---
title: "Zaxbys hires Waffle House vet as chief development officer"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/9e93fb19-07f4-4c7e-b0aa-2b7ec363ab86
source: "Restaurant Dive"
original_url: https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/zaxbys-appoints-russell-holland-chief-development-officer/822709/
author: "Julie Littman"
category: "Chicken"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Chicken"
topics: ["People"]
published: 2026-06-12T14:52:47.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T13:19:23.978Z
image: https://imgproxy.divecdn.com/huHdWmOTswu5wSh03GgHtZzk8smQbpOFlC6e32afYRA/g:nowe:0:71/c:800:451/rs:fit:770:435/Z3M6Ly9kaXZlc2l0ZS1zdG9yYWdlL2RpdmVpbWFnZS8zYjhhMTJiMi04Zjc1LTQ3MGEtYjZkNS01MGEzZmM2YTZjZTgucG5n.webp
---

# Zaxbys hires Waffle House vet as chief development officer

**TL;DR:** Zaxby's has hired Russell Holland as chief development officer to support the chain's aggressive growth as it expands past 1,000 units. Holland brings nearly 20 years of experience, including time at Waffle House and Inspire Brands.

*By Julie Littman, originally published in Restaurant Dive on 2026-06-12. [Read the original](https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/zaxbys-appoints-russell-holland-chief-development-officer/822709/).*

## Story

Russell Holland, who has served as interim CDO since February, will support the chain’s aggressive growth as it expands past 1,000 units.

Russell Holland has served as interim chief development officer since February, according to a press release emailed to Restaurant Dive. He originally joined the brand in December to focus on non-traditional development, per his LinkedIn profile.

He brings nearly 20 years of experience to his permanent role at the fast food chain. Prior to Zaxbys, Holland served as vice president, head of real estate for Inspire Brands. He also worked at Waffle House in various real estate positions for over 12 years, per LinkedIn.

As CDO at Zaxbys, he will oversee ongoing profitable growth and the chain’s aggressive expansion strategy. Holland's experience includes simplifying processes, creating unit pipelines and creating scalable development strategies, the press release said.

“[Holland] not only has a proven track record of success improving workflows and supporting profitable growth across QSR brands, but he also has a leadership style that fits the Zaxbys brand,” Bernard Acoca, Zaxbys CEO, said in a statement.

Zaxbys surpassed 1,000 units in 2025 and is now in 23 states. It is eyeing additional growth in both traditional and non-traditional settings this year. The chain opened 36 net new units last year and projects another 69 units this year, including 62 franchised units, per its franchise disclosure document.

In March, Zaxbys also hired Michael Dixon as chief financial officer to support its next chapter of growth.

## Entities

- unit expansion (topic)
- QSR (sector)
- Restaurant Dive (publication)
- Zaxby's (company)
- Inspire Brands (company)
- executive hiring (topic)
- qsr growth (topic)
- Julie Littman (person)
- Bernard Acoca (person)
- Waffle House (company)
- Russell Holland (person)
- Michael Dixon (person)

---
Originally reported by Julie Littman, Restaurant Dive (https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/zaxbys-appoints-russell-holland-chief-development-officer/822709/). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/9e93fb19-07f4-4c7e-b0aa-2b7ec363ab86).