Pizza King Podcast: Empowering Pizzeria Leadership

Paulie Gee expected to spend his days making pizza. As his business developed, he realized other people could make the pies and his attention could help the shop in different ways.

I sat down with Paulie on the Pizza Expo floor in Columbus to talk about that change. We discuss his move out of corporate work, the belief he built before opening a pizzeria, and his responsibility to operators who put their trust and money into the brand.

Paulie also recalls advice from Chris Bianco about fresh mozzarella and supporting other people in the pizza business.

In this week's Takeout Tip, I explain how to give one recurring job a clear owner. Start with training and practice. Then explain the expected result, the decisions the person can make, when they should call you, and when you will review the work together.

Your action for the week: choose one person, one responsibility, and one check-in.

Watch the full conversation:
https://youtu.be/jzkAwKmSoJY

Pizza King Weekly and show resources:
https://pizzakingpodcast.com/

Thanks to EDGE Pizza Ovens, Mailwise Solutions, and Virnika AI for supporting the show.
https://www.edgeovens.com/
https://mailwisesolutions.com/
https://virnika.ai/

Support the show

Join us here: 

https://www.skool.com/tyrells-group-9324/about

Free Tools and Courses for Pizzeria Owners &  Managers

Email: [email protected]

Upcoming events and appearances: 

Pizza Expo Columbus 10/11-10/12

Pizza Tomorrow Summit (Orlando, FL) 10/25-10/27

Can you tell me what your best-selling pizza costs to make?

Keisha Miller from Perfect Crust joins me to talk about cheese portions, team training, supplier relationships, and the customer experience after a pizza leaves the shop.

Keisha spent about 16 years with Performance Food Group. We discuss how a food rep can help with cost tools, product comparisons, and questions beyond the weekly order.

I also share why a liner was one of the first visible changes we made when we took over our store, and why I want owners to check their online ordering experience as carefully as their dining room.

Choose one action from this conversation. Review a cheese portion, ask your rep about available resources, or test your ordering page from a customer's phone.

Perfect Crust: https://perfectcrust.com/
Samples: https://perfectcrust.com/request-form/
Incredible Bags: https://incrediblebags.com/
Free Playbook: https://pizzakingpodcast.com/playbook-1
Pizza Pro Circle: https://pizzakingpodcast.com/community

Thanks to the businesses that support the Pizza King Podcast:
EDGE Pizza Ovens: https://www.edgeovens.com/
Mailwise Solutions: https://mailwisesolutions.com/
Virnika AI: https://virnika.ai/

Support the show

Join us here: 

https://www.skool.com/tyrells-group-9324/about

Free Tools and Courses for Pizzeria Owners &  Managers

Email: [email protected]

Upcoming events and appearances: 

Pizza Expo Columbus 10/11-10/12

Pizza Tomorrow Summit (Orlando, FL) 10/25-10/27

September sales at Westshore Pizza Valrico reached $36,557, up 108.5% from last September.

I share the rewards results, Facebook ads, direct mail plan, box toppers, QR stickers, catering, and operational changes behind this month's update.

The comparison needs context. Last September included closures and inconsistent hours. September sales also fell 13.3% from August. Sales growth and profit are different measures.

Our newest change was a personal introduction in customer emails. Customers replied with encouragement and an opportunity to fix an order.

Your Takeout Tip: send one personal email this week. Introduce yourself, explain your role, share one useful detail, and invite customers to reply. Choose who will respond before you send.

Free Pizzeria Operators Playbook:
https://pizzakingpodcast.com/playbook-1

Ask about the Leadership Accelerator:
[email protected]

Show and operator resources:
https://pizzakingpodcast.com/

Thanks to our show partners:
EDGE Pizza Ovens: https://www.edgeovens.com/
Mailwise Solutions: https://mailwisesolutions.com/
Virnika AI: https://virnika.ai/

Support the show

Join us here: 

https://www.skool.com/tyrells-group-9324/about

Free Tools and Courses for Pizzeria Owners &  Managers

Email: [email protected]

Upcoming events and appearances: 

Pizza Expo Columbus 10/11-10/12

Pizza Tomorrow Summit (Orlando, FL) 10/25-10/27

Someone told me EDGE is the oven for people who cannot make real pizza.

