In 2019, we operated three Bojangles locations in Georgia. Today, we operate 35. What I didn’t fully appreciate then was I wasn’t just scaling a business; I was scaling myself. I grew up in North Carolina in the world of franchising. My dad started our company, and Bojangles was part of my life long before it was part of my job. But knowing the brand and leading growth are two very different things. We had strong corporate partners, but much of what I learned came through trial and error. I was asking how to make our teams and stores better while confronting that same question personally. Scaling outside the brand’s core market accelerated every lesson. In North Carolina, guests come in with familiarity and trust. In Georgia, they don’t. Every interaction matters more. Every inconsistency is felt. Growth doesn’t create problems. It exposes them—in the business, and in the leader. When Experience Stopped Being Enough As we scaled, experience alone stopped being a reliable indicator of leadership readiness. What mattered more was how leaders adapted as the role changed around them. Some leaders adjusted quickly as expectations expanded. Others struggled, not because they lacked skill or commitment, but because the pace of change outpaced their comfort with uncertainty. The job was evolving faster than the muscle memory they had built. As Crystal Charles, one of our area directors, described it: “What mattered most at scale wasn’t experience, it was adaptability. Leaders had to adjust instead of reacting as things changed.”…
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