Upper Crust - Akron, Ohio How did you begin working in the pizza industry? When I was 15 years old I was looking for a job and the first place that hired me was a small pizza shop named Pizza BoGo. Nicholas Franchi What is something uniquely you that you have brought to the pizza industry? Something unique I have brought to the pizza industry is the " Super Crown. " I made a pizza at the 2019 Pizza Expo and I created a crown for it. We do a similar version of the pizza in our shops on a daily basis. What's been your biggest challenge in the pizza business? The biggest challenge we have experienced is the current labor market. It is and has been extremely difficult to find good help this past year. What do you do to motivate your staff during these challenging times? We do everything we can to be extremely flexible with all of our employees schedules. Also we give bonuses to high performing individuals. What area do you feel like you currently need to improve upon to continue taking your pizza business to the next level? I know that I need to improve on hiring and training. Also I need to work on creating systems and implementing them successfully into our business. What is something you've learned at Pizza Expo that has helped guide your business? It didn't so much help guide our business but at the 2018 and 2019 Pizza Expo I learned a lot about competing. From traveling with products or finding products on arrival to putting together a presentation for the judges. I learned that there are a few different moving parts that have to come together to compete with the best of the best! 048_PIZ_0621_FTrisingstars.indd 55 J U N E 2 0 2 1 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / 5 5 5/11/21 1:20 PMhttp://BelEvo.com http://BelEvo.com http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM