At FS Foodservice Solutions, we believe great partnerships deserve the spotlight. Our Shining Star series highlights standout DSRs who go above and beyond to support operators, drive growth, and bring real value to every interaction, including by offering equipment financing as part of their toolkit. These stories showcase the energy, creativity, and hustle that make our partners shine, and we’re proud to celebrate them here!
When you talk with Jesse Durham, Account Executive at Avanti Restaurant Solutions, about his career, you quickly realize he didn’t just grow up in the foodservice industry. The industry shaped him, challenged him, and eventually became something he genuinely loves, even though that wasn’t the plan at the start.
His first job was at KFC in high school, cooking chicken and figuring out life like most teenagers do. College didn’t feel like the right direction, so he stepped out and focused on work. What started as “just a job” slowly turned into a full-blown career. He didn’t expect that, but he’s grateful it unfolded the way it did.
From there, his path moved fast. By twenty, he was running a multimillion-dollar McDonald’s. He went on to Hamburger University, became a franchise business consultant in Sacramento, and later stepped into a VP of Operations role for a local chain. He has worked nearly every position in a restaurant. Cooking, running orders, managing operations…his understanding of how a restaurant functions is firsthand, not theoretical.
One unexpected turning point came when he was working for a company that partnered with Avanti. He found himself red-lining drawings for new builds and discovered that he loved it. Seeing plans, imagining flow, understanding how a restaurant comes together from the ground up, something inside of him clicked. It opened a door into the development side of the industry that he hadn’t considered before.
Then came COVID. Like many in hospitality, he had to rebuild. He went back to McDonald’s, knowing it was temporary and trusting that the right opportunity would come around. When Avanti began hiring, he took the chance.
What stood out wasn’t the job title. It was the culture. “Avanti is the one percent where the core values aren’t just words,” he said. “They actually empower you to do great work in a way that matters.” He’s grateful to be part of a company where doing the right thing isn’t a slogan, it’s the expectation.
In his current role as an Account Executive, his favorite part is simple. He loves talking to people. Not in a quick, transactional way, but in a genuine, relationship-building way. He wants to understand what someone is trying to create so he can help them bring it to life. Watching brands grow, evolve, and become forces in the market is one of the most rewarding parts of his job.
Innovation is another area that keeps him energized. Staying connected with factories, seeing new ideas in equipment, and watching the industry modernize keeps things exciting. “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” he said. “But you can always add a few spokes.”
Outside of work, his five-year-old daughter has the leading role in his life. Being her dad is his favorite job, hands down. He and his wife also run a print and embroidery shop, Durham Creations LLC, that lives somewhere between hobby and small business, but it’s theirs, and he enjoys it.
His path wasn’t traditional. It wasn’t mapped out. But it led him exactly where he’s meant to be, and that’s what makes highlighting him in our Shining Star Series so special!
KL: What’s one product you’re loving right now that you think more people should be excited about?
JD: Automation. I think people should be a lot more excited about where it’s heading. Everyone loves the obvious innovations, like fryers with basket lifts that raise automatically, and those are great. What they don’t always see is the level of automation happening behind the scenes. There are pizza robots that can make pies on demand, and even pizza kiosks that produce a fully cooked pizza with minimal human involvement, you just restock them occasionally. Automation is only going to get better, and as more people think creatively about how to use it, it’ll become even more effective and more cost-efficient over time.
KL: What’s your go-to strategy when someone’s unsure about what to buy?
JD: I start by connecting with them and understanding how they’re actually planning to use the equipment. For example, I had a client who wanted to switch from their standard fryers to a double-vat unit, but the price was almost twelve times what they were used to spending. Instead of jumping into features, I asked them to walk me through their thought process. What were they trying to accomplish? Why did they think that specific upgrade was the answer?
Those conversations are where the real clarity comes from. It helps me understand their goals so I can guide them toward the solution that truly fits. Sometimes what someone thinks they want doesn’t line up with what they actually need, and my job is to be a consultative partner who helps them sort that out.
KL: What kind of customer do you find benefits most from financing?
JD: While financing can benefit everyone, smaller operators often gain a lot from it. When a business grows and reaches a certain scale, the cash flow is usually strong enough to cover larger projects outright if they choose to go that route. Newer owners or first-time operators don’t always have that luxury. Financing gives them breathing room. It lets them move forward without being restrained by big upfront costs. It’s much easier to plan when you can look at your monthly P&L and know exactly what you’re allocating each month rather than trying to absorb one major expense all at once.
KL: What’s one thing people might not know about working in foodservice sales?
JD: How incredibly diverse it is. When most people walk into a restaurant, they only see the front of house and maybe a peek into the kitchen. That’s just the surface. In our industry, once you dive deeper, there’s an entire ecosystem operating behind the scenes. The complexity, the moving parts, the problem-solving, it’s far more layered than people realize.
No two brands are the same, and no two restaurants are the same. Each one comes with its own set of challenges, strengths, and requirements. To sell effectively in this space, you really need hands-on experience. You have to understand what it feels like to prep food, cook on the line, and operate under that pressure.
I’ve been in trainings where everyone was asked to debone a chicken. I had done five before someone else finished one, and they asked how I did it so fast. The answer was simple, I’ve been doing this forever! That background matters. It helps me relate to operators, understand their world, and speak their language in a way that’s real and useful.
KL: What’s a small detail that makes a big difference in the customer experience?
JD: It’s being willing to save the customer from themselves. My job isn’t just to look at plans and sell equipment. It’s also to understand the rules and regulations in their specific municipality so we’re setting them up for long-term success, not surprises.
A good example is a tiki bar project I worked on. The kitchen was drawn one way, but when I walked the site, I realized the gas line was on the opposite wall. The client planned to flip the layout without updating anything. I had to tell him he needed a new plan and a new permit. If a health inspector walked in and saw the kitchen didn’t match the approved drawings, he’d be forced to either redraw the plans or rip everything out.
We paused, redesigned, and caused about a four-week delay. But he hadn’t hired staff or invested in equipment yet, so that small slowdown saved him from a very expensive mistake.
Things will go wrong. My job is to help people get through it. What customers remember most isn’t that something went sideways. They remember how you handled it. You don’t walk away when it gets complicated. You stay in it with them, and that’s the difference that brings people back.
As a thank you for being part of our Shining Star Series, we send each featured rep a gift card to a local restaurant of their choice. It’s our way of showing appreciation and supporting the local spots they love.
Jesse chose Ruth’s Chris Steak House. He’s always heard wonderful things about it and promised his wife that they’d give it a try for their next date night, so they’re looking forward to checking it off of their food bucket list!
Ruth’s Chris Steak House is a classic go-to when you want great food, warm hospitality, and a dinner worth remembering. They are known for prime cuts of beef, cooked using their signature broiling method and served sizzling on 500-degree plates.
Thanks, Jesse, for being a FS Foodservice Solutions Shining Star!