The Alexander Group

Tag: Podcast

Host: Jane Howze, Managing Director, The Alexander Group Guest: Janet Foutty, Former Executive Chairman, Deloitte Series: Impact & Insight, The Alexander Group

Episode Summary

Janet Foutty spent 30 years at Deloitte, ultimately serving as its executive chairman, before shifting her post-Deloitte career toward board work and women’s health advocacy. In this episode, Janet joins Jane Howze to explain why research funding directed at women’s health totals just 2% of all research dollars, how a system historically designed and led by men treated women as “just small men” in medical research, and why she remains optimistic that momentum — including in menopause care and autoimmune research — is starting to close the gap.

Key Takeaways

Q: What percentage of research funding goes to women’s health? A: According to Janet Foutty, research dollars directed at the three categories of women’s health — conditions that only impact women, conditions that disproportionately impact women (such as Alzheimer’s, depression, and autoimmune disease), and conditions that affect women differently (such as heart disease) — total just 2% of overall research funding.

Q: Why has women’s health been so underfunded? A: Janet points to two primary drivers: the healthcare research and investment system was historically designed and led by men, creating an unintended bias that treated women as biologically equivalent to men in clinical contexts; and it wasn’t until roughly 30 years ago that U.S. legislation required equal participation by women in clinical trials — legislation that, she notes, has been only lightly enforced since.

Q: How much shorter is women’s “health span” compared to their lifespan? A: Janet cites data showing that while women live longer than men on average, they spend seven to ten more years in poor health — and that decline often begins in midlife rather than only at the end of life.

Q: What is Janet Foutty optimistic about in women’s health right now? A: She points to two specific areas of momentum: the de-stigmatization of menopause, paired with growing investment in menopause-related medical education and consumer solutions; and deepening research into the sex-based differences underlying autoimmune disease, including work she’s observed at the La Jolla Institute of Immunology in San Diego.

Q: What role can employers play in advancing women’s health? A: Janet points to two levers: shining a spotlight on the conversation the way mental health was destigmatized in the years following COVID, and pushing for fairer reimbursement structures within employer-driven healthcare systems for conditions that impact women.

Full Conversation

Early Signs of Leadership

Janet didn’t set out with a plan to lead Deloitte — she describes herself in her early career as more drawn to “followership,” helping shape ideas and bring people along, than to formally seeking leadership roles.

Janet Foutty: “I did like helping shape the conversation, help people get excited about an idea… I always wanted to have people along with me.”

Seeing the AI and Technology Shift Coming

Janet’s career path through enterprise technology consulting, then Deloitte’s government business, gave her an early view into how deeply technology — and eventually AI — would reshape business. She credits her focus on data as a consistent through-line, well before AI became central to the broader business conversation.

Leaving Deloitte Without a Plan

Janet says she left Deloitte at the end of her elected term as chair without a defined next step. Most inbound opportunities were adjacent to her past work in professional services, law firms, and government contracting — which pushed her to be deliberate about choosing a different path rather than defaulting to “more of the same.”

Janet Foutty: “I had to be much more deliberate… do I really want to do something different?”

Finding Her “Major and Minor”

Janet describes organizing her post-Deloitte time using a “major, minor, and extracurricular” framework: women’s leadership remained an extracurricular, while enterprise technology/AI workforce issues and women’s health became her two primary focus areas.

A Personal Connection to Women’s Health

Janet had breast cancer in her late 30s and says she had exceptional access to resources during treatment — access she recognized not all women have. That experience, combined with prior work with the nonprofit Bright Pink on early cancer prevention and detection, shaped her decision to focus on closing gaps in women’s health funding and research.

Janet Foutty: “I realized that early prevention and detection… was something that not all women had the privilege that I did to navigate.”

Defining the Three Categories of Women’s Health

Janet breaks women’s health into three categories: conditions that only impact women (breast and ovarian cancer, pregnancy, menopause); conditions that disproportionately impact women, such as Alzheimer’s, depression, and autoimmune disease, where women make up more than 70% of those affected; and conditions that affect women differently, such as heart disease and heart attack.

Why the Research Gap Exists

Janet attributes the funding gap to two root causes: a healthcare research and investment system historically designed and led by men, which led to an unintended assumption that women were biologically “just small men”; and the late and inconsistently enforced requirement for equal representation of women in clinical trials, established roughly 30 years ago. She also notes that including women in clinical trials carries added cost — for example, mandatory pregnancy testing for women of childbearing age — which has historically discouraged their inclusion.

