Lauren Fernandez didn’t follow the typical path to CEO. And she didn’t wait for permission to lead. Instead, she created her own seat at the table—then invited others to sit beside her.
As the founder and CEO of Full Course, Lauren is building more than a portfolio of restaurant brands. She’s reshaping what early-stage growth can look like for food entrepreneurs by combining operational expertise, capital, and deep empathy for what it takes to scale.
But the Full Course story starts much earlier—on a dock, with an idea.
Before launching Full Course, Lauren had already worn several hats: corporate attorney, general counsel at Focus Brands (now GoTo Foods), and eventually, multi-unit franchisee. After acquiring three early Chicken Salad Chick locations, she stepped into the role of operator, shedding the corporate polish and learning the business from the kitchen floor up.
That first day, she traded heels for non-slip clogs and committed to working alongside her managers to understand the business from the inside. Over time, she grew the business to 11 traditional units, three non-traditional, a catering vertical, and a test market for delivery—all while building a predominantly female leadership team.
This deep operational grounding was critical not just for success in her franchise business—but for everything that would come next.
Founded in 2019, Full Course is an early-stage investment and development firm focused on helping fast casual restaurant brands grow through a holistic, omni-channel strategy. But it’s not just about capital. Lauren designed Full Course to solve the common pain points founders face: lack of operational support, poor capital alignment, high turnover, and unclear growth strategy.
Her approach is hands-on, growth-focused, and rooted in operational reality. Whether it’s through company stores, franchising, licensing, or product development, Full Course helps brands build the infrastructure to scale well, not just fast.
What sets Lauren apart is her perspective. She isn’t just an investor. She’s been the person opening the restaurant, fixing the process, mentoring the team, and staying late to count inventory. That lived experience allows her to serve founders with empathy, while still pushing for smart, scalable decisions.
And that empathy extends beyond Full Course’s portfolio. Lauren is vocal about creating real change in the industry—especially for women, people of color, and early-stage founders who’ve been historically underserved. She’s a regular speaker, a mentor, and an advocate for honest, solution-focused conversations in a space often cluttered by surface-level talk.
Lauren’s not slowing down. From speaking at FAB in Charleston to contemplating her own podcast or book, she’s focused on becoming an even more visible advocate for change in the industry. Her goals are bold but clear: amplify the work of others, expand the nonprofit training arm of Full Course, and maybe even develop a few original restaurant concepts of her own.
Lauren Fernandez transitioned from legal leadership to franchise operations to founding a restaurant investment firm.
Her company, Full Course, supports early-stage brands with capital and strategic growth infrastructure.
Operational empathy, real-world experience, and a passion for equity define her leadership style.
Lauren is focused on scaling her impact through visibility, nonprofit work, and community-building in the restaurant industry.