When Amy and Josh Baker’s daughter Grace graduated from high school, she wanted the same things as her friends: a job, greater independence and a place where she belonged.
Grace, who has Down syndrome, struggled to find meaningful employment. Rather than waiting for an opportunity, the Baker family decided to create one.
In this episode of The Personal Side of Business, Jet sits down with Amy Baker to share the inspiring story behind Pizzabilities—a San Diego restaurant creating meaningful jobs for people of all abilities.
Amy opens up about starting a restaurant with no food-service experience, partnering with Ron Burner and the Nicolosi’s restaurant family, and expanding from one location to two in a matter of months. She also discusses the overwhelming demand for inclusive employment, the realities of running a mission-driven business and why great intentions still need strong operations and quality products behind them.
The conversation explores how Pizzabilities trains employees according to their individual strengths, works alongside families and caregivers, and helps people experience the confidence that comes with earning their first paycheck and contributing to a team.
What began as a way to create a future for Grace has grown into something much bigger—a business showing its community what people can accomplish when given a genuine opportunity.
Learn more about Pizzabilities at https://www.pizzabilities.com/.
You can learn more about the podcast at personalsideofbusiness.com
Also get a free quote for your business with Ergo Next Insurance at https://nextinsurance.sjv.io/c/6631326/3757703/14516
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01:13 --> 01:16 Hi and welcome to The Personal Side of Business, where every business has a story.
01:17 --> 01:20 I'm your host, Jeff Bunduwal. Today, my guest and her husband Josh are
01:21 --> 01:24 redefining how community, purpose, and business come together.
01:24 --> 01:29 Peace Abilities is allowing individuals with special needs and disabilities to
01:29 --> 01:33 showcase their talents in the workplace. Welcome to the podcast, Amy Baker.
01:33 --> 01:36 Thanks for having me. I'm honored and a pleasure to be here. Yeah, I'm excited
01:37 --> 01:40 to tell your story. So first, let's start. How did we get here? How did
01:40 --> 01:44 you get from— you're going to have your one-year anniversary coming up. Right. Yeah,
01:44 --> 01:47 right. So let's talk about before that happened to
01:47 --> 01:51 this point. Yes. So we have 3 children. Our oldest
01:51 --> 01:54 is— her name is Grace. And she was born with Down syndrome.
01:55 --> 01:58 And so she got out of high school in 2024,
01:59 --> 02:02 and we kind of were looking at all the options post-high school and
02:03 --> 02:07 what was available. And she was in the general ed
02:07 --> 02:10 classes the majority of her schooling from kindergarten through high school.
02:11 --> 02:14 And so she wanted to go to college. She wanted to work. She wanted to
02:15 --> 02:17 kind of move out. She wanted a dorm room. She wanted all the things that
02:17 --> 02:20 her friends were doing. And so we kind of came to the spot, well,
02:21 --> 02:24 We were looking for job placements for her, and there wasn't a lot
02:25 --> 02:28 of options that she— that we found for her. And so we thought, why don't
02:28 --> 02:32 we just kind of create something? My husband has created an
02:32 --> 02:35 escrow business now for 11 years. He's a business owner and kind of has that
02:35 --> 02:39 mindset. So we're like, we'll just create something of our own. What does she like
02:39 --> 02:42 to do? Well, she likes pizza, she loves people. And so we kind
02:42 --> 02:46 of came up with something of a— this kind of like the baby
02:46 --> 02:49 formula of what we got right now, what you see. And so we just had
02:50 --> 02:52 that need. And so what we really needed was just a spot for her,
02:53 --> 02:56 maybe a couple friends that she might know of that needs a job. And so
02:56 --> 03:00 we found a local spot where we live. It was an old Pizza
03:00 --> 03:04 Hut, so it had the bones of a restaurant in there. And so we
03:05 --> 03:08 created Peaceabilities. And so what we didn't
03:09 --> 03:12 see and what we didn't kind of know of at the time is that we
03:12 --> 03:16 were creating something much larger and bigger and
03:16 --> 03:20 a giant need for a lot of individuals. That's great.
03:20 --> 03:24 And to add on to that, you guys didn't have
03:24 --> 03:28 any restaurant experience, right? Zero, zero, zero. Okay, so we
03:28 --> 03:31 were coming from the escrow company or escrow side paperwork,
03:31 --> 03:35 not a lot of customer service, not a lot of, you know,
03:35 --> 03:39 food safety laws, all that kind of stuff. So we knew nothing of it.
