Kathie S. Niven has been named president of Greensboro-based Biscuitville Fresh Southern. Niven joined Biscuitville in 2011 and most recently served as the company’s Chief Brand Officer. In conjunction with the promotion of Niven, Kristie Mitchell has been promoted to Vice President of Brand and Marketing.
While Chief Brand Officer, Niven was responsible for defining and accelerating Biscuitville’s brand vision and growth plan. As part of the company’s strategy, she oversaw the creation of Biscuitville’s Fresh Southern brand positioning, which encompassed logo development, restaurant redesign, packaging, employee uniforms, and trademarking. Niven also spearheaded the design of the company’s new People Excellence department as well as a new Menu Management Assembly process, which produced the most successful promotional product-launch in company history – the Spicy Chicken and Honey Biscuit.
In addition, Niven introduced an in-house agency model at Biscuitville by building a team responsible for all communications and marketing initiatives, including photography, videography, media production, artwork and design, promotional material fulfillment, public relations, online retail, local store marketing, social media and content management. She also developed Biscuitville’s Collegiate Summer Intern Program.
Earlier in her career, Niven served as Vice President of Field Marketing for Quiznos Corporation and marketing executive with RTM/Arby’s Roast Beef Corporation, Burger King Corporation, and Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation. She received a B.A. degree in English with a minor in communications from Elon University. Niven’s post-graduate studies and professional development included course work in leadership, branding and strategy at the Center for Creative Leadership, the Kenan Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill and Design Thinking at Harvard University.
“Biscuitville is proud of its heritage as a local, family-owned business, and we had to look no further than our own front door when considering the best candidate to serve as our president,” says Burney Jennings, chief executive officer of Biscuitville. “Kathie may not have Jennings as her last name, however, she certainly feels like family at Biscuitville.”
“During her work since 2011, Kathie has led the transformation of Biscuitville with our fresh look, new menu items and restaurant design. I’m thrilled to have Kathie as Biscuitville’s leader, and I’m looking forward to working closely with Kathie in her new role,” he adds. “I’m equally pleased that Kristie was ready to step up to become Vice President of Brand and Marketing. The promotions of Kathie and Kristie demonstrate the depth of incredible talent we have within Biscuitville’s internal staff.”
Mitchell joined Biscuitville in early 2015 as Senior Brand Creative and was responsible for overhauling everything from the brand’s extensive marketing collateral program to its restaurant menu boards. A year later, Mitchell became the company’s first-ever Creative Director and spearheaded the development of Biscuitville brand strategic vision.
With more than 25 years of experience developing brands as a creative marketer, Mitchell began her career as an art director for the full-service advertising agency Bouvier Kelly in Greensboro, where she was responsible for design and advertising campaigns for global companies including International Paper and Philip Morris. Mitchell formed her own creative solutions business called K. White Creative in 2008. During her career, Mitchell has won multiple national awards for art direction and design.
