Most restaurant operators know training matters.
The problem is that as restaurant brands grow, maintaining the same standards across every location becomes harder. Managers are responsible for training employees, checking food safety, maintaining brand standards, and still finding time to take care of guests.
For Jennifer Dodd, board advisor to Main Squeeze Juice Co., technology can help solve that problem without removing the human side of hospitality.
During a conversation with Shawn Walchef at the CREATE Conference, Dodd shared how Main Squeeze uses KNOW to support employee training, communication, and restaurant audits while giving managers more time to lead their teams.
Training at Scale
Dodd has spent her career learning how important strong leadership is to restaurant growth.
She has worked with major restaurant brands and franchise organizations and has seen restaurants with strong locations and systems still struggle because they did not have the right leadership in place.
“You could open a restaurant, do the GIS mapping software perfectly, figure out how to pick the right site, and then it would still start floundering if you didn’t have leaders running the business.”
That focus on developing people is one reason Main Squeeze transitioned to KNOW’s learning management system.
The platform gives employees training resources directly on their phones, but Dodd believes one of its most valuable features is the ability to practice.
KNOW’s AI-powered training can role-play with employees and help prepare them for conversations with guests. For Main Squeeze, that can mean teaching a new employee how to explain different juices and guide customers based on what they are looking for.
“KNOW is like having your own AI personal assistant in the employee’s pocket,” Dodd said.
An employee can practice how they would introduce a product, receive feedback on what they missed, and try again.
For Dodd, that addresses a real challenge for restaurant operators. Training that previously depended heavily on a manager or franchisee can now be reinforced through technology whenever an employee needs it.
“It would’ve taken us months to build what KNOW has done,” Dodd said.
Operational Excellence
Training is only part of the equation.
Dodd believes restaurant brands also need clear standards and consistent ways to measure whether those standards are being met.
At Main Squeeze, stores complete self-audits twice a day covering areas including food safety, time and temperature. Locations also conduct a monthly self-audit that leadership can validate.
KNOW has helped make that process easier.
Instead of carrying a clipboard around the restaurant, managers can use their phones during an audit. The platform can capture what the manager is seeing and compare it against the brand’s standards.
“It just cuts down the time,” Dodd said. “The burden is not there for the operator to be able to have that audit.”
The information also gives Dodd greater visibility across the organization.
“It gives me peace of mind as the CEO that we know who needs our help, who do we need to go retrain, or who’s doing well that we can celebrate.”
That distinction is important. Technology is not simply being used to identify problems. It can help leadership understand where people need support and where teams are succeeding.
Technology With Humanity
Main Squeeze built much of its technology stack in-house, giving the company visibility into what happens inside its restaurants.
But Dodd does not believe restaurant companies need to build every solution themselves.
For specialized areas like learning management, she sees value in working with companies that spend every day focused on solving that particular problem.
“It’s important to bring in experts, subject matter experts, that can help you with other solutions without having to have as large of an organizational team,” Dodd said.
For Dodd, the goal of restaurant technology is not removing people from hospitality. It is giving them better tools to deliver it.
Whether KNOW is helping an employee learn how to talk with a guest, giving a manager a faster way to complete an audit, or helping leadership understand where a restaurant needs support, the human experience still matters.
“We’re all super busy,” Dodd said. “But in that’s got to be humanity.”
The technology may keep changing.
The purpose of hospitality does not.