03:39 --> 03:42 And so what really kind of got us to the spot of like, we can
03:43 --> 03:46 do this, is my husband teamed up with Ron Berner, who is the owner of
03:46 --> 03:49 Nicolosi's, which has a giant legacy here in San Diego.
03:50 --> 03:54 And so what we did is teamed up with them and converted their— we're sitting
03:54 --> 03:57 in their used-to-be Nicolosi's location in Santee and
03:58 --> 04:02 converted their recipes into Peaceabilities, into a format that we can sit here and
04:02 --> 04:07 the location in Santee. So yeah. What was that beginning
04:07 --> 04:09 and training like for you with, especially with Juan?
04:10 --> 04:13 Was he there for the first 6 months or,
04:14 --> 04:17 you know, did you go through everything with him? Yeah, no, they're a very living,
04:18 --> 04:22 part of all this organism. They're still like completely involved as much
04:22 --> 04:25 as we are. We're all working more than we thought we would be working,
04:25 --> 04:29 you know, because of the passion, because of the mission. And so it's really
04:29 --> 04:32 something that drives us to kind of make it and dial it in for our
04:32 --> 04:36 individuals and our employees and for the customers we serve. We want it to be
04:36 --> 04:40 not only a great pizza and a solid food and,
04:40 --> 04:43 you know, sandwiches and lasagnas and all kinds of great things, cannolis,
04:44 --> 04:47 which Ron has gifted us with all that kind of wisdom.
04:48 --> 04:51 But it's the mission and the employees that kind of drive us to kind of
04:52 --> 04:55 create this environment and the vibe that you walk into. It's great.
04:55 --> 04:59 And you're in less than a year.
04:59 --> 05:02 So it's— I mean, in less than a year, 2 locations.
05:02 --> 05:05 Yeah. What was your decision to open
05:05 --> 05:09 up the second location and what was that like going
05:09 --> 05:12 from no restaurant experience to having 2 locations in less
05:13 --> 05:17 than a year? Yeah. So like, we crashed out a lot. Okay. So like,
05:17 --> 05:20 there was a lot. There's a lot of learning on the job.
05:21 --> 05:24 And I would be, uh, I would be lying to you
05:25 --> 05:28 if I said it was all roses and everything, but this is hard work where
05:28 --> 05:32 there's a lot of micromanaging. And we're not only dealing, uh, so we're
05:32 --> 05:36 just engrafting all these individuals and we're trying to become like a family culture.
05:37 --> 05:40 And they, they have, uh, family and co— and caregivers too
05:41 --> 05:44 that we're trying to engraft too, because it's, it's not just them we're employing,
05:44 --> 05:47 it's their caregivers and their parents that are kind of along for it because that's
05:48 --> 05:52 their transportation or job coaching, you know, literally a community
05:52 --> 05:55 having to work together. 100%. So we're all learning, like they're
05:55 --> 05:59 learning, this is their first job. So this is our first time doing this too.
05:59 --> 06:02 So we're all kind of learning in whatever aspect together.
06:02 --> 06:06 But really, it really, the mission and the
06:06 --> 06:10 joy and the why is really what drives
06:10 --> 06:14 us to kind of keep going because we don't know what we're doing. We're learning
06:14 --> 06:17 how to do a schedule or we're learning how to do supply ordering. We're learning
06:17 --> 06:21 how to, you know, maneuver all the time shifts and, and the different needs.
06:21 --> 06:24 So there's so many different things we didn't foresee that would be a
06:25 --> 06:27 challenge. But when you see somebody that gets hired,
06:28 --> 06:31 their parents are crying, they're excited to be there. They're in week
06:32 --> 06:35 2, they're coming early, their shirt's clean because they've been ready to go, you know,
06:36 --> 06:39 since last shift. So they get their paycheck,
06:39 --> 06:42 they can spend their paycheck. Yeah. So they're employee of the month. There's so many
06:43 --> 06:46 things that are so rad to see them develop and have excitement to be here.
06:47 --> 06:50 And you're there for the very first of those moments. Yeah, it's like that,
06:51 --> 06:54 that will, that'll keep you going, that'll keep you singing. So yeah.
06:54 --> 06:58 Yeah, and I think what's even more interesting, you know,
06:58 --> 07:01 if you're running a restaurant, it's one thing to have employees
07:01 --> 07:04 and be able to just train them on everything.
