Kat Cole, CEO of Cinnabon, Defends Gen Y and Says Women Need to Stop Being Perfectionists

Kat Cole is the 35-year old president of Cinnabon, who begin as an engineering major who worked at Hooters to pay for college.

You might have heard of Kat Cole before under headlines like “How a Former Hooter’s Waitress Became Cinnabon’s President,” but we found much more than what an interesting headline told us. Kat is the product of a hard working single mother, one of three daughters growing up on a $10 a week food budget in Jacksonville, Florida. The amazing story starts with what Kat learned in those challenging years growing up that made her an intelligent and ambitious woman that rose quickly in corporate America. Today she manages a billion dollar a year company, works to help women and bring water to villages in Rwanda and Ethiopia, and is poised to be one of the greatest role models for women everywhere who aspire to succeed in a business world mostly dominated by men.

We had the great pleasure of sitting down with Kat for a conversation on the importance of street smarts, how corporate America views Gen Y, what it’s like being an undercover boss, and how women should think to be more successful in the business world.

Watch our interview with Kat, the CEO of Cinnabon, below.