In the 1980s, Kelli Valade worked as a diner waitress at 16; decades later, she became Denny's CEO and welcomed Nvidia's Jensen Huang back

A first job can be the beginning of a much bigger journey, teaching life lessons that remain valuable long after someone gets into a different career. For Denny’s CEO Kelli Valade and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, their early experiences in the restaurant industry became part of their professional stories. Years after working in diners, the two executives reunited at a Denny’s restaurant in Silicon Valley to celebrate the place where an idea that helped shape the technology industry initially took form.

From a diner job to the corner office

Kelli Valade started working as a diner waitress when she was 16 in the 1980s. Years later, she became CEO of Denny’s, the restaurant chain popular for its round-the-clock service and signature Grand Slam breakfast.

Her experience offers her a personal connection to the restaurant’s position in helping people establish careers and develop practical skills. That perspective was on display when she welcomed Huang to a Silicon Valley Denny’s on Tuesday for an event commemorating the restaurant’s connection to NVIDIA’s beginnings.


The occasion included the revealing of a plaque recognizing the location where Huang and his co-founders discussed a concept that would help establish the organization.

Huang reflected on the position the restaurant had played in his life.

Where NVIDIA’s idea began

NVIDIA, a leading organization in accelerated computing and artificial intelligence, traces its beginnings to a meeting at Denny’s in 1993.

Huang, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem met at the restaurant to talk about developing a chip capable of generating realistic 3D graphics on personal computers. The Silicon Valley location offered a convenient setting for the conversation, especially because Huang lived nearby with his wife and children at the time.

The restaurant’s informal atmosphere provided the founders a place to talk through their ideas without the pressure of having to leave quickly. Years later, the place became the setting for a reunion celebrating the connection between a daily dinner and the early discussions behind a major technology organization.

During Tuesday’s event, Huang and Valade met in a corner of the busy restaurant, one of Denny’s most famous locations in Northern California. Huang joined the morning crowd for a meal that included a Lumberjack Slam, Moons Over My Hammy and a Super Bird sandwich, accompanied by coffee.

Huang’s first job was also at Denny’s

Like Valade, Huang started his working life in the restaurant business at a young age. He was 15 when he took his first job at Denny’s in Portland.

His responsibilities were washing dishes, clearing tables and serving customers. Looking back on those experiences, he highlighted the range of duties he had handled.

Huang, whose family immigrated to the United States from Taiwan when he was a child, also recalled some of his early food memories at Denny’s. He stated to Valade that he had his first hamburger and milkshake at the restaurant.

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Lessons that last beyond the first job

For Huang, working in a restaurant offered lessons that can benefit people throughout their professional lives.

“Start your first job in the restaurant business,” Huang stated. “It teaches you humility, it teaches you hard work, it teaches you hospitality.”

Valade agreed with that view. After speaking with Huang, she remained engaging with customers in the morning rush, including Alfred, a retired roofer who was eating pancakes.

For Valade, the event brought together her own experience as a young waitress and her current role leading the organization. For Huang, it offered an opportunity to revisit the restaurant where he started working as a teenager and where he and his co-founders discussed an idea in 1993.

Source: NVIDIA Blog and The FPS Review