The Investment Gap Beyond R&D

Beyond research and clinical trials, Janet points to a parallel gap in venture capital investment, driven by a historical perception that women’s health was a “niche” category rather than a market representing more than half the population.

Signs of Momentum and Optimism

Janet describes herself as fundamentally optimistic, citing growing attention to the “health span versus lifespan” conversation and the potential for AI to help close decades of underinvestment. She points to Women’s Health Access Matters (WAM), a nonprofit that has built the economic case for investing in women’s health, as a source of continued optimism.

Where the Science Is Moving Fastest

Janet highlights two specific areas of active progress: the de-stigmatization and increased investment in menopause care and education, including a project she’s involved with to educate medical students and residents on menopause; and deepening research into sex-based differences in autoimmune disease, including work underway at the La Jolla Institute of Immunology in San Diego.

The Employer’s Role

Janet draws a parallel to how mental health became destigmatized in the workplace following COVID-19, arguing that women’s health can follow a similar trajectory through visible leadership, education, and reimbursement reform within employer-driven healthcare systems.

What Still Needs to Happen

Janet closes by emphasizing that despite growing attention, investment in women’s health remains “wildly underscaled.” She argues the broader healthcare ecosystem needs to understand that investing in women’s health delivers both improved health outcomes and measurable economic returns.

Janet Foutty: “When women are healthy, that our society writ large is healthier.”

Pull-Quote Highlights

“The reality is those years of poorer health start for women sometimes in early life, but certainly in midlife.” — Janet Foutty, Former Executive Chairman, Deloitte

“Women are not just small men.” — Janet Foutty, on historical bias in medical research

“Investing in women’s health is not niche.” — Janet Foutty, citing research from Women’s Health Access Matters (WAM)

Stats & Data Points

  • Research funding directed at women’s health totals approximately 2% of overall research dollars
  • Women spend 7 to 10 more years in poor health than men, on average, despite living longer overall
  • Women make up more than 70% of those affected by conditions like Alzheimer’s, depression, and autoimmune disease
  • Equal participation by women in U.S. clinical trials was only legally required roughly 30 years ago
  • Women’s Health Access Matters (WAM) published its foundational business case for investing in women’s health approximately six years ago

Guest & Host Bios

Host: Jane Howze is Managing Director of The Alexander Group, an executive search firm specializing in senior leadership placements for elite law firms, professional services firms, and life sciences organizations.

Guest: Janet Foutty is the former Executive Chairman of Deloitte, where she spent 30 years, including leading Deloitte’s technology and government businesses before being elected chair of the firm. She now focuses on board service, enterprise technology and AI workforce issues, and women’s health, including involvement with the Milken Women’s Health Care Initiative and Women’s Health Access Matters (WAM).

Related Resources

Host: Jane Howze, Managing Director, The Alexander Group Guest: Katherine Lambert, Executive, Alzheimer’s Association; The Alexander Group Alumni Series: Impact & Insight, The Alexander Group

Episode Summary

Katherine Lambert, a former Alexander Group team member now serving as an executive with the Alzheimer’s Association, joins Jane Howze to mark Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. Katherine explains how Alzheimer’s diagnosis has evolved from autopsy-only confirmation to FDA-approved blood tests, why annual NIH research funding has grown from roughly $500 million to nearly $4 billion over the past decade, and how a new infusion treatment is showing promise in slowing disease progression when caught early. She also shares practical guidance on brain health, risk factors, and where to find help.

Key Takeaways

Q: How common is Alzheimer’s disease? A: According to Katherine Lambert, Alzheimer’s affects one out of nine adults over 65 and one-third of adults over 85 — a prevalence comparable to breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.

Q: How has Alzheimer’s diagnosis changed over the past decade? A: A decade ago, an accurate diagnosis was largely only possible through autopsy, with clinicians relying on symptoms and, later, invasive lumbar punctures. Diagnostics progressed to non-invasive but expensive PET imaging, and in the past year and a half, the FDA has approved blood tests for Alzheimer’s — dramatically improving accessibility.

Q: Is Alzheimer’s hereditary? A: Less than 5% of cases involve a dominantly inherited gene that guarantees onset at a predictable age. For the general population, a gene called APOE4 — inherited from one, both, or neither parent — increases risk but does not guarantee the disease. Lifestyle intervention can meaningfully offset genetic risk factors.

