Tim Kirkland

Sales-Building, Service-Energizing, Team-Building Expert, Bestselling Author, Consultant Specializing in Innovative Ways to Recruit, Engage and Retain Today’s Emerging “Generation i” Workforce

Topics: Employee Engagement, Teamwork, Professional Development, Best Selling Author, Business, Business Growth, Business Leadership, Corporate Culture, Entrepreneur, Inspirational & Motivational, Leadership, Thought Leadership, Future of Work, Health & Well-Being

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Biography

How do leaders grow their brands and shape the future of their organizations even when economic conditions aren’t optimal? Tim Kirkland shows you how with The Renegade Philosophy™. Companies grow and thrive when they hire right, train right, and treat right. In his engaging and entertaining presentations, Kirkland outlines the proven methods he’s learned in his 30+ years in the hospitality industry.

Kirkland’s best-selling books, The Renegade Server and COACH are used in over 15,000 restaurants, hotels, retail locations, customer service companies, and universities worldwide to improve the engagement and performance of both front-line teams and all levels of leadership. His content and technology can be found woven into the culture and training of some of the top brands in the world. Leading companies that use Kirkland’s materials include Applebee’s, Subway, Buffalo Wild Wings, Marriott, Kimpton, Coca-Cola, Beam Suntory, Sodexo, Reinhart Food Service, and many, many more

Kirkland is a proven operator, executive, and best-selling author; and during his career, he has led training, operations, and marketing departments for numerous respected restaurant brands. He’s been an award-winning operator and successful entrepreneur with a deep understanding of the unique challenges faced by the hospitality industry. He walks the talk and shares tools for success.

Kirkland delivers highly customized keynotes and master classes on leadership, team engagement & retention, customer service, and local restaurant marketing. Over 20,000 people attend his live seminars and workshops every year.

Kirkland is an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School, where his focus was the Art and Practice of Leadership Development. He is CEO of Renegade Hospitality Group, which serves as a professional advisory resource to the restaurant, hotel, retail and customer service industries.

Videos

https://vimeo.com/325916838

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Speech TopicsExpand each topic to learn more

Cultivate

Acquiring, engaging and maintaining talent is the most important function of any leader. This in-demand presentation gives attendees real ways to attract and acquire the best team members, develop them daily, and keep star players in place in an increasingly competitive talent market and multi-generational workforce.

Renegade Server

This engaging presentation based on the best-selling book shows full-service restaurant leaders ways to engage teams in the crucial tasks of growing sales, developing loyal regulars and creating genuine, personal and repeatable connections and unique dining experiences for your Guests.

Execute

Do you ever feel like you've worked your butt off in your business, then get home at the end of the day (or night) exhausted and feel you actually accomplished little? Have you ever had to solve the same problem more than once? Once a week? A shift?

This presentation gives leaders tools for eliminating distraction and moving their teams and businesses forward daily.

Mousetrap Marketing

In this highly engaging and informative session, Tim teaches franchisees, unit managers, and independent operators Local Store Marketing skills for the new millennium. Rather than the same old list of discounts and gimmicks, attendees will learn how to impact the very foundations of what customers value in ways that transfer into higher sales, loyalty and social evangelism.

Testimonials

It was fantastic and totally applicable to everyone in attendance, including us at the franchisor level! I would have Tim come back 5 times over!

– Karley Hofer, Director of Brand Development, Orange Leaf Yogurt

Tim Kirkland allowed us the opportunity to wrap up our 2 ½ day franchisee convention in a powerful way. Tim understood our unique audience of corporate employees, franchisees and managers and was able to connect with them on a real level. We solicit feedback from our attendees through an online survey after the event and Tim Kirkland’s ratings were the highest we’ve ever seen from a guest speaker. I highly recommend Tim to your organization if you’re looking for a high energy, motivated speaker who can really connect with the audience and share a powerful service message.

