Tulsa-based Beautiful Brands International announced its founder and CEO, David Rutkauskas, has been named to the September 2012 Top 100 Entrepreneurs to Follow for Twitter. Rutkauskas has over 500,000 active followers and is ranked among top entrepreneurs including Martha Stewart, Mayor Bloomberg, and Mark Cuban.
“I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be mentioned side by side with some very trendsetting, inspirational people,” says David Rutkauskas, BBI founder, president and CEO. “My followers are great and they feed my inspiration as I continue to set new milestones and grow my franchises worldwide.”
Evan Carmichael, who ranks entrepreneurs based on the number of their Twitter followers and their influence in an industry, just released the ranking of the top entrepreneurs for September 2012. It is the first time Rutkauskas has made the highly coveted list of the respected rankings report, landing at number 23. In April of this year, Rutkauskas was selected to Fast Casual Magazine’s 2012 Top 20 “Movers and Shakers” list.
“This has been such a great year for BBI and for me personally. I hope people will keep following my posts,” says Rutkauskas. “Twitter is really a great way to express myself and connect with people from every walk of life. I love writing about my life and business philosophy and staying engaged with everybody I come in contact with.”
As CEO of Beautiful Brands, Rutkauskas has worked to create streamlined, clean, simplistic, and profitable business models, all packaged beautifully for franchisees worldwide. In addition to being a successful entrepreneur and committed husband and father, Rutkauskas is also authoring a book called "It’s a Beautiful Thing."
Rutkauskas is also launching a YouTube talk show in 2013 called "Beautiful People with David Rutkauskas," created to capture the entrepreneurial spirit of those seeking the valuable insight of other entrepreneurs and artists. The channel will consist of six to eight video episodes a year and will feature inspiring conversations between Rutkauskas and creative artists and entrepreneurs around the country.
With over 25 years of expertise in retail, new concept development, and restaurant franchising and growth in the fast-casual industry, BBI has created an impressive portfolio of widely successful brands, ranging from fast casual sandwich to fast-casual sushi cuisine. BBI has over 250 stores open in 43 states and 27 countries, spanning three continents worldwide. BBI is slated to open another 168 stores in the next 12 months.
BBI, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based premier franchise development and restaurant innovation company, is responsible for the development and successful launch of worldwide, franchised brands including Camille’s Sidewalk Café, FreshBerry Frozen Yogurt Cafe, Rex’s Chicken, Caz’s Chowhouse, Dixie Cream Donut Co., Ludger’s Bavarian Cakery, CherryBerry Self-Serve Yogurt Bar, Sushi Freak, Top That! Pizza, Roxberry Juice Co., Smallcakes A Cupcakery, MyCamille’s, and Fresco Wood Fired Italian Kitchen.
