Meet Melanie Brun, an Area Coach (AC) here at Desert de Oro Foods (DDO)! 

Melanie oversees Area 12 in Region 3, and over the course of her career, she’s held a variety of positions. This wide-ranging QSR experience means that Melanie understands firsthand the challenges that her direct reports face every day — making her an especially effective leader!

Thinking Outside the Box

Melanie’s strong suit is her ability to problem-solve. Her coaching philosophy puts this skill front and center, and she gives her team the tools they need to get to the bottom of issues all on their own. Melanie’s strategy? Break problems down into more bite-sized solutions. That way, they’ll be much more manageable — and much less daunting!

Lately, Melanie has been especially focused on one very important thing: ensuring each restaurant in Area 12 has clean nozzles! She laughs and shares that during restaurant visits, her team will now tell her that they already cleaned the nozzles — well before she even has a chance to ask.

The Making of a Great Leader

Melanie’s background and personal interests explain a lot about why she’s such a fantastic AC. Born and raised in Utah, Melanie is one of seven children. Her father was a car salesman and her mother an elementary paraeducator. She credits both with teaching her how to be a hard worker with integrity.

“When I do something, I give it my all. If not, there is no point.”

– Melanie Brun, Taco Bell Area Coach (AC)

Melanie and her husband of 15 years, Nate, are also avid rock climbers. They specifically practice bouldering, which involves scaling small rock formations or artificial walls without ropes or harnesses. The sport involves planning, bravery and, you guessed it, lots of problem solving. She even recently won a bouldering competition! 

Melanie, we’re so grateful to have such a multi-talented leader on our team — thank you for all of the hard work you do!