steve.felson@gravityexecutives.com

Steve Felson is a restaurant operations executive with more than four decades of experience building high-performing teams, scaling multi-unit brands, and developing the kind of leadership that drives lasting results.

Steve began his career the way the best operators often do, as a dishwasher at 15, and worked his way through every level of the business. That foundational perspective has shaped everything he has built since. He went on to serve as Executive Vice President of Business Operations at BurgerFi International, where he held oversight for Operations, Marketing, Culinary, Training, Food Safety, and Restaurant Opening teams across the brand. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President of Franchising, developing a franchising strategy and process for two iconic Chicago brands including The Original Rainbow Cone.

With over 20+ years of experience, he has led at every stage of brand maturity across public companies, PE-backed brands, and founder-led organizations. Working hands-on with both franchisors and franchisees, Steve has helped businesses of all size develop and implement growth strategies that exceed sales, profit and unit count goals.

His work sits at the intersection of growth and discipline. Steve drives EBITDA expansion by getting the fundamentals right: food cost, labor efficiency, team development, and guest experience, all measured, all accountable, all connected to the P&L. He develops replicable frameworks to open new units faster and more efficiently and knows how to synthesize and create alignment across departments to achieve results.

Steve knows that sales and profits are temporary without instilling a system for leadership and accountability. Using various models such as EOS, OKR and others, he puts together frameworks for organizations to develop leadership cadence and hold teams accountable to attainable, long-term objectives.

What sets Steve apart is the combination of franchise depth and company-ops breadth. He understands what it takes to execute at the unit level and what it takes to build systems that scale. He’s done both, repeatedly, across different brand types and growth stages.

Throughout his career, Steve has been a sought-after voice on leadership development, having been featured as a speaker at the Fast Casual Executive Summit, Industry Now Digital Transformation and Workforce management conferences, among others. His core philosophy is straightforward and rare: develop leaders, not managers. It is a distinction that has defined his approach across every organization he has touched.

Partnered with Gravity Talent Partners, Steve brings an operator's credibility and an executive's perspective to every consulting engagement. Whether working with emerging fast casual concepts, established multi-unit groups, or franchise organizations looking to strengthen their operational foundation, Steve offers the kind of insight that only comes from having lived every stage of the business firsthand.