Top Women in Restaurant Technology Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Brenda Parker
Brenda Parker was presented with the Top Women in Restaurant Technology Lifetime Achievement Award at MURTEC.
Parker was among 15 women recognized for their accomplishments. HT's Top Women in Restaurant Technology Awards, sponsored by Paerpay, are now in their seventh year.
Analyzing POS Data
Parker’s career in restaurant technology began by happenstance. “Early on, I was a programmer primarily in government systems and manufacturing. A headhunter convinced me to apply for a job with Denny’s. There were several openings at that time for programmers, but the one that caught my eye was something called POS business analyst. I didn’t even know what it was at the time, but I was always looking for the something-I’ve-never-done -before-opportunities. I researched it and followed that headhunter’s advice on the expectations for the interview. I got the job and fell in love with the challenge. Unlike the other industries I had been involved with, this one was constantly changing and evolving.
Each day provided a new opportunity to find a better way to solve a problem or invent a solution,” she recalled.
Parker’s interest in technology started when I was in elementary school. “I have my father to thank for that. My father was taking a programming course sponsored by the company where he worked. I was fascinated by the little manilla cards with punched holes that seem to spell out commands. Even though my interests changed over the years and I dabbled in other directions, I kept getting pulled back to technology.”
These days, Parker, who is a partner at Results Thru Strategy, based in Charlotte, S.C., is “fascinated by the advancements in AI and its pairing with already known technologies to improve the customer experience.”
“Technology in restaurants will continue to play a significant role in shaping dining experiences for customers by improving efficiency, convenience and sustainability. I am seeing advancements in automation, mobile technologies, cashless payments and huge strides in the benefits of data analytics.“
Uniting Operations with Technology
She is also passionate about holistic solutions that unite operations with technology. “I like translating the intent from bits and bytes to understandable nuggets of action. I have found that many times completed projects are delivered without follow-through to be sure it hits the intended target in a way that is functional and acceptable to all parties,” Parker explained. “I always remember a statement from one of my early bosses who used to say, ‘There is nothing more useless than to have done a great job on something that probably should not have been done at all.’”
The Role of Mentorship
Mentorship has played an important role in Parker’s career trajectory.
“I will forever be grateful to my mentor,” Parker says. “He played such an impactful role in my development that I followed him through four different companies during my career. Under his guidance, I developed new skills, made important industry connections, set and achieved most of my career goals. Even when he was not my direct supervisor, he was generally my ‘go to’ person for advice or just being my sounding board in helping me work through options for career development and personal growth in this industry.”
These days she’s giving back, helping to mentor newcomers to the restaurant tech industry. “It was my mentor who advised me to pay it forward and help others as he helped me. It has been a rewarding experience to see someone I may have helped in some small way, achieve and exceed beyond my own trajectory.”
- USHG CTO Kelly Macpherson: Paying it Forward to the Next Generation
The Language of Technology
Looking back over her career to date, Parker is most proud of leading teams that have produced award-winning technologies advancements, completing significant projects in the industry. One of those awards came from MURTEC 2002. “ I am most proud of leading and completing a project in a country where I did not speak the language and working with teams from different countries where English was a second language.”
Parker said, “I am honored to have been selected for this award. It is a privilege to have someone else look at your body of work and consider it worthy of such an honor. I am humbled to receive this recognition and to stand with my peers who came before me.”
About the Top Women Awards
After a call for nominations, Top Women in Restaurant Technology Award winners were chosen by Hospitality Technology magazine editors and members of its Research Advisory Board. The winners were announced and honored during an awards program on March 8 at the 28th annual MURTEC (Multi-Unit Restaurant Technology Conference), in Las Vegas. HT will begin accepting nominations for the 2024 Top Women in Restaurant Technology Awards in mid-October.