More than 150 people attended the Inaugural GRITT Summit 2019 in September, located at the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa in St. Louis, to learn, develop and get inspired from over 30 sessions.
Broken down into three different tracks to choose from — leadership development, business and foodservice — sessions covered a variety of topics, including how to be a good leader, finding what employees really want, how to find talent, technology and food trends, operational best practices and more.
An overall goal was set was for all attendees to leave the summit with at least three takeaways that they could bring back to their business.
By the end of the summit, over 1,400 takeaways were submitted during the 30+ sessions, surpassing the original goal.
A few key highlights:
- CEO and founder Shawn Burcham explained his tried-and-true business model that’s led PFSbrands to success: GRITT. It stands for Goal Driven, Responsible, Involved, Team, and Tolerance of Failure.
- Carrie Luxem, CEO of Restaurant HR Group, unveiled concrete practices of how to become an employer of choice and also gifted each attendee a free one-year subscription to her newly released HR platform, valued at $299.
- Champs Chicken retailers were the first to see the new Champs Chicken logo and brand purpose, announcing its support of the Super Sam Foundation to fight childhood cancer.
Outside of the sessions, there were a variety of activities attendees could participate in to further grow not only in their business, but in their life, too:
- Strengths Finder individual coaching sessions
- Book signing by Shawn Burcham and his new book, “Keeping Score with GRITT”
- Complimentary consultations by business coaches at the GRITT Business Coaching booth
- Live QSR Nation podcast recordings
- Booths to visit for the Super Sam Foundation, marketing, technology, HR and equipment
In addition, attendees were entertained with a magician during the first evening’s reception, there were raffles, games and a photo booth, as well as evening entertainment at a private night club in the Ameristar Casino, with casino dealers teaching their tricks.
All in all, PFSbrands created this event to further live out its core purpose to help others become more successful in work and in life. PFSbrands is thankful for every person who attended and took the time to improve their business.
As one attendee put it: “Many times we are so caught up in day to day business we forget some real fundamental and easy things that can bring us all success. I appreciate your open business model and the welcoming approach of all your team. It is certainly something I hope to bring more of my team to as we restructure and empower leaders to better serve our customer base. Thank you once again!”
2020 GRITT Summit will be held in Colorado in July. More details to come at GRITTsummit.com.
