Rachel Richal is the Vice President of Training for Buffalo Wild Wings, part of Inspire Brands, a global multi-brand restaurant company. In her role, she leads the strategy of training and development programs and roll-out of initiatives to both the company and franchise system. Her team’s goal is to operationalize initiatives and design engaging programs that improves performance, drives brand culture, and positively develops the team member experience.
Rachel began her hospitality career at 15 at a local restaurant in Miami. Growing up in a family in the wine business, food and beverage was always a huge part of her life. Prior to joining the team at Buffalo Wild Wings in 2019, Rachel led training and development for the Florida based restaurant chain, TooJay’s Deli and Restaurant.
She was recognized in 2019 in FSR magazine’s Rising Stars list—a collection of 40 rising restaurant professionals under 40 in the U.S. She is a Certified Hospitality Trainer from the Educational Institute and, in 2021, was recognized by Chief Learning Officer’s Learning in Practice Awards for both the Trailblazer Award and the Innovation Award. She has spoken multiple times for the National Restaurant Association both in person and in virtual formats.
Rachel is actively involved in the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART), for which she has been a Master Facilitator and served five years on the Board of Directors focusing on the education of hospitality trainers across the industry. She is currently the immediate Past President having served as the President of the national training association for the 2022-2023 term.
Rachel currently lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband, Dan, son, Crosby and two dogs Jemmi and Rory.
