{"id":45241,"date":"2025-09-28T22:37:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T22:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45241"},"modified":"2025-09-28T22:37:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T22:37:04","slug":"what-culvers-ceo-thinks-makes-a-brand-truly-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45241","title":{"rendered":"What Culver&#8217;s CEO Thinks Makes a Brand Truly Great"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-383598\">\n<header class=\"\">\n<div class=\"tw:text-lg\">\n<p>Julie Fussner, CEO of Culver\u2019s, talks about the state of leadership today, what makes a brand truly great and how she\u2019s managing growth while protecting the brand\u2019s values and identity.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"singleVideoPlayer\" class=\"tw:mb-4\">\n<div class=\"ep-video-player tw:w-full\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Culver&#039;s CEO Julie Fussner on Burger Business, Culture, and Growth | The CEO Series\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vwOTwLm1zIk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<p class=\"tw:font-normal tw:italic tw:text-sm tw:text-gray-600 tw:mb-4\">\n\t\t Entrepreneur \t<\/p>\n<div class=\"gate-check piano-check is-layout-flow tw:prose tw:prose-lg tw:prose-blue tw:font-serif tw:max-w-[728px] tw:mb-12 tw:mx-auto tw:lg:mx-0\">\n<p>When I sat down with Julie Fussner, CEO of Culver\u2019s, I wasn\u2019t looking to dissect earnings reports or PR strategy. I wanted to understand how a Midwest-based burger chain has quietly built one of the most respected \u2014 and trusted \u2014 brands in fast food. And I wanted to get a sense of the leadership style behind that. What I found in Julie was a grounded, thoughtful executive who, despite taking the top seat only recently, speaks about the brand with the reverence of someone who\u2019s been part of it forever.<\/p>\n<p>Fussner didn\u2019t grow up dreaming of becoming a CEO. Her path took her through marketing and branding \u2014 eventually leading her to Culver\u2019s, where she served as CMO before stepping into the CEO role. That marketing lens still shows up in how she talks about the company: not just what they serve, but how they make people feel. \u201cWe don\u2019t take that trust for granted,\u201d she said, referencing the fiercely loyal customer base Culver\u2019s has built in small towns and big cities alike.<\/p>\n<p><b>Related: How Morning Brew\u2019s CEO Succeeds With Clarity and Restraint in Today\u2019s Noisy Media Landscape<\/b><\/p>\n<p>One thing that stood out was how much Fussner credits the brand\u2019s success to its franchise partners. Many of them are embedded in their communities. They coach little league, support local schools and know customers by name. It\u2019s not manufactured authenticity \u2014 it\u2019s real. Fussner emphasized that the company\u2019s job at headquarters isn\u2019t to control franchisees, but to empower them. That\u2019s a leadership insight that scales far beyond fast food: Trust your people to deliver the experience in their own voice, especially if the brand values are deeply understood.<\/p>\n<p>We also talked about scale and how Culver\u2019s has been able to grow without losing its core identity. Fussner acknowledged the tension: Growth brings opportunity, but also risk. \u201cWe\u2019re careful about where we go,\u201d she said, referring to market expansion. The goal isn\u2019t to be everywhere; it\u2019s to be somewhere <i>with meaning<\/i>. That patient, values-first approach may be what\u2019s made Culver\u2019s different from its peers chasing velocity.<\/p>\n<p>Our conversation wasn\u2019t just about brand ethos \u2014 it also touched on broader cultural themes. Fussner reflected on the state of leadership today, noting how companies are expected to stand for something more than profit. At Culver\u2019s, that often looks like community investment and long-term thinking. But it also requires a calm, consistent voice in a noisy, fast-moving world. For leaders, that\u2019s a tough balance: responding to the moment without losing your foundation.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also something to be said about the role of humility in leadership. Fussner didn\u2019t frame herself as a visionary or a disruptor. She was clear, grounded and realistic about her role: to serve the brand, the franchisees and the customers. In a business landscape where ego can often overshadow impact, that kind of presence is refreshing.<\/p>\n<p><b>Related: From Barista to CEO: A Conversation With Smashburger\u2019s Leader on Her Inspiring Journey, How She\u2019s Transforming the Brand and Her Vision for the Future<\/b><\/p>\n<p>For other business leaders tuning into this conversation, the takeaway is simple but powerful: Culture doesn\u2019t happen by accident. It\u2019s earned through consistency, reinforced by the people closest to the customer and safeguarded by leaders who know that trust isn\u2019t a given \u2014 it\u2019s a responsibility.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-layout-flow piano-meter-body tw:prose tw:prose-lg tw:prose-blue tw:font-serif tw:max-w-[728px] tw:mb-12 tw:hidden tw:mx-auto tw:lg:mx-0\">\n<p>When I sat down with Julie Fussner, CEO of Culver\u2019s, I wasn\u2019t looking to dissect earnings reports or PR strategy. I wanted to understand how a Midwest-based burger chain has quietly built one of the most respected \u2014 and trusted \u2014 brands in fast food. And I wanted to get a sense of the leadership style behind that. What I found in Julie was a grounded, thoughtful executive who, despite taking the top seat only recently, speaks about the brand with the reverence of someone who\u2019s been part of it forever.<\/p>\n<p>Fussner didn\u2019t grow up dreaming of becoming a CEO. Her path took her through marketing and branding \u2014 eventually leading her to Culver\u2019s, where she served as CMO before stepping into the CEO role. That marketing lens still shows up in how she talks about the company: not just what they serve, but how they make people feel. \u201cWe don\u2019t take that trust for granted,\u201d she said, referencing the fiercely loyal customer base Culver\u2019s has built in small towns and big cities alike.<\/p>\n<p><b>Related: How Morning Brew\u2019s CEO Succeeds With Clarity and Restraint in Today\u2019s Noisy Media Landscape<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/leadership\/what-culvers-ceo-thinks-makes-a-brand-truly-great\/497356\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Julie Fussner, CEO of Culver\u2019s, talks about the state of leadership today, what makes a brand truly great and how she\u2019s managing growth while protecting the brand\u2019s values and identity. Entrepreneur When I sat down with Julie Fussner, CEO of Culver\u2019s, I wasn\u2019t looking to dissect earnings reports or PR strategy. I wanted to understand<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[32],"class_list":{"0":"post-45241","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-investing","8":"tag-featured"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.12 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Culver&#039;s CEO Thinks Makes a Brand Truly Great | iSafeSpend<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Julie Fussner, CEO of Culver\u2019s, talks about the state of leadership today, what makes a brand truly great and how she\u2019s managing growth while protecting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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