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D’Andre Baca’s career with Taco Bell began with a walk down the street in the rain at the urging of his mom, who wanted him to go out and get a job. He was 16 at the time and going through a rough period in high school, he recalls.

Though D’Andre didn’t secure a job after his first interview, with the second, he says the GM was willing “to take a chance with me.”

That was 2008. He remembers that day like it was yesterday and considers it a launching point. 

“If that day didn’t happen the way it did,” he says. “I wouldn’t probably even be here. Who knows what path I would have taken at that point.”

 

Today, D’Andre celebrates the one-year anniversary of his promotion to Area Coach of the Kansas City market. Reflecting on how he got here, he expresses gratitude to past leaders and mentors in his life for pushing him. He says he had the “right leaders” come into his life at the right time, investing in him, encouraging him to take leadership classes, building him up.

DRG acquired the Kansas City market in 2017. D’Andre was a general manager at the time and recalls there was fear about the change in ownership. He’d been with the same company for 11 years! Yet, there was comfort in the idea that “it’s still tacos.”

With the change in ownership, D’Andre immediately noticed a difference in company culture. He says DRG led with a more hands-on approach. He had the opportunity to meet the vice president and owners very early on, and still gets tapped regularly for advice and input. “Makes me feel like I’m contributing,” he says, reflecting on how nice it feels to be appreciated in the workplace.

According to D’Andre, DRG is 100 percent focused on people. This is exhibited in the company’s commitment to developing its employees into future leaders. He says there’s a big push in 2022 to get DRG’s rising stars into AGM and GM workshops to help develop more Area Coaches. In addition to professional development opportunities, DRG is also beefing up its employee benefits by rolling out new incentive programs.

“We’re always thinking of ways to be better, always asking for input,” he says. “We really care about our people… you can see some of the smiles behind the counters when you come through.”

What does the future hold for D’Andre? You can tell he’s an extremely motivated guy.

“I’m going to run the whole city one day… I am Mr. Taco Bell,” he says without a hint of arrogance. “I don’t plan on leaving, I plan on running the Kansas City area. If they give me the opportunity, I won’t let them down.”

The 2022 Leadership Summit is in the books! On March 8-10, our restaurant leaders from each market around the country gathered in Las Vegas for three days’ worth of events, recognition, and fun. At the summit, DRG executives presented some exciting initiatives and where we’re heading in 2022. Area coaches and general managers shared best practices and learned from one another. Congratulations to our 2021 Top Performing “Year of” Winners and Leadership Behavior Award Winners.

 

Top Performing General Managers

Top Performing Area Coaches

Top Performing DRG AC

Top Performing Director of Operations

Restaurant Support Services – Making a Difference

George Psaros – Helping Hands Award

Leadership Behavior Award Winners

Signature Restaurants are restaurants that deliver best-in-class service and have the people, unrivaled culture and fundamentals in place to serve delicious food from open to close! Being a Signature Restaurant means you have mastered the science and art of being a premier Taco Bell. Once you’ve done that, that’s where the Golden Bell award for individuals comes into play.

How to become a Signature Restaurant: 

Achieve all of the above Signature Restaurant requirements and the top 100 general managers and area coaches will achieve Golden Bell status. That means you will receive an invitation to the recognition event of the year most often held in Hawaii!

2021 Golden Bell Winners:

Sarita Singh

General Manager
Store 30937, Pittsburg, CA
Area Coach: Dolores Gonzalez

Bryan Hermoza

General Manager
Store 30796, San Carlos, CA
Area Coach: Chris Castellanos

Gerald Fernandez

General Manager
Store 30758, San Mateo, CA
Area Coach: Chris Castellanos

DRG Signature Restaurants: 