07:05 --> 07:09 My understanding is with special needs and individuals with
07:09 --> 07:12 disabilities, they're going to excel in certain areas
07:12 --> 07:15 and that you're going to have to train them for that to be able to
07:15 --> 07:19 move forward and then So it's a different type of employee that you're working with.
07:19 --> 07:23 Yeah. What was it that you had to adjust
07:23 --> 07:26 as an owner, a business owner, to a restaurant industry,
07:26 --> 07:30 food and beverage, you've never done before that had to really work
07:31 --> 07:34 with this population? So really, across the board,
07:35 --> 07:38 it's a let's raise our expectations. So not only for the
07:38 --> 07:41 individual, the employee that's coming to work, that this is their first job,
07:42 --> 07:45 They might be a little scared. They might not want to be as social as
07:45 --> 07:49 you and I might want to be. They might not want to put themselves
07:49 --> 07:52 out there as much. She's like, no, come on, you can come out from the
07:53 --> 07:55 back a little bit. And wait, this is real baby steps. So I really don't
07:55 --> 07:59 want to like put anybody in a situation that really is
07:59 --> 08:02 a trigger or not their— But you see it happen though.
08:02 --> 08:05 I mean, people start to get out of their shells. 100%.
08:06 --> 08:09 Yeah. So we have a couple guys in here and they
08:09 --> 08:13 didn't really— weren't comfortable at all with anything, you know? I mean,
08:13 --> 08:16 same, you know? They weren't comfortable with anything. And now they come in
08:16 --> 08:19 with like a crown on their head. They just like are the king of the
08:19 --> 08:23 castle, you know? So it's so rad to see that. And not only
08:23 --> 08:25 that, like, evolved,
08:26 --> 08:30 but the interaction with all the employees. So not all of our employees have
08:30 --> 08:34 special needs. So some are just, you know, part-time workers,
08:34 --> 08:36 high school, college, just kind of doing whatever,
08:37 --> 08:40 stay-at-home moms, like whatever the case is. And the interaction,
08:41 --> 08:44 this might be the very first time they interacted with an another person with
08:45 --> 08:49 a disability. And so they're kind of like raising their expectations
08:49 --> 08:52 as well as to, oh no, he can like literally do everything, you know,
08:52 --> 08:55 he can do as much as I can do. And then the same goes for
08:56 --> 08:59 the customer. So the customer is coming through, might not have seen 3
08:59 --> 09:03 or 4 individuals with any disability working at the same spot,
09:03 --> 09:06 like the coincidence of that. So they're kind of looking around going, what's going
09:06 --> 09:10 on here? You know, they might not even know about our vibe, our mission,
09:10 --> 09:14 anything. And so they'll walk in and go, wait, what? And so
09:14 --> 09:17 they'll see something, but it's like, no, let's raise our expectations. They can make the
09:18 --> 09:20 pizza just as good. They can like, they'll actually make it in the design of
09:21 --> 09:24 a smile. They'll have a lot of fun. So it's just a whole across the
09:25 --> 09:29 board. We're all learning to raise our expectations. And you're having new
09:29 --> 09:33 employees who probably never had jobs before coming to a restaurant setting.
09:34 --> 09:37 Yeah. Which it's, it's just busy. You know, there's, I'm sure on your weekends
09:38 --> 09:40 it's probably chaotic here, right? Yeah. It's so fun. It's so fun on the weekends
09:41 --> 09:44 because we got the arcade and and like teens are coming in and birthdays and
09:44 --> 09:48 all kinds of fun stuff. So yes, so we're teaching them how to fill out
09:48 --> 09:51 this application. You know, they're all there to get their check.
