The opinions of contributing entrepreneurs are their own. </p><div>
Key Takeaways
- So believes technology should feel as warm and intuitive as a great team member.
- From approving a GoPro experiment to rethinking kiosk design to testing value programs, So encourages her team to study the guest perspective and build experiences based on real behavior, not assumptions.
When Stef So when her family told her she had become Chief Growth Officer at Shake Shack, the response was less than reverent. “I was often asked, ‘Is that really a real job?’” she says.
She laughs about it now, because the role that sounded fictitious to her family is one of the most complex functions within the company. It touches on menu innovation, digital experience, marketing orchestration and the ways all these pieces create what she considers the heart of the brand.
Hospitality is central to that work. So believes that digital tools should never dilute the warmth. “My goal for our digital platforms is for them to act like the best-trained and warmest team member you’ve ever worked with,” she explains.
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It means anticipating needs, remembering past orders, and tailoring the Shake Shack experience even before someone walks in the door. “I want to be anticipatory. I want to be personalized,” she says. So digital hospitality is simply hospitality expressed at scale.
That mentality suits a brand that started with something as simple as a cart in a park. “Shake Shack was founded as a very humble hot dog cart in Madison Square Park,” she says. It was intended to raise money for a public space and support an art installation, not to become a global brand. But guests enjoyed the feeling of lining up outside for a good meal.
The cart turned into a permanent kiosk and then into a civic phenomenon that grew faster than its founders expected. “If you asked Danny Meyer, he never thought there would be more than one Shake Shack,” So says.
As Chief Growth Officer, So holds on to the spirit of that original bandwagon as he builds systems the early team never imagined. She sees technology as an extension of how people want to be treated. She sees the app as a relationship builder, not a transaction tool. She sees innovation as a way to strengthen the bond between guest and brand.
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For So, growth is not about size. It’s about connection. “Meyer’s philosophy is that you have to put the employee first,” she says. And if that foundation stays strong, guests will feel it too, whether they’re standing under the trees in Madison Square Park or ordering from their phones anywhere in the country.
GoPro-powered hospitality
Technology is not a side project at Shake Shack. It’s one of the core engines So relies on to drive the brand forward. “Digital channels and digital experiences have been a big fuel for our growth for years,” she says.
Her team studies every interaction, from kiosks to the app, looking for ways to make the experience faster, warmer and more intuitive.
That focus led to one of Shake Shack’s most special research projects. So the director of user experience once asked if he could buy a GoPro camera, and she quickly approved the request.
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He is an avid motorcyclist, so he rode to restaurants in full cycling gear with the GoPro mounted on his helmet, allowing him to blend in as a regular while filming every kiosk interaction. “We have all these videos of the screens he was interacting with and his little voiceover saying, I like this, I don’t know if I like this,” she says.
Technology also shapes how Shake Shack thinks about everyday value. So and her team recently launched what they internally call 135. “$1 soda, $3 fries, $5 core shakes,” she says.
There is no code, no minimum purchase and no limited period. Guests who open the app simply see better prices. “We believe that the guest who continually comes to our app should honestly get the best price,” she says.
It’s her version of digital hospitality, a small gesture that makes regular guests feel appreciated instead of being pushed into a promotion.
Innovation is also revealing itself in the culinary field, sometimes faster than expected. So points out the Dubai Shake as the most recent example.
After tasting it abroad, Danny Meyer and Shake Shack CEO Rob Lynch immediately emailed her. “We absolutely need to launch this in the US,” they wrote. The team moved quickly to bring it to the United States.
For So, moments like these reflect the modern Shake Shack spirit. Technology, creativity and instinct work together, with the guest always central.
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