“Got a minute?” Ron asked, “Bo wants to see us.” “Sure,” I said thinking, “what in the world does Bo want?” Bo Batchelder was Hardee’s Sr. VP Marketing and he’d never wanted to meet with me before.
“Nice office,” I thought as Bo asked us to have a seat on the couch coming out from behind his desk to join us. “Ron tells me you made some good decisions a couple of weeks ago,” Bo said with an approving nod. “Thank you,” I replied not quite sure what else to say. Bo went on to explain that based upon my willingness to make decisions he and the rest of the marketing leadership team had come up with an idea that they wanted to run by me.
Bo’s idea was to put me through an intense two year training program where I’d work directly for the three top marketing executives and they would mentor and instruct me in the disciplines of sales promotion, advertising, new product development, research and field marketing management. I would attend meetings with them, I would travel with them and they would teach me the ins and outs of real world marketing. After that I’d spend a couple of years in the field before returning to headquarters. I graciously and enthusiastically accepted Bo’s offer.
The next two years were an incredible time of learning, new experiences and just plain fun as I fell in love with marketing. I was able to meet and work with people and companies that I would never have been able to otherwise. I will always be very grateful to Ron, Bo and others at Hardee’s for the great start they provided to a very rewarding career.
