Panera Bread founder says he thought it would be easier to be ‘hit by a truck’ during the chain’s stressful 2015 overhaul

• Panera founder Ron Shaich spoke about tough moments he faced as a leader in a recent interview.
• There was so much pressure he thought it would be easier to “get hit by a truck.”
• Shaich said one way he overcame this was by reminding himself to take things “one step” at a time.

Panera Bread’s founder Ron Shaich powered through some pretty tough periods in his three decades as the company’s CEO. But the company’s overhaul in 2015 was one the most stressful periods of his tenure, Shaich said in a recent interview with The Profile. 

Shaich described it as the “largest transformation” of a large public restaurant company in America, and it impacted several aspects of Panera’s business — from its loyalty program to its distribution channels.