KELLI VALADE

is a star example of someone who grew up in the restaurant industry and made it all the way to the top as a brand CEO. Her love of food began as a kid cooking and eating Italian meatballs and dishes in her grandmother’s kitchen, and Valade landed her first restaurant gig at 16 as a hostess at a TJ’s Big Boy in upstate New York, where people came in for the all-day breakfast buffet. “I actually find it both ironic and just a beautiful part of the story to say it’s come full circle for me, being at a Denny’s and now Keke’s,” Valade says. “That shaped everything for me after that.”

“I always thought restaurants are more than just food and sustenance,” she continues. “And I think I just got the bug from day one. So it's all I've ever done. It’s fast paced, it’s amazing for me, and afforded me an opportunity to go to college.”

Fast forward to Valade’s grand entrance into Denny’s as CEO in June 2022, which was immediately met with another seismic event: the brand’s $82.5 million acquisition of Keke’s Breakfast Café just a month