Julia Stewart revealed the origin story of Dine Brands Global on a podcast, highlighting that the business world can be small.
In life and in business, there will always be someone who tells you no—that you can’t. The key is to keep moving forward. At least, that’s the lesson we can learn from Julia Stewart’s appearance on The Matthews Mentality Podcast earlier this year.
Stewart says that when she was hired as president at Applebee’s in 1998, the CEO at the time, Lloyd Hill, told her that when she “turned the company around,” she would be promoted to CEO, thereby stepping into his role. Within three years, she had helped grow the chain from 1,000 to 1,400 units and more than doubled the stock. But when she brought up her successes to Hill, he told her she would never have his job.
So Stewart decided to leave.
“I think you’re holding me accountable for everything, but you’re not giving me the title,” she told Hill.
Stewart became the COO at Ihop in 2001, and within six months she was CEO. Six years later, the pancake house acquired Applebee’s in a $2.1 billion deal, forming Dine Brands Global.
Stewart got on the phone with Hill—the man who had denied her the role years prior.
“We don’t need two of us,” she said, “so I’m going to have to let you go.”
Today, Stewart is the founder and CEO of wellness brand Alurx. But her anecdote from her time in the food world illuminates two timeless business lessons.
Networking is an essential skill in business. In this case, it was a burned bridge that came back to haunt the former Applebee’s CEO. It’s not that you should make decisions based on who you think will be in certain positions in the future. But it is important to be strategic about how you communicate a decision in a way that doesn’t sever ties.
Stewart knew she was moving mountains for Applebee’s. In fact, she says when she told them she was leaving, the former CEO said, “You can’t leave. If you leave, the stock will tank.”
That told her all she needed to know. She was undervalued, and she knew she could move up elsewhere. If she hadn’t understood the strengths she brought to the table, she wouldn’t have known when to leave Applebee’s, positioning herself as the next CEO.