09:52 --> 09:54 What do they do with their check afterwards? You know, and kind of walk it
09:54 --> 09:58 through with their parents and all the things. You come in, you clock
09:58 --> 10:01 in, you, you know, all these different things that, you know, how you have a
10:02 --> 10:04 first job and just don't know until you get there. You're kind of learning on
10:04 --> 10:07 the job. So it's cool. And what are some of the qualities that you're looking
10:07 --> 10:11 for in employees? So we're looking for somebody that,
10:11 --> 10:15 I mean, obviously you have to know the mission and what's going on. And so
10:16 --> 10:20 we have not had a situation where any individual on either
10:21 --> 10:24 side with a disability or no disability that has said,
10:24 --> 10:28 I can't work with her, I can't work with them. So the flexibility has
10:28 --> 10:31 been like actually a major blessing because we haven't even seen,
10:31 --> 10:35 we haven't even asked of that, but it's been a no-brainer, I feel like,
10:35 --> 10:39 you know. And so it's just the flexibility of working with everybody
10:40 --> 10:44 and just trying to allow others to like do certain things that like
10:44 --> 10:47 don't put a cap on them, you know? And so it's been really neat to
10:47 --> 10:51 see that. We're looking for employees that, I mean, honestly, we don't
10:51 --> 10:55 even need to look for employees. The funny thing
10:55 --> 10:59 is, is every day we probably have like 20 to 50 applicants email
10:59 --> 11:02 us because of the situation and because there is,
11:02 --> 11:05 I mean, the good and great part, the good and sad part of it is
11:05 --> 11:09 that There is not a lot of opportunities. And so when you see something and
11:09 --> 11:13 it's highlighted, you want your kid to work there, you want your brother to work
11:13 --> 11:17 there. And so we've had so many, like, it's just, it's sad.
11:17 --> 11:20 And we want to be able to go, okay, what's the next spot? We got
11:20 --> 11:24 to open another place for another 30, 40 people. So that's what drives
11:24 --> 11:27 us. That's what we see. And they come in just like you do at a
11:27 --> 11:30 job application. You come to follow up and they come in and they follow up
11:31 --> 11:34 on our application. They're like, And we're all sorry, you know, sorry, we don't have
11:35 --> 11:38 any spots. So, but we got, we got you listed. So yeah.
11:38 --> 11:41 Yeah. Which is really interesting because when I was driving over here, I thought
11:42 --> 11:46 of this and I said, normally when you have a
11:47 --> 11:50 food and beverage business, you're waiting for expansion
11:51 --> 11:54 based on sales. And I'm sure there's, there's a
11:54 --> 11:58 part of this in your industry, in your business too. But I
11:58 --> 12:02 feel like with you, your expansion is based on community
12:02 --> 12:05 need. And I think that changes the aspect of the
12:06 --> 12:09 business, right? When, as you're growing,
12:10 --> 12:13 what are kind of your 1, 2, 3s as you're
12:13 --> 12:16 looking at it go, okay, once we hit these markers, this is where we're going
12:17 --> 12:20 to go. Is it, is, is the, the need for, or for
12:21 --> 12:24 applicants coming in, is that number one so far? Then it's like, as long as
12:24 --> 12:28 we have this, we're going to keep growing. Yes. And also,
12:28 --> 12:32 like, obviously we need the sales. You know, you need
12:32 --> 12:36 good quality product. Like, the mission and the story is great
12:36 --> 12:39 and it drives a lot of people in here, but you want those guests to
12:39 --> 12:43 return back. And so you need good quality product. And that's kind of where Nicolosi's
12:44 --> 12:47 kind of, you know, stepped right up. And so we have that and we have
12:47 --> 12:51 all these different— we have catering, we have a ton of different varieties on
12:52 --> 12:55 how we can best serve our community. That yes, it is a need that we
12:55 --> 12:58 see. And like specifically Poway, like North County,
12:59 --> 13:03 they have like been emailing us, like inundating our email. We need
13:03 --> 13:07 you here. We need you, you know, we need a spot here. Eastlake, Chula Vista
13:07 --> 13:11 have been emailing us. Like, I have a fam— you know, like we
13:11 --> 13:14 have families all over. Arizona, Washington, like all these families
13:14 --> 13:16 have something that they're like, we want to do this.
13:18 --> 13:22 So that's what we're starting all the processes of trademarking and franchising
13:22 --> 13:25 and doing all that stuff. Um, but like, to be real, like,
13:25 --> 13:30 we really just need the bones of a good spot because it is so costly
13:30 --> 13:34 to turn over a building and stuff like that. So we have
13:34 --> 13:37 learned that, you know, since this was Nicolosi's, we had the bones of a
13:37 --> 13:40 hood, we had the bones of all those kind of equipment. Um, so that really
13:40 --> 13:43 helps to find something. So the people of Poway are on the search for a
13:44 --> 13:47 place like this for us. Yeah, just like families, just like 80 families
13:47 --> 13:51 are trying to help this business grow. Yes. It's almost
13:51 --> 13:54 unheard of. Like, I know, you know, there's— I think it's one thing to have
13:54 --> 13:58 support from a fan base and say, you know, if you
13:58 --> 14:01 do this, we'll support you. But I think it's another thing to have communities be
14:02 --> 14:04 like, we're going to put our hands in to try to help you guys grow.
