Jodie Kalmus

Operations Excellence and Transformation Leader helping organizations execute strategy through leadership capability and workforce effectiveness.

An operationally focused leader translating business strategy and goals into practical leadership behaviors, strong teams, and consistent execution that strengthens culture, improves retention, drives performance, and exceptional stakeholder experiences.

Specializes in workforce strategy, operations excellence, leadership pipeline development, employee engagement, internal communications, and enterprise change in complex, multi-site service-driven environments.

Her background spans hospitality, restaurants, nonprofit, funeral services, grocery retail, and franchising with particular strength in organizations where culture, operations excellence, service quality, and leadership consistency matter at scale.

Help Business Succeed

Champion and advocate for a People – Purpose – Process – Performance – Profits culture.
Apply an operator’s mindset to enterprise strategy, goals, talent, learning and communications.
Design and implement people-centered operating models which reduce voluntary turnover, strengthen accountability, engagement and service continuity.
Known for serving as a strategic advisor to business unit leaders, C-Suite executives and Board while leading operations, workforce engagement and organizational consistency across a distributed, mission-driven workforce.
Partner with cross-functional leaders and teams to accelerate strategic execution and drive adoption of enterprise initiatives through stronger culture, communications and workforce alignment.
Scale enterprise Talent, Learning, and Internal Communications infrastructures standardizing onboarding, position training, leadership development, compliance, succession and M&A integration.
Build enterprise Training, Engagement and Communications platforms which builds culture, meeting participation, intranet traffic and recognition program participation.
Design and implement Talent Review and Succession Planning strategy for short and long-term growth.
Design, develop, plan and execute in-person and virtual events, leadership summits, leadership development programs, town hall meetings, team meetings.
Lead facilitation of events, meetings, trainings, while applying adult learning and multi-media approaches.

Professional Certifications

Korn Ferry Leadership Architect
Training – Live and Online, Podcasting for Trainers – From Design to Delivery

Publications

Nation’s Restaurant News, Darden’s Women’s Networking Groups

Awards

Earned two Joe R. Lee Darden Brilliance Awards, recognizing extraordinary contributions to restaurant operations and support

Education

Flagler College, studied – Business Administration

Industries

Hospitality
Restaurants
Nonprofit
Funeral Services
Grocery Retail
Franchise

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Organizational Effectiveness

Change Leadership

Workforce Strategy

Talent & Culture Strategy

Cross-Functional Leadership

Internal Communications

Multi-Site Operations Excellence

Talent Analytics

Succession Planning

M&A Integration

Multi-Media Facilitation

Project Management

Instructional Design

practical Experience, Impactful solutions

Transformed Underperforming Restaurant

Lacking stable leadership, declining morale, guest count, sales and local standing

Increased guest count by 1,000 guests per week within 6 months, elevated location into the top 5% of a 100+ restaurant division and earned promotion to the Orlando Restaurant Support Center to train newly promoted General Managers.

Built and scaled a distributed talent, learning and development and internal communications function

Supporting 2,000 employees across 250 locations in a highly regulated, multi-site environment.

Designed, facilitated, and managed advanced training courses and programs focused on continuous improvements resulting in standardized communications, SOPs, training and licensing requirements across a multi-state operating environment, achieving 92% training completion and maintaining audit-ready records for inspections.

Designed and Implemented Enterprise Learning Center of Excellence

Multi-Brand Restaurant Company

Redesigned a universal management training program from the ground up, reducing annual spend of $1 million and earning a 4.9/5.0 participant satisfaction rating.

Led cross-functional design and delivery of major people development programs and manager-in-training initiatives, including 50+ enterprise classes consisting of 100+ participants per class over two years.

Completed talent analysis for 1,000 managers and general managers, creating a structured readiness framework that improved succession visibility and leadership planning and informed strategic programs.

Built Talent Succession Strategy

Designed and Implemented Talent Review and Succession Planning Strategy

Completed thorough talent analysis for 2,000 employees across 250 locations. Implemented succession planning strategy using a talent review process.

Designed and implemented 35+ Success Profiles and leadership pipelines in 12 months, strengthening succession readiness, talent continuity, and workforce planning across the enterprise.

Implemented a people-centered operating model

Stabilize performance, strengthen accountability, support organizational continuity during a major transition.

Directed leadership coordination and continuity planning during a $10 million facility transition, completing the initiative ahead of schedule while maintaining 100% service continuity.

Reduced voluntary turnover by 10%.

Lead Events, Leadership Summits, Learning Programs, Company Meetings

Plan and execute in-person and virtual events, leadership summits, learning programs applying adult learning methods and multi-media consistently exceeding attendance goals, securing increased sponsorships, and boosting attendee satisfaction through expert facilitation and presentation skills.

Roles Served

Spanning more than 30 years in roles including:

Vice President, Learning & Development
Vice President, Internal Communications
Chief Operations Officer
Manager, Enterprise Learning & Development
Darden, Olive Garden General Manager
Consultant

Jodie blends strategic vision with an unmatched “get it done” mentality. She navigates high-pressure deadlines and complex organizational shifts with a level of calm determination that is rare to find. Jodie is equally comfortable at the organizational strategic level and in the trenches of execution. She possesses a relentless determination to ensure project success. If there is a gap to be filled or a complex problem to solve, Jodie steps in without hesitation. She doesn’t just manage projects — she owns the outcomes. Even when things are moving fast, Jodie remains a steady hand, balancing the technical side of project management with a genuine focus on people. Whether she was designing a new curriculum or guiding us through an organizational shift, she always led with empathy and clear communication. Jodie builds a culture where people actually want to do their best work.

Operations Excellence and Transformation Leader