Cheryl Bachelder, American Business Woman, Author & Musician: Madeline’s Monthly Musical Tips Blog & Radio Show for April 2026
Madeline’s Monthly Musical Tips Blog & Radio Show for April 2026
Our blog and Radio Show shares, the life and work of Cheryl Bachelder, American Business woman and musician.
Many of the world’s business women and men, medical doctors, statesmen, diplomats, inventors, scientists, printers, authors, engineers, researchers, mathematicians, poets, architects, and teachers have studied and played musical instruments since they were children. These eminent individuals have integrated music into their thinking process. Studying a musical instrument develops millions of new connections, synapses, between nerve cells in the brain.
Included is an article on how listening to classical music helps patients to heal better!
Our article of the month is “How to Become One of Your Own Heroes” by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.
Learning a musical instrument teaches discipline, cooperation, teamwork, motivation, concentration and self-esteem. Having trouble getting your child to do their homework? Play classical music in the background while your child is doing their homework! Try a Mozart Symphony in the background while they are studying.
Feature Question for April 2026: How does Classical music play a part of Cheryl Bachelder’s life as an American businesswoman and what musical instrument does she play?
https://madelinefrankviola.com/one-minute-musical-radio-show/
Early Years:
Cheryl Stanton (Bachelder) began studying the piano at 4 years of age with her Mother, her first teacher. ,“Cheryl grew up as the oldest of four siblings in a home steeped in the Christian faith.” Beth, her younger sister, remembers with a smile, “If you had to describe Cheryl in the family, she was the one in charge, the one that kept us in line, the one that was, by far, the most responsible. She was always leading us as a family.”
At the age of nine “she organized and directed an all-cousin performance of The Sound of Music at a summer family reunion. Aunts and uncles, parents and grandparents served as the audience. As the actors took to the stage, Cheryl issued cues in the voice of a master director. And when her time came, Cheryl stepped out onto the stage into the spotlight and sang “Climb Every Mountain.”
“In high school she had accompanied various choirs. Watching the conductor’s hands weave together beautiful voices was captivating to Cheryl. She went to college hoping one day to conduct her own school choir.”
Indiana University in Bloomington:
In 1974 she entered Indiana University as a piano major at Indiana University. She was practicing 8 hours a day.
Cheryl Stanton (Bachelder): “Most are surprised to learn that I started college at Indiana University School of Music. My plan was to major in piano and become a high school choir director. As I look back on that time, my aspiration was to lead a group of people to create beautiful music together. My role today as a CEO of a public company is much the same – I want to bring out the best in our people to create thriving, high-performing restaurant company. And when we come together and perform well at work it creates the equivalent of “beautiful music”– a good work environment and career development opportunities.”
She continues, “When I decided to switch from music to business school in my sophomore year of college, it was inspired by my father. My dad was a leader of manufacturing in a large company called National Semiconductors. He led the operations of 16 plants in Asia Pacific at the time. He was a bold, visionary leader in a fast-changing industry. He was a principled, high integrity leader who taught me as much about “how” to do business as he did about “what” to do. Our family dinner table conversations were full of discussions and lessons on business decision-making and leadership. From observing and listening to my father, I became fascinated with business leadership. Apparently, my siblings did too – as all four of us have become President or CEO of a business enterprise.” (4word: “Music And Balance from Popeyes’ CEO Cheryl Bachelder, Jan. 14, 2015)
University Degrees:
Cheryl Stanton earned her Bachelor of Science degree in 1977 and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing in 1978 from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Work, Marriage and Children:
Cheryl Stanton began working for Procter and Gamble in 1978 as an assistant brand manage. (1978-1981) At a Procter & Gamble business party she met Chris Bachelder, her future husband. “They married less than two years later. Both Cheryl and Chris were part of P&G’s brand management function. She credits the time she spent at Procter & Gamble with preparing her to perform on the corporate stage”
Cheryl and Chris Bachelder have been married for over 40 years. “They have three grown daughters, two son-in-laws, and 6 grandchildren!” (Speakers: Serving Performs with Cheryl Bachelder,” Dare to Serve”) (4wordswomen.org, The Purpose of Our Lives Is Not About Us at All, Nov. 14, 2022)
Setbacks:
“Cheryl and her husband Chris had been married for ten years. Their children were ages 6 and one. Her husbands’ parents were having health issues and challenges and lived in Michigan. She and her husband were living and working in North Carolina. They quit their jobs and moved to Michigan. Family needs came first.”
She said, “we decided to move back to Michigan and make sure that we took care of our family needs first and were there to be a support to Chris’s dad as he mourned the loss of his wife and dealt with cancer treatments. We had four really good years with Chris’ dad and got to know him really well. There was a lot of joy and a lot of celebration and laughter, even though he was very sick, and there was a lot of challenge. But no regrets!”
In 2001, she received a breast cancer diagnosis. She said, “My cancer journey taught me a lot about the sovereignty of God. It taught me a lot about trusting God in difficult circumstances.
She continues, “When I really thought about what I wanted my life and my work to stand for, I started studying the intersection of faith and work, which has become my primary area of ministry. I started studying the idea of servant leadership deeply and what legacy I might be able to lead or what I could contribute in that arena to change the course of the dialogue. Breast cancer made me a very intentional person, because I knew that life was short.” ‘Breast Cancer Made Me a More Intentional Person.’ – The Beautiful Purpose of Setbacks”(Nov. 21, 2022)
Career Break:
“In 2004, she took a “career break” to spend more time with her three teenage daughters — “That’s a lot of hormones,” she says. It was the perfect opportunity to approach her career with the information-gathering method that comes naturally to her. Starting at the age of 25, she had been presenting to boards, and “I wanted to sit on the other side of the board table,” Bachelder says.
“To that end, she took on a consulting project with the Women’s Foodservice Forum.” Bachelder said, “We’d raise these wonderful women and then throw them into toxic workplaces. There had been little to no discussion on what had to change in workplaces for women to move up the ladder”.
“What made an impression on Debra Nelms, a consultant on board readiness for the WFF, about Bachelder was that although Bachelder had a marketing background, she lacked floweriness. “Some people are analytical by nature,” she says, and Bachelder excels at strategic thinking. The goal was to create workplaces where women could thrive, not just survive.” (Franchise Times, It’s a Matter of Facts, Popeyes CEO Cheryl Bachelder has discovered the right combo-data topped off with a gut check, May 1, 2010, Updated Oct. 2, 2020)
Cheryl A. Bachelder “is a passionate restaurant industry executive and former CEO of Popeyes® Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. Cheryl is known for her crisp strategic thinking, franchisee-focused approach, superior financial performance and the development of outstanding leaders and teams.”
“Cheryl joined Popeyes, Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., in November 2007, after serving as an active member of the Board for a year. She brought more than 35 years of experience in brand building, operations, and public-company management at companies like Yum Brands, Domino’s Pizza, RJR Nabisco, The Gillette Company, and The Procter & Gamble Company.”
“At Popeyes, Cheryl promptly established a Road Map for Results. “
After P&G, she moved to the Gillette Company. Later, Cheryl went on to develop and launch Planter’s Honey Roasted Peanuts while working at Nabisco.
“As Cheryl stated, being a professional woman comes with a unique share of struggles, experiences, and opportunities. No matter your level at your company, as a professional Christian woman you will be faced with roadblocks along your professional journey. Learn from Cheryl’s example and focus on finding God’s calling for your life, both professionally and personally, so that you can navigate successfully around those roadblocks.”
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen:
When Cheryl Bachelder became the new CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen “she walked into a mess”. (Stephen M.R. Covey) In 7 years she was the 5th CEO. She said, “I walked into a burning building.”
“In her book, Dare to Serve, profits had fallen, the number of customers had declined, morale and performance were down, product development was sagging. Its stock had gone from “$34 per share down to $11 on the day had walked through the door.”
“The relationship between the company and its franchisees as Cheryl described it, was “on the rocks.” Her franchisees “didn’t trust the company, and the company didn’t trust them. No one had trust and no one was thriving.”
Cheryl Bachelder’s top priority as CEO “was to establish trust with franchisees, modeling the belief that leaders go first. She asked her team to think about whether they were partners the franchisees could trust.” (pp.120- 121)
She focused “on her relationship with her franchisees. She and her team demonstrated humility, courage, and vulnerability by listening deeply to and empathizing with the needs and concerns of their franchisees. In her first thirty days, she recalls, “the most important thing I did was keep my mouth shut, and I went on the road for a listening tour.”