14:05 --> 14:07 I think that's— and on the same conversation,
14:09 --> 14:12 school districts. So school districts have been a giant
14:12 --> 14:16 support for us, obviously, because you see the mission and it ties into what
14:16 --> 14:19 they are doing. Um, so we have had contracts and
14:20 --> 14:23 we've had bids and we've had board members and we've heard all this stuff like,
14:23 --> 14:26 we're going to put you on our Friday pizza day, we're gonna do— we're gonna—
14:26 --> 14:29 you're gonna win this, you're gonna do this, you're gonna be our person. And so
14:29 --> 14:33 that is across San Diego County, which is— I feel like this is unheard of.
14:34 --> 14:37 100%. This is— and that's what— and pizza restaurants, you get
14:38 --> 14:42 government contracts. We're on the COVID of like PMQ Pizza Magazine,
14:42 --> 14:45 like all kinds of stuff. We won San Diego's best fast casual
14:46 --> 14:49 this last year. So like, it feels backwards
14:49 --> 14:53 almost, you know? But it's so rad to see that this
14:53 --> 14:57 is their— they've raised their expectations at the same time. But you as a business
14:57 --> 15:01 owner need to be aware of the
15:01 --> 15:04 business side of things and you can do like, you can't just keep expanding too
15:04 --> 15:07 fast. 100%. Yeah. So we're, my husband's really good
15:07 --> 15:11 at like real tight and real conservative with
15:11 --> 15:14 our hours, with our supplies, with what we got going on.
15:14 --> 15:18 So, excuse me, but he, um, so he's
15:18 --> 15:22 really good at that and he's had a track record for that with other businesses
15:22 --> 15:25 and such. So he wants to see the financial success of it because he has
15:26 --> 15:30 to prove that for Poway, for Eastlake, for other Washington companies that want
15:30 --> 15:33 to do something like that. Yeah, because you're,
15:34 --> 15:38 it's almost like this, I'll say reverse pressure, but it's coming from
15:38 --> 15:41 a different angle, right? Where I think like if people were to come in
15:41 --> 15:44 here and then you were like,
15:45 --> 15:48 people were waiting in line in any restaurant, I think that's one thing.
15:49 --> 15:52 But now you're having this demand from this almost connective
15:53 --> 15:59 piece of the community that says that we need to have this in order to
15:59 --> 16:02 make us feel like we're part of this. Yeah. They want to be a part
16:02 --> 16:05 of this as well. And I think it's a different type of— it's not a
16:05 --> 16:09 customer base per se, but it's families that are You're like, I, we, we're going
16:09 --> 16:12 through the same thing you're going through. It's like emotional connection. We're your family and
16:12 --> 16:14 we don't even know it, really. Yeah, it's a different type of business.
16:15 --> 16:18 What are, what are some of the,
16:18 --> 16:22 the, the growths and then some of the hurdles that you've seen so
16:22 --> 16:26 far being in business in literally a year or more? Yeah, so really
16:27 --> 16:30 we have, I feel like we change what we do all the time. We're just
16:30 --> 16:34 trying to find the right niche of what we're trying to do
16:34 --> 16:38 and what we're trying to sell. Um, and what we're trying to kind of accomplish
16:38 --> 16:42 with the front prep line and, um, cross-train all of
16:42 --> 16:46 our individuals, but yet still like, okay, maybe we need to tweak this recipe
16:47 --> 16:50 a little bit and stuff like that. So one of the biggest hurdles we have
16:51 --> 16:54 is that we have so much going on on
16:54 --> 16:58 the outside stuff and what you're talking about, schools. Um, we just got a pizza
16:58 --> 17:02 trailer, like scheduling, all this kind of outside stuff. But the inside structural
17:03 --> 17:07 stuff is what we really need to make sure that's dialed in and
17:07 --> 17:11 rock solid. And so we always kind of have to come back and,
17:11 --> 17:14 you know, back to Plan A and really make sure all of that
17:14 --> 17:16 is like sound and true and ready to go.
17:17 --> 17:21 And when we make changes across the board, that those changes apply to
17:21 --> 17:25 not only C&T but Alpine. I can't imagine right now if we had like 5
17:25 --> 17:29 restaurants where that would That would really take a lot of bandwidth to
17:29 --> 17:32 implement all that. So we're not there bandwidth-wise
17:33 --> 17:36 to do that. And so that's a hurdle that we're trying to have because we
17:36 --> 17:40 have the need, the people want this, this, this, but we're not structurally
17:40 --> 17:44 there, I feel like, to implement and give that attention to Poway
17:44 --> 17:47 and give that attention. So we— it's going to probably take about another like
17:47 --> 17:50 3 to 4 months to make it really sound and true.
