Ron Shaich

I've always come from a place of wanting to make a difference in people's lives.

My way of approaching the world was essentially initially in a political context.

And I discovered through some experiences in university

And we can talk about these.

But I discovered that business is probably one of the most creative things you can ever do.

And for a kid who couldn't dance and couldn't sing, I was blown away by the power of business, both the creativity of it,

And it is a lever to change.

I think I've been involved in more change as a business person, more positive change for the world than I ever could have been if I had done politics or gone into government or been a lawyer.

I mean, you take Panera.

Panera was one of the two first brands to introduce antibiotic-free chicken in America.

It led to changing the marketplaces that challenge a brand and doing so.

We actually opened up the market, lowered the prices, and in came, you know, everybody from McDonald's to Chick-fil-A.

We were among the first people to remove trans fats from our menu in the early 2010, 2012 market.

The U.S.

government wanted to post caloric information.

The industry was fighting it intensely.

Publicly said, look, what's the problem with this industry?

If people are afraid of posting caloric information, what's in their food?

Maybe the answer isn't trying to hide it.

Maybe the answer is to actually change what you got in your food if you think people aren't going to be too pleased with that.