Taco Bell's 2022 30 Under 30 List

Taco Bell
Published: April 26th, 2022

April 26, 2022 // Franchising.com // Our 30 under 30 list was created to give a big shout-out to leaders in Taco Bell restaurants and the field who serve as the brand’s biggest culture champions.

Meet 30 rock star team members, Live Más Scholars, general managers and above restaurant leaders who are all under the age of 30. These young leaders have been recognized by their organizations for going above and beyond every day and for inspiring their teams to bring the best Taco Bell experience to all customers. Most of them have attended leadership programs, and when they’re not in the restaurant, they find ways to take their passion and leadership to a new level in their communities. Congrats to 2022’s 30 under 30!

• Ryan Gorman - Franchise Organization, Bells and Birds, Inc.
  From the tenured team to the newest General Manager, Ryan provides guidance and insight on anything his peers bring to him. His knowledge of the standards has helped multiple GM's grow to achieve success within their own store. Ryan approaches any task with a lighthearted spirit allowing him to see all points of view from his team or peers. When he’s not working, he is out in his community teaching karate to a youth group or using his talented singing voice to raise money for local charities.
• Brittany Edens - Franchise Organization, Border Foods, LLC
  In the 3 years Brittany has worked at Taco Bell, she has grown genuine connections throughout her team and even her restaurant regulars. She enjoys putting together frequent contests and finds creative ways to encourage her team. Her drive to keep the culture strong is clear. Brittany encourages growth in those around her and cares beyond the walls of the workplace - willing to lend a hand or ear whenever necessary.
• Terry Wallace – Taco Bell Corp.
  Terry embodies what it means to be a Taco Bell leader. He is always willing to help his peers and team when they're in need. Whether it's going to another store to support, or helping a shift leader who totaled her car, he is compassionate and understanding. Terry is relentless and competitive in his pursuit of greatness in everything he does and truly invests in young people, he goes to their graduations, and invests in their development. Terry is always all in for his team!
• Luthea Tryon - Franchise Organization, MTB Polson, LLC
  Luthea always puts others first. Whether it's her team, other stores, or strangers, she represents a giving culture and never asks for anything in return. Luthea cares greatly about her employees – helping get them transportation to work, caring about their mental and physical health, and prioritizing a great workplace culture. Outside of Taco Bell, she volunteers at the homeless shelter and always brings someone with her so they can experience what it means to help others.
• Dylan Ryan - Franchise Organization, Tacala Tennessee Corp.
  Dylan is full of life and energy and has a strong belief in all people. He has never met a stranger he wouldn’t help and takes chances on candidates others may not take a chance on. As a result, he has a team who is just as lively and dedicated as he is. On top of it all, Dylan works hard to raise money during Taco Bell Foundation fundraisers, to help break down barriers to educate and inspire the next generation of leaders.
• Ravendra Persaud – Franchise Organization, Bravo Foods LLC
  Ravendra truly cares about his team and guests. He focuses on his team to make sure everyone has the opportunity to Live Más. Recently, Ravendra found out he had a team member who was homeless, attending high school during the day, working at Taco Bell in the evening, and sleeping outdoors at night. Ravendra found a way to provide her temporary shelter until she found permanent living arrangements. He has been a role model to our young leaders who want to grow.
• Wilson Dixson - Franchise Organization, Tacala, LLC
  Wilson takes the helpful leadership approach, asking, “what can I do to help.” He is always looking to help each team member fulfill his or her dream. Through one-on-ones, he discovers what drives each team member and junior manager and engages them, recognizes them, and rewards them. It's more than vision with him, it is about connecting and being a dream maker. Wilson is a tireless warrior and "mother hen" for not only his team, but his entire area of colleagues.
• Caleigh Lindley - Franchise Organization, ABTB Louisville LLC
  Caleigh truly has great passion for what she does, and approaches difficult situations with determination, hard work and integrity. She not only leads her team by example, but also develops great leaders and team members through constant coaching, feedback and personal recognition. Caleigh works side by side with her team in order to attain the best results and finds time to serve in her community. She volunteers to feed the homeless, donates her time to get schools ready for kids, collects Xmas cards for seniors in hospitals, raises money for the Light for Levi program, helps feed the Boys & Girls Club of Louisville, has donated 250 burritos for kids in need, and more!
• Bobby Green - Franchise Organization, Tacala Tennessee Corp.
  Bobby Green started his career with Tacala back in 2015 as a team member and has since moved quickly up the ranks. Bobby thrives by tackling staffing and creating a culture the team loves. In 2020 and 2021, Bobby continued to excel by finishing the year in the Top 20%, winning Tacala’s North Star Award and receiving the highest Taco Bell honor, Golden Bell, a recognition trip for high performing general managers. Bobby is also a proud supporter of the local Boys & Girls Club of Cleveland. Bobby continuously collects donations and gives back to his employees inside of the restaurant by daily recognition and rewarding the talent throughout his restaurant.