17:51 --> 17:54 I thought you would say 3 or 4 years. I mean, honestly,
17:54 --> 17:57 probably, probably. Who knows? Come back and ask me.
17:57 --> 18:00 But, but to really feel feel like we can walk away and
18:01 --> 18:04 it run. Yeah. And I'm just kind of
18:04 --> 18:08 curious for you and Josh on your side
18:08 --> 18:12 as a couple doing business together, how does this
18:12 --> 18:16 feel for you? Is it, does it feel, is there
18:16 --> 18:19 this excitement with pressure going on at the same time? Or you guys are just
18:20 --> 18:23 like, we're along for the ride, we're kind of riding this wave of the community
18:23 --> 18:27 that's asking for us? Or Have you guys gone into this mindset of like,
18:28 --> 18:31 this is really happening? Like, all the things you mentioned, all the things at
18:32 --> 18:35 the same time. So we've worked together. So he had an escrow company 11 years
18:35 --> 18:39 ago and it's still functioning, doing great, super solid. So we've worked
18:39 --> 18:42 together for a long time. I would do like their general bookkeeping and stuff like
18:42 --> 18:44 that, but that's all I did. And I kind of stepped out. He handled like
18:45 --> 18:48 the major burdens of everything. And so with this, we have 2
18:48 --> 18:52 different lanes. I feel like he's more, you know, business-minded. And really
18:52 --> 18:55 looking at the bottom line and obviously the mission.
18:55 --> 18:58 He's super giving in all the, like, the mission of what we want to do
18:58 --> 19:02 and the individuals. I'm here for a good time. Like, I'm here for good vibes.
19:02 --> 19:05 I'm here for employee of the month. I'm here for like, oh, so fun,
19:05 --> 19:08 you know, good TikTok videos. Like, that's— I love that, you know?
19:08 --> 19:11 So we both have great strengths, but they're different.
19:12 --> 19:15 And so when we collide and— but we do feel the pressure at times,
19:15 --> 19:19 you know, a lot of great stories, a lot of kind of like good recaps
19:20 --> 19:22 when we're kind of talking about things. But a lot of pressure at the same
19:23 --> 19:26 time because we need sales, we need to kind of keep
19:26 --> 19:30 afloat and all these different things. And so that for me, just as a
19:31 --> 19:34 helpmate for him, it kind of like makes me stressed, you know, because it takes
19:35 --> 19:39 my good vibes down. So, but there is a stress there,
19:39 --> 19:42 and but, you know, we kind of, you know, over the years I kind of
19:42 --> 19:46 learned how to, you know, communicate with it, but at times just kind of
19:46 --> 19:49 like Let's just let it be for a minute, you know? So what do you
19:49 --> 19:53 think has changed about you to make you a better business owner over the last
19:53 --> 19:57 year? I think not realizing I'm not the expert or I
19:57 --> 20:01 have the best opinion on everything. There's a lot of people, and whether they
20:01 --> 20:04 have experience in the restaurant business or not, or age or where they come from,
20:05 --> 20:08 everyone's got a great idea somehow. And all that can
20:08 --> 20:11 be kind of implemented to a portion of it, a percentage of it,
20:11 --> 20:14 but not feeling like my way's got to be the way. I think that's the
20:15 --> 20:18 best way to be flexible and be a good team you know, the same
20:18 --> 20:22 person and work together. So yeah. Yeah, and you
20:23 --> 20:25 know, when you were bringing up the, now the food trailer,
20:27 --> 20:31 what is your approach to that since this is a different avenue
20:32 --> 20:35 of the business? I mean, it's still in the lane, but you were sort of
20:35 --> 20:37 going out a little bit. What are you— what's your approach to this right now?
20:37 --> 20:41 Yeah, so we've been since day one, we've been doing a ton
20:41 --> 20:43 of events. Special Olympics, Um,
20:43 --> 20:47 Santee does a big concert series out here. We've been a food vendor there.
