R365's Patti Lynn Walker Discusses Raising the Industry Success Rate with Technology

Tell us about your time working in a restaurant.

A close friend of mine acquired the rights to franchise a concept that, at one time, was a cultural icon in Austin, Texas. We had both worked with restaurant clients in advertising agencies, so we knew how to market a concept and build brand awareness. With that experience under our belts, we figured that the franchisor would be able to guide us from an operational perspective.

Once we got up and running, our restaurant had a wonderful menu and a cult following, which ultimately allowed us to expand to 23 locations. This experience was definitely a memorable adventure–rewarding and grueling all at once. There’s truly nothing like it! I wore many hats at different stages in the adventure, from finance to payroll, human resources, operations, purchasing, training, scouting new locations, coordinating buildout, and of course, marketing. You name it, I’ve done it!

Between the full-service agency experience and my time as a franchisee, I’ve been on both sides of the franchising equation and understand the challenges faced by both parties.

How did your career path lead you to Restaurant365?

I came to Austin to work at an advertising agency called GSD&M. My account/client was Brinker International, which included Chili’s, Macaroni Grill, On The Border, and several other concepts. This was where I was initially introduced to the restaurant industry.

I left GSD&M when I was presented with an opportunity to oversee a franchise that initially opened on The Drag across from the University of Texas in Austin. This is where I went full throttle into the industry: accounting, operations, payroll, HR, scheduling, menu development, purchasing, scouting new locations, construction, etc. Not just marketing, but overseeing the growth of the franchise.

While still franchising the restaurant chain, we merged with another restaurant group to form a larger company with a portfolio of “Austin Institutions.” This combined company was called Restaurant Freedom, and (in addition to our group of restaurant concepts) we eventually took on local clients to help them manage their businesses via the infrastructure that we already had in place. In short, we offered back-office restaurant services for smaller, local restaurant concepts that didn’t have the bandwidth or leverage that we had as a larger group. I worked with this company for 16 years.

I ended up taking a year off from working to focus on my son during his senior year in high school. He had to audition for different performing arts college programs around the country and I wanted to enjoy that process with him.

I was just about to get my resume updated when I received a call from John Moody, our Co-Founder and Chief Strategist, who had gotten my name from a professional acquaintance. I loved the restaurant adjacent opportunity and fully understood the impact that R365 would have so I jumped at the opportunity to join the adventure.

How does your daily work impact our business and the industry?

Currently, I have the pleasure of overseeing Restaurant365’s event program. We bucket the events into three categories: industry events, brand conferences, and R365 hosted events.

The work we do at these events allows Restaurant365 to engage with customers, prospects, and partners. Our team has the privilege of engaging the industry and building brand awareness, all while spreading the news that Restaurant365 can alleviate pain points and provide the data operators need in a timely manner.