Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/827208
50 S C T / J U N E 2 0 1 7 N E W S M A K E R S Raving about her new job W hen Rave Restaurant Group hired Judy Messenger as vice president of real estate earlier this year, the Dallas-based company was securing the services of a 25-year veteran with the proven ability to hit the ground running. At Rave, parent company of the Pie Five Pizza Co. and Pizza Inn chains, Messenger assumes responsibility for strategic real estate decisions and for oversight of the franchise support and corporate development functions. Messenger says her path to Rave was anything but planned. "No one I know actually planned to do what I do," she said. "It's good that it's such a secret, because I think everybody would want to do it. I think I have the best job in the world. I absolutely love what I do and feel very privileged and blessed to get to do it." Perhaps surprisingly, considering what she does now, Messenger began her working life in broadcasting, as a news and weather anchor for a TV station in Tulsa, Okla. She eventually decided that broadcasting was not the right fit, so went on to earn a law degree from the Washburn University School of Law, in Topeka, Kan. After this, she began doing lease adminis- tration for Topeka-based Payless Shoe- Source, which was involved in a major expansion push at that time. Judy Messenger is helping grow Rave Restaurant Group By Ben Johnson