I spent nearly 23 years working with deck ovens. Today, my pizzeria runs every pizza through an EDGE conveyor oven. That gives me a clear view of the conveyor oven vs. deck oven debate.

This episode breaks down what each commercial pizza oven does well and how your choice affects pizzeria consistency, training, labor costs, production capacity, remakes, and pickup times.

I share how our team handled an 88-pizza order while keeping online, phone, and third-party orders open. We produced close to 100 pizzas in one hour with my 14-year-old son working the oven station. I also explain how our cook time dropped from about 12 minutes to 5 minutes and 40 seconds after we learned how to dial in the conveyor.

Deck ovens still have a place. Your pizza style, desired char, customer experience, space, team, and peak volume should drive the decision.

The Takeout Tip gives you one step to run this week. Time five carryout orders, compare the oven exit time with the guest pickup time, and fix the gap.

EDGE Pizza Ovens sponsors the Pizza King Podcast. I owned and used my EDGE oven before that partnership began. These opinions come from my experience in my own shop.

Schedule a test bake at https://edgeovens.com/test-bake.

Get the Pizzeria Operator’s Playbook:
https://pizzakingpodcast.com/playbook-1

Join Pizza Pro Circle:
https://pizzakingpodcast.com/community

Get one useful idea for your shop every week:
https://pizzakingpodcast.com

Support the Pizza King Podcast:
https://pizzakingpodcast.com/support-the-show

SPONSOR OFFERS

Mailwise Solutions
Mention the Pizza King Podcast and save $150 on direct-mail services.
https://mailwisesolutions.com/

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Mention the Pizza King Podcast and save $500 on your first year of Agent Penny.
https://virnika.ai/penny/

If this episode helped you, subscribe, leave a review, and share the episode with another pizzeria operator.

Support the show

Join us here: 

https://www.skool.com/tyrells-group-9324/about

Free Tools and Courses for Pizzeria Owners &  Managers

Email: [email protected]

Upcoming events and appearances: 

Pizza Expo Columbus 10/11-10/12

Pizza Tomorrow Summit (Orlando, FL) 10/25-10/27

Kevin Abbott and his wife Allison own Stoner’s Pizza Joint directly across the street from my shop in Valrico, Florida. On paper, we compete. In real life, we help each other.

Kevin shares why he left another industry, spent nearly a year learning inside another operator’s stores, and chose the franchise path. We also talk honestly about building a team you can trust enough to step away from the shop.

This conversation covers working with your spouse, training, systems, community, competition, and the cost of being inside the business seven days a week.

The episode closes with a Takeout Tip you can try this week. Give one full shift to your manager, step back, debrief the next day, and fix one thing.

CONTACT AND FOLLOW STONER’S PIZZA JOINT

Stoner’s Pizza Joint, Bloomingdale
3428 Lithia Pinecrest Road
Valrico, FL 33596

Phone: 813-436-0016
Website: https://www.stonerspizzajoint.com/
Order online: https://order.stonerspizzajoint.com/order/stoners-pizza-joint-bloomingdale-tampa
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stonerspizzajointbloomingdale/

GET THE PIZZERIA OPERATOR’S PLAYBOOK

Build stronger managers, create better systems, and take back your time.

https://pizzakingpodcast.com/playbook-1

SPONSORS

EDGE Pizza Ovens

I use an EDGE oven in my own pizzeria. Schedule a test bake:

https://edgeovens.com/test-bake

Mailwise Solutions

Design, print, and mail menus and postcards without a long-term contract. Mention the Pizza King Podcast and save $150:

https://mailwisesolutions.com/

Virnika

Agent Penny answers calls, takes orders, processes payments, and sends orders to your POS. Mention the Pizza King Podcast and save $500 on your first year:

https://virnika.ai/penny/

Support the show

Join us here: 

https://www.skool.com/tyrells-group-9324/about

Free Tools and Courses for Pizzeria Owners &  Managers

Email: [email protected]

Upcoming events and appearances: 

Pizza Expo Columbus 10/11-10/12

Pizza Tomorrow Summit (Orlando, FL) 10/25-10/27

Last week Tyrell came on and said the shop had its best month, up around 75 percent in sales. Three days later the phones died for the rest of the day.

This Takeout Tips is about the number you are actually comparing yourself to. The week finished down about 15 percent from the week before. Against the same week last year it was up 36 percent. Same week, two different stories, and only one of them should change what you do on Monday.