– Heather Neary, Chief Marketing Officer, Auntie Anne’s

would definitely recommend Tim Kirkland to speak for other companies in the service industry! I heard a tremendous amount of positive comments from our attendees on the insight Tim shared. Tim had a great way to keep the audience focused on his message, which was chock-full of very valuable and relatable content. His message made sense, simple as that. He had great timing with his message, knowing when to add in the right sparks of humor throughout the presentation, which had our audience roaring with laughter and kept them entertained. We look forward to more opportunities to work with Tim again in the future.

– Jackie Vienneau, Franchise World Headquarters, Subway

Tim was the highlight of our conference. Our GMs were amazed by his paradigm on selling and how he describes aligning the business, the server and the guest to improve sales.

– Wayne Vandewater, Executive Director of Field Training, Applebee’s

Tim captured the audience with his industry insight, his personal real-life stories, as well as his good-natured humor. Tim was highly energizing and provided our restaurant operators endless service ideas to implement in our restaurants. I will certainly call on Tim's services again.

– Philip M. Greifeld, Chief Executive Officer, Huddle House, Inc.

Tim presented a keynote address and two breakout sessions at our National Training Camp. His message was clear, concise, and completely in line with the message of our convention. Tim gave our audience members simple tactics that they could use right away to build their businesses. By far, Tim was the best convention speaker I have seen at any Buffalo Wild Wings convention.

– Nikki Fuchs de Calderon, Director of Management Development, Buffalo Wild Wings

Every, and I mean EVERY attendee I talked to loved your program! I have already sharing my notes with our internal team and we are incorporating your pearls into our training. I have attended many presentations over the past thirty years and your information zoomed you into the top five! The information you presented was relevant to the environment we currently operate in. The tips were user friendly with the “how to” for implementation. Combine all of this with your energetic, straight talk style and our franchisees and managers saw a winning program. Thanks for making it actionable as well as memorable!

– Dennis Laventure, CEO Country Kitchen International

Tim is remarkably easy to work with and has delivered an unbelievable experience for our audience at every event. Tim Kirkland has risen to the top of the list for people we turn to. He engages the audience with riveting on trend material delivered with a mix of humor and attention grabbing dialogue that is both captivating and useful to anyone in the industry.

– Gerald “Chip” McFall, Vice President of Sales Reinhart Foodservice

I’ve been a part of several seminars in my career with 2 other restaurant concepts. I can’t speak for all attendees, but I know for a fact, this was the first time in my life I was eager to get back to my teams to share information I learned from Tim. I’ve began to use the interviewing and hiring practices in our company, and we’ve seen instant results.

– Charles D., Newk’s Franchise Company

Excellent! Tim’s presentation was well put together and delivered with wonderful humor. Feedback from our customers was great!

– Ruth Wik, US Foodservice

Booksby Tim Kirkland

Coach: Being a Better Team Leader by Bettering the Team You Lead

The Renegade Server: Uncommon Strategies for Making More Money in 21st Century Food Service

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Blog Posts

Crafting Personalized Health & Self‑Care Practices with Johnny Crowder

Everywhere you turn, someone is talking about health and self‑care rituals. Keynote speaker Johnny Crowder shares why true self‑care is not one‑size‑fits‑all.

Elevate Your Event With These Skills: Insights from Gabriella Robuccio

Think event planning is all about checklists and timetables? Think again. Emmy‑winning strategist Gabriella Robuccio shares more on The Keynote Curators Podcast.

Celebrating Juneteenth with These Transformative Keynotes

Learn how intentional Juneteenth programming paired with transformative keynote speakers can turn commemoration into sustained equity and inclusion.

AI, GEO, & SEO Marketing for Speakers: The 2025 Authority-Building Playbook

How Professional Speakers and Speaker Bureaus Can Leverage AI to Build Unshakeable Authority and Increase Visibility in the New Search Landscape

Rethinking Events: Bite-Sized Surprises and Live Interaction with Seth Godin

Seth Godin shares his strategies and suggestions for unforgettable events—from riff-based teaching to co-creation through communication and creativity.

Aligning Prosperity with Purpose: Money Lessons from Doug Lynam

Marine. Monk. Manager. Behavioral finance expert Doug Lynam helps you heal your relationship with finances, aligning prosperity with a deeper, personal purpose.