This story is part of a Franchise Times special feature on athletes in franchising, which appears in the April print edition of the magazine. Check out more stories here.
Playing professional basketball gave Rasheeda Clark the accountability, discipline and preparation for her second career in business.
Rasheeda Clark, who played for three WNBA teams, focuses on driving growth in Flynn Group Wendy’s units.
The president of Flynn Group’s Wendy’s division played for the WNBA’s Portland Fire, the Charlotte Sting and the Connecticut Sun. Today she oversees more than 300 Wendy’s restaurants in Flynn’s portfolio, accounting for nearly $800 million in revenue.
As a brand leader for the largest franchisee group in the country, she nearly doubled Flynn’s unit count of Wendy’s and expanded into international markets. But one of her proudest accomplishments is helping her team grow. Three of her team members were promoted to vice presidential roles under her watch.
“It’s not about chasing titles for me. It really is about doing the work with a group of people that you’re connected to, that you care for, and being able to elevate them to the levels of success that maybe they never thought they could achieve,” Clark said.
Flynn Group, led by founder and CEO Greg Flynn, has a vast portfolio of 3,000-plus units in brands such as Applebee’s, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Planet Fitness doing $5 billion in sales. The company’s notoriety as a restaurant operating group was one of the things that drew Clark. The other was the culture among the company and its team members.
“Throughout the interview process, the way they showed up authentically, it felt like real people having conversations,” said Clark, who spent two decades in corporate roles at PepsiCo and Advance Auto Parts before joining Flynn Group in 2022. “You get a chance to see how Flynn Group was and is, and continues to invest in leaders and empower operators to make the decisions that they see fit and best for their business.”
At the core of Clark’s leadership philosophy is caring for her people and helping them achieve their goals. She ensures that her team members feel seen and heard in their roles. Just like a basketball team, she installs the underlying idea that everyone wants the group to succeed.
“It’s having this human kindness under pressure as a leader and being able to provide your team with clarity and consistency,” she said. “Most folks show up every day wanting to be successful, but they can only do that when expectations are clear and standards are consistently held across the org, regardless of title.”
At Wendy’s, system sales in 2025 were $14 billion, a 3.5 percent decrease from the year before. Interim CEO Ken Cook said in February that those results are “in line with our expectations, reflecting the challenges we anticipated.” Clark is optimistic about the future of the brand.
“It may be in a tough climate, but a brand like Wendy’s will rebound and bounce back, and we’re going to be here for it 100 percent, 10 toes down,” Clark said.
Flynn had 167 Wendy’s restaurants when Clark started. Since then, it’s grown internationally with the signing of a master franchise agreement in Australia in 2024 with the expectation of opening 200 units nationwide. Less than a year later, Flynn announced it bought Wendy’s New Zealand.
In general, companies should take advantage of the qualities professional athletes develop in their sports careers, Clark said.
“Athletes are drawn to environments that value discipline, teamwork, accountability and winning the right way,” she said. “I think brands need to be clear about standards, transparent about expectations and serious about development. I think athletes respect systems that reward effort, preparation and results.”