Store 30753, Bay Point, CA

General Manager: Julie Ann Dacasin
Area Coach: Dolores Gonzalez

Store 30754, Pacifica, CA

General Manager: Janet Amador
Area Coach: James Aman 

Store 30755, Newark, CA

General Manager: Ratrecha Pickett
Area Coach: Ryan Brando

Store 30764, Freedom, CA

General Manager: Teresa Marin
Area Coach: Mike Scheidegger

Store 30766, Livermore, CA

General Manager: Zafia Begum
Area Coach: Griselda Godinez

Store 30770, Soquel, CA

General Manager: Claudia Dedios
Area Coach: Mike Scheidegger 

Store 30774, San Leandro, CA

General Manager: Maria Briseno Bernal
Area Coach: Diana Flores

Store 30776, Concord, CA

General Manager: Luz Ramirez
Area Coach: Carlos Portillo

Store 30793, San Jose, CA

General Manager: Miriam Barcenas Aguilar
Area Coach: Laurent Moulin

Store 30795, Hayward, CA

General Manager: Concepcion Avina Lopez
Area Coach: Diana Flores

Store 30810, Tracy, CA

General Manager: Guadalupe Martinez
Area Coach: Griselda Godinez 

Store 31884, Carson City, NV

General Manager: Wilmer Limas
Area Coach: Mallory Hurtado 

Store 31885, Elko, NV

General Manager: Justin Stewart
Area Coach: Dawn Frazier 

Store 31902, Las Vegas, NV

General Manager: Anabel Fernandez-Solis
Area Coach: Livi Olvera 

Store 31917, Las Vegas, NV

General Manager: Laura Urrea
Area Coach: Connie Bejar

Store 35243, Independence, MO

General Manager: Kayla Blystone
Area Coach: Layla Awo

Store 39789, Orange, CA

General Manager: Lina Mam
Area Coach: Antonio Navarro

Store 39790, Sylmar, CA

General Manager: Olga L Mata Romero
Area Coach: Martha Medina

Store 39793, Hemet, CA

General Manager: Hilda Gallegos
Area Coach: Benjamin Gonzalez

Store 39799, San Fernando, CA

General Manager: Gloria Valencia
Area Coach: Martha Medina

Store 30787, Redwood City, CA

General Manager: Araceli Madrigal
Area Coach: Chris Castellanos 

Store 30791, Redwood City, CA

General Manager: Ramneet Kaur
Area Coach: Chris Castellanos 

Store 37328, Danville, CA

General Manager: Edilberto Domingo
Area Coach: James Aman

Triple Aces:

207 Las Vegas, NV

General Manager: Alma Perez
Area Coach: Steve Mizer

6402 Las Vegas, NV

General Manager: Erika Saucedo
Area Coach: Laura Fuentes

6430 Las Vegas, NV

General Manager: Georgina Misner
Area Coach: Steve Mizer

7781 Las Vegas, NV

General Manager: Julia Herrera
Area Coach: Laura Fuentes

8855 Las Vegas, NV

General Manager: Rocio Banda
Area Coach: Laura Fuentes

8862 Henderson, NV

General Manager: Corinne Canavan
Area Coach: Laura Fuentes

SG Ellison, DRG’s company president and co-founder, spent time chatting with Taco Bell CEO Mark King and fellow franchisee Tina Reagan, president of K-MAC, on a recent episode of Taco Bell’s “Recipe for Restless Creativity” podcast.

The group discussed how Taco Bell has stayed at the forefront of culture and innovation, even through a pandemic. In fact, Taco Bell secured the No. 1 spot on Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Franchise 500” ranking for the second year in a row! The brand celebrates 60 years in 2022.

Also covered in the podcast:

SG sort of fell into the industry when he and DRG Chairman and CEO David Grieve “backpedaled into a real estate deal that had some Taco Bell stores in Los Angeles…” And he’s fallen in love with the people, being very passionate about creating opportunities and changing lives.

Listen now to Episode 10 of Taco Bell’s “Recipe for Restless Creativity” podcast.

2019 was a big year for Iqra — she moved to America from Pakistan, settled into the San Ramon, CA area with her family, and got her first job at Taco Bell. 

“It’s all home to me now,” Iqra says with a smile, although she admits she was nervous to start a new job in a new country at first. “I started as a team member and look at me now!”

Today, Iqra is an Assistant General Manager for our Danville Cantina, a unique brand concept with a full bar, patio and lawn games. Iqra is on track to become a General Manager and she says she’s looking forward to it. 

“At DRG, everyone has the chance to become more, do more, teach more,” she says. “It’s always a positive work environment. And it’s all because of the culture the company has built.”

As an AGM, Iqra is in charge of inventory, customer service, prep, ICOS, metrics and a host of other “small” details. 

“If you want to succeed in this job, if you’re a hard worker, you can do it,” Iqra says. “I absolutely love my team, and I’m always ready to listen and learn.”

Meet Maria Zagal, a Restaurant General Manager for Arby’s in our Alaska Market. Maria was hired in 2017 in Las Vegas as an Assistant Manager. She showed us her talents by getting great results and growing a great team, she advanced to a General Manager in 2020.

In the summer of 2021, Maria was given the opportunity to open a brand new location in Las Vegas. After a successful opening, she had the desire to do more and continue to grow, so she took her talents to Fairbanks, Alaska where she opened DRG Meats’ projected highest volume store.

Having a company that believes in her has led her to dream even bigger: “I would love to become a supervisor or an Area Coach,” she says.

Maria’s career in quick service restaurants began in 2014 at KFC when she was just 17. She felt like Arby’s always had more opportunities, so she made the switch.

“Here, you’re able to grow fast,” Maria states. “I put my best effort in each day, and my team gives it right back to me.”

