Cinnabon’s 35-year-old chief, Kat Cole, has always worked on the naughtier side of the food industry.
Before being named Cinnabon president three years ago, where she oversees a business with $1 billion-plus in sales, she worked at Hooters in Jacksonville, Fla., when she was still in high school. At 16, wanting to earn money to buy a car, Cole greeted Hooters customers at the door and cleared tables.
At 18, Cole became a Hooters Girl, dressed in tiny orange shorts and a revealing top, serving beer and chicken wings.
She became a Hooters bartender, then a manager trainer, and started work on a college degree in engineering.
Hooters then asked the 20-year-old Cole to open franchises around the world.
Such was the start of a 16-year career at the bawdy restaurant chain, where she ultimately became an executive vice president.
One of the biggest lessons she learned from the experience was to never try to hide what makes a company unique.
“The central piece of the business model was the girls,” Cole says. “You can’t ever try to hide it, or say, ‘Come to Hooters, it’s all about the food.’ The fact is, the focus was the Hooters Girls, and that is what made it special.”
When Cole was promoted to the executive suite, she dropped her engineering studies, but she was able to earn her MBA from Georgia State University, even without a bachelor’s degree.
To get accepted into the MBA program, she had chief executives and business leaders in Atlanta (including Ted Turner) write letters of recommendation.
Cole said that, like Hooters, Cinnabon, a cinnamon bun sold in malls and airports around the world, has been hit with criticism.
But she is unfazed. “One of the reasons the brand is getting so much attention and excitement and a cult following is we don’t hide from what we are,” Cole says. “We are proud [that] we are an indulgence. We’re a premium product and so over-the-top indulgent that we stay special.”
She says companies should market their strong suits in the face of resistance. “Once you’ve developed a brand with equity that has meaning in the marketplace, it is always about being honest and true to your brand,” she says.
The company is part of the conglomerate Focus Brands, which is privately held and does not disclose revenues.
But Cole said comparable year-over-year sales have set annual records for the last three years.
“New franchise sales — the number of new franchise partners — are double what they were three years ago, and other channels of business — products we have in grocery stores, licensed products — have increased at a faster rate in three years than in the seven years prior.”
She credits Focus and franchise partners for Cinnabon’s success in 56 countries.
The company sells 100 million cinnamon rolls a year in its franchise business.
“That means the same high-quality ooey-gooey famous [product] everywhere it is,” Cole said. “They do it in Egypt, Russia, the Philippines.”
Does the svelte Cole herself indulge in the sinful 880-calorie treat? Yes, she does — often on planes, where fellow passengers are sometimes incredulous.
“People think they are going to gain weight just by looking at it. The difference is, I know good and well I’ve fully indulged and will eat healthy for the rest of the day,”
She eats Cinnabon rolls at least six times a week, but she recently switched to smaller mini-buns that are a comparatively light 340 calories.
Cole aspires to Cinnabon becoming one of the world’s greatest food brands and has guided the company’s products onto supermarket shelves and into fast-food restaurants.
“We have $1 billion in consumer product sales … but in some ways it is just the beginning. It’s a killer, unique brand,” she said.
As for rumors of a Cinnabon initial public offering, she says: “We’ve been owned by a private-equity firm for 10 years.
“Of course they are always evaluating what the next steps are, but there is no specific activity going on.”