At 30 years old, Kelsey Johnson, marketing director for Domino’s franchisee Checkmate Pizza, has been named one of QSR Magazine’s “25 Young Restaurant Leaders to Watch.”
QSR, a sister publication of PMQ Pizza, launched the list in 2019 to showcase the “new generation of foodservice stars.” This year’s class “shows a QSR industry in transformation,” the publication wrote. “Restaurants are growing, becoming smarter and more connected by execution. These rising talents are leading the charge by translating strategy into action and data into crucial decision-making.”
At 30, Johnson is already a restaurant industry veteran, “with her primary joy being in the pizza space,” according to QSR. In her role at Checkmate Pizza, she “leads strategy for a group of 100 Domino’s franchise locations, ensuring the national brand connects with each local community in creative ways. She worked her way up from manager of corporate operations, where she managed 150 employees across seven stores. Through that role, she helped introduce digital technologies that leadership later considered expanding company-wide.”
Johnson is the QSR list’s only leader from a pizza chain. Other nominees represent brands ranging from Taco Bell, Panera and Krispy Kreme to Bubbakoo’s Burritos and Vicious Biscuit.
