Franchise Marketing Leaders: It's No Mystery Why These Women are Brand Leaders

In this, our annual Women's Issue, we asked 8 franchise marketing leaders from different-sized brands and industries a series of 10 questions. We asked about their evolving roles, greatest challenges, favorite accomplishments, what advice they might have for aspiring marketing leaders, and where they see the role of the CMO in the next 5 to 10 years. We also asked why they think so many CMOs are women. Well, that seems to have been a mistaken assumption on our part--and we're glad to stand corrected! We learned a lot from their responses, and hope you do too.

In addition to our cover story, be sure to turn to page 38 where you'll find our regularly scheduled CMO Q&A interview. This issue it's with Katherine LeBlanc, CMO at Painting with a Twist, the sip-and-paint franchise that acquired Bottle & Bottega in October. This is a more extensive Q&A than the one we tailored for our annual Women's Issue.

• Andrea Zahumensky joined KFC in 2017. As CMO, she leads marketing, advertising, media, and consumer insights, and the brand’s digital initiatives. View Profile
• Brooke Budke, who joined Title Boxing in 2013, is an extremely passionate brand marketing executive who thrives on driving brand strategy, achieving company goals, leading teams, and leveraging professional resources.
• Christina Bourg, who joined Rotolo’s in 2013, leads all marketing, operations, and training initiatives for the Louisiana-based brand.
• Christina Coy joined Rave Restaurant Group (Pie Five and Pizza Inn) in 2009 and was part of the original team that created Pie Five in 2011.
• Throughout her career, Hope Diaz has focused on uncovering insights and using them to develop bold and effective marketing strategies and campaigns.
• Jodie Conrad leads all marketing and culinary functions at Fazoli’s, including advertising, digital/social media, field marketing, consumer insights, off-premise business development, public relations, and new product development and testing.
• Kristen Majdanics joined the Firehouse Subs marketing team in 2008 as brand manager.
• Lisa Zoellner has served in a variety of marketing and merchandising roles spanning more than 25 years, primarily with franchised brands.