Brinker International CEO on marketing success: It's relevant to people's lives and it's working

🎥 Aug 13, 2025 📺 CNBC Television ⏱ 1m 👁 1052 views

Brinker International CEO Kevin Hochman joins 'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer to talk Q2 earnings, social media marketing and ...

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About Kevin Hochman

Kevin Hochman, president and CEO of Brinker International, appeared on the podcast *Legacy Makers* in July 2025, where he discussed his leadership philosophy and approach to work-life balance. Hochman said he tells employees to "always choose family" when faced with a conflict between family and work, adding that "work may not be" around for them. He also attributed the speed of Chili's turnaround to a policy of not working on "anything small," stating that the company only focuses on items aligned with its strategy and does not waste money or people's time. During the conversation, Hochman emphasized the importance of training and trusting employees as a leader's primary job, noting that leaders must learn to delegate and coach rather than do everything themselves. He credited his wife's family, the McMillan family, with teaching him about leadership and being a family person.

Source: AI-verified profile updated from Kevin Hochman's recent appearances. Browse all interviews →

Transcript (4 segments)

Jim Cramer0:00

Next. Mr. Hochman, welcome back to Mad Money.

Kevin Hochman0:03

Hey, thanks for having me on the show, Jim.

Jim Cramer0:06

Okay, so let me ask something, Kevin. Why is TikTok? Every time you look, somebody's doing triple dipper stuff. How does that happen? What is it? An algorithm. What occurs?

Kevin Hochman0:17

Well, the first algorithm is we have the best marketing team in the entire world. So these guys just got honored by Ad Age for the, literally the brand of the year. And not just restaurants, every industry. So we've got a really well equipped marketing team. You know, we refortified our marketing budgets three years ago. We spent about $32 million on marketing. This past fiscal, we just finished. We spent $137 million. So they actually have ammo with which to do marketing. And they're doing a phenomenal job.