Four different CEOs of hot brands — Alex Dunn of Swig, Elisia Flores of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, Steve Kislow of Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, and Liz Williams of El Pollo Loco — took the stage at CREATE: the Future of Foodservice during the CEO Conversations panel on Thursday in Nashville, Tenn. to discuss branding, leadership, and more.

From Swig learning to lead the way in an entirely new category and Firebrands figuring out how to navigate the temptation of raising prices, here are some key operations lessons.

There are pros and cons to being the inventor of a category

Swig is the innovator behind the “dirty soda” craze in Utah that has now spread to other regions throughout the United States. But while it is a boon to be the first operator within a wildly popular category, it can also be frustrating when competitors selling similar dairy-and-soda concoctions start popping up.

“Swig created a category that is starting to come into its own,” Dunn said. “While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we’d rather they didn’t copy us, and people just came to Swig.”

The challenge for category innovators is to make sure that their invention (like the dirty soda) continues to be associated with the Swig brand, and not that consumers just associate Swig as one of many capitalizing on a trend.

“Lots of people can have success in this space but we’re the fastest growing,” Dunn said. “We’re working hard to make sure people can have the Swig experience wherever they live.”

Stay focused on what you’re good at

A lot of operators are paring down menus to simplify operations, but you don’t have to go that route if your menu is already simple. Swig sells a few snacks, desserts, and dirty sodas with 50 different topping options, with drinks starting at just a couple of dollars.

“What we do is we’re going to stay on focused on what we do and do it well,” Dunn said. “We focus on making sure we provide value– once a consumer comes and tries their brand and finds their drink, it becomes an important part of their day.”

Franchisee culture is paramount

If an operator chooses to franchise, franchisees can make or break a company culture. That’s how Elisia Flores feels about running L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, which is 100% franchised.

“Our edge is the franchisees we bring in,” Flores said, adding that she makes every franchisee—even the ones that live far away on the mainland—visit Hawaii before opening up their store. “When you think about foundational Hawaiian values — you hear aloha and ohana — we live it every day.”

In fact, Flores said, it’s just as important for potential franchisees to fit in with the family-first, and community-centric culture, as it is to be a financial fit.

“I look for the franchisee that’s coming in and telling me these stories of wanting to open this up for their kids or bring the brand to their community,” she said. “That’s what we look for.”

Not taking price can be a differentiator

As pricing continues to be a hot topic of debate, with some operators choosing to raise their prices to combat other high costs, and others opting to delve into deep discounting, it can be a tough decision to remain steadfast in your pricing strategy instead. This is exactly what Firebirds has tried to do in the face of a tough consumer environment.

“I think a lot of others in the polished-casual space have started to take price and are now much closer to that fine-dining category,” Kislow said. “Price is part of the value equation, but it’s not the whole thing. We try to offer value through the type and quality of food that we offer and the quality of a polished-casual dining experience.”  

With that goal in mind, Kislow said that they don’t really lean into discounting or LTOs, and instead might offer a three-course meal for a special price.

Create hype when entering a new market

One of the most challenging parts of being an emerging or even a mid-sized brand is how to introduce new potential customers to the brand. El Pollo Loco prefers to do that as organically as possible through people who become fans and want to promote the brand naturally on social media channels.

“When we go into a new market, it’s about educating consumers and driving awareness,” Williams said. “There are so many ways we can do that, whether it’s social media or digital media– the fans love hyping up the brand and there’s a huge opportunity to leverage that.”

Williams said that it’s not really the same if you hire influencers or outside marketers to hype up the brand:

“When something goes viral, it’s just so much more special than when it’s too produced,” she added.

Be bold and lead with empathy

The CEO Conversations panel closed out with each other four CEOs discussing their leadership strategies, and two words kept coming up. Kislow said it is important to lead with empathy, while Dunn emphasized boldness and confidence:

“One of the things I regret looking over my career is that I wish I would have been more bold,” Dunn said. “It took me a while. I would think things in my head and be embarrassed to say them out loud. I’m now bold in establishing what can be.”