Q: Is there now an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s? A: Yes. An FDA-approved infusion drug (referred to in the episode by its brand name, Leqembi) works on the underlying biology of Alzheimer’s and slows disease progression when used in the earliest stages. It is currently in additional clinical trials to test whether it can prevent symptoms in people who carry the underlying biology but are still asymptomatic.

Q: What can people do today to reduce their Alzheimer’s risk or support someone affected by it? A: Katherine points to the U.S. POINTER clinical trial, which found that people following a structured program of diet, exercise, social engagement, and cognitive stimulation had brains that measured chronologically almost two years younger than a self-guided comparison group after two years. She also recommends the Alzheimer’s Association’s 24/7 helpline (1-800-272-3900), workplace brain health assessments, and the Association’s community walks, held in more than 600 communities nationwide.

Full Conversation

From Youth Nonprofits to the Alzheimer’s Association

Katherine Lambert spent most of her nonprofit career working with youth and children before her father’s mild cognitive impairment diagnosis drew her toward the Alzheimer’s Association, where she has now served for more than a decade.

Katherine Lambert: “So many families we’ve walked this journey with, so much progress that it keeps me intrigued and engaged every single day.”

A Decade of Diagnostic Progress

When Katherine started, an accurate Alzheimer’s diagnosis was largely confirmed only through autopsy. The field has since moved through lumbar puncture testing, non-invasive but costly PET imaging, and — within the last year and a half — FDA-approved blood tests.

The Funding Behind the Breakthroughs

NIH research investment in Alzheimer’s has grown from roughly $500 million a year just over a decade ago to nearly $4 billion annually today, a shift Katherine ties directly to the pace of recent breakthroughs.

Prevalence and Disparities

Alzheimer’s affects one in nine adults over 65 and one-third of adults over 85. Women are disproportionately affected both as patients and as caregivers; the African-American population is affected at twice the rate, and the Hispanic/Latino population at one and a half times the rate, of Caucasian older adults. Research into menopause and female hormones as contributing factors is ongoing.

The U.S. POINTER Study on Lifestyle Intervention

A multi-site clinical trial — including a location in the Houston area — compared a structured intervention (diet, exercise, social and cognitive stimulation) against a self-guided approach. After two years, the structured group’s brains measured chronologically almost two years younger than the self-guided group’s.

Katherine Lambert: “The older I get, one or two years — that wouldn’t have sounded exciting in my 30s. But in my 50s, I’d love to go back a few years and be as sharp as I was then.”

Distinguishing Forgetfulness From Cognitive Impairment

Katherine explains that ordinary forgetfulness — losing your keys, blanking momentarily — is generally not concerning if you can backtrack and recall the context. Warning signs are behaviors that are unusual for that specific person, such as a lifelong skilled cook suddenly struggling with a familiar recipe.

A New Infusion Treatment and Its Limits

The infusion drug referenced in the episode targets and clears amyloid plaque before it forms clumps and tangles, and is currently most effective in the earliest stages of the disease. Barriers to access include long neurologist wait times, the need to be near an infusion center, and, until recently, a lack of insurance coverage — an issue the Alzheimer’s Association successfully advocated to change for Medicare, with private insurers following.

Katherine Lambert: “It is game-changing in it… but there are not as many people on it as we would like.”

Advocacy and Research Funding

The Alzheimer’s Association is the largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s research and recently brought 1,000 volunteer advocates from all 50 states to Washington, D.C. Current advocacy priorities include Medicare coverage for the new FDA-approved blood test.

Music, Dance, and Brain Health

Katherine cites music and dance therapy as effective tools for calming agitation and re-engaging nonverbal patients, and highlights dance in particular for combining physical activity, social interaction, and cognitive engagement (remembering steps and sequences) as a risk-reduction activity.

Where Alzheimer’s Research Is Happening

Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, originated the U.S. POINTER study and is a hub for risk-reduction and lifestyle-intervention research, though Katherine notes that meaningful work is happening at research centers across the country.

How Listeners Can Help

Katherine points listeners to the Alzheimer’s Association’s 24/7 helpline (1-800-272-3900), staffed by licensed clinicians; corporate brain health wellness assessments and lunch-and-learn sessions; and the Association’s community walks, held in more than 600 communities nationwide.

