Lauren Fernandez, Founder and CEO of Full Course, is a Latina entrepreneur and visionary who is now leveraging her two decades of experience to solve one of the restaurant industry’s biggest problems: elevating diversity from within. Her unique solution in founding Full Course combines investment, education and mentorship to serve as the restaurant industry’s first and only incubator, accelerator and investment firm. Full Course partners alongside emerging new restaurants and food brands and solves their challenges while navigating them through rapid expansion. Leading an expert team comprised of former food service operators and experts, Fernandez specializes in the niche space of fast casual restaurants and food companies. As part of the Full Course mission, Fernandez invests in and partners with underrepresented owners by providing capital, ongoing development and guidance to accelerate growth.
Investment with a Clear Purpose and Driven Mission
Full Course is a female- and minority-owned company, and its mission to set more seats at the table is deeply personal to its founder. Recognizing the lack of capital and operational and development support for underrepresented founders, she leveraged her unique experiences to create a solution with Full Course. Even outside of this mission, the company’s solution is clever, compelling and completely differentiated. Unlike other investment firms, Full Course cultivates brands with an omnichannel approach with product development, company stores, franchising, non-traditional development and more. By applying these tested techniques to brands earlier, Full Course solves synergies and revenue issues young brands often face.
Entrepreneur’s Journey from Counsel to Multi-Unit Franchise Operator
For those who know Fernandez’s heart and expertise, this innovative solution is no surprise, especially given that she is a seasoned attorney, earned an MBA and has over 20 years of experience in product development, licensing and franchising with a focus on food and beverage. While she has served on the side of a multi-brand franchisor (as general counsel and head of franchise administration for FOCUS Brands), she also understands the walk of an operator as a former multi-unit franchisee operator (11 Chicken Salad Chick franchises). Her unique approach to solving this industry-wide problem has already gained notice in the industry and beyond: she has been named to Nation’s Restaurant News Power List, ALPFA Latinas to Watch List and recently was named one of Georgia’s 50 Most Influential Latinos.
Fernandez Leads a Multifaceted Company
Full Course is a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE)—the National Minority Supplier Development Council’s (NMSDC) gold standard for minority-owned for-profit businesses that are at least 51% owned, managed and controlled by members of qualified minority groups. Full Course has emerged as a company known for bringing more diverse faces and flavors to the restaurant industry’s table.
To accomplish this, Fernandez has established three pillars within Full Course to help food service entrepreneurs find success in a notoriously difficult industry.
Investment: As an atypical investment firm, Full Course uses its affiliated fund to make minority investments, leaving founders in control. The Full Course team executes its five-year plan for rapid expansion and growth, helping the operator build a strong team as its foundation for success. Full Course’s strategy continues with creating diversified, omni-channel revenue streams for the restaurant brand, encompassing strategies such as product development and franchising.
Mentorship: Full Course’s team works shoulder-to-shoulder with clients to achieve growth through incubator, accelerator and consulting services. For restaurants already in operation, the Accelerator program offers optimization, growth planning and development to help a brand grow with intention. Full Course’s teams provide actionable feedback in the areas of people, operations, finance, menu and marketing for implementation. Consulting services also are offered for emerging and established restaurant chains that want to scale for growth and improve their business.
Commitment to Grow Leaders through Education: Fernandez believes that the future of restaurants relies on improving equal access to educational opportunities; therefore, she created a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Full Course Foundation to ensure an equitable path to continued learning by offering free courses for leaders to learn at their own pace. Full Course’s LAUNCH incubator program is designed for a food business owner seeking to open a new restaurant concept. This proprietary training program offers group coaching and mentoring with subject matter experts, interactive learning modules and access to a community of other aspiring restaurant owner-operators.
About Full Course
Full Course is the industry’s first and only incubator and accelerator of early-stage food brands. The company partners with restaurants in the early stages of development and helps them tell their stories by optimizing operations, developing strategies for sustainable growth and connecting owners or chefs with the right investors or franchise partners. Full Course Founder and CEO Lauren Fernandez has spent almost 20 years in the food and beverage industry, first as general counsel and head of franchise administration for a large company with more than 4,000 restaurants in over 15 countries, and then as an operator of a successful restaurant group. Fernandez was recently named to the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 50 Most Influential Latinos list, the Association of Latino Professionals for America Latinas to Watch list and Nation’s Restaurant News Power List. Full Course has been awarded the Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) certification and Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certification. By providing support and expertise to burgeoning restaurant brands on the front end, Full Course is setting up a strong foundation for growth for them and their potential investors, from which they can successfully realize their dreams. Learn more at www.fullcourse.com.
