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Red Lobster floundered this past year, making headlines after filing for bankruptcy<\/a> and blaming it at least partly on an ill-conceived endless shrimp deal<\/a>. It happens to the best of us. Naturally, the fast-casual seafood chain was in the market for a new CEO.\u00a0<\/p>\n Damola Adamolekun, 35, was tapped for the difficult job of turning Red Lobster around. Adamolekun, formerly the CEO of Asian-fusion chain P.F. Chang\u2019s, already has some time under his belt as an executive wunderkind. He certainly didn\u2019t get to where he is now by pretending to be chill, as he told Fortune <\/em>in 2023<\/a>. His career mentality is all about one thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy life is my work. My work is my life,\u201d he said. Adamolekun described his days as starting with a seven-to-eight mile run at around 4:30 a.m and ending at around 6 p.m. with a post-work cigar after a long day of meetings.<\/p>\n Then 33, Adamolekun was already making history as one of the few Black CEOs to lead a major U.S. company and the first to head P.F. Chang\u2019s. Starting at the company two years prior, he admitted to Fortune<\/em><\/a> that there was a lot on his plate when he began.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up next to a P.F. Chang\u2019s in Columbia, Maryland. I knew the company when the deck landed on my desk. It has about 85% brand awareness, yet it\u2019s a small company. What piqued my interest was the company itself. It was a poorly run one with a lot to fix,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In turn, he \u201cremodeled about 80% of the fleet, introducing more colorful decor, ambiance, and music.\u201d A millennial, Adamolekun also beckoned the company into the digital age, with attention paid to digital tools for take out, restaurants catering to pike-up orders, and a subscription model<\/a> .<\/p>\n His fast-casual stints are bookended by the finance world, as after around three years at P.F. Chang\u2019s, Adamolekun returned<\/a> to investment company Paulson & Co. Inc in August 2023. After previous stints at Goldman Sachs<\/a> and TPG<\/a> Capital, Adamolekun described a past where he was \u201cworking all the time,\u201d though he claimed to have liked it.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was fun. So it wasn\u2019t like I had to go in on a Saturday,\u201d Adamolekun said, embracing the hustle-culture mentality<\/a> associated in part with young millennials. \u201cIt was like \u2018I got stuff to do, and I want to knock it out, or I want to look at something.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n For Adamolekun, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy doesn\u2019t really apply. \u201cI never really have been a person that separated work and life,\u201d he said. \u201cIt mixes.\u201d Though he recognized that isn\u2019t not the case for everyone, and that those who do get stressed by a lack of work-life balance should take breaks. Or in the case of his former employees, they should \u201cbuild in buffers\u201d and take days off on a Tuesday or Wednesday when the restaurants are less busy.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s might be for the best that Adamolekun is a self-professed go-getter, given he has his work cut out for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n Red Lobster is set to be owned by Fortress Investment Group and co-investors TCW Private Credit and Blue Torch after it exits Chapter 11. Fortress, which nominated Adamolekun, will hear if its plan is approved during Red Lobster\u2019s bankruptcy court date early this September.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though Adamolekun isn\u2019t likely to get pre-first-day jitters. As he once told Fortune<\/em>, \u201cwork doesn\u2019t stress [him] out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRecommended Newsletter:<\/strong> CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. Subscribe Now<\/a>.<\/div>\n