Pull-Quote Highlights

“There now are options, and I think there are even more coming in the coming years, that can really change how we proceed with this.” — Katherine Lambert, Executive, Alzheimer’s Association

“Anything we’re doing to stretch our brain and do that differently… has a protective quality to it.” — Katherine Lambert, on daily brain-health habits

Stats & Data Points

  • Alzheimer’s affects 1 in 9 adults over 65, and 1 in 3 adults over 85
  • Annual NIH research investment has grown from approximately $500 million to nearly $4 billion over the past decade
  • Women are disproportionately affected as both patients and caregivers
  • African-American adults are affected at 2x the rate, and Hispanic/Latino adults at 1.5x the rate, of Caucasian older adults
  • In the U.S. POINTER trial, the structured-intervention group’s brains measured nearly 2 years younger, chronologically, than the self-guided group’s after 2 years
  • Fewer than 5% of Alzheimer’s cases involve a dominantly inherited gene
  • 1,000 Alzheimer’s Association volunteer advocates from all 50 states attended a recent D.C. advocacy forum
  • The Alzheimer’s Association operates walks in more than 600 communities nationwide
  • 24/7 helpline: 1-800-272-3900

Guest & Host Bios

Host: Jane Howze is Managing Director of The Alexander Group, an executive search firm specializing in senior leadership placements for elite law firms, professional services firms, and life sciences organizations.

Guest: Katherine Lambert is an executive with the Alzheimer’s Association and a former member of The Alexander Group team. She has worked in the Alzheimer’s space for more than a decade, focusing on research funding, diagnostics, and advocacy.

Related Resources

  • Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 Helpline: 1-800-272-3900
  • Alzheimer’s Association community walks (available in 600+ communities nationwide)
  • U.S. POINTER study (Wake Forest University)

This episode discusses Alzheimer’s disease and caregiving. If you or someone you know is navigating a diagnosis, the Alzheimer’s Association helpline above is available 24/7.

Host: Jane Howze, Managing Director, The Alexander Group Guest: Dawn LaFrieda, Largest Single-Owner Franchisee in Denny’s History Series: Impact & Insight, The Alexander Group

Episode Summary

Dawn LaFrieda bought her first restaurant at 23 using credit cards, tips, and a $10,000 loan from her mother — before women could reliably get business loans. Today she is the largest single-owner franchisee in Denny’s history, operating 62 restaurants that serve more than 2 million diners a year. In this episode, Dawn tells Jane Howze how she scaled from one restaurant to a peak of 92, survived 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, and why she now serves as executive producer of the documentary Show Her the Money, which examines why women receive only 2% of venture capital and private equity funding.

Key Takeaways

Q: How did Dawn LaFrieda finance her first restaurant without a business loan? A: In the early 1980s, women routinely could not get business loans. Dawn applied for every credit card offer she received in the mail, pulling $5,000 at a time across multiple cards. Her business partner secured a small loan from a family member, and Dawn’s mother loaned her under $10,000. The first restaurant was bought entirely on credit cards, tips, and family loans.

Q: How did she grow from 5 restaurants to 62? A: Dawn scaled in stages rather than all at once. She prioritized buying existing restaurants with trained staff already in place over building new locations from the ground up, since existing restaurants cash-flowed faster and didn’t require hiring 100 people at once. She didn’t bring in executive leadership (a director of operations, a controller, an HR person) until she passed 20 stores — before that, she and her business partner ran the day-to-day operations themselves.

Q: What is the biggest advantage of owning a franchise versus an independent restaurant? A: Lenders extend more comfort to franchisees because the franchisor has an interest in keeping locations open. As Dawn explains, if a franchisee fails, brands like Denny’s will work to find a replacement operator so the lender gets repaid — a safety net independent restaurants don’t have. Franchises also provide built-in operational support: design teams for remodels, corporate-driven menu development, and standardized recipes and food costing.

Q: What was the hardest period in her 40-year career? A: Dawn cites three major crises: 9/11 (which caused a 30% overnight sales drop from restaurants near airports and set her back seven years financially), the 2008 financial crisis (which froze her ability to refinance debt or close deals for four to five years), and the COVID-19 pandemic, which was the worst of the three — she had under 24 hours to close all 92 of her open restaurants and lost $1 million in food inventory overnight.

Q: What percentage of venture capital and private equity funding goes to women-led businesses? A: According to Show Her the Money, the documentary Dawn executive produced, women receive only about 2% of venture capital and private equity funding, compared to roughly 8% for men-led businesses.