• Chris Schleicher - Franchise Organization, Charter Foods North, LLC
  Chris is always willing to help in any situation and volunteers to do more for others and to help everyone in any way he can. Chris has organized several successful events, such as a carwash, basket raffle events, penny wars, and more, in order to raise money for his organization. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Chris regularly donated free tacos to nurses, and other essential health care workers. Chris has a heart for others, and it shows!
• Casey Morrison - Taco Bell Corp.
  Casey loves to focus on customer service and is always helping others. She operated a trunk or treat and organized coloring contests for local schools. To encourage reading and creativity in the coloring contests, Casey donated the prize money from her own salary. She has helped people who were struggling with work by finding them housing, providing meals, etc. Casey donates her time to others, but still finds time to be an amazing parent to two little ones.
• Hanah Porter - Franchise Organization, K-Mac Enterprises, Inc.
  Hanah is hard-working and caring. She will work above and beyond making sure her store has the support it needs and always does it with a big smile. She has helped three of her employees get their GEDs. Hanah constantly gives co-workers rides to work so they can be on time for their shift, or so they don’t have to walk in the cold weather.
• Elizabeth Raddatz - Franchise Organization, Black River Bells, LLC
  Elizabeth cares greatly about her staff. She is always ready to be a listening ear and helps teach her restaurant leaders how to better support the restaurant staff. She reaches out to the community to find employees and uses the current employees' network to create a better restaurant culture. On her time off, Elizabeth takes advantage of Taco Bell’s partnership with Guild Education to complete her human resources degree and grow her position.
• Bernard Evans - Franchise Organization, Tacala Georgia Corp.
  Bernard embodies Taco Bell’s culture by being a "Here to Serve" leader. He has consistently trained and developed other leaders and helped team members excel in their role. For his community, Bernard attends the Annual Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year ceremonies for young local teens that have been mentored and sponsored by local Taco Bell restaurants and their teams. On top of that, Bernard is a two-time recipient of the Taco Bell Foundation's Live Más Scholarship, pursuing an associate degree in Information Technology.
• Jennifer Wilber - Franchise Organization, J.P.M., Inc.
  Jennifer (known as Stella) always goes above and beyond in all parts of her life, not just at work. According to her peers, she provides the best feedback, advice, and work environment that she possibly can. She loves her team, store and customers, and makes it her mission to make sure that no one will ever feel left out or unnoticed in her store. She gives to local charities and welcomes large group meetings into our store, so they have somewhere safe, and warm/cool to have their meetings.
• Enrique Martinez - Franchise Organization, Tacala, LLC
  Enrique strives each day to motivate and keep everything in his restaurant up to date. He challenges his team to be the best and strives for speed to provide the best customer service possible. He is also generous in his community, giving out food to the less fortunate, providing employees with rides to work, work shoes, and even haircuts.
• Jordan Taylor - Franchise Organization, Charter Central, LLC
  At the end of 2021, Jordan became one of the youngest general managers in his area, being 18 years old. He always stays positive and has led his store to become one of the top 100 Golden Bell Winners of 2021. To keep up team morale and make his restaurant a fun and exciting place to work, Jordan holds in-store competitions. Along with this, his store has donated multiple times to the local firefighters and organizations throughout West Virginia.
• Micaela Harris - Franchise Organization, KBP Bells, LLC
  Micaela eats, sleeps, and breathes Taco Bell. Micaela was recently promoted to the general manager position. With her strong track record of fostering a collaborative team environment, several of her employees are begging to return to work for the opportunity to work under her leadership. She is hungry for growth and knowledge. She asks the right questions and is always willing to jump in and help. When not working, Micaela is a part of a local homeless drive, that takes donations of coats, clothing, and toiletries to give out, as well as making sandwiches and hot cocoa for those the drive serves.
• Andrew German - Franchise Organization, SD Bell, Inc.
  Andrew never gives up. When he dropped out of school due to financial uncertainty, he poured himself into his work at Taco Bell. In 2020, Andrew received a Live Más Scholarship and was able to go back to university to study psychology with a goal of helping young people navigate complex mental health issues. Andrew advocates for more mental health support for young people and is paving an educational and career path for himself to someday help. Outside of work, Andrew is a passionate dancer and dance teacher, and he creates a safe space for young people in his local community to express themselves. He is well-loved by his Taco Bell Team Members, and he is so creative!
