Workstream, 521 7th Street, San Francisco, CA (2026)

10/12/2026

"I love that I get to onboard people who are usually starting a first job... this job helps them grow and figure out how to be an adult."

Meaghan Campbell has spent more than 30 years on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, the last 25 as HR director for Whiting's Foods.

She started at 16 in food service and fell into HR years later when an opening came up. "Oh, HR, that sounds interesting," she remembers.

Now she welcomes teenagers to their first job and teaches them the basics, like showing up on time. One summer, a new hire came to the boardwalk on his day off to see the friends he'd made there. "This is kind of what we're all about," Meaghan says.

That's why she isn't expecting kiosks to take over. "There’s high-tech and there’s high-touch, and we want to be high-touch," she says. Maybe robots will make the cotton candy someday, but Whiting’s Foods on the Boardwalk will always need its people.

When her VP found Workstream at the IAAPA expo, Meaghan was skeptical, since other platforms made a simple job posting require "17 things on different tabs." Workstream was different. "My favorite thing about Workstream is the simplicity of use," she says. "It was nice to be pleasantly surprised."

More than three decades after her own first shift, she's still helping the next 16-year-old find their footing, and maybe their people.

09/22/2026

"It's not who's right or wrong. It's how you handle it that the light shines on."

Stephanie Wiggins is the Director of HR for MPH Dining, which operates 16 Culver's restaurants, with a 17th opening in weeks and nine more planned over the next year and a half. She didn't come up through restaurants. Stephanie spent 14 years in HR across education, a PEO, and food manufacturing before joining MPH Dining, her first time in quick-service, in a role that didn't exist before her. She built the department from scratch, the same way she had once before at a manufacturing company still handwriting paychecks.

"Five minutes into my interview, I knew this was unlike any other place," she says. "They genuinely care about people, and decisions for people always come before profitability."

MPH Dining runs on Workstream for applicant tracking, onboarding, payroll, and benefits, work Stephanie calls the smoothest payroll transition she's ever managed. A mentor's advice from early in her career still guides her: it's not about who's right, it's how you handle it. "People always people," she says lightheartedly. "You have to have real passion for this, or you won't be great at it."

09/18/2026

We are our own roadblocks.

Lisa Mendez, Regional Director of Operations at Sunshine Restaurant Partners, oversees 49 IHOP locations across South Florida. She started at 13 at McDonald's and her mom's sandwich shop in Miami, and has been with Sunshine for 27 years.

For years, the one thing she didn't do was raise her hand, because she didn't think she deserved it. Now she tells people: ask for it, even when you're scared.

"Everything I do is around people. The development of people, the impact that you have on their lives of young people just like myself that started out and maybe they didn't have a direction. They touch these people's lives every day and they don't realize the impact or the ripple effect that it has."

Last year, Lisa launched Elevating Women in Leadership, an internal program to develop women in the company. She became the leader she never had.

Sunshine uses Workstream across 140-plus locations. After a company-wide training webinar, field team feedback was unanimous: zero complaints, even from new hires.

Lisa, thank you for raising your hand.

09/15/2026

"My favorite thing is to watch our employees develop. I really enjoy being able to also be there when they're at their lowest points in their life and I can help them."

Mitch Stewart, now Franchise Administrator and Director of Operations at MK Pizza Partners, started as a crew member in 2012. Jeziree Fernandez, now District Manager, started in 2010. They came up through the same stores, a Little Caesars franchise in the Seattle area.

They know what it looks like to be new, to make mistakes, and to need someone in your corner.

"I've been there. I've done it and I understand what you're going through," Mitch says.

More than a decade later, they still have dinner with former employees.

When a tool shows up for their customers, they notice. "It was so seamless and smooth," Mitch says. "I really appreciated just being able to have the confidence within Workstream to get it done and know that it was going to be done."

Mitch and Jeziree, thank you for always showing up for your team.

09/08/2026

"One of the best things to have as a leader is empathy. And that doesn't mean weakness by any means."

Kelly Nyberg has spent five years building Nyberg's ACE's hiring culture across six hardware stores, a handyman services division, and a workwear shop in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Her grandfather started the business in 1958. When COVID hit, she came back to the family business and stepped into the corporate hiring manager role with no HR experience.

Empathy is central to how Kelly leads and how she hires. You never know what somebody's going through. That belief shapes how she interviews and reads candidates.

"You might not know everything about hardware or lawn and garden or grilling or housewares. But if you have those customer service skills and are willing to learn, you're a great worker for us."

