“Ultimately, God is good,” In-N-Out President and CEO Lynsi Snyder said during an interview with PragerU’s Marissa Streit, detailing how she has continued to lean on Him after experiencing close family loss, leading to her inheritance of the company at the young age of 17.
Snyder sat down with PragerU CEO Marissa Streit and discussed her company and the challenges that come with it, including the tragedies that led her to be in the position she is in and how her reliance on God has carried her through.
Streit asked Snyder what she says to critics who dismiss her achievements and position because she inherited the business. “And my initial reaction was, I can’t imagine at 17 how hard it was to inherit,” Streit added.
“For me, defending myself and trying to get into that, I just had to lay it down a long time ago. And you know, being a Christian and being — accepting that persecution, it’s like I’ve doubled down on people judging me,” Snyder, now 42, said, noting that God’s word says that followers of Jesus can expect this.
“I mean, it says in the Good Book, that as soon as you align yourself with Jesus, and, you know, go by God’s word, it’s like you’re making enemies, you know. And so there’s going to be persecution and I know that if that’s already part of the plan and to be expected, then people just judging me and thinking, you know, she doesn’t really do anything. She’s just a trust fund baby, or whatever they say, you know,” she said, explaining that she finds peace because she knows that God knows the truth, the people in the company know, and “hopefully” the customer base knows “because they see that we’ve held true.”
“You know, we’re still doing the same thing. We’re not changing and doing what everyone else is doing, and we’re not compromising our product. At the end of the day, I know that God knows the truth, and the people that that love me and know me know the truth, and so I just have to let the rest go,” she said, before walking through what a week looks for her and placing an emphasis on reliance on God to get through it.
“My calendar, I’ve shown a few people, and they get, they say they get anxiety just looking at it. But I do feel like God’s given me a high capacity to deal with a lot of stuff,” she said, detailing many meetings with different vice presidents or department heads. … or work in the merchandise department, as she loves the creative outlet. But she said her father’s death “pushed me right into, you know, doing this, the operations.”
“I mean, just really being the guardian and continuing my family’s legacy. Because I was going to pursue other things, but at the end of the day, all the things I was passionate about, I’m able to do in some way here at In-N-Out or through ministry,” Snyder continued.
Snyder, who oversees over 400 restaurants, credits God all the way through for her success, even for setting up a moment for her father and uncle to reconcile before her uncle’s passing.
“It just has to come from God,” she said of forgiveness. “…I see that people that have unforgiveness have poison inside of them, and I think it affects your health. I mean, I really think it affects your health. And because I’ve had so much loss, I’m always pushing people to just forgive,” she said.
“Like, hey, you know, you’re — think there’s a saying that you’re drinking the poison and expecting it to hurt them, you know, but really it’s hurting you, yeah, and — but I do believe that some of the grace and forgiveness I can remember pretty young where I just loved my dad so much, and I saw him struggle, and God just gave me a grace for him, you know. And I saw the way he had that for others, too. And I think that just kind of went with me,” she added.
She also briefly spoke about another thing that makes her company so unique: The Bible verses on the meals.
“That came from my uncle. Yeah, it was actually, you know, not too many years before he passed away, he became a Christian, that he started doing that, and he put them on cups, the packages, and we’ve since added to more,” she said, noting that she has added a few herself.
“The fry boat actually was very personal, and I wanted it to encourage others, and that’s the one about falling and getting back up in Proverbs. And so, you know, the one on the water cup, I don’t want to give it away. I want people to look it up. But the water cup one actually ties to the water,” she continued.
Ultimately, Snyder’s theme throughout the interview is that God is faithful, God is good, and He has carried her through all the loss to where she is now.
“God knew that when I lost my family members that started this company and that were so special to me, I had such strong bonds with all of them — my grandpa, I didn’t meet — but my grandma, my uncle, my dad, you know, were just so, so close to me. In losing them, you can’t replace them. But God did know that I was gaining a giant family, that we were all going the same direction, doing something and trying to make the world a better place,” she said.
When asked what she would tell her 20-something-year-old self, Snyder — now a billionaire — said, “Ultimately, God is good.”
“He has blessed me. I feel like she would recognize that God brought her through a lot of stuff, and she came out the other side, still in one piece, and I think ultimately it just makes me love Him more,” she added.
WATCH the full interview below: