‘I’m proudest of the opportunity to live out servant leadership.’ – Cheryl Bachelder: Part 1
Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
The influential leader we will learn from this month is Cheryl Bachelder. Cheryl built a highly successful career with companies like Life Savers, Domino’s Pizza, and Popeyes® Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., but a career in business was not what she originally envisioned for herself when she started college. In this episode, Cheryl and I talk through successes that she considers are defining to who she became as a professional Christian woman and who she is today.
Cheryl Bachelder is a passionate, purpose-led business leader — the former CEO of Popeyes® Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. From 2007 to 2017, she led the transformation of a tired brand and discouraged organization into a top-performing quick service restaurant chain. The story of the Popeyes success is chronicled in her book Dare to Serve: How to drive superior results by serving others. Cheryl’s earlier career included brand leadership roles at Yum Brands, Domino’s Pizza, RJR Nabisco, The Gillette Company and Procter & Gamble.
Today Cheryl’s aim is to encourage and invest in senior leaders, helping them to understand and implement Dare to Serve leadership in for-profit and non-profit workplaces.
Cheryl serves as a director and chair of the compensation committee at US Foods Holding Corp (USFD). She is currently the lead independent director at Chick-fil-A, Inc. She is an advisor to Procter & Gamble’s franchising venture, Tide Dry Cleaners. She is a member of CEO Forum, an organization that encourages and disciples Christian CEOs and senior leaders. She is a mentor to ministries that develop future Christian leaders: Spring Hill Camps, Crossroad Farms, Work Matters, and CRU.
Cheryl holds Bachelor and Masters of Business Administration degrees from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She is married 40+ years to Chris Bachelder and they have three grown daughters, two terrific son-in-laws, and five handsome grandsons. Cheryl and Chris reside in Pinehurst, NC. They are avid learners, fans of the classical education movement, and can always be found reading a good book!