Inside: what a dead phone system costs a shop that takes most of its orders by phone, why he did not touch the marketing or run a fire sale, and the case for taking a wider view before you hit the panic button.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro and who I am really talking to
0:25 Our best month and being proud of it
0:41 The pizza gods bring you back to reality
1:09 The customer call that dropped out
1:49 Phones dead and what that costs us
2:45 The outage report and losing a whole day
3:31 A terrible day then a dead Saturday
4:19 Down fifteen percent from the week before
4:44 Up thirty six percent from last year
5:36 Hand off the panic button
6:04 When it feels like the ship is sinking
6:41 The crisis was not actually real
7:14 Take a wider view
7:22 The Playbook and the Accelerator
8:06 The book I did not write
8:56 The story of Marco
10:28 Eighty four tools over fourteen weeks
11:29 Sponsors and Pizza Expo in Columbus

Free Pizzeria Operator's Playbook
https://pizzakingpodcast.com/playbook-1

Leadership Accelerator: 84 tools over 14 weeks. It runs on Skool, so you can join any time. Ask about it at [email protected]

Pizza Expo, Columbus, October 11 and 12. Booth 647. Record a 20 minute episode with me at the show:
https://calendly.com/tyrellreed/pizza-king-podcast-pizza-expo-columbus-interview

Questions, or want to come on the show? [email protected]

THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

EDGE Pizza Ovens. Schedule a test bake: https://edgeovens.com/test-bake

Mailwise Solutions. Direct mail for pizzerias, no long term contracts. Ask about the Pizza King Podcast offer and save $150: https://mailwisesolutions.com/

Virnika. Agent Penny answers calls, takes orders and sends them to your POS. Ask about the Pizza King Podcast offer and save $500 on your first year: https://virnika.ai/penny/

Please support the businesses that support the Pizza King Podcast.

If this one was useful, follow the show and leave a review. It helps other operators find it.

Support the show

Join us here: 

https://www.skool.com/tyrells-group-9324/about

Free Tools and Courses for Pizzeria Owners &  Managers

Email: [email protected]

Upcoming events and appearances: 

Pizza Expo Columbus 10/11-10/12

Pizza Tomorrow Summit (Orlando, FL) 10/25-10/27

Aaron Keaser runs Teaford's Pizza & Subs in Greenville, Ohio, a town of about 13,000 people packed with national chains and local competition.

He refuses to compete on price.

Aaron joins Tyrell to explain how quality, consistency, customer service, kitchen flow, and community relationships help an independent pizzeria compete. They also talk about dough, menu decisions, DoorDash, fundraising boundaries, stress, sacrifice, and the reality that nobody is coming to save the owner.

In this episode, Aaron shares:

• Why he refuses to compete on price

• How a larger pepperoni improved production speed

• Why hand-stretched dough works better for his shop

• How he improved the flow of a 700-square-foot kitchen

• Why DoorDash became one of his best marketing channels

• How he protects the business when supporting local groups

• What sacrifice looks like for a small-town owner

• Why nobody is coming to save you when you own the business

Aaron brings a direct operator's view. You hear the decisions, mistakes, tradeoffs, and standards behind a respected local pizzeria.

Learn more about Teaford's Pizza & Subs:

https://www.teafordspizza.com/

https://www.facebook.com/teafordspizza/

Get the Pizzeria Operator's Playbook:

https://pizzakingpodcast.com/playbook-1

Listen and follow:

https://pizzakingpodcast.com/

Support the show

Join us here: 

https://www.skool.com/tyrells-group-9324/about

Free Tools and Courses for Pizzeria Owners &  Managers

Email: [email protected]

Upcoming events and appearances: 

Pizza Expo Columbus 10/11-10/12

Pizza Tomorrow Summit (Orlando, FL) 10/25-10/27

August should have been one of our slowest months. Instead, our Westshore Pizza location finished at $42,143 in sales, up 76.22% from last year and ahead of every month we have on record for the store.

That result did not come from one promotion. The turnaround started with eight months of operating work. We cleaned the store, trained the team, simplified the menu, removed weak hours, fixed the order process, built the rewards list, mailed every week, and stayed patient while catering gained traction.

In Episode 158 of the Pizza King Podcast, I walk through the monthly numbers, where the growth came from, which decisions made execution easier, and why first-party online and rewards sales matter so much.

