At Inspire Brands, our greatest resource is our people. Guided by our values and behaviors, we strive to be a company that embraces inclusion and diversity in gender, race, background, thinking, and perspective.

People First @ Inspire is an initiative that enables us to ensure we attract, develop, and retain the best possible talent. Part of the People First initiative is Upward Mobility in Restaurant Operations. To support this, we are committed to helping team members create meaningful, long-term careers across our family of brands.

Today, we are proud to introduce you to Lou Beccarelli, Arby’s new Brand Chief Operating Officer and a proud 31-year member of our team.

How long have you been in the restaurant industry and how did you get started?

I’ve been in the restaurant industry for 31 years. I ended up getting started by needing a job my senior year in high school, and I stopped by Baskin-Robbins and filled out an application.

Who has been your biggest inspiration or champion?

I would have to say my mother. She really taught me to be kind, listen to people, and presume good intent – which is something that I’ve carried with me throughout my career.

What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned?

The most important leadership lesson that I’ve learned is one of listening. Over the years, many times you may think you have the right answer – or the answer – and you’d be surprised how many times I haven’t had it and it’s come from those around me.

I continue to work on that and try to instill in people to get different points of view, different perspectives, and diversity of thoughts and comments.

What do you love most about your job?

What I love most about my job is actually two things. One is working with people and helping them get better at what they do, but also problem solving. And when you link those two things together – if you do it the right way – everybody wins.

How has Inspire influenced your personal and professional growth?

In several ways. One is that it’s given me the opportunity to work in different roles within the organization. And it’s taught me to bet on myself, which is something that, at times throughout my career, I’ve had some self-doubt around.

At the same time, I try to instill those same lessons in people today. I think the opportunities I’ve been put in have been diverse, and at times really stretched me. I try to replicate that for the folks I’m working with.

This story is part of an ongoing series that highlights the stories of our team members and their career growth as part of People First @ Inspire.