Off The Clock: Making Strides

Panda Express’ Andrew Cherng finds enlightenment on the hiking trail.

By Maya Norris, Managing Editor -- Chain Leader, 10/1/2006

Andrew Cherng has learned to leave behind the pressures of running Panda Restaurant Group one step at a time. The founder and chairman of the Rosemead, Calif.-based company, which includes 830-unit Panda Express, retreats to the hiking trails of Mount Wilson in Sierra Madre, Calif., to slow down and get some perspective.

Cherng goes hiking at least three days a week and as often as six. He’s an early riser who starts most mornings with stretching exercises or meditation before hitting the trails by 6 a.m. in summer and 7 a.m. in the colder months. He hikes from 3 miles to 6 miles at a 15 percent incline. “It kicks my butt,” Cherng says. “No matter how often I go, it’s never easy, especially when you have a big dinner and drinks the night before, which in our business we tend to do every once in a while.

“You just feel better,” he adds. “A lot of times with exercise, you start with an assigned purpose to lose weight, to do this and that. But I think once you get to do it, it just is an overall nice way to start the day.”

Continuing Education

When hiking solo, Cherng takes time to enjoy the scenery and gets the chance to catch up with some audio books. Lately he’s been listening to self-improvement books such as The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness by Stephen R. Covey, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra and The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle. “A lot of stuff that I’m into is kind of trying to learn about myself,” he says.

However, Cherng leaves the iPod at home when he hikes with friends or his wife, Peggy. He says hiking allows them to bond and talk about important topics such as education, health and business more in depth, which they can’t do when they play golf, his other favorite sport. “[Playing] golf, you don’t tend to talk continuously because you get interrupted by having to hit a ball. And you can’t really talk about heavy subjects. So there’s not as deep a dialogue sometimes,” he explains. “But hiking, a couple of us can talk about life.”

The Big Picture

Since he started hiking three years ago, prompted by friends who are avid hikers, Cherng is more energized and has been able to maintain his weight at 170 pounds. “You can eat more and not gain weight,” he laughs.

Now Cherng is picking up the pace: His goal is to go hiking six days a week consistently and lose 8 pounds in the process. But whether he attains those goals or not, the 59-year-old executive is grateful that he has found an activity that he enjoys and ultimately helps him both personally and professionally.

“Because we spend so much time at work and we don’t have much opportunity to have time for ourselves, I think something like hiking would help the people in the restaurant business to get into better shape and have a healthier way of living,” he says.