Cowen Partners Executive Search Insights Featured in Resturaunt Dive Analysis of Papa John’s Dual Role CFO and President
Cowen Partners President Shawn Cole was recently quoted in Restaurant Dive regarding Papa Johns’ appointment of CFO Ravi Thanawala to the dual role of CFO and President, North America. Cole provided expert analysis on the growing trend of finance leaders taking on expanded operational responsibilities, noting that such moves typically signal “belt-tightening and a push for financial discipline.” He emphasized that while Thanawala has made a strong impression in his role, “the real test will be proving he can do more than cut costs — he must show he can grow the business, too.” Read the full article in Restaurant Dive.
“For better or worse, moving a CFO into an operations role usually signals belt-tightening and a push for financial discipline,” Shawn Cole, president of boutique executive search firm Cowen Partners. “You can see it in the headlines: Papa John’s, plans to close up to 70 North American locations in 2025 as part of a broader effort to improve profitability after declining same-store sales.”
Read the full article in Restaurant Dive
About Restaurant Dive
Restaurant Dive provides in-depth journalism and insight into the most impactful news and trends shaping the restaurant industry. The newsletters and website cover topics such as consumer trends, restaurant tech, food service operations, policies, regulations, and more.
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About Cowen Partners Executive Search
Cowen Partners Executive Search is a leading national executive search firm, known for placing world-class C-suite leaders, board members, and senior executives across industries.
Specializing in finding and recruiting top talent, we provide clients with comprehensive access to the executive marketplace, ensuring that each search is tailored to the unique needs of the organization. Our clients benefit from a proven track record of delivering high-impact leaders who drive growth, innovation, and performance.
At Cowen Partners Executive Search, we go beyond traditional executive search by offering strategic insights and expertise that help companies build high-performing teams and navigate complex market challenges.
Whether it’s sourcing transformative CEOs, CFOs, or board directors, we are committed to excellence, transparency, and results-driven solutions, making us the trusted partner for businesses looking to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.
About Shawn Cole, President & Co founder
Shawn Cole is a serial entrepreneur and executive leader with over 15 years’ experience founding and running successful companies. Shawn’s business career has been centered on value creation for both turnarounds and startups.
Shawn is President and Co-Founder of Cowen Partners Executive Search, a national CFO executive search firm focused on the key elements of a successful business: sales, marketing, and finance. Business clients across the country trust Cowen Partners Executive Search to take their companies to the next level by finding them executive talent, including CEOs, CFOs, COOs, Chief Revenue Officers, and Chief Marketing Officers. Clients are both small and large, publicly traded, pre-IPO, private, and non-profit organizations, typically $50 million to multi-billion dollar revenue Fortune 1000 companies or have assets between $1 billion and $15 billion.
An active participant in the business community and startup space, Shawn Co-Chairs The Cowen Partners Venture Fund, which provides seed funding and early-stage investments, focusing on market disruptors in niche markets, community businesses, and minority entrepreneurs.
Shawn attended Oregon State University’s College of Business Austin Entrepreneurship Program and participated in a first-of-its-kind experiential entrepreneurship experiment at Weatherford Hall. He was also a Founding Member and President of Oregon State University’s Students in Free Enterprise, an international nonprofit organization that works with university students who want to positively change their communities and learn practical skills to become socially responsible business leaders.
At the age of 16, Shawn became a volunteer firefighter and EMT, eventually founding and managing a half-marathon to raise funds for the community. To date, he has raised over $1 million to benefit the community.
As trailblazing leaders in executive search, Cowen Partners Executive Search is also an innovator that routinely develops groundbreaking resources to empower better insights, decisions, and understandings of what it takes to recruit and retain top talent in today’s C-suites. Explore some of our elite resources below to see why Cowen Partners Executive Search continues to be a top executive search firm nationwide.
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