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July 25, 2024 • 38min
Asking questions that scale, with AG1’s Kat Cole
Masters of Scale
This episode features an interview with Kat Cole, President and COO of Athletic Greens, the makers of AG1 nutritional supplement. Cole discusses her fascinating career journey from Hooters waitress to executive roles at major brands like Cinnabon, and now leading a high-growth health supplement company. She shares key leadership lessons and frameworks she's developed for scaling businesses across different industries.
Asking questions that scale, with AG1’s Kat Cole
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Key Takeaways
- The "Hot Shot Rule" - A weekly exercise where you imagine someone you admire taking over your role and ask what's the first thing they would do to improve the business. Take action on that insight within 24 hours.
- Ask, Answer, Act - Kat Cole's meta framework for leadership: Ask good questions, get honest answers, and take decisive action.
- Focus on talent and speed in hypergrowth companies. Constantly evaluate if you have the right people in the right roles as the company rapidly scales.
- Scaling requires adapting - What works in one market or stage of growth may not work in another. Be prepared to adjust strategies.
- Build a culture of candid feedback by modeling self-reflection, critique and action as a leader.
- In scaling consumer brands, consider omnichannel strategies but be thoughtful about sequencing and protecting the core business.
- For health/supplement brands, rigorous testing and quality standards are crucial for building trust and scale.
Introduction
This episode features an interview with Kat Cole, President and COO of Athletic Greens, the makers of AG1 nutritional supplement. Cole discusses her fascinating career journey from Hooters waitress to executive roles at major brands like Cinnabon, and now leading a high-growth health supplement company. She shares key leadership lessons and frameworks she's developed for scaling businesses across different industries.
Topics Discussed
Early Career at Hooters (4:01)
Kat Cole started working at Hooters as a hostess at age 16 while still in high school. She quickly moved up to waitress, trainer, and manager roles:
- By age 19, she was opening international Hooters franchises
- Got her first passport to open a franchise in Australia
- Learned to adapt strategies for different cultural contexts
"I viewed work as honorable. Like, work was cool. And for me, work, any work...felt like a path to independence." - Kat Cole
Developing Leadership Skills (7:13)
Cole developed key leadership capabilities early in her career:
- Willingness to take on new challenges and learn on the job
- Ability to adapt strategies for different markets/cultures
- Learning to ask for and receive critical feedback
"Whenever you're criticized, assume first it's correct. Just allow yourself the opportunity to assume that something in how you're being judged or being given negative feedback is correct." - Advice given to Cole
The Hot Shot Rule (12:44)
Cole explains her "Hot Shot Rule" leadership exercise:
- Envision someone you admire taking over your role
- Ask what's the first thing they would do to improve the business
- Take action on that insight within 24 hours
- Share the insight and action with your team
"Every time I tell my team, this is what we're now going to do, they have some reaction that is either verbal or simply body language that is finally, or what took you so long? Or it's about time." - Kat Cole
Career at Cinnabon and Focus Brands (19:02)
Cole discusses her time as President of Cinnabon and later Group President at Focus Brands:
- Expanded Cinnabon from retail shops to a billion-dollar omnichannel brand
- Developed CPG and licensing strategies to grow beyond core retail business
- Brought omnichannel model to other Focus Brands portfolio companies
"Expressing a restaurant concept in a completely different channel, in a way that made sense for the channel, but that honored the brand, not diluted the brand, was the way to grow a brand in the modern world." - Kat Cole
Joining Athletic Greens (25:08)
Cole explains why she joined Athletic Greens (AG1) as President:
- Was a customer and believer in the product
- Impressed by the company's growth and bootstrapped success
- Saw opportunity to apply her scaling expertise
- Aligned with mission of helping people take control of their health
"I would be crazy not to join this incredible company with this incredible product, with this incredible team and be a part of the rocket ship." - Kat Cole
Quality and Testing Standards at AG1 (30:05)
Cole discusses AG1's rigorous quality and testing standards:
- NSF for Sport certified - guarantees label accuracy and banned substance testing
- Tested for over 500 herbicides/pesticides and 200 banned substances
- Conducting clinical trials on finished product
"From day one, Chris was paying for that, insisting on it. It adds months to your innovation cycles...but in a way it is required. It's required by the customer and we need to lead the way." - Kat Cole
Scaling Strategy at AG1 (32:38)
Cole explains AG1's focused scaling approach:
- Staying focused on core product rather than rapid expansion
- Thoughtful about retail and new product expansion
- Prioritizing quality and existing customer base
- Expanding internationally and into new channels carefully
"We have done this one thing for 14 years and improved on it over 14 years and not gotten distracted by, oh, we could sell customers bits and pieces of it and break it into its parts, or we could jump into retail anywhere, everywhere." - Kat Cole
Leadership Focus in Hypergrowth (36:35)
Cole shares her two main areas of focus leading a hypergrowth company:
- Speed - Maintaining hypergrowth pace while building right processes
- Talent - Constantly evaluating if right people are in right roles as company scales
"Someone who was amazing for two years in a role which might represent five years at a slower growing company, it might be time. It might be time for them to be in a different role or to no longer be with the company." - Kat Cole
Conclusion
Kat Cole's career journey from Hooters waitress to executive roles at major consumer brands to now leading a high-growth health supplement company provides a wealth of insights on scaling businesses. Her frameworks like the "Hot Shot Rule" and "Ask, Answer, Act" offer practical tools for leaders to drive growth while maintaining quality. Cole's experience demonstrates the importance of adapting strategies for different markets and growth stages, building a culture of candid feedback, and constantly evaluating talent needs in rapidly scaling companies. Her success across diverse industries highlights how core leadership and scaling principles can apply across sectors when leaders remain curious, humble, and action-oriented.
