BRETT SCHULMAN
CEO, CAVA @cava The locally-based Mediterranean fast casual restaurant chain CAVA is one of the industry’s biggest success stories. Since launching in Rockville in 2011, the company has shown steady and continued growth and now has outposts in 10 states and the District of Columbia, with more locations to come. In August, CAVA announced it was acquiring Zoe’s Kitchen, another Mediterranean fast casual chain, for $300 million. Despite the expansion, the company remains focused on keeping the product and service consistent, Schulman says. His secret weapon: technology. CAVA uses in-store sensors to know how many people walk through the doors, how long they wait in line, where the choke points are on the food assembly line and how long people sit to eat. (It’s all anonymized data, he promises.) The result: improved service, fresher food and shorter wait times. “We want to use tech to enhance the human experience,” he says, “not replace it.” What’s next? CAVA plans to open a handful of drivethrough digital pickup windows next year, where customers can order ahead via the CAVA app and be assured their order is ready before they pull up.
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
TONY WEAVER
MELINDA WITTSTOCK
Founder, Weird Enough Productions @TonyWeaverJr
CEO and Founder, Wings Media and Verifeed @MelindaWings
After mentoring an African-American fourth grader who didn’t feel there were any superheroes representative of him in popular culture, Weaver decided to turn his own love of comics into Weird Enough Productions, a media company that uses diverse content (superhero protagonists are of different races, genders, sexualities and have different world views) to combat media misrepresentation.“ We create graphic novels that inspire everyone to embrace their quirks and think outside of stereotypes,” he says. “Plus, we have a tool for teachers that lets them use our content to teach media literacy.” The nascent company is already getting recognized. In the last year, Weaver won a pitch competition at the Future of Education Technology Conference, made the Forbes “30 Under 30” list and was accepted into the Halcyon Incubator and the AT&T Aspire Accelerator program.
“I have a big mission to catalyze women to lift as they climb,” Wittstock says. “That means mentoring, promoting, buying from and investing in each other.” The founder of Wings Media, a community to advance female entrepreneurship, host of the podcast “Wings Of ... Inspired Business” and founder and CEO of social intelligence platform Verifeed, Wittstock says she plans to invest $10 million over the next 10 years in female-run startups. Last year, her podcast was downloaded more than 250,000 times. She also hosts Wings of Success, a training platform featuring 65 high performing women entrepreneurs, many with eight, nine and even 10-figure businesses. Wings Media has evolved into a membership platform with 62 percent month-on-month growth. As for Verifeed, the company powers Wings with its technology and is focused on assuring its clients a Return on Authenticity™ from personalized social engagement as well as valuation growth and its intelligence is now utilized in the mergers and acquisitions space.
Should young people wait until they have more work experience before jumping into entrepreneurship? “No. The sooner you get your idea off the ground the better off you’ll be. Entrepreneurship isn’t something you save until you’re in your mid 40s. If you have an idea, start now. You won’t regret it.”
| F E B R U A R Y | washingtonlife.com
What’s the secret to success? “Success is in your head. If you can visualize it, you can achieve it. Make sure you give yourself quiet time to reflect and take care of yourself; and invest in great coaches and masterminds.”
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