How do you lead a fast-growing brand while managing complexity, embracing new technology, and preparing for what’s next?

Laurie Schalow is the Chief Corporate Affairs and Food Safety Officer at Chipotle, where she oversees communications, sustainability, customer experience, and food safety across more than 4,000 restaurants. From rebuilding trust to scaling operations and advancing sustainable design, Laurie is helping shape how modern brands grow.

Laurie shares how Chipotle aligns everything under one clear brand purpose, how sustainable restaurant design is evolving from innovation to expectation, and how AI is already transforming how her teams work. She also explains why taking initiative early in your career matters, how to manage complexity across large organizations, and why flexibility is one of the most important leadership traits today.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✨ How to align teams, systems, and storytelling under one clear brand direction

✨ Why sustainable design is becoming a business imperative, not just nice to have

✨ How AI is freeing up teams to think bigger and focus on more meaningful work

✨ How social listening helps brands stay relevant and responsive in real time

✨ Why taking initiative (even with unglamorous work) accelerates your career

A conversation for leaders building brands at scale and looking for smarter, more modern ways to operate.

Laurie’s Creative Inspiration

Book: Good to Great by Jim Collins; Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick

Brand: Disney

Beverage: White wine

Song: “On Top of the World” by Imagine Dragons