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
00:00 --> 00:03 Welcome to The Personal Side of Business, where you hear real
00:04 --> 00:06 stories from real entrepreneurs.
00:16 --> 00:21 If you own a brick-and-mortar business, you have enough to worry about— customers walking
00:21 --> 00:24 through your doors, employees showing up, inventory on your shelves,
00:25 --> 00:28 equipment that you rely on every day. The last thing you should worry about
00:29 --> 00:31 is whether or not your business is properly protected.
00:31 --> 00:35 That's why I'm grateful to have Ergonex Insurance as our sponsor for the
00:35 --> 00:39 personal side of business. They help many businesses with coverage designed for physical locations
00:39 --> 00:42 like restaurants, retail stores, to offices,
00:42 --> 00:45 to salons, and more. Whether it's protecting your property,
00:46 --> 00:48 your equipment, or helping you from COVID loss,
00:49 --> 00:52 having the right coverage can mean everything. If you've been putting
00:52 --> 00:57 off reviewing your coverage, now it's a great time to start. More than 750
00:57 --> 01:00 small businesses trust Ergonex Insurance insurance for their business,
01:01 --> 01:04 and they have a 4.7 out of 5-star rating on Google. Getting a customized
01:04 --> 01:07 quote takes about 10 minutes. Click the link in the description to get your free
01:08 --> 01:11 quote today and see why so many professionals choose Next Insurance.
01:13 --> 01:16 Hi, and welcome to The Personal Side of Business, where every business has a story.
01:16 --> 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 --> 01:28 Peace Abilities, is allowing individuals with special needs and
01:28 --> 01:32 disabilities to showcase their talents in the workplace. Welcome to the podcast,
01:32 --> 01:35 Amy Baker. Thanks for having me. I'm honored and a pleasure to be here.
01:35 --> 01:39 Yeah, I'm excited to tell your story. So first, let's start. How did
01:39 --> 01:43 we get here? How did you get from— you're going to have your one-year anniversary
01:43 --> 01:47 coming up. Right. Yeah, right. So let's talk about before that happened
01:47 --> 01:51 to this point. Yes. So we have 3 children. Our oldest
01:51 --> 01:55 is— her name is Grace. And she was born with Down syndrome. And so
01:55 --> 01:58 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
02:02 --> 02:06 what was available. And she was in the general
02:07 --> 02:10 ed classes the majority of her schooling from kindergarten through
02:10 --> 02:14 high school. And so she wanted to go to college. She wanted to work.
02:14 --> 02:16 She wanted to kind of move out. She wanted a dorm room. She wanted all
02:16 --> 02:20 the things that her friends were doing. And so we kind of came to the
02:20 --> 02:24 spot, well, We were looking for job placements for her, and there wasn't a
02:24 --> 02:27 lot of options that she— that we found for her. And so we thought,
02:28 --> 02:31 why don't we just kind of create something? My husband has created
02:31 --> 02:35 an escrow business now for 11 years. He's a business owner and kind of has
02:35 --> 02:37 that mindset. So we're like, we'll just create something of our own.
02:38 --> 02:41 What does she like to do? Well, she likes pizza, she loves people.
02:41 --> 02:45 And so we kind of came up with something of a— this kind of like
02:45 --> 02:49 the baby formula of what we got right now, what you see. And so we
02:49 --> 02:52 just had that need. And so what we really needed was just a spot for
02:53 --> 02:56 her, maybe a couple friends that she might know of that needs a job.
02:56 --> 02:59 And so we found a local spot where we live. It was an
03:00 --> 03:04 old Pizza Hut, so it had the bones of a restaurant in there. And so
03:04 --> 03:08 we created Peaceabilities. And so what
03:08 --> 03:11 we didn't see and what we didn't kind of know of at the time is
03:11 --> 03:15 that we were creating something much larger and bigger and
03:16 --> 03:18 a giant need for a lot of individuals.
