How Buffalo Wings & Rings CEO Nader Masadeh Aligns Staff with the Brand’s Promise to Ensure Ongoing Success

Nader Masadeh of Buffalo Wings & Rings has learned a thing or two about leadership during his time with the company. He’s held different positions over the course of 12 years, but Masadeh said that throughout this time, one priority has remained the same: adherence to the brand.

Masadeh’s career in restaurants started out early – first as an employee at his uncle’s Burger King, and later transitioning into a partnership with his father’s Gold Star Chili franchise. These opportunities taught him the importance of building a brand and growing a business, two things that don’t happen overnight. He learned to worked hard with purpose every day, and works to instill those values into those around him today.

Now, three years into his appointment as President and CEO of Buffalo Wings & Rings, Masadeh said his perception of leading a business isn’t all that different from what they were when he first started out.  

“Nothing really changed in my mind,” Masadeh said. “Becoming CEO just reaffirmed the notion of surrounding yourself with the right tools needed to thrive.”

The tools he speaks of are primarily the team members who make up Buffalo Wings & Rings as a whole. Shortly after his promotion in 2014, Masadeh appeared on CBS’s Undercover Boss to examine the deeper workings of the company and hired staff. He got a closer look at all the moving parts making up the success of the brand, and he’s been working hard over the past year to take everything he’s learned from that experience to better maneuver the well-oiled machine that is Buffalo Wings & Rings.

“The biggest shift I’ve experienced since switching roles is just trying to get through alignment to ensure staff and brand promise are all the same,” said Masadeh. “We’ve been shifting the hiring stage and making sure we have talented people to guarantee our growth as a company.”

The Buffalo Wings & Rings brand promise is that of a VIP experience. Every guest – or fan, as they’re often referred to – who enters the family-friendly sports restaurant should leave with satisfaction from an elevated meal and excellent service. Masadeh recalled one of his proudest moments, which happened just recently, that pertained to the brand adherence he and the company value so greatly.

“We opened a new location and received a note from a guest raving about the restaurant, which included all the right words: family, service, fresh,” he said. “It tied together all the efforts we’re trying to make and showed our goals coming to life.”

Today, Masadeh credits patience and lots of dedication to his success as a leader. He also simply doesn’t just let things happen; he instead insists on being verbal and accomplishing everything on his list. He believes that working each day toward a goal will force it to come to fruition.

Although he has several proud moments and highs from his career with Buffalo Wings & Rings, Masadeh’s advice to others in his CEO shoes is to not be afraid of failure.

“Everyone will make mistakes and fall down from time to time, but the way to turn that around is to continue the journey and learn from every fall.”