How Did I Get Here?

Cheryl Bachelder

Chief executive officer, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen
  • Education
  • Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, Calif., class of 1974
  • Indiana University, class of 1978
  • Work Experience
  • 1978–81
    Assistant brand manager, Procter & Gamble
  • 1981–84
    Brand manager, Gillette
  • 1984–86
    Group brand manager, Planters nuts and Life Savers, RJR Nabisco
  • 1987–92
    Vice president for marketing, general manager, Life Savers division, RJR Nabisco
  • 1992–95
    Homemaker
  • 1995–2000
    Senior vice president for marketing and product development, Domino’s Pizza
  • 2001–03
    President, KFC, Yum! Brands
  • 2003–07
    Homemaker, board member
  • 2007–Present
    CEO, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen
  • Life Lessons
  • “We worry too much about breaks. If you’re a competent, performing person before the break, you will be afterward.”
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  • “Positive energy is an essential ingredient.”
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  • “Paper Mate makes the best crossword pencil.”
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  • “I did a joint B.S.-MBA program. Procter & Gamble recruited me because I was president of my sorority.”
  • First raise—at Procter & Gamble in 1979
    “I helped develop their liquid soap, Rejoice, which was my first career failure. We never made it to rollout.”
  • “My children were 1 and 7, and my husband had aging, ill parents. It was crazy to try to manage a career through that time. I tell women, ‘Don’t be afraid to manage your life.’ ”
  • At Nabisco in 1990
  • “I really fell in love with franchises, but the business at KFC was struggling—it still is—and I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I worked through my treatments and found it therapeutic.”
  • “The chairman had me present a mechanical pencil company acquisition to the board.”
  • At the debut of Planters Honey Roasted peanuts in 1985
    “I launched Honey Roasted peanuts and rejuvenated the nut business, and then they put me on Life Savers. I’m most proud of Life Savers Gummi Savers.”
  • “I was going to board meetings—True Value hardware and AFC, the holding company of Popeyes—raising teenagers, and adopting my third child, a teenager from Russia.”
  • “The board asked. I was well prepared, but the biggest challenge was the public company part. I’ve actually enjoyed that a lot.”