Who did she meet with? “She met with and listened to franchise owners, restaurant general managers, and Popeyes customers. And let them all tell her what was wrong.”
She said, “the answers were usually in the room; everybody knew what was wrong. Nobody was fixing it.”
Cheryl Bachelder “listened and responded with authenticity, showing her character and desire to help franchisees succeed.” She then “fixed it” by implementing “solutions to every problem she heard. She recognized that in addition to building a high-trust relationship with the home office, what the franchisees needed to see from her and the company were results. She needed to demonstrate to everyone a way forward” by performing.
“She even told Wall Street the exact thing she had told her board: that her franchisees, not her shareholders, were her first priority.” This was “a courageous statement from a CEO to her investors and board. And in the end, she met the needs of all stakeholders, including shareholders.”
After eight years, “unit sales per restaurant grew by 45 percent. Restaurant profitability soared, doubling in terms of real dollars. Popeyes’ market share overall grew from 14 to 27 percent. The stock price went from $11 to $79 at the end of Cheryl’s ten years as CEO, when the company was acquired by Restaurant Brands International.” (Covey, p.120)
Cheryl said, “During this time, the company was the darling of the industry…a favorite of the franchisees… a favorite of lenders… a favorite of investors…and a case study in serving up superior performance results. The secret to Popeyes’ turnaround per performance? We dared to serve.”
Cheryl Bachelder, CEO of Popeyes, “Leadership is not about your ambition. It is about bringing out the ambitions of your team…The leader must have both the courage to take people to a daring destination and the humility to selflessly serve others on the journey.”
Currently: Cheryl Bachelder, “serves as a director and chair of the compensation committee at US Foods Holding Corp (USFD). She is currently the lead independent director at Chick-fil-A, Inc. She is an advisor to Procter & Gamble’s franchising venture, Tide Dry Cleaners. She is a member of CEO Forum, an organization that encourages and disciples’ Christian CEOs and senior leaders. She is a mentor to ministries that develop future Christian leaders: Spring Hill Camps, Crossroad Farms, Work Matters, and CRU.”
Cheryl Bachelder is an American business woman, wife Mother, Grandmother, and musician.
How to Become One of Your Owen Heroes by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.
All of us know that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. What is your definition of a hero? The dictionary definition of a hero is a person of “distinguished courage or ability, admired for brave deeds and noble qualities.” If one of your medical students asked you a question “about the need to evaluate new born babies” would you immediately “jot down five points and rushed off to the Obstetrics department to try them out”?
In Aesop’s Fable “The Lion and the Mouse” the hero is the tiny mouse who frees the large lion when he is caught in the ropes by the hunter. The mouse chews through the ropes freeing the lion. The mouse proved all though he was small he could be a friend to the mighty lion.
Virginia Apgar began to learn the violin and cello at 6 years of age and played concerts with her older brother on piano and with her Dad, scientist and inventor, Charles Apgar on piano. In 1933 Virginia Apgar became “one of Columbia University’s first female M.D.’s” she specialized in the male-dominated area of medicine surgery. She became tired of the chauvinism she was experiencing during her internship and decided to switch her focus the new field of anesthesiology. In 1949 she became the first full professor of anesthesiology at Columbia.
One day a medical student of Dr. Apgar asked her “about the need to evaluate newborn babies.” Dr. Apgar said, “That’s easy, you’d do it like this.” She grabbed the nearest piece of paper, jotted down the 5 points of her Apgar Score and then rushed off to O.B Obstetrics & Gynecology to try it out.”
What are Dr. Virginia Apgar’s 5 point Score for new born babies?
1) Appearance, skin color
2) Pulse, heart rate
3) Grimace, reflex irritability
4) Activity, muscle tone
5) Respiration, breathing
Dr. Apgar’s name is the Pneumonic. As a physician she assisted in over 17,000 births. She was a lifelong musician always carrying her viola or cello with her to play chamber music with other amateur musicians in the Cities she was lecturing in. She also crafted musical instruments a violin, viola and cello.
Dr. Virginia Apgar knew from her research that birth is most dangerous time of life. Her Apgar Score quickly assessed the overall health of new borne babies saving the lives of millions of new born babies each year. When Dr. Apgar was alerted to a problem she immediately thought of how to solve it.
What are the 3 secrets to becoming your own hero?
