Julia Stewart's rise to CEO was nothing like climbing a career ladder. That's because a straight path through, and had a peak market cap of $2.1 billion during her tenure. She's currently the CEO of wellness company Alurx, which she founded in 2020.
Sometimes, that meant moving to different regions within the same company, Stewart says. Other times, it meant leaving the company entirely. After landing that vice president of marketing role, at Stuart Anderson's Black Angus Steakhouse chain, Stewart came to believe she'd never reach the C-suite without experience running business operations. She decided to leave her "cushy" role for an executive training program at Taco Bell, which required her to put on a uniform and work for 90 days as an assistant manager in a restaurant for hands-on experience, she says.
After being denied a promotion to CEO at that company, she says, she accepted an offer to become IHOP's first-ever woman CEO — and eventually acquired Applebee's in a $2 billion takeover, forming Dine Brands.Don't make a lateral career move just for the sake of doing it, especially if you haven't finished learning new skills in your current position,— even if they don't always feel like obvious steps forward, research shows.