Nancy Oswald
March/April 2007
By Hope S. Philbrick
Salute to Women
Seek out highly visible jobs and be willing to take calculated risks. – Nancy Oswald
Nancy Oswald is co-owner and franchisee of five Ruth’s Chris Steak Houses in the Atlanta area and Alabama and president of Creative Marketing Concepts, an in-house advertising agency and marketing/public relations firm. She is one of three franchise representatives on the Ruth’s Chris Steak House National Advertising Committee and serves on the board of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. She is the immediate past chair of the GRA and will continue to sit on the executive committee for 2007; she is also a member of the marketing and events committee.
Oswald grew up in the food town of New Orleans but hadn’t planned on a foodservice career. It was after she grew dissatisfied with newspaper advertising management that Oswald heeded her dad’s advice: “If you want to do something that’s truly customer-focused, get into the restaurant business.” She worked with Ella Brennan of Commander’s Palace and Ruth Fertel-the ‘Ruth’ in Ruth’s Chris, the company she’d later turn to when looking for a franchise opportunity-who she says taught her “to be collaborative and not let egos ever get in the way, something I think women generally have an easier time doing than men.”
“In order to be successful in any business,” Oswald says, “you need to seek out highly visible jobs and be willing to take calculated risks. Along with that, be sure to seek out the knowledge you need. Further, you need to be willing to take credit where credit is due. Generally, I think men are better at blowing their own horns than women. Having the savvy to market yourself within your organization and networking through associations are paramount to success.”
Oswald credits her mentors with teaching her the importance of diversifying experience and skills. “Know every department of your organization, cross-train wherever and whenever you can. The foodservice business is about mobility-you can move up or down. It’s relatively difficult to remain still.”
Secret of Success
“Perform beyond expectations and always have integrity-without character, you have nothing. Keep an open mind and never stop trying. Most importantly, realize you don’t always have to be right and you will never be perfect.”
-Nancy Oswald
