---
title: "Young Ones to Watch: Shak Turner, Senior Director of Franchise Development at Melting Pot"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/e58e10a4-6aac-4621-907f-e66f382461a9
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/young-ones-to-watch-shak-turner-senior-director-of-franchise-development-at-melting-pot-2716928
category: "Casual dining"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Casual dining"
topics: ["Emerging brands","Development & multi-unit"]
published: 2021-10-21T15:10:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:13:16.902Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/2da570a5d291a6274d70626bb845d781342.jpg
---

# Young Ones to Watch: Shak Turner, Senior Director of Franchise Development at Melting Pot

**TL;DR:** Shakon Turner, Senior Director of Franchise Development at Melting Pot, shares her experience and advice for those interested in the franchise industry. She previously worked as a field marketing manager for Checkers & Rally's.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2021-10-21. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/young-ones-to-watch-shak-turner-senior-director-of-franchise-development-at-melting-pot-2716928).*

## Story

“I was a field marketing manager for Checkers & Rally’s, and I was presenting at a franchise reunion meeting, and one of our new franchise chief development officers (who is now my new mentor) came up to me after the meeting and asked if I had ever had any interest in selling franchises,” she said. “I’d had previous experience in sales but not selling franchises.”

As Melting Pot’s senior director of franchise development, Turner has depended on the guidance of her mentors and credits them with much of her success in the industry. It’s an industry she’s passionate about, and Turner said she enjoys helping others just as much as she has been helped by her mentors.

**“**I really love that the franchise industry has the ability to connect people to a dream that they have,” Turner said. “I feel like the franchising industry is something that has very passionate people. There’s a lot of energy, passion and love all the way around.”

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- franchise development (topic)
- Checkers (company)
- Melting Pot (company)
- Rally's (company)
- mentorship (topic)
- Shakon Turner (person)
- industry advice (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/young-ones-to-watch-shak-turner-senior-director-of-franchise-development-at-melting-pot-2716928). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/e58e10a4-6aac-4621-907f-e66f382461a9).