• Nina Atkins - Franchise Organization, Hot Tacos, Inc.
  Nina shares great pride of Taco Bell with her customers, community, and team. In a short period of time, she has continued to build the knowledge, skill set, and culture needed to succeed within her area. Her hard work, dedication, and support for her team has earned the respect of her team members, peers and her community. Her energy and passion drive the culture in her restaurants and have helped her raise over $40,000 for the Taco Bell Foundation. In addition, she has participated in various charitable events in her community from providing meals to the local hospital workers to sponsoring community events.
• Jesus Mendez - Franchise Organization, Luihn VantEdge Partners, LLC
  Since September 2021, Jesus has shown significant dedication to his job and consistently works to be creative and innovative every day. He is a great communicator and always willing to give ideas on how to improve. Jesus goes above and beyond when needed and has an active “can do” attitude for all things Taco Bell. He is very pro-active in his fundraising efforts and consistently motivates his team to fundraise year-round.
• Max Dumlao – Taco Bell Corp.
  Max is an inspirational leader, who is unapologetically himself and someone who many people look up to. He looks at life through an optimistic lens and always sees the best in every situation. Max is an inspiration to all people of every community and especially the LGBTQIA+ community by being nonbinary, supportive and proud. He has a TikTok account with over 40,000 followers and posts creative content that ties humor with the message to ‘be yourself’.
• Eric Vidrine - Franchise Organization, BDE Florida LLC
  Eric is a vibrant and determined leader. He believes in empowering his team to be independent and critical thinkers through his strategic leadership approach. Eric is funny, creative, a trailblazer and leads the way for his team. He participates in the local community by providing underprivileged high school youth the opportunity to work at Taco Bell. Eric also makes donations to the nurses, doctors and staff at the John Hopkin's All Children's Hospital in Saint Petersburg.
• Kyle Dumas - Franchise Organization, Hot Tacos, Inc.
  Kyle is generous - he helps his employees by buying those less fortunate work attire. He gave 100 meals and care packages to a local organization that helps those in need. Kyle also works closely with local organizations to not only volunteer, but to help employ those looking for work at his Taco Bell.
• Braden Ratliff - Franchise Organization, G-Made, Inc.
  Braden portrays a strong work ethic and people first mentality. Since starting at Taco Bell, he quickly moved through the ranks at Taco Bell and now helps train teams, open new stores and bring the Live Más culture alive everywhere he goes. Outside of Taco Bell he takes part in the Toys for Tots program, donates to Junior Achievement, and tells his story of success with other kids similar in age in hopes of inspiring them.
• Katelyn Stone - Franchise Organization, Charter Central, LLC
  Katelyn comes into her store every day with a positive attitude and always ready to start the day off right. She strives to have a great culture in the restaurant and makes sure everyone enjoys the time while they work. In her spare time, Katelyn makes custom mugs and t-shirts and gives the profit from those to help the local humane society in her area. With this, she is able to sponsor the Humane Society’s animal adoptions to help give animals a forever home.
• Joshua Hillel - Taco Bell Corp.
  Joshua keeps an upbeat attitude and is respected by those around him. Throughout the year he donates blood, frequently donates food to food pantries and gives out necessities to the homeless. He is very passionate about his work and comes in each day with a bright attitude, ready to tackle whatever comes his way. Joshua leads his team in the direction of success every time he comes to work.
• Monse Romo - Franchise Organization, Grewal Foods, Inc.
  Monse is very passionate about her job and motivates her team to go above and beyond in customer service. She is also heavily involved in community events and strives to create a fun work atmosphere. Every year, Monse volunteers and various events such as the Easter Hunt, 4th of July Picnic, Trunk R' Treat and Christmas Parade.
• Asia Malveaux - Franchise Organization, B & G Lafayette Ventures, LLC
  Asia is a team player - anytime a location is short staffed, Asia is willing to go help. She has great dedication and love for her job, which has led to years of service. She exemplifies great communication skills and teamwork and pushes her team to reach brand standards. Outside of work, Asia volunteers at her local diner to feed the homeless.
• Massiel Pimentel - Franchise Organization, United White Plains LLC
  Massiel embodies the fun, exciting and learning culture of Taco Bell and because of this has quickly developed her role. She makes connections with her peers and increases involvement among the staff, helping the team feel like family. Massiel is an active part of her community, conducting toy drives, giving out school supplies to employees with children and delivering numerous care packages to local hospitals and city municipal employees.

Descriptions were written and submitted by the winners’ peers within their respective franchise organization.

SOURCE Taco Bell