20:48 --> 20:51 Um, so many food vendors at different agencies. And you were
20:52 --> 20:55 doing all pop-ups? All pop-ups. Canopy, we bring the pizza and hot bags,
20:55 --> 20:58 all that kind of stuff. And if we need more, so Santee, we did 4
20:58 --> 21:02 runs back and forth of bringing pizzas. And that's when we're like, okay,
21:02 --> 21:05 we got to figure out a better way to do this, you know. And so,
21:05 --> 21:09 um, that, that pizza trailer was kind of born from this. And so We
21:10 --> 21:12 kind of thought, and we just got it wrapped. I'll have to show you the
21:12 --> 21:16 pictures of it, but it looks so cool. But we have a giant need for
21:16 --> 21:20 that. So we are kind of thinking of it as different divisions of
21:20 --> 21:23 what our home restaurant is. So schools
21:23 --> 21:27 and catering is one division because that's a whole setup. That's a delivery.
21:27 --> 21:31 We got to come here early. It's on a time schedule, different things. And then
21:31 --> 21:35 there's like the pizza trailer side of it. So not only— so how we're
21:35 --> 21:38 seeing it is like these 2 departments are something we can kind of bring in
21:38 --> 21:41 maybe 5 to 10 more employees. And this will be so rad to get
21:42 --> 21:44 some new people that we've been waiting on the list to kind of itch to
21:44 --> 21:47 like, we got a spot for you, but it's coming, just wait. And then this
21:48 --> 21:49 is a spot where we can kind of plug them in. So we're excited to
21:50 --> 21:53 just have them be a part of the ride because so many of our employees
21:53 --> 21:56 are— they thrive on that social interaction and like going
21:56 --> 22:00 out there and like asking for orders and giving orders out. So it's just
22:01 --> 22:04 a fun experience as a customer and to see this now out
22:05 --> 22:08 in their community or their farmer's market or different And as you guys
22:08 --> 22:12 are expanding this, have you thought about the 5-year,
22:12 --> 22:16 10-year picture, what it looks like? Are there— are you planning
22:16 --> 22:20 to do in supermarkets or anything like along those lines? No,
22:20 --> 22:24 that's so timely that you asked because this last week we came up with
22:24 --> 22:27 like a bigger, broader vision of what we really want to do.
22:28 --> 22:31 This has been great and it's really served a need and kind
22:31 --> 22:35 of got all the motions rolling. But we now we're thinking bigger picture in the
22:35 --> 22:39 ways of products. We're coming up with like some cookie tins,
22:39 --> 22:42 spices, pizza kits that you can kind of take
22:43 --> 22:46 and have a whole experience with your family at home. And so we just
22:47 --> 22:50 started talking about the new namings of it this week and how to get it
22:51 --> 22:53 out there. And we have a lot, we have a lot of great people in
22:53 --> 22:56 our corner to say, we got you, we'll help you with distributing, we'll help you
22:56 --> 23:00 with this, we'll help you with that. So we're just rolling
23:00 --> 23:03 as we see windows open and just kind of going. And so, yeah. Now,
23:04 --> 23:07 I, you know, the first time we met, you told me that you were having
23:07 --> 23:10 this problem of having to expand in
23:10 --> 23:14 other states. What does that look like in your mind of like,
23:14 --> 23:18 are you gonna be the one that goes and sets up in New Mexico,
23:18 --> 23:22 Arizona, and then trades? Yes. Okay. So I'm tired already,
23:22 --> 23:26 but no, it's gonna be so exciting. But yeah, so we would franchise
23:26 --> 23:30 out there or partner with families. And that's really who the person's going
23:31 --> 23:34 to be that, you know, really has a vision for it and a connection to
23:34 --> 23:38 it. A parent or a special ed teacher they used to
23:38 --> 23:43 be or something in that area really will help drive the restaurant
23:43 --> 23:46 in that location to be what it's supposed to be. And so, yes,
23:46 --> 23:50 so in our franchise agreement, you know, different things you can set up where we
23:50 --> 23:54 are the team that comes out gives you a full quality control check and makes
23:54 --> 23:57 sure everything's good, the vibe is what it's supposed to be, and helping set up
23:58 --> 24:01 on a grand opening day and like be there. So, um, that is kind of
24:02 --> 24:04 like the least of my worries, I feel like, because I love that kind of
24:05 --> 24:09 stuff and, and helping people out, especially with this kind of mission. So it's
24:09 --> 24:12 a no-brainer for me. Yeah. And you know,
24:12 --> 24:16 your 1-year anniversary is coming up. What has that
24:16 --> 24:18 been like for you? Did you think you were gonna have,
24:19 --> 24:23 be in this position? One year, 2 locations, possibly expanding
24:23 --> 24:27 to multiple locations. Like that, to me, that's almost unheard
24:28 --> 24:31 of for a food and beverage business, right? Yeah, so I didn't even,
24:31 --> 24:34 I don't even know that. Like we were, before all
24:34 --> 24:37 this, we were kind of like trailing back even our work style,
24:38 --> 24:41 like traveling a lot, just kind of doing our own thing. And then,
24:41 --> 24:44 you know, fast forward 6 months from now when, you know, Alpine's open,
24:45 --> 24:49 We're at like a fall festival handing out pizzas
24:49 --> 24:52 for $10 when I'm like, what am I doing? Like, what are we doing?
