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perspective shapes how the legal function works with the rest of the business.“ We take our core value of helping operators do what they do best very seriously. Our team is drawn to this culture of selflessness.”
Culture affects how often the legal team joins conversations that don’ t have a legal label. Business leaders invite Maya into discussions early because they see her function as a partner, not a checkpoint. She pays close attention to how her team shows up, what problems they solve, and whether their involvement helps decisions move forward.
Flynn Group continues to expand through acquisitions. Its Pizza Hut portfolio now includes more than 1,000 US restaurants following purchases in states such as Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. The group recently announced it will operate a new brand, 7 Brew, under a development deal to open 160 new stands. Each transaction brings new systems, teams, and local requirements.
I love being part of giving people the experiences they want when they visit our brands
Maya’ s time as a litigator shapes every part of her practice, including how she evaluates risk. She’ s seen how policies can fall apart in real workplaces. That perspective helps her spot the difference between issues that affect daily operations and those that are only theoretical.“ You can’ t really know what‘ right’ looks like until you’ ve seen it go very wrong,” she observes. She brings that lesson to contract review, policy design, and advisory work.“ Rather than aiming for completeness on paper, I aim for clarity in practice,” she notes.“ I was absolutely ready for this role, but I’ m still learning every day,” she adds.“ I haven’ t had the chance before to work with so many nonlegal professionals as a leader, and I love it. The team brings together a wide range of skills and experiences. I can’ t just be a lawyer in this role. I need to think about how I can make the biggest impact for our operators.”
Her team must wear many hats. The compliance team evaluates ideas through the lens of store reality and, in collaboration with other support center departments, is vital to implementing compliance projects. They consider whether an issue exists in practice, whether a proposed fix would change outcomes in the most effective way, and how it would affect a store during peak hours. That perspective guides what the team takes on and what they set aside.
Maya learned to balance curiosity with decisiveness.“ Working in-house doesn’ t allow unlimited time for research. Decisions need to support movement,” she points out.
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