Born in Canada, The Lana Duke story is the classic rags-to-riches tale, with many ups and downs along the way, but Lana’s legendary “do-it-right- and-never-give-up” attitude have always kept her moving ahead.

Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Lana grew up in a foster home. She left Toronto at age 18 and moved to New Orleans, Louisiana with only $350 to her name. To make ends meet, she took jobs selling pots and pans door-to-door and as a short-order cook. Lana soon graduated to advertising, first at the Clarion-Herald newspaper in New Orleans, where she worked her way up to advertising director. Then, in 1975 with $10,000 in savings, she opened her own ad agency. Duke Unlimited would eventually become the largest woman-owned agency in the Gulf South. In the years to come, Lana Duke would often be called the “secret weapon” behind some of the great success stories in American business.

In 1968, she made a sales call on a single mother who was running a popular steak house on Broad Street in Mid-City New Orleans. Before long, Lana’s agency had the Ruth’s Chris Steak House account and Lana began a 26-year professional relationship and personal friendship with Ruth Fertel, Lana worked hand-in-hand with Ruth to develop the successful marketing program that helped grow Ruth’s Chris Steak House from two restaurants in Louisiana to the world’s largest fine dining steak house brand.

For Ruth’s Chris, Lana always kept her focus on selling the steak and the sizzle. “We took one central idea – the sizzling steak is the star – and stayed with it over the years, never wavering but refining the concept, expanding it and building a No. 1 brand,” Lana says. She became a trusted counselor within the Ruth’s Chris organization, becoming involved with much more than the marketing. Lana helped with troubled restaurants and guided them to successful turnarounds; she spent many long days with Ruth and other Ruth’s Chris executives, brainstorming ways to improve the business and to make it even more successful.

Such a believer in the product was Lana that in 1993 she became a Ruth’s Chris franchise owner, opening her first restaurant in San Antonio. The restaurant was profitable from the beginning, and Lana was able to repay her investors early. In June 2000 a second Ruth’s Chris debuted in San Antonio and has since had a very successful relocation to the Grand Hyatt hotel on the River Walk in 2013. In 2015, San Antonio welcomed a third location on La Cantera Terrace next to the Eilan Hotel.

With a love for her Canadian roots, Lana opened her first Canadian location in downtown Toronto in 1995.  This location was an immediate success and continues to be profitable after 30 years of service. Another Canadian location opened in Mississauga, Ontario in 2003 and made a successful transfer to a stand-alone building near the airport on Dixon Road in 2017. With the expansion of the Downtown Markham area, Ruth’s Chris opened a third location in the new Marriott Hotel on Enterprise Boulevard in 2018.

Today, Ruth’s Chris Steak Houses appear on “best restaurants” lists nationwide.

Lana is involved in all her locations but is also focused on giving more time and attention to giving back by helping to teach others how to be more successful. She is frequently asked to speak to a variety of business organizations, as well as to college and university audiences. Lana shares the advantages of having a vision, thinking big, delivering customer satisfaction, going with your gut and understanding the “Five P’s” of marketing – Product, Price, People, Place and Promotion. These are just a few of her suggested “Ten Tips for Success in this Crazy Business,” a speech she frequently gives to business and professional groups.

Lana has also recently started a Power of 100 Dinner series in Toronto.  The series is comprised of like-minded women dedicated to philanthropy, fellowship and a mission of helping those in need to better the community and have FUN while doing it. Events are held quarterly for fundraising with a twist: food, beverage, fellowship and fun. The attendees nominate their favourite non-profit at registration. Three individuals are randomly chosen, and the nominee has the opportunity to tell us why their non-profit should be considered for selection. During the event an open vote is taken for the winning featured non-profit. Each attendee then writes their check for $100 to be paid directly to the selected non-profit. With community as a focus, Power of 100 has donated to local Toronto based charities such as Debra Canada, KIP and Covenant House.

Lana says the greatest lesson she has learned over the years, is that something good can come from even the worst experiences and that adversity makes you a stronger person. While Lana didn’t always have the support of a family to guide her, she worked harder to achieve greater opportunities and to open doors for her future which otherwise might have remained closed. Lana’s mantra became: “Even if you don’t feel confident, fake it ‘til you make it!   Be assertive and learn to speak with confidence.”   She also believes that “out of everything bad comes something good” – a lesson learned throughout the challenging experiences in her life.