You will hear:

• How monthly sales moved from $27,000 in April to $42,143 in August
• Why early third-party growth gave an incomplete picture
• How menu cuts and a six-day schedule improved execution
• Why EasyCater required more than four months of patience
• How weekly mail, email, text, and rewards worked together
• Why the team came before every sales result

Get the free Pizzeria Operator's Playbook: https://pizzakingpodcast.com/playbook-1

Visit the Pizza King Podcast: https://pizzakingpodcast.com

Questions about the Leadership Accelerator: [email protected]

Support the show

Join us here: 

https://www.skool.com/tyrells-group-9324/about

Free Tools and Courses for Pizzeria Owners &  Managers

Email: [email protected]

Upcoming events and appearances: 

Pizza Expo Columbus 10/11-10/12

Pizza Tomorrow Summit (Orlando, FL) 10/25-10/27

Jeff Berman has visited more than 500 pizzerias across the country. During one New York trip, he reached 53 shops and tried 70 slices in four and a half days.

Jeff is the founder of Pizza Lovers of Florida, a Facebook community that grew from a small Citrus County group to more than 5,000 members. He does not call himself a reviewer or influencer. He calls himself a pizza enthusiast.

In Episode 157 of the Pizza King Podcast, Jeff explains how he chooses which shops to visit, why he orders the pizza a shop is known for, and why one visit should not define a pizzeria. He also shares why he refuses to turn his passion into a business, how Florida pizza has grown, and what it takes to build a community where people can disagree without becoming disrespectful.

You will hear:
- Why Jeff protects pizza as a passion instead of a business
- How he planned a 53-pizzeria New York trip
- What first-time customers should order
- Why different pizza styles need different standards
- What makes a pizzeria worth recommending
- Why Florida deserves more respect as a pizza state
- How consistent work grew Pizza Lovers of Florida

Join Pizza Lovers of Florida:
https://pizzaloversofflorida.com/

Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1355287455703996/

Visit the Pizza King Podcast:
https://pizzakingpodcast.com

Episode sponsors:
Edge Pizza Ovens: https://edgeovens.com/test-bake
Mailwise Solutions: https://mailwisesolutions.com. Pizza King Podcast listeners save $150.
Virnika AI: Save $500 on the first year of Agent Penny with no setup fee. Mention the Pizza King Podcast at https://virnika.ai/

Support the show

Join us here: 

https://www.skool.com/tyrells-group-9324/about

Free Tools and Courses for Pizzeria Owners &  Managers

Email: [email protected]

Upcoming events and appearances: 

Pizza Expo Columbus 10/11-10/12

Pizza Tomorrow Summit (Orlando, FL) 10/25-10/27

Most struggling pizzerias do not need more ideas. They need a clear order of operations.
 
 In Episode 156 of the Pizza King Podcast, Tyrell Reed breaks down the 14-week Pizzeria Operators Playbook he used to bring structure to a struggling store and support 34% sales growth in seven months.
 
 The playbook moves through four phases: stabilizing the operation, building a leadership pipeline, improving speed and accountability, and reinforcing the right habits through recognition. Tyrell also explains the 1-2-1 leadership structure designed for small and midsize pizza shops.
 
 You will learn:
 • Why food safety should come first
 • How cash controls, training, and manager rhythms create stability
 • How to build one lead manager, two junior managers, and one future leader
 • Which numbers help measure daily execution
 • Why recognition belongs inside your accountability system
 • How one clear focus each week can create lasting progress
 
 Download the complete Pizzeria Operators Playbook free:
 https://pizzakingpodcast.com/playbook-1
 
 Episode sponsors:
 Edge Pizza Ovens: https://edgeovens.com/test-bake
 Mailwise Solutions: https://mailwisesolutions.com. Pizza King Podcast listeners save $150.
 Virnika AI: Save $500 on the first year of Agent Penny with no setup fee. Mention the Pizza King Podcast at https://virnika.ai/ 

Support the show

Join us here: 

https://www.skool.com/tyrells-group-9324/about

Free Tools and Courses for Pizzeria Owners &  Managers

Email: [email protected]

Upcoming events and appearances: 

Pizza Expo Columbus 10/11-10/12

Pizza Tomorrow Summit (Orlando, FL) 10/25-10/27