1) Be a good listener and be observant. Be both interested and curious about solving a problem.
2) Always have a paper and pencil ready, where ever you are, in case you think of a solution to your problem. Think of yourself as a detective like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and look for your solution at work or at home.
3) Have a burning desire to help others and you will be giving yourself the best gift of all, caring about others. © 2026, 2009 Madeline Frank
If you need a speaker or virtual speaker contact Madeline at [email protected]
Classical Music: Guardian of Health – EAMA Students Perform at NIH, St. Jude, and Leading Hospitals Nationwide (March 1, 2026) Oklahoma.com
SILVER SPRING, MD, UNITED STATES, February 28, 2026 / EINPresswire.com/ — The night before his daughter’s surgery at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a father sat in the lobby of Ronald McDonald House in Memphis and listened to a young pianist perform Chopin. The concert, he said, gave his family “something beautiful to carry” into the next day.
“The Science Behind Musical Healing: Dr. Oster’s understanding of music’s healing power receives substantial support from medical research. Studies published in Health Psychology Review demonstrate that music therapy has a significant effect on stress-related outcomes in healthcare settings. Neurological research reveals that classical piano music activates the brain’s reward centers while reducing activity in the amygdala, the region associated with fear and stress. Harvard Medicine research shows that music activates emotional responses through memory and governs pleasure, motivation, and reward.”
“Classical music activates the brain’s healing mechanisms in ways that complement medical treatment,” said Dr. Bella Eugenia Oster, Principal and Professor of Piano Performance at EAMA. “Our students bring that therapeutic power directly to patients who need it most.”
“Medical professionals have taken notice. A representative at the National Institutes of Health observed: “Your music provided a much-needed moment of respite and relaxation for our patients, staff, and visitors. Your talents and generosity have truly made a difference, creating an atmosphere of calmness for all at the hospital. We are thankful for your dedication to our mission, and we look forward to the opportunity to work with you again in the future.”
“SILVER SPRING, MD, UNITED STATES, February 28, 2026 / EINPresswire.com/ — The night before his daughter’s surgery at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a father sat in the lobby of Ronald McDonald House in Memphis and listened to a young pianist perform Chopin. The concert, he said, gave his family “something beautiful to carry” into the next day.” Classical Music: Guardian of Health – EAMA Students Perform at NIH, St. Jude, and Leading Hospitals Nationwide (March 1, 2026) Oklahoma.com
Dr. Madeline Frank’s book “Leadership on a Shoestring Budget: Timeless Principles for Everyday Use, helps businesses stay afloat in times of trouble. She calls her innovative observations, Tuning Up Your Business. For over 25 years she has helped countless people create their great image brand, and communication style that makes them irresistible. Click on the following Amazon.com link to order your copy of “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget”.
https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Shoestring-Budget-Timeless-Principles-ebook/dp/B00HTD65V4
“The Secret of Teaching Science & Math Through Music” shares scientific evidence, medical evidence, test results, and true stories of the world’s scientists, medical doctors, and mathematicians who have studied and played musical instruments since they were children by Madeline Frank, Ph.D. Click below:
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“Musical Notes On Math” by Dr. Madeline Frank teaches your child fractions and decimals, the fun easy way, through the rhythm of music, Winner of the Parent To Parent Adding Wisdom Award is available in book form, newly updated as an e-book on Kindle, Nook, or iBook.:
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“Madeline’s Midnight Melodies- Music From around the World”. This CD complements her books with a blend of dance music, gigues, tangos, ballet and favorites including “Danny Boy”, Puccini’s “O Mio Babbino Caro”, Debussy’s “Claire De Lune” and others. “Madeline’s Midnight Melodies” CD is now available for purchase by downloading a song, downloading the album click below:
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Wishing you and your family a happy April from Your Non-Invasive Medicine Music Expert, Madeline
For over 30 years, Dr. Madeline Frank has helped children and adults overcome problems through Classical music. Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an award-winning teacher, author, researcher, speaker, conductor, and concert artist. She has discovered a scientific link between studying a musical instrument and academic and societal success. Madeline Frank earned her Bachelor and Master’s degree from the Juilliard School of Music. Her education has included scholarships at the Juilliard School, Indiana University, and the University of Cincinnati and she has a violin performance diploma from the North Carolina School of the Arts. (C) 2026 Madeline Frank