24:53 --> 24:56 So, but it's so rad. It is rad. Like, you know, you'll question yourself
24:57 --> 25:00 like, wow, did I ever think? No, I never would have put all this together
25:00 --> 25:04 that we're doing all these different things. And so, but what really
25:04 --> 25:08 has been like the neat part about it is that we've all kind of learned
25:08 --> 25:11 on the job together. And while we have Nicolosi's
25:12 --> 25:15 and Ron and the Burners a part of it, They're learning as well because it's
25:15 --> 25:18 a whole different avenue for them. This is fast casual. This isn't restaurant style.
25:19 --> 25:22 And so you have to learn fast casual and you have to learn how to
25:22 --> 25:25 work all these different employees and different things. So it's been really
25:26 --> 25:29 rad to kind of see the transition throughout this whole year. And coming
25:29 --> 25:33 up, we're having a big one-year anniversary for Alpine and then
25:33 --> 25:36 Santee. Santee, we're having Tanner from Love on the Spectrum come out.
25:36 --> 25:40 So it's been really cool. We've had a lot of great supporters.
25:40 --> 25:43 Mark Grant for our one-year anniversary coming up and grand opening.
25:43 --> 25:47 So it's been cool. Yeah. And now start to wrap up.
25:48 --> 25:52 Grace can sit down 10 years from now and say, yeah,
25:52 --> 25:55 something that Pete's Abilities brought, I think, to, to the community.
25:56 --> 25:59 What would she say? Well, she'd tell you
25:59 --> 26:03 to get back to work, probably. Like, she's gotta go. She's gotta make a dough.
26:03 --> 26:06 So she don't have time for this, but she would just
26:07 --> 26:10 be— my, my hope and my vision for her is that she would
26:11 --> 26:14 kind of be where she's at right now. In a way that she's just doing
26:14 --> 26:16 what she loves. And there's a spot she knows, she has the confidence there's a
26:17 --> 26:20 spot for her. There's a spot for her, somewhere for friends. Some of her friends
26:20 --> 26:23 from high school are in here, you know? And so she has
26:23 --> 26:26 a spot and she's got to get back to work because that's really like,
26:26 --> 26:30 honestly, they are their focus. And so for
26:30 --> 26:33 her, it would— she's the queen of the castle in here and she'll fire and
26:33 --> 26:36 hire you in a second. You know, she comes in with a crown and a
26:36 --> 26:40 sash like, who are you? But so she'll be at the grand opening
26:40 --> 26:43 at all these things and just kind of, you know, setting the vibe. So For
26:43 --> 26:46 her, I think as long as she knows she has a spot somewhere like her
26:47 --> 26:50 friends do and her peers do, then she's set. She's golden. Yeah. Yeah.
26:50 --> 26:54 That's awesome though. So let's tell the audience all the stuff you guys
26:54 --> 26:57 have coming up. Yeah. Oh no, I don't know. Help me. Okay, so you have
26:58 --> 27:01 the 1-year anniversary. When is that happening? That's going to be in August.
27:02 --> 27:06 August 12th, I think, up in Alpine. We have the 1-year anniversary for here
27:07 --> 27:11 in Santee, which is November 7th. And all of this, we— so we have Instagram,
27:11 --> 27:15 Facebook, TikTok. We have an email list, a text
27:16 --> 27:19 list, a rewards program. If you're here locally in San Diego, come by. I encourage
27:20 --> 27:24 you to come by in Santee and Alpine. Visit us. Just check the vibe out,
27:24 --> 27:27 you know, bring, bring someone that loves pizza and who doesn't? So. All right.
27:27 --> 27:31 Awesome. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Amy, for being on the show. This is
27:31 --> 27:32 The Personal Side of Business.