Full Conversation

From Waitress to Restaurant Owner

Dawn grew up with limited financial resources and decided by age 10 that she would own her own company. She started at Denny’s as a hostess, negotiated her way into a server role to earn tips, and bought her first restaurant at 23 in a small West Texas mining town that Denny’s corporate didn’t want to convert.

Dawn LaFrieda: “I knew that if I was ever going to become anything, I would have to do something on my own… I never wanted to have to worry about money.”

Financing Without a Business Loan

As a woman in the early 1980s, Dawn could not secure conventional business loans. She financed her first restaurant purchase through credit cards, tip savings, and small family loans.

Dawn LaFrieda: “So no, we didn’t get any loans.”

The Random Encounter That Taught Her to Borrow Money

In 1986, a stranger overheard Dawn being denied financing for a $3,500 fax machine and offered to personally loan her money at a high interest rate, gradually increasing the loan size as she repaid — from $10,000, to $25,000, to $100,000 — to help her build a credit history.

Dawn LaFrieda: “That man that I met really taught me how to borrow money… after we get to where I’ve loaned you $100,000 and you’ve paid me back, you’re going to be able to borrow money a lot easier.”

Scaling From 5 to 62 Restaurants

Dawn grew her portfolio in deliberate stages, buying existing restaurants with staff already in place rather than building from scratch, and waiting until she passed 20 stores to bring in executive leadership (a director of operations, a controller, an HR professional).

Surviving Three Major Crises

Over her 40-year career, Dawn navigated three industry-altering shocks:

  • 9/11 (2001): A 30% overnight sales drop from restaurants located near airports, which she says set her business back seven years.
  • The 2008 Financial Crisis: She was mid-flight closing an eight-restaurant acquisition in Kansas City when her bank called to halt the deal due to “material adverse conditions.” Refinancing and new deals were frozen for four to five years.
  • COVID-19 (2020): She had under 24 hours to close all 92 of her open restaurants, lost $1 million in food inventory overnight, and kept employees on payroll during the shutdown.

Dawn LaFrieda: “I called my lender and I said, I am going to be 10 days late on my payments because my sales are down 30%… My lender came to me and said, Don, you are the kind of client we love to have.”

The Post-Pandemic Shift in Customer Behavior

Dawn notes that remote work and the rise of third-party delivery have permanently changed her business — one of her restaurants now does 62% of its business through pickup and delivery, making it difficult to know the age or profile of her customer base the way she once did.

Executive Producing Show Her the Money

Dawn serves as executive producer of the documentary, which highlights that women receive only about 2% of venture capital and private equity funding, versus roughly 8% for men. She agreed to join the project after a stranger overheard her discussing her hesitation on a flight and confirmed the statistic was accurate.

Dawn LaFrieda: “It’s true… women only get about 2%… I think it brings about huge awareness and shows people that we have to invest in women.”

Philanthropy and Community Involvement

Dawn and her team focus giving on a small number of organizations for greater impact, including No Kid Hungry (in partnership with Denny’s Corporate, where Denny’s is the second-largest corporate donor), the Denny’s Mobile Relief Diner (which fed first responders and flood victims in Kerrville, Texas), Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and ProStart, a program training young culinary students for the restaurant industry.

Pull-Quote Highlights

“I never wanted to have to worry about money.” — Dawn LaFrieda, Largest Single-Owner Franchisee in Denny’s History

“That man that I met really taught me how to borrow money.” — Dawn LaFrieda, on the mentor who financed her early growth

“Nobody does it alone.” — Dawn LaFrieda, closing remarks

Stats & Data Points

  • Dawn owns 62 Denny’s restaurants today, serving more than 2 million diners annually
  • At her peak, she operated 92 restaurants simultaneously; she has owned roughly 120 over her career
  • 9/11 caused a 30% overnight sales decline at her airport-adjacent locations
  • The COVID-19 shutdown forced her to close 92 restaurants within 24 hours and cost $1 million in lost food inventory overnight
  • One of her restaurants does 62% of its business through pickup and delivery
  • Women receive approximately 2% of venture capital and private equity funding, versus roughly 8% for men (per Show Her the Money)
  • Denny’s is the second-largest corporate donor to No Kid Hungry

Guest & Host Bios

Host: Jane Howze is Managing Director of The Alexander Group, an executive search firm specializing in senior leadership placements for elite law firms, professional services firms, and life sciences organizations.

