Bright Futures Served Up Daily
How OP Ready Now shapes Whataburger’s leaders
At our OP Ready Now graduation ceremonies, the enthusiasm is remarkable. Picture dozens of proud graduates walking together into the Whataburger home office—greeted in the lobby by a sea of orange clappers and pom-poms, to surprise them and celebrate their accomplishment.
The ceremony marks the end of a sixth-month program that prepares store leaders to become Whataburger Operating Partners (OPs). Each quarter, OPs-in-training travel to the San Antonio headquarters to finish their two-day capstone course and celebrate the achievement.
Whether they’ve spent one, two, or twenty years as a Whataburger Family Member, OP Ready Now graduates say they leave feeling motivated to continue learning and leading in their markets.
In her commencement speech, President and CEO Debbie Stroud emphasized the support system each graduate has access to as they continue on their journeys—connections that they highly value.
“Every class I was learning more and more,” said Gary Stevenson, a store manager in Oklahoma City, “and when a problem would arise, I could call any one of my teachers, my market leader, and other people that I had met in class and ask them all kinds of questions, which helped me in my journey.”
Read more of what some OP Ready Now graduates have to say about the program below.
Scroll through to read their quotes.
Whataburger serves up Goodness 24/7 with a made-to-order, customizable menu of burgers and other favorites delivered just like you like it. Born in Texas and headquartered in San Antonio, we’re celebrating 76 flavorful years of big bites, bold flavors, and even bigger fan love. We’ve grown to over 1,100 restaurants across 17 states, with original-recipe products now found in grocery aisles across the country. Our secret sauce (besides that Fancy Ketchup) is our Family Members - real people serving up real hospitality and meaningful connections in the communities we call home. We’ve landed on Fast Company’s Brands that Matter list, USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, and Newsweek’s America’s Best of the Best. To learn more, shop the Whatastore, or find your nearest location, visit Whataburger.com - or download our app on iOS or Android. Hungry for more? Discover what keeps fans coming back by diving into real stories from Whataburger super fans at stories.whataburger.com.