When Lindsay Radkoski first came to Wendy’s 12 years ago, she was part of the investor relations team and has since risen through the ranks to become U.S. chief marketing officer in March. Before that, she was VP of national marketing and spearheaded several new campaigns and products. 

As competition around breakfast offerings began to heat up last fall, Radkoski and her team came up with French toast sticks to draw more customers. She also oversaw the rollout of the strawberry Frosty last summer, the first time the brand has offered a Frosty flavor other than chocolate or vanilla.

“The Frosty is synonymous with the Wendy’s brand,” Radkoski, 37, said. “If you say ‘ice cream’ that can be a lot of different connotations. But a Frosty? That’s Wendy’s.” The brand also introduced a peppermint Frosty and a Frosty cream cold brew, and a pumpkin spice Frosty in time for fall.

Radkoski launched the “Square’s the Beef” campaign, which played on the company’s traditional slogan, “Where’s the beef?” The campaign ran during college basketball’s March Madness and featured longtime endorser and NBA legend Reggie Miller.

She has leaned heavily into improving Wendy’s digital sales, which were up 25% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2022 and accounted for 11% of total sales in the second quarter of 2023.

If you could have dinner with one person, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

My Grandpa. I see today how his influence helped build my drive for success and I see in myself the values and characteristics I hear others use to describe him when they share stories about him. I’d love to hear him tell those stories and benefit from all of the lessons and wisdom he gained along the way.

What are the top two social media sites you use on a regular basis?

LinkedIn and then Instagram and Pinterest … I think about it as two sides of a coin … work hard, play hard!

What’s currently on your bedside reading list?

“Dave’s Way”—no joke! Every few years I re-read a book about Dave Thomas and the founding of our brand to ground myself in our brand heritage and purpose—and I take something new away every time … and always applicable to the work today. I also love good fiction and usually grab things from Reese’s Book Club.

What was the last show you binge-watched?

We are so busy as a family … the last thing we watched incessantly was the Women’s World Cup—a lot of that with my daughter early in the morning! I’m currently working through “Succession.” 

At what age do you hope to retire?

This is all about making the right choice for me and my family ... having the ability for it to be a choice by my mid-50s is my goal.