Guest: Dawn LaFrieda is the largest single-owner franchisee in Denny’s history, operating a portfolio of restaurants across the country. She has served on the Denny’s brand board, received more than 70 industry awards, and is executive producer of the award-winning documentary Show Her the Money, which examines the gender gap in startup funding. She has also appeared on seasons one through three of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch.

Related Resources

  • Show Her the Money: available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime; more information at showherthemoneymovie.com
  • No Kid Hungry, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, Big Brothers Big Sisters, ProStart — Dawn LaFrieda’s supported nonprofits

Guest: Faith Wheeler, Founder, Faith Wheeler & Company; Author, Chickens Don’t Fly
Host: Jane Howze, Managing Director, The Alexander Group
Episode date: August 12, 2026  |  Run time: 30 minutes

Faith Wheeler, founder of Faith Wheeler & Company and author of the memoir-cookbook Chickens Don’t Fly, joins Jane Howze to discuss what actually keeps restaurants in business. Wheeler traces her path from 1980s advertising into a 16-restaurant portfolio at the $60 million Spectrum Foods group, explains how a menu fix at San Francisco’s Town Hall earned her the nickname “the restaurant doctor,” and shares the mindset shift, trading “I would love to” for “I will,” that led her to publish a 220-page, linen-bound “kitchen table book” a decade in the making.

Key Takeaways

What does Faith Wheeler say is the number one thing that keeps customers coming back to a restaurant?

Recognition — not food quality or research-driven menu design. Wheeler says no matter how much market research a restaurant does, “the number one thing a customer wants” is to feel recognized: a warm greeting, a favorite drink brought without asking, a hand on the table when they arrive. She calls the effect a “mini vacation” that turns a visitor into what she calls a “nucleus customer” who stays loyal as trends change.

How did Faith Wheeler get the nickname “the restaurant doctor”?

The name traces to her PR work at Mitchell Rosenthal’s San Francisco restaurant Town Hall, where general manager Doug Washington asked her to review the menu. She flagged that it had no cheese; the chef pushed back, then created a dish nicknamed “Faith’s melted cheese toast” that became the menu’s top seller — after which the chef started greeting her as “doctor.”

Can a restaurant succeed with mediocre food but great service?

Not for long, Wheeler says, though “mediocre” is relative. She points to the Houston’s restaurant brand as an example of a chain that has thrived on consistency and value rather than culinary surprise, arguing that food, service, staff continuity, and comfort all have to come together for a restaurant to outlast its competitors.

What mindset shift led Faith Wheeler to write Chickens Don’t Fly?

Wheeler says she stopped saying “I would love to,” a phrase she hears often from executives who want a career change, and started saying “I will.” She describes her own career moves not as pivots but as “the new bloom on the plant,” each one growing out of the last, and says the book itself had been “in her brain for 30 years” before she committed to it.

What is a “kitchen table book,” and how is Chickens Don’t Fly structured?

Wheeler coined the term for a cookbook-memoir hybrid meant to live on a kitchen counter rather than a coffee table: a 220-page, linen-bound, four-color book with more than 100 recipes and photographs, printed in Faenza, Italy. The stories are organized around seven locations that shaped her cooking, each paired with recipes and the people behind them, and it took about a year to produce with photographer Clay McLachlan.

From Advertising to a $60 Million Restaurant Group

Jane Howze introduces Faith Wheeler and asks how her hospitality career began.

“Faith is an entrepreneur, she’s an author, and she’s what people would call the restaurant doctor, in that her career in hospitality has impacted and set many a restaurant on its path to success.” Jane Howze

“My career started in my 20s in advertising. When I moved to the Bay Area in 1987, I went from working at Dole Foods as a marketer to Spectrum Foods, which was a $60 million white-tablecloth restaurant company — brands like MacArthur Park, Chow, and Prego. I had 16 different restaurants, and I just loved that job so much.” Faith Wheeler

Starting Faith Wheeler & Company

After having a baby, Wheeler left Spectrum to start her own firm, taking much of the talent network she’d built with her.

“As my husband aptly said, there was a new sheriff in town, so it was time to reconsider my nights in the restaurants. I started my own company, and Faith Wheeler and Company was fortunate to pick up all the general managers who were ready to start their own stores.” Faith Wheeler

How She Became “The Restaurant Doctor”

Wheeler explains the origin of her industry nickname, rooted in a menu fix at Mitchell Rosenthal’s Town Hall.

