Donna (Josephson) Varner

Chief Brand Officer at Schlotzsky's Deli

Speaker

Donna (Josephson) Varner, Chief Brand Officer of Schlotzsky’s Deli, joined GoTo Foods in June 2024, bringing more than 20 years of leadership in brand marketing, operations, menu strategy, supply chain and distribution management. She previously served as Chief Marketing Officer for Shipley Do-Nuts.

Donna’s previous roles equipped her with the tools to accelerate brand growth and development expansion fostering a reputation for developing high performance teams and creating cross functional partnerships to drive results. Prior to joining Shipley Do-Nuts, she spent four years as the Chief Marketing Officer at Corner Bakery, spearheading creative problem solving and product research and development. Donna began her impressive professional journey at Chick-fil-A before transitioning into leadership roles at Wendy’s, Applebee’s, Fazoli’s and GoTo Foods’ own, McAlister’s Deli. She has been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as a restaurant-industry CMO Gamechanger and by the Houston Business Journal as a Woman Who Means Business.

Donna holds both an undergraduate degree and an MBA from Ball State University. She loves water sports and currently lives on Lake Lanier in Georgia close to her two daughters and their families.