03:19 --> 03:22 That's great. And to add on to that,
03:23 --> 03:26 you guys didn't have any restaurant experience, right? Zero, zero,
03:26 --> 03:29 zero. Okay, so we were coming from the escrow company
03:29 --> 03:33 or escrow side paperwork, not a lot of customer service,
03:33 --> 03:36 not a lot of, you know, food safety
03:36 --> 03:40 laws, all that kind of stuff. So we knew nothing of it. And so what
03:40 --> 03:42 really kind of got us to the spot of like, we can do this,
03:43 --> 03:46 is my husband teamed up with Ron Berner, who is the owner of Nicolosi's,
03:47 --> 03:50 which has a giant legacy here in San Diego. And so
03:50 --> 03:54 what we did is teamed up with them and converted their— we're sitting in their
03:54 --> 03:58 used-to-be Nicolosi's location in Santee and converted
03:58 --> 04:02 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 --> 04:14 Was he there for the first 6 months or, you know,
04:14 --> 04:17 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 --> 04:28 you know, because of the passion, because of the mission. And so it's
04:28 --> 04:32 really something that drives us to kind of make it and dial it in for
04:32 --> 04:35 our individuals and our employees and for the customers we serve. We want
04:36 --> 04:39 it to be not only a great pizza and a solid
04:39 --> 04:43 food and, 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
04:51 --> 04:54 us to kind of create this environment and the vibe that you walk into.
04:55 --> 04:58 It's great. And you're in less than a
04:59 --> 05:02 year. So it's— I mean, in less than a year, 2 locations. Yeah.
05:02 --> 05:06 What was your decision to open up the second location and
05:07 --> 05:11 what was that like going from no restaurant experience
05:11 --> 05:15 to having 2 locations in less than a year? Yeah. So like, we crashed
05:15 --> 05:19 out a lot. Okay. So like, there was a lot. There's a lot of
05:19 --> 05:22 learning. On the job. And I would be,
05:22 --> 05:26 uh, I would be lying to you if I said it was all roses and
05:26 --> 05:29 everything, but this is hard work where there's a lot of micromanaging.
05:29 --> 05:33 And we're not only dealing, uh, so we're just engrafting
05:33 --> 05:36 all these individuals and we're trying to become like a family culture.
05:36 --> 05:40 And they, they have, uh, family and co— and caregivers
05:40 --> 05:44 too 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,
05:55 --> 05:59 like they're learning, this is their first job. So this is our first time doing
05:59 --> 06:02 this too. So we're all kind of learning in whatever aspect together.
06:02 --> 06:06 But really, it really, the mission and
06:06 --> 06:09 the joy and the why is really
06:09 --> 06:13 what drives us to kind of keep going because we don't know
06:13 --> 06:15 what we're doing. We're learning how to do a schedule or we're learning how to
06:15 --> 06:19 do supply ordering. We're learning how to, you know, maneuver all the
06:19 --> 06:23 time shifts and, and the different needs. So there's so many different things we
06:23 --> 06:27 didn't foresee that would be a challenge. But when you see somebody that
06:27 --> 06:30 gets hired, their parents are crying, they're excited
06:31 --> 06:34 to be there. They're in week 2, they're coming early, their, their shirt's clean because
06:34 --> 06:38 they've been ready to go, you know, since last shift. So they get
06:38 --> 06:42 their paycheck, they can spend their paycheck. Yeah. So they're employee of the month.
06:42 --> 06:45 There's so many things that are so rad to see them develop and have
06:46 --> 06:48 excitement to be here. And you're there for the very first of when they were
06:49 --> 06:53 small. Yeah, it's like that, that will, that'll keep you going,
06:53 --> 06:57 that'll keep you singing. So yeah, yeah. And I think what's even
06:57 --> 06:59 more interesting, you know, if you're running a restaurant,
07:00 --> 07:04 it's one thing to have employees and be able to just train them on everything.
