The Papa John’s story really began when a young 15-year-old kid by the name of John H. Schnatter got his first job washing dishes at a small Italian pizzeria known as Rocky’s Sub Pub. But John wasn’t content with just dish washing and set his sights on making pizzas from his first day. After months of hard work, the Fondrisi family who owned the restaurant allowed John to start occasionally preparing the pizza dough and tomato sauce, but they adamantly kept the honor of baking pizzas within the family.