Victoria Serna, CO General Manager of the Flagship, Taco Bell Cantina in Las Vegas, was recruited to work for Diversified Restaurant Group (DRG) in 2016. She came to DRG from Five Guys, where she worked along with Isaiah Ritchie, Director of Operations and Todd Kelly, Senior Vice President here at DRG.

“They told me they were opening up this cool location,” Victoria says of her early conversations with Kelly and Ritchie. “I was super excited.”

Victoria, a small-town gal from New Mexico, moved to Las Vegas just a month before the ultra modern flagship cantina opened. There wasn’t much time for advance training, but as a departing General Manager for Five Guys, she arrived with strong leadership skills that would surely benefit her new team.

“I felt like this role was really special because I got to come into the restaurant as it was opening,” she says. “It was fun to create the operations plan from scratch… we had a blank slate.” 

Though it was hard at the beginning, Victoria admits she learned a lot through the process. And she felt taken care of by DRG. Hiring the right people for this new location became a key priority.

The cantina, located right on the Las Vegas Strip, is one-of-a-kind with its VIP lounge, DJ booth, 16 TV screens and easy access to nightlife. According to Victoria, naturally, the Las Vegas location is loud. It requires team members who like to have a good time.

“You can’t run a restaurant without good people,” she says. “Our people are the best… my team wants to have fun and they come in with great attitudes.” 

Five years in, Victoria now co-manages the highest volume restaurant in the Taco Bell system.  She says she feels empowered by her role. Beyond managing her team, she has continued to take on new responsibilities at the location. Over the summer, she assumed the duties of events coordinator for the Las Vegas Cantina, handling logistics for special events and weddings hosted on site. 

“It’s a lot of fun,” she says of this new role and the opportunity to learn about other aspects of the business. “[It] empowered me to learn a little more about administration and running our events calendar.” 

As far as the future’s concerned, Victoria will continue to grow her career as a leader with DRG. “I am eager to take on new challenges and learn new skills,” she says. “Cantina Area Coach sounds like a lot of fun.”

Laura Fuentes has worked hard to climb the career ladder at Arby’s. She has been with the company for 17 years, first joining as a team member. Today, she serves as an Area Coach overseeing nine restaurants in the Las Vegas market, a role she has held since December 2019.

“The things that I love about DRG are the individuals in this company,” she sAYS. “They’re always looking for ways to improve the working environment.” 

She credits Diversified Restaurant Group (DRG) and Jason Dunn, Senior Director – Nevada, for giving her the necessary resources and support she has needed for personal and professional growth throughout the years. 

DRG is a company full of opportunities, according to Fuentes, one that genuinely cares about its employees. This is evidenced in the company’s robust DRG Total Rewards benefit offerings that are made available to every team member, regardless of their position within the company.

Fuentes is awestruck by her own growth within the company. She has been a part of seven remodels and also opened two new restaurants in the last 12 months “How beautiful it is to be working and growing,” she says. “I never imagined I could achieve so much in my career as I have right now.”

What’s more, she has proven herself to be a thoughtful leader focused on developing, empowering and encouraging other team members.

“I like working with people… showing them their own potential,” she saYS of her passion to develop employees. “I help them realize what they already have inside of them.”

Looking ahead, Fuentes sees herself moving into the role of Director of Operations one day soon. 

Congratulations to the 2021 Champions’ Club! Every year, we recognize a host of leaders for their annual accomplishments. This year, the DRG Executive Team hosted our club members at the beautiful Pronghorn Resort in Oregon!  The team orchestrated events and activities that took full advantage of the beautiful scenery and local culture the Bend area had to offer.

Meet the honorees:

“I had a wonderful time in Oregon, it’s a very beautiful place. The activities were very enjoyable and my husband had a good time meeting everyone.”

–Restaurant General Manager
Holly Sartin

Champions’ Club Photo Gallery:

Don’t be surprised if you see Matthew’s name scrolling among Hollywood film credits in a few years. At least that’s his long-term goal. “I’ve always been into movies,” he says. “If I could, I’d love to be part of movie production someday.”

But for now, he’s happy to keep making tacos. Matthew joined DRG as a Service Champion in 2020. Today he keeps busy at the San Ramon Cantina, helping customers learn the kiosks or making food in the back of the house.

One benefit to working at Taco Bell, according to 18-year-old Matthew: “I get to hang out with people my age,” he says. “We’re all kind of going through the same thing – navigating high school. And everyone here is super understanding and allows us to keep a flexible schedule.”

Matthew appreciates personal touch, adding that James Aman, his Area Coach, knows him by name.

“It’s not a big corporation that’s strictly business,” Matthew says. “It’s more personal here. They care about your life outside of work.”

Life “outside of work” will soon expand for Matthew. He looks forward to attending Loyola Marymount, and hopes to find a Taco Bell to work at nearby!