Heritage Restaurant Brands was formed in 2016 with a clear mandate: steward legacy concepts with care while positioning them for long-term growth. The company oversees three family-founded brands with deep industry roots—Huckleberry’s, a Mississippi Bayou–inspired breakfast and lunch concept; Press Quesadilla Grill, a California-influenced, from-scratch kitchen; and Perko’s Cafe Grill, built on classic American comfort fare.
For the leadership team, that responsibility is both protective and progressive. The weight of legacy extends beyond recipes and décor to encompass values, hospitality standards, franchisee relationships, and community ties. At the center of that stewardship is a largely female leadership team spanning marketing, finance, HR, training, and digital—tasked with preserving what guests love while modernizing how the system teaches, coaches, and supports today’s operators.
“We’re more than a business; we represent tradition, trust, and emotional connections for both our guests and franchisees,” says Rachel Mansell, controller. “As a leader, it’s my responsibility to protect brand integrity by preserving core values and maintaining consistency across generations. In my role specifically, I take responsibility for sustaining long-term profitability to ensure we are building a legacy for the future.”
Alignment comes before ambition at Heritage. Growth initiatives are filtered through what leaders describe as a “system-first” lens, with scalability for franchisees serving as the ultimate benchmark. Before any major initiative moves forward, departments collaborate early, mapping operational ripple effects across marketing, finance, HR, training, and digital to ensure ideas can execute at the store level—not just on paper.
That discipline requires restraint. Not every trend or technology warrants immediate adoption, and leaders say part of their responsibility is protecting operators from initiative fatigue. The goal is not constant change, but thoughtful evolution—implemented at a pace franchisees can sustain.
For Mallory Graber, director of digital marketing, that means understanding how a campaign will impact everything from technology infrastructure to operator workload. The question isn’t just whether something will drive traffic, but whether it can be sustained consistently across the system.
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“When priorities compete, alignment comes from asking one question: What best supports our franchisees and our store teams right now? That keeps us focused and unified,” says Nicole Echelard, director of training and development. “In practice, cross-functional alignment looks like shared ownership. Training is often brought in early to help bring projects into execution, identify potential gaps, and ensure communication is clear.”
Franchisees often view change as risk—especially when it impacts operations and profitability. When Heritage brought all three concepts under one banner in 2016, hesitation was natural. Leaders say trust was built through transparency, collaboration, and measurable proof of value—reinforcing the belief that franchisor and franchisees succeed or fail together.
“Deliver the data to show proof of concept and ease doubts,” says Mansell. “Change is growth that directly impacts brand health and allows us to stay relevant and competitive while driving the guest experience. Delivering on promises and celebrating wins builds trust—and turns resistance into advocacy.”
New initiatives are frequently validated in select markets before systemwide rollout, allowing franchisees to see results firsthand before committing. Piloting ideas creates space for feedback, refinement, and shared learning—reducing uncertainty and reinforcing partnership rather than mandate.
One recent example is a cross-functional effort between marketing and IT to overhaul how digital advertising performance was measured. Previously, Google Ads were optimized around page views, treating traffic and transactions the same. By shifting to revenue-based tracking and calculating true return on investment, the team was able to make budget decisions based on actual sales impact—giving franchisees clearer visibility into marketing performance and reducing guesswork.
Launching Press Quesadilla Grill tested that alignment in real time. Unlike modernizing an existing concept, building a brand from scratch required defining everything from operational playbooks and hiring models to brand voice and vendor partnerships—all while ensuring the concept could scale responsibly within a franchise system.
“In 2024, we started a brand-new concept, Press Quesadilla Grill. Every department, from operations to human resources to marketing and purchasing, had to work together to build the brand up from scratch,” says Jacqui Juno, director of human resources and administration. “This project is a huge testament to how well we work together and use our different functions to create a brand from the ground up and ensure each decision we make is a long-term one that will support all of our future franchisees.”
That collaboration extends beyond major initiatives and into daily operations. Mansell and Juno align on workforce planning, benefits strategy, and long-term labor investment—ensuring that financial stewardship never comes at the expense of employee well-being. In a franchise system, that balance directly impacts retention, morale, and ultimately the guest experience.
“Transparency is the cornerstone for building trust, especially from the perspective of a financial controller,” Mansell adds. “Being transparent builds credibility, reinforces integrity, and shows we are committed to the mutual success of ourselves and our franchisees.”
With diverse perspectives shaping the organization, the female-led executive team has cultivated a culture of collaboration, empathy, and strategic foresight. For Mansell, that makes decision-making more inclusive and resilient. It becomes more than a collection of departments—it becomes a unified leadership force.
“We approach challenges with a higher level of empathy and practicality. Whether it’s franchisee concerns, team member realities, or guest expectations, decisions are made with an understanding of real-world impact,” says Reem Fahoum, vice president of marketing and franchising. “We celebrate together, we lean on each other, and we drive the business forward. Our team is one-of-a-kind, and I’m proud to work alongside a strong, thoughtful group of women leaders.”
The result is a leadership culture that sees legacy not as a constraint, but as a responsibility to evolve with intention.
For Heritage Restaurant Brands, success means honoring the past while building a sustainable future. “Fueled by culture and driven by purpose, the women leading the way at Heritage Restaurant Brands define every day what it means to lead with strength and imagination,” says Greg Graber, CEO. “Simply put, they are an inspiration.”