07:05 --> 07:10 My understanding is with special needs and, uh, individuals with disabilities,
07:10 --> 07:14 they're gonna excel in certain areas and that you're gonna have to train
07:14 --> 07:17 them for that to be able to move forward. And then So it's a different
07:17 --> 07:22 type of employee that you're working with. Yeah. What was it that
07:22 --> 07:25 you had to adjust as an owner, a business owner,
07:25 --> 07:29 to a restaurant industry, food and beverage, you've never done before that
07:29 --> 07:33 had to really work with this population? So really,
07:33 --> 07:37 across the board, it's a let's raise our expectations.
07:37 --> 07:40 So not only for the individual, the employee that's coming to work,
07:40 --> 07:43 that this is their first job, They might be a little scared. They might not
07:43 --> 07:47 want to be as social as you and I might want to be.
07:47 --> 07:50 They might not want to put themselves out there as much. She's like,
07:51 --> 07:53 no, come on, you can come out from the back a little bit. And wait,
07:53 --> 07:57 this is real baby steps. So I really don't want to like put anybody in
07:57 --> 08:00 a situation that really is a trigger or not
08:00 --> 08:04 their— But you see it happen though. I mean, people start to get out of
08:04 --> 08:08 their shells. 100%. Yeah. So we have a couple guys in
08:08 --> 08:12 here and they didn't really— weren't comfortable at all with anything,
08:12 --> 08:15 you know? I mean, same, you know? They weren't comfortable with anything. And now
08:15 --> 08:18 they come in with like a crown on their head. They just like are the
08:19 --> 08:22 king of the castle, you know? So it's so rad to see that. And not
08:23 --> 08:28 only that, like, evolved, but the interaction
08:28 --> 08:31 with all the employees. So not all of our employees have special needs.
08:31 --> 08:35 So some are just, you know, part-time workers, high school, college, just kind of
08:35 --> 08:39 doing whatever, stay-at-home moms, like whatever the case is.
08:39 --> 08:43 And the interaction, this might be the very first time they interacted with
08:43 --> 08:47 an another person with a disability. And so they're kind of
08:47 --> 08:50 like raising their expectations as well as to, oh no,
08:51 --> 08:53 he can like literally do everything, you know, he can do as much as I
08:53 --> 08:57 can do. And then the same goes for the customer. So the customer is coming
08:57 --> 09:01 through, might not have seen 3 or 4 individuals with
09:01 --> 09:04 any disability working at the same spot, like the coincidence of
09:05 --> 09:07 that. So they're kind of looking around going, what's going on here? You know,
09:08 --> 09:11 they might not even know about our vibe, our mission, anything. And so they'll walk
09:12 --> 09:15 in and go, wait, what? And so they'll see something, but it's like,
09:15 --> 09:19 no, let's raise our expectations. They can make the pizza just as good. They can
09:19 --> 09:22 like, they'll actually make it in the design of a smile. They'll have a lot
09:22 --> 09:25 of fun. So it's just a whole across the board. We're all learning to raise
09:26 --> 09:30 our expectations. And you're having new employees who
09:30 --> 09:34 probably never had jobs before coming to a restaurant setting. Yeah. Which it's,
09:35 --> 09:39 it's just busy. You know, there's, I'm sure on your, the weekends it's probably chaotic
09:39 --> 09:40 here, right? Yeah. It's so fun. It's so fun on the weekends because we got
09:41 --> 09:44 the arcade and and like teens are coming in and birthdays and all kinds of
09:45 --> 09:49 fun stuff. So yes, so we're teaching them how to fill out this application.
09:49 --> 09:52 You know, they're all there to get their check. What do they do with
09:53 --> 09:56 their check afterwards? You know, and kind of walk it through with their parents and
09:56 --> 09:59 all the things. You come in, you clock in, you, you know, all these different
10:00 --> 10:03 things that, you know, how you have a first job and just don't know until
10:03 --> 10:06 you get there. You're kind of learning on the job. So it's cool. And what
10:06 --> 10:08 are some of the qualities that you're looking for in employees?
