Roland Dickey, Jr. is the Chief Executive Officer of Dickey’s Capital Group (DCG), the holding company of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. The grandson of the company’s founder, Dickey, Jr. began working for the family brand early on, learning the trades of the family smoking process from his dad. He went on to earn his degree in Business Administration at Southern Methodist University and came back to his family’s brand in 1999, where he then transitioned into his current leadership role in 2016. 

Dickey Jr. runs the Dickey Family portfolio of businesses, which includes consumer retail products, food manufacturing (Sauce, Spice and Proteins), real estate holdings, and eight family-owned barbecue restaurants, as well as collaborates with Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants Inc. and Spark Hospitality Technology. Previously, Dickey Jr lead Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, a Dallas-based, third-generation family run restaurant business, as CEO. Dickey Jr served at the helm of the restaurant company for 10 years before moving to his current role in 2016, expanding and vertically integrating the barbecue brand. In Dickey Jr’s leadership of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. he brought the company from 20 locations to more than 375 barbecue restaurants, within the brand's portfolio of over 800 restaurants across eight concepts.

Dickey Jr's most recent accomplishments with DCG were recognized in 2023 by Franchise Update Media at the 5th annual Innovation Awards, receiving the Most Innovative Supply Chain Improvements Award for the opening of WD Provisions, their USDA-inspected production facility, state-of-the-art manufacturing, and distribution plant in Mesquite, Texas.

Dickey Jr is dedicated to continually taking his family’s businesses to new heights, leading its evolution from a local barbecue joint to the successful fast-casual chain and barbecue brand it is today. By offering franchising opportunities, developing eCommerce, creating retail products for grocery stores, and embracing restaurant technology, Dickey’s has seen exponential growth, earning the title of the nation’s largest barbecue chain. Though Dickey’s growth nationwide has rapidly expanded, the brand still prides itself on authentic, slow-smoked, Texas-style barbecue, served with a signature side of southern hospitality.

Dickey joined the family business in 1999 after gaining valuable leadership experience in the restaurant industry outside the family business. Dickey Jr was honored by Restaurant Business Magazine as a part of the Power 20 in the restaurant industry. Dickey’s Barbecue was named “Fasted Growing Restaurant Chain” by Technomic 2013 and “Top 5 Growth Brand” by Nation’s Restaurant News and “Best Franchise Deal” by QSR Magazine in 2012. Dickey Jr., was named to Nation’s Restaurant News 50 most powerful people in foodservice in 2017.  He was also named to D Magazine’s Top 500 CEO list in 2017 and 2018. Other accolades Dickey, Jr. has accumulated during his time as CEO include earning Global Franchise Best Food and Drink Franchise 2019 award and QSR’s Best Franchise Deal in 2012 and 2015. The brand has been recognized as one of Fast Casual’s Top 100 Movers and Shakers each year for the past decade, winning the number one spot in 2016. In 2019 Dickey’s was awarded the Most Established Brand award by Franchise Help and the nearly 80 year-old-brand has also been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine, Franchise Times, and USA Today reader’s Choice Awards. Dickey Jr has been recognized by numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Dallas Morning News, QSR Magazine, Forbes Magazine, and Nation's Restaurant News.

Roland Dickey Jr.

Laura Rea Dickey currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. Dickey has been with the brand since 2009 and most recently served as Chief Information Officer before transitioning to CEO in 2017. Dickey has worked in the marketing and information technology fields for over 20 years, and has led the marketing, IT and training teams at Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. during her time there.

Dickey was named to the 2019 Nations Restaurant News Power list. She has been named among Fast Casual Magazine’s Top 25 Mover and Shakers executive list for the past four years. Dickey was recognized by The Dallas Business Journal as a top Woman in Technology award recipient in 2015. Dickey was also named to D Magazine’s Top 500 CEO’s list for 2019. Dickey received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Hospitality Technology in 2019 for her work utilizing Amazon’s voice technology in restaurant operations in partnership with IOLAP. A full list of awards is available to view at dickeys.com/media/awards. Dickey serves on the board of the non-profit, The Dickey Foundation that supports first responders and their families.

After graduating from Texas Christian University, Dickey went on to work at agencies such as Murray Brown Creative Group, The Richards Group and The Point Group. Through her years of agency experience, Dickey worked with brands such as W Hotels, American Heart Association, Blue Mesa, La Madeline and Chick-Fil-A. Dickey also lead marketing for the Student Housing portfolio for Fairfield Development. Dickey’s specialty is the intersection of technology and marketing, turning data insights into brand and business solutions.

In her time as CEO, Dickey has continued the brands expansion and overseen the development of the first international locations with restaurants in the UAE, specifically Abu Dabi and Dubai. Dickey also helped pioneer the third party delivery program for the brand, contributing to positive same stores sales in all digital channels for the past three years. Under Dickey’s leadership, the brand also launched its first major menu addition in four years debuting six new signature sauces and adding pit-smoked chicken wings to the core menu in 2019. As CIO, Dickey implemented a new technology infrastructure for the brand bringing parity and integration to data reporting, information security and all digital sales channels. Dickey developed a proprietary data platform in 2015, called Smoke Stack which was profiled for it’s innovation by Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. Dickey also lead the in-house development of several proprietary technology projects including a new Point-Of-Sale System, Online Ordering system, Loyalty Program, Consumer APP, CRM platform and Inventory Management system.

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