published in book form (Wiley, March 2011). It's a popular and extremely well-regarded distillation of the interconnected forces in the Economy, Energy and the Environment (the "Three Es" as Chris calls them) that are shaping the future, one that will be defined by increasing challenges to growth as we have known it.

Key Takeaways:

[4:22] How Brazil's debt and dropping commodity prices are destroying the nation

[8:10] Japan's population peak and what will become of their nation once all the youth leave

[12:21] What would actually happen to our economy if we actually normalized interest rates

[19:26] How exposed banks might be because of their use of derivatives

[24:57] Unsustainable trends that are going to have to stop, but when will the ball drop?

[30:52] Why Chris has been out of the market for a few years and when he'll consider getting back in

[34:00] The coming robotic revolution and how it will reshape our society

[37:12] What's going to happen by 2030 that should really make us consider what we're investing in as a country

[40:35] Why emotional capital is going to be so important moving forward

Website Mentioned:

www.peakprosperity.com

Eric is from Detroit, Michigan.  He was politically interested from an early age, and in the late 1960s, he began to follow political developments through magazines and the Wall Street Journal. In 1976, he attended a speech in Detroit by economist Milton Friedman. It happened to be the day that Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics.

From late 1973 to early 1976, Eric worked running drill presses at Detroit Broach and Machine where he was a member of the United Steelworkers of America, Local 7489. Eric’s direct political activities began in 1976 with a contribution to the Libertarian Party presidential campaign of Roger MacBride. Eric read about the sweeping regulations of campaign activities based on the 1974 Federal Election Campaign Act amendments, which were sold as a response to Watergate.  Their actual intent, and the result, was to handicap challengers and therefore entrench incumbents.  Many aspects of the law were ruled unconstitutional in the 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision, but unfortunately the Supreme Court decided to rewrite the law rather than reject it.

Eric is currently a part of The Wisconsin Club for Growth and Citizens for Self Governance.

Key Takeaways:

[4:07] How governmental resources are being used to shut down political speech

[9:13] The impact of Citizens United and the truth behind it

[14:06] How we can stop the entrenched politicians and impose term limits

[20:31] The monologue vs dialogue media

Websites Mentioned:

www.selfgovern.com