“There’s a wonderful story from Town Hall, where Mitchell Rosenthal had hired me to do PR. The general manager, Doug Washington, asked me to look at the menu because I was very good at analyzing menus. I came back and said, this menu doesn’t have any cheese on it and the public loves cheese. The chef was angry, but he went back and put a dish on the menu he named after me, Faith’s Melted Cheese Toast, and it became the number one selling item. That’s when he said, okay, doctor.” Faith Wheeler

What Actually Makes a Restaurant Succeed

Wheeler argues recognition, not research, is what keeps customers loyal and that consistency beats novelty over time.

“Understanding your customer is so important that, no matter how much research you do, you learn that the number one thing a customer wants is recognition. If you go to the same restaurant many times and no one notices you’re there, you’re less apt to care for the place, versus if you get a warm embrace.” Faith Wheeler

“I’ll use Houston’s as an example. I’d argue they’ve done enormously well because of their value and their consistency — all the pieces of the puzzle they’ve pulled together. Consistency, a strong food program, that warm embrace, terrific service, comfortable chairs — it all comes together.” Faith Wheeler

Staffing, Turnover, and Culture

Asked through TAG’s recruiting lens, Wheeler says front-of-house turnover is normal — only her business partners are expected to stay for the long haul.

“One can’t count on all of those people as lifers unless they’re part owners of that store. The front of the house especially turns over often. I would only expect my partners to stick with me forever. If my chef leaves, I would hope my first-in-line cook would take that role, and hopefully the consumer wouldn’t notice the difference.” Faith Wheeler

The Power of the Pivot: From Restaurant Doctor to Author

Jane Howze asks about “the power of the pivot.” Wheeler reframes the idea entirely.

“I’m not even sure I see my career moves as pivots. I see them as the new bloom on the plant — they’re all interrelated, but each one forms from the piece before. Writing a book was something that was in my brain for 30 years. I think pivoting, or even realizing your dreams, starts from an undying feeling that you must. Not ‘I would love to,’ but ‘I’m going to, somehow, some way.’” Faith Wheeler

“The one thing I love about the book is there’s an underlying resonance of courage on every chapter.”Jane Howze

“If you read the book, I’m very big on the word courage. It starts with ‘care,’ which is French for heart. I let my gut and my heart drive — that separates me from a lot of rational people.” Faith Wheeler

Building Chickens Don’t Fly: A “Kitchen Table Book”

Wheeler describes the book’s structure and the year-long production process.

“The recipes have been kicking around for a very long time — some go back to my childhood, some were iterated from chefs I worked with. The stories are based on seven locations I either lived in or that influenced my cooking, and it was easy to break the book up by location and let the recipes follow the stories.” Faith Wheeler

“There were times I did six setups in a day, flying all over the place to get the right shots. My fantastic photographer, Clay McLachlan, got a call in October saying we didn’t have enough assets and had to go to New York and Nashville for a three-day turnaround. It’s a big project when you’re working on a four-color book with over 100 photos and recipes.” Faith Wheeler

Where to Find the Book — and What’s Next

Wheeler closes with upcoming signings, where readers can buy the book, and her next travel destination.

“I’m all lined up at Hudson Grace in New York City on the 17th of September, the 18th in Greenwich, Connecticut — another Hudson Grace opportunity — and the first of October I’m in a brand-new store for me called Books by the Bay, a Sausalito bookstore that also runs a wonderful 501(c)(3) called Literacy by the Bay.” Faith Wheeler

Highlights

“No matter how much research you do, you learn that the number one thing a customer wants is recognition.” Faith Wheeler, Founder, Faith Wheeler & Company

“I don’t even know if I see my career moves as pivots. I see them as the new bloom on the plant.” Faith Wheeler, Author, Chickens Don’t Fly

“It starts with ‘care,’ which is French for heart. I let my gut and my heart drive.” Faith Wheeler, Founder, Faith Wheeler & Company

By the Numbers

  • $60 million — size of Spectrum Foods, the white-tablecloth restaurant group where Wheeler managed 16 restaurants before starting her own firm
  • 16 — restaurants under Wheeler’s management at Spectrum Foods
  • 220 pages — length of Chickens Don’t Fly, a four-color, linen-bound book printed in Faenza, Italy
  • 100+ — recipes and photographs featured in the book
  • ~1 year — production time for the book, after roughly 30 years of the idea taking shape
  • 8 completed, 3 upcoming — book signings held or scheduled as of the recording, including Hudson Grace (NYC, Sept. 17; Greenwich, CT, Sept. 18) and Books by the Bay (Sausalito, Oct. 1)