Workstream gave her the tools to assess what matters before someone walks in the door: custom questions, SMS conversations, candidate tags. Retention has improved by about 50%.

Kelly, thank you for making empathy part of the job, not just a quality someone lists on their resume.

09/02/2026

"It's not easy, but nothing is easy. If you really love serving people and love connecting with your community, it all comes down to who you bring on board with you and the family you create there."

Zack Sakak's father came to the United States at 15 and eventually built out the Applebee's franchise in North Dakota. Zack grew up working those restaurants and opened Sonic locations with his family. He's been in the brand 13 years, now running four locations in North Dakota and Badlands, a local steakhouse in Minot, ND.

"The best advice I've ever gotten is from my dad," Zack says. "You're really looking for people that share the same values and the same love for the industry. It just makes the biggest difference."

For payroll and onboarding, Zack and his team use Workstream, a partner he describes as refreshing, user-friendly, and backed by a help desk that's "always so responsive."

The defining factor, Zack says, is how much you love it and how much you love serving the community. Thirteen years in, the answer is still yes to both.

08/31/2026

"I had a lot of imposter syndrome. Why am I here? These people have had longer careers, more accomplishments. And so feeling like I've earned a lot of their respect, feeling comfortable that I belong here, that I'm here because people value my opinion. That is probably my biggest accomplishment."

Chris King is the president of King Enterprises, a third-generation family business running 18 Wendy's and 5 KFCs. His grandfather had a handshake deal with Colonel Sanders in the 1960s. His dad built on that foundation. When Chris stepped into leadership, he was consistently the youngest in every room, surrounded by people his dad's age.

"There's nothing I'm going to ask you that I haven't done myself. I understand it. I wouldn't ask you to do something that doesn't make sense."

King Franchises works with Workstream, and Chris says the bar for any vendor is simple: "I've got a lot of vendor partners and very few of them are as good as you guys."

Three generations in, still earning every room. Thank you, Chris.

08/27/2026

"At the end of the day, you close everything down, you clean it up, and you get a fresh start the next day."

That philosophy has carried Dustin Riddle through nearly 30 years inside Sonic Drive-Ins.

He started as a cook at 16, following his father into Sonic. Dustin always told himself he'd follow a different path. "Just kind of started in the business," he says, "and then next thing I know it's 30 years later." Today he's Director of Operations for Great American Hospitality, leading 21 locations across the Carolinas and Virginia.

When things don't go as planned, he turns to baseball. "I always equate it to a pitcher giving up a home run. If they sit there and dwell on it, they're going to give up more. Just focus on the next guest. Make the adjustment and move the team forward."

Workstream joined Great American Hospitality in April 2025. Time to hire dropped from 10 days to 6, and the team could finally afford to be more selective.

Dustin, thirty years of fresh starts. Thank you for showing what they can build.

08/24/2026

"Nothing ever happens in the office, and no money's ever made there. Get out in the restaurant."

Adam Golomb is Managing Partner and CEO of The Markham Team, which grew to 12 Smoothie King locations this year across Pittsburgh, central Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He got that advice decades ago, back when he was working nearly every job in a restaurant himself: cook, dishwasher, server, bartender.

"If you have an idea, you can try it this afternoon and know in an hour if it works. You don't have to wait weeks to figure out if something works."

Four weeks into using Workstream for payroll, Adam says it has cut processing time in half and already caught issues, like an incorrect bank account, before they became a bigger problem for his back-office team.

Twelve stores in, Adam still follows the same advice: get out of the office and see for yourself.

08/19/2026

"I am over here waking up at 6 a.m. to clock in and make coffee. But it's important to know. It's important to do."

Krupa Desai had a VP title waiting for her at her family's Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins franchise, but she took a crew member schedule instead.

Before that, she'd built a career in healthcare administration in Chicago. When her dad and uncles asked her to take over the Illinois stores, she started as crew, then shift lead, then assistant manager, learning the job the way her team had.

"You wouldn't have the business without the family, but you would have the family without the business" is the advice she carries from her dad and uncles, and it shows in how she leads: relationships first, title second.

Workstream now handles hiring and scheduling across the portfolio. As Krupa put it, "It has been twofold much better... it actually takes things off of our plate versus putting things on our plate."

The same person who once clocked in at 6 a.m. is now the one making sure the schedule works for everyone else.

Krupa, thank you for earning that seat one shift at a time.

Workstream

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