Ex-Applebee’s exec was told she’d never be CEO—she bought the chain and fired her naysayer: ‘We don’t need two of us, so I’m gonna have to let you go’

Many professionals will encounter naysayers who believe they can’t achieve their ambitious goals, whether that be bad bosses, skeptical investors, or doubtful professors. But Julia Stewart—a serial executive who has led operations across various billion-dollar American casual dining chains—had a gratifying career moment after being snubbed for CEO. 

It was 1998, and Stewart was serving as president of Applebee’s after a seven-year stint as Taco Bell’s national senior VP of franchise operations. The restaurant chain was struggling and needed an industry powerhouse to help turn things around. So Applebee’s leader presented a game-plan to Stewart: Get the struggling company back on track, and she will have proven herself enough to take the coveted chief executive role. 

“The then chair and CEO said, ‘When you and the team turned this company around, we’ll make you CEO.’ I said, ‘That’s perfect, that’s just perfect for me,’” Stewart revealed on The Matthews Mentality Podcast in 2025.

Over the next three years, Stewart managed to help Applebee’s take back the throne of casual dining. In 1999, the company’s system sales—including both company and franchise restaurant sales—skyrocketed 14% from the year prior to $2.35 billion. Applebee’s record basic and diluted........

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