About Faith Wheeler

Faith Wheeler is the founder of Faith Wheeler & Company and the author of Chickens Don’t Fly, a 220-page “kitchen table book” that blends memoir, cookbook, and career-reinvention story. Known in the San Francisco restaurant industry as “the restaurant doctor,” she built her career managing 16 restaurants for the $60 million Spectrum Foods group before founding her own hospitality consultancy and working with restaurateur Mitchell Rosenthal’s San Francisco restaurant Town Hall.

About Jane Howze

Jane Howze is Managing Director of The Alexander Group, an executive search firm specializing in senior leadership roles for law firms, professional services firms, and life sciences organizations.

More From Impact & Insight

Barnet Bain is an Academy Award–winning filmmaker, author of How to Be a Friend, and a thought leader at the intersection of creativity, connection, and human potential.

Best known for producing What Dreams May Come, Bain has spent his career exploring how stories shape not only what we see on screen, but how we relate to one another in everyday life. In conversation, he brought that perspective to leadership, arguing that the quality of our professional impact is inseparable from the quality of our relationships.

Bain’s discussion with Managing Director Jane Howze offers a compelling reminder that success is not only measured by outcomes but also by the strength of the relationships that make those outcomes possible.

Find Bain’s book here.

Listen to the full episode to hear Barnet Bain’s insights on friendship, creativity, and the human side of leadership.

Vimeo

Spotify

Apple

The legal industry is experiencing one of the most significant eras of change in its history. In this episode of Impact and Insight, Managing Director, The Alexander Group and Principal of SFK Advisors LLC, Sally King—a respected advisor and former COO to several top global law firms—shares how leadership, culture, and technology are reshaping the way elite firms operate. From the rise of business-focused C-suite roles to the disruptive force of AI, Sally brings a practical perspective on what firms must do today to thrive tomorrow.

Listen to the Impact & Insight Podcast on Spotify.

Watch the Impact & Insight Podcast on Vimeo.

With the holidays approaching and gatherings of all kinds filling up the calendar, politics is sure to creep into conversation.

Spreading good cheer and civility can be challenging, so Managing Director Jane Howze turned to Mike Mower for his thoughts on how to create peaceful exchanges with family and friends this holiday season for Episode Two of the Impact & Insight podcast.

Mower is the Senior Advisor of Community Outreach and Intergovernmental Affairs for Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox and is widely respected for his roles serving with Provo Mayor Lewis Billings, Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, and Congressmen Howard Nielson and Chris Cannon.

He shares highlights of his political career and how to truly make the holidays merry and bright—regardless of political affiliation.

It’s a wonderfully encouraging and insightful conversation, with wisdom for all.

Click here to listen on Spotify.

Click here to watch on Vimeo.

The Alexander Group introduces its first podcast, “Impact & Insight: Leadership, Perspective, Change,” a conversation with innovators, change-makers, and leaders from diverse industries and interests.

Managing Director Jane Howze kicks off The Alexander Group’s inaugural podcast with Cynthia Jamison, Public Company Chairman and Author of “Shards in My Hair: Tales from Breaking the Glass Ceiling.”

Shards in My Hair is a lighthearted yet cautionary tale about what it means to make it to the top echelons of business.

Cindie Jamison rose from entry-level training programs to chair multiple public company boards of directors-along the way encountering the lessons and pitfalls that inevitably occur over the course of a career. As a finance executive, she endured tough bosses, bad jobs, “you can’t make this stuff up” adventures, and colorful characters along the way.

As a single mom, she struggled financially, emotionally, and logistically to raise four boys. The combination of the two makes for a ride that will entertain, teach, scare, and thrill you.

Her light touch and self-deprecating approach make this book fun to read, laugh-out-loud funny—yet still achingly personal and vividly instructional for anyone trying to balance it all and climb the corporate ladder.

Find Cynthia’s book at the following locations:

⁠https://www.cindiejamison.com/⁠

⁠www.amazon.com⁠

⁠www.booksamillion.com

www.barnesandnoble.com

Find the Impact & Insight Podcast on Vimeo.