Jodie Conrad, vice president of marketing, Fazoli’s
Conrad has been with Fazoli’s for three years and in her current position for a year and a half, heading up marketing and culinary functions. Her job includes a mix of advertising; digital/social media; field marketing; consumer insights; off-premises business development; public relations; and new product development and testing.
“The work is still fun for me,” Conrad says. “Learning about consumer behavior, developing, and testing new menu items, and figuring out how to communicate with consumers just never gets old.”
Conrad says she’s seen more women filling leadership roles during her time in the industry. “In general, women today are much less intimidated in a male-dominated field because they simply expect to be able to earn their seat at the table and be rewarded for their ideas and contributions equally with everyone else,” she says. “I think the younger generation of male leaders in the industry have been exposed to women in leadership roles throughout their education and employment experiences, so they don’t expect anything different.”