Agenda

Two leaders. One stage. A conversation about what it really takes to lead at the highest level—across functions, across risk, and across every chapter of a career worth building.

Details coming soon.

A panel on executive presence, confidence, and knowing how to negotiate for everything you deserve.

A candid conversation with women at the top about how they got there, what the job actually looks like, and the parts nobody puts in the job description.

This industry runs on people who give everything—and too often, that’s exactly what it takes from them. Empathetic leadership isn’t soft; it’s strategic. This panel gets real about the boundaries, habits, and decisions that keep you and your team standing—and still leading—years from now.

Confidence in the room starts with confidence in the numbers. This session breaks down the financial fluency nobody hands you, but everyone assumes you have: reading a P&L, defending a budget, understanding unit economics, and reframes it as leadership currency, not a back-office skill. Because you can't negotiate what you don't understand.

From frontline to C-suite, women in restaurants face unique challenges at every career stage—and two of the sharpest employment attorneys in the business are here to talk about it. This panel gets real about what it actually takes, as leaders and as organizations, to keep talented women in the industry and help them thrive.

A trend panel for operators who want to get ahead of what guests want before they know they want it.

The best leaders and the best wines have more in common than you think—patience, collaboration, attention to detail, and knowing exactly when it's time. In this panel, we’re uncorking the leadership traits that never go out of style, from veterans to mid-level to emerging leaders and everything in between.

A panel on franchising, real estate, and development strategy for women who are ready to grow their brands and do business on their own terms.

AI in restaurants isn't hype anymore; it's showing up in labor forecasting, inventory, scheduling, and guest data, and the leaders getting ahead of it are the ones treating it as a leadership tool, not just a cost-cutting one. This panel is a practical, jargon-free look at how women in operations, finance, and ops-tech are actually using AI and data to make faster, better decisions, and where the technology still needs a human read. Less "AI is coming," more "here's what to do with it Monday morning."

A panel on authentic personal branding in the age of AI—telling your story, owning your authority, and finally silencing the imposter phenomenon that's been holding you back.

A panel on the strategies, tools, and bold moves helping restaurant brands cut through in a world where everyone is competing for the same attention.

A conversation on the future of work, culture, performance, and retention—and what the best restaurant leaders are doing differently to build teams that last.

A panel on the training, operations, and development strategies that turn great employees into great leaders—because the best operators in this industry aren't just running restaurants; they're building the next generation of people who will.

As AI, kiosks, and delivery apps take over more of the guest interaction, the brands winning loyalty are the ones proving human connection isn't inefficiency; it's the differentiator. This panel makes the case for hospitality that stays personal: empathetic leadership, real guest relationships, and staff empowered to actually connect instead of just executing a script, backed by the data on why "human" is still the smartest business decision on the menu.

A real, unfiltered conversation for women who've been in the industry long enough to know exactly who they are. This is what happens after you've built a career, earned the title, and still want more.

Progress for women in restaurant leadership is real—but it isn’t guaranteed to hold. This panel gets honest about what it takes to protect the ground already won, open the door wider for who comes next, and build power on our own terms. Every path to the top is on the table.

A panel for every chapter of the family journey—because the conversation about ambition, family, and leading in this industry looks different for everyone, and all of it is worth talking about.

A scenario-based live panel where leaders from across the restaurant—different roles, different levels, different lenses—react to the same high-stakes decision in real time. Because every choice sends ripples, and this is what they actually look like.

Real stories from women who hit a wall, a breaking point, or a moment that changed everything, and came out the other side with something better. Each story ends with the one thing she'd tell her younger self standing in that exact moment: the advice, the permission, the warning. A celebration of the turns nobody saw coming, and the wisdom only hindsight can give you.

Back for Year 4 and better than ever. LAMP is WiRL’s most popular and beloved session—and for good reason. On the main stage, attendees come together as one community to tackle the restaurant industry’s biggest questions in real time. No panels, no presentations. Just honest, peer-powered conversation that reminds you why being in this room matters. Presented in partnership with CHART.

A leader who has navigated some of the most iconic moments in restaurant history—and has plenty more to say about what it takes to get there, stay there, and keep going. Details coming soon.

This is the moment we’ve been building toward all week. The WiRL Awards Dinner celebrates the women driving restaurant leadership forward—honoring our Rising Stars, Trailblazers, Community Champions, and Entrepreneurs who are betting on themselves and raising the bar for everyone who comes after them. An evening of recognition, inspiration, and the kind of energy that reminds you exactly why this movement matters.

The future of power doesn’t happen on its own—it’s built by the women in rooms like this one. Before we leave Scottsdale, we close the way we opened: together. A final moment to reflect on what we’ve learned, who we’ve become, and what we’re going back to build. The movement doesn’t end when you leave this room. It’s just getting started.

Details coming soon.