Company: In-N-Out Burger
Revenue: US$575 million
Valuation: US$3.6 billion
Age: 37
The epitome of trendy fast food on the west coast of the united states is, without a doubt, in-n-out burger.
As the only granddaughter of harry and esther snyder, who founded the first in-n-out burger store in 1948, lynsi snyder is the owner and heiress of the family empire.
What makes the brand special is its consistency and respect for tradition: the buns are still baked with slow-rising dough every morning, the fries are hand-cut, the meat is ground in-house every day for its 333 restaurants, and the burger and fries recipe has barely changed in 70 years.
Freezers, microwaves, and heat lamps are also banned in all locations to ensure the freshness of their products.
Meanwhile, lynsi snyder was an unlikely ceo.
She never graduated from college, lost her father to drug abuse, battled drug and alcohol abuse herself, and went through three divorces.
Her uncle, rich snyder, would still be the ceo today if it weren’t for his premature death in a plane crash in 1993.
Having lost several family members, lynsi eventually found strength in her christian faith and used her life experiences to preserve the brand image, link it to the wholesomeness of the 1950s, and contribute to the growth of the multi-billion dollar business.
The early days of her career were spent at an in-n-out restaurant separating lettuce leaves and working the register.
Married at 18, she took a position in the company’s corporate merchandising department, where she approved projects such as t-shirt designs.
She then rotated through several departments and taught herself about business operations. she moved through the entire chain of command until she reached the position of ceo. for that reason, she knows the details of the business like no one else possibly could.
By 2010, mark taylor, a longtime in-n-out executive and lynsi’s brother-in-law, handed her the role.
At the age of 27, she was leading in-n-out at a time when it was generating an estimated us$550 million in sales across 251 locations.
The strength of her business is the same one she used to recover her life when she escaped addiction, and that’s why we highlight, as a curious but powerful fact, that on the wrappers and cups of the burgers you can find small bible verses, as a form of gratitude for what faith did in her life and, as the ceo explains, because you never know who else might need them.