Trusting Your Creative Instincts

Most good ideas do not fail on merit. They fail because nobody built the case for them. In this episode of the LEAD Podcast, hosts Amy Hom and Kelly Grogan sit down with Mindy Armstrong, Vice President of Menu Innovation at Tropical Smoothie Cafe, to break down what actually separates an idea from a launched product. Mindy's career moved from agency consulting into food and beverage innovation, and the pattern she describes applies far beyond menu development. Generating ideas is cheap. Proving why an idea is right, right now, and right for the guest you are serving is the job. Mindy is direct about the cost of that work. Hundreds of her ideas have failed, and she treats failure as routine rather than personal. She walks through how she prepares to be challenged, why an idea that feels obvious to you will not feel obvious to anyone else, and how the same concept has to be sold four separate times: to the CEO, to cross-functional teams, to franchisees, and finally to the crew members who tell the story to the guest every day. The conversation also addresses confidence. Early in her career, Mindy was advised that she could not match the experience in the room but she could outwork everyone on knowledge. She used that to earn the right to speak, and she now pushes emerging leaders inside restaurants to do the same. The people closest to the guest hold information the support center does not have. Sharing that information, repeatedly and with a clear rationale, is how careers move. ✅ What You'll Learn: ✨ Why generating ideas is the easy part and building the case is the real work ✨ How to ask "why this, why now, why for this guest" until an idea holds up ✨ Why the same idea must be sold separately to executives, cross-functional teams, franchisees, and frontline crew ✨ How to prepare for the moment your idea is dismissed in the room ✨ Why treating failed ideas as routine protects your willingness to keep pitching ✨ How knowledge closes the gap when you lack seniority or experience ✨ Why frontline team members hold guest insight the support center cannot replicate ✨ How lifting others up compounds across a career 🙌 This episode is for: 🔥 Leaders responsible for innovation, menu, or product decisions 👥 Operators and general managers who want their teams contributing ideas, not just executing 💡 Emerging leaders trying to get their thinking heard above their level 🌱 Anyone learning to build confidence through preparation rather than title