Justin Bartek, Marketing Director of JINYA Holdings, Inc., joined the team during the industry’s most challenging times. After joining JINYA, Justin immediately immersed himself in JINYA Holdings’ Japanese culture, navigating his way through each individual brand. Though new to him, Justin has focused on leading JINYA Holdings to success, and he consistently shows his dedication to the company and industry. He was an early adopter of the Clubhouse platform and has utilized it to be a thought leader in the restaurant industry. On Clubhouse, Justin discusses topics like brand marketing, restaurant development and digital marketing with other industry leaders.

Before joining Networld Media Group as Vice President of Editorial, where she oversees Networld Media Group’s nine B2B publications, Cherryh Cansler served as Content Specialist at Barkley ad agency in Kansas City. Throughout her 17-year career as a journalist, she’s written about a variety of topics, ranging from the restaurant industry and technology to health and fitness news. Her byline has appeared in a plethora of newspapers, magazines and websites, including Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine. She also serves as the managing editor for FastCasual.com.

Tony Darden has been the President and Chief Operating Officer of MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes since April 2019. From May 2017 to April 2019, Tony served as Chief Operating Officer of Sun Holdings, inc. and Taco Bueno, LP in Dallas, Texas. From September 2009 to May 2017, he served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Panera Bread Company in St. Louis, Missouri.

Speaker bio coming soon!

Kristin Peterson currently serves as the Chief Marketing Officer at Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, the world’s largest barbecue chain. Previously, Kristin was a Director/Team Lead at The Richards Group, the nation’s largest privately held full-service advertising and branding agency where she accrued almost two decades of experience developing and executing full funnel, multi-channel marketing campaigns for national and global brands ranging from Corona beer and Ram Trucks to MD Anderson Cancer Center. Within the restaurant industry, she has depth of experience including refreshing branding for Red Lobster, introducing Wawa in new markets, and moving Ruth’s Chris Steak House’s marketing strategy from traditional to digital.

With his latest concept Pita Mediterranean Street Food, which he founded in 2012, Nour Rabai has created a fast casual destination for fresh, delicious and affordable Mediterranean cuisine. As founder and CEO, Nour oversees the operations of Pita’s corporate and franchise locations and management team and also is involved in the development and design of new locations. With a goal of growing Pita Mediterranean Street Food and introducing his authentic food and culture into every major city in the U.S., Nour’s major responsibility is in franchising. He is involved in the entire process from meeting with prospective franchisees and discussing locations to working alongside new franchisees to offer advice on staffing, profitability and operations.

Tom Sacco currently serves as the CEO, Chief Happiness Officer and President of Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream Parlors and Tony Sacco’s Coal Oven Kitchen. Since joining Dynamic Restaurant Holdings, LLC. in October of 2020, Tom is guiding the nostalgic brands down a path of resurgence using his 30+ years of restaurant experience. He has brought a renewed focus to improve revenue and profit margins, and to grow the brands combined store count from 54 units to an estimated 100 locations by the end of the year 2022. He has held C-level leadership positions at a wide variety of other concepts including BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers & Brews.

Speaker bio coming soon!

Dan Simpson was named CEO of Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe in February 2018 after serving as the Chief Innovation Officer starting in May 2016. Previously, he was a Taziki’s franchisee and managing partner at Fresh Hospitality from January 2015 until May 2016. Dan was the founder and CEO of ToGo Technologies from May 2012 until January 2015. He was the Chief Development Officer of Dispensary of Hope, Nashville, Tennessee from May 2008 until May 2012. He earned his BS in Science from Clearwater Christian College followed by his MBA from West Virginia University. Dan serves on the boards of the Shalom Foundation/Moore Pediatric Surgery Center and Dovehouse Ministries and is a member of TedXNashville Society of Fellows.

Samir Wattar is a veteran of the restaurant industry with 30+ years experience in restaurant operations and management with established high growth and start up companies. Samir is progressive, decisive, innovative and is highly valued for expertise in interpreting corporate vision and strategy, translating objectives into actionable plans, and providing leadership to multi-functional, cross cultural teams. His past roles include Senior Director of Operations at Pollo Campero, Vice President of Franchise Development & Supply Chain at MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes, Vice President of Supply Chain at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and currently the Chief Operating Officer at Layne’s Chicken Fingers.