10:09 --> 10:13 So we're looking for somebody that, I mean, obviously you
10:13 --> 10:16 have to know the mission and what's going on. And so we
10:16 --> 10:20 have not had a situation where any individual on
10:20 --> 10:24 either side with a disability or no disability
10:24 --> 10:27 that has said, I can't work with her, I can't work with them. So the
10:27 --> 10:31 flexibility has been like actually a major blessing because we haven't even
10:31 --> 10:35 seen, we haven't even asked of that, but it's been a no-brainer,
10:35 --> 10:38 I feel like, you know. And so it's just the flexibility of
10:38 --> 10:41 working with everybody and just trying to allow others to
10:42 --> 10:45 like do certain things that like don't put a cap on them, you know?
10:45 --> 10:49 And so it's been really neat to see that. We're looking for employees
10:49 --> 10:52 that, I mean, honestly, we don't even need to look for employees.
10:54 --> 10:57 The funny thing is, is every day we probably have like 20 to
10:58 --> 11:01 50 applicants email us because of the situation and
11:01 --> 11:05 because there is, I mean, the good and great part, the good and sad part
11:05 --> 11:08 of it is that There is not a lot of opportunities. And so when you
11:08 --> 11:12 see something and it's highlighted, you want your kid to work there. You want your
11:12 --> 11:15 brother to work there. And so we've had so many, like,
11:15 --> 11:19 it's just, it's sad. And we want to be able to go, okay, what's the
11:19 --> 11:23 next spot? We got to open another place for another 30, 40 people. So that's
11:24 --> 11:26 what drives us. That's what we see. And they come in just like you do
11:26 --> 11:30 at a job application. You come to follow up and they come in and they
11:30 --> 11:33 follow up on our application. They're like, And we're all sorry, you know, sorry,
11:34 --> 11:37 we don't have any spots. So, but we got, we got you listed.
11:37 --> 11:41 So yeah. You know, which is really interesting because when I was driving over here,
11:41 --> 11:45 I thought of this and I said, normally when you
11:45 --> 11:48 have a food and beverage business,
11:49 --> 11:52 you're waiting for expansion based on sales.
11:53 --> 11:56 And I'm sure there's a part of this in your industry, in your
11:57 --> 12:00 business too. But I feel like with you, your expansion
12:00 --> 12:05 is based on community need. And I think that changes the
12:05 --> 12:08 aspect of the business, right? When, as you're
12:08 --> 12:12 growing, what are kind of your 1,
12:12 --> 12:15 2, 3s as you're looking at it go, okay, once we hit these markers,
12:16 --> 12:19 this is where we're going to go. Is it, is, is the,
12:19 --> 12:23 the need for, or for applicants coming in, is that number one so far?
12:23 --> 12:25 Then it's like, as long as we have this, we're going to keep growing.
12:26 --> 12:28 Yes. And also, like,
12:29 --> 12:33 obviously we need the sales. You know, you need good quality product.
12:33 --> 12:36 Like, the mission and the story is great and it drives
12:36 --> 12:40 a lot of people in here, but you want those guests to return back.
12:40 --> 12:43 And so you need good quality product. And that's kind of where Nicolosi's kind of,
12:44 --> 12:47 you know, stepped right up. And so we have that and we have all
12:47 --> 12:51 these different— we have catering, we have a ton of different varieties
12:51 --> 12:54 on how we can best serve our community. That yes, it is a need that
12:55 --> 12:58 we see. And like specifically Poway, like North County,
12:59 --> 13:02 they have like been emailing us, like inundating our email.
13:03 --> 13:05 We need you here. We need you, you know, we need a spot here.
13:06 --> 13:09 Eastlake, Chula Vista have been emailing us. Like, I have a
13:10 --> 13:13 fam— you know, like we have families all over. Arizona, Washington,
13:13 --> 13:16 like all these families have something that they're like, we want to do this.
13:18 --> 13:21 So that's what we're starting all the processes of trademarking and
13:21 --> 13:25 franchising and doing all that stuff. Um, but like, to be real,
13:25 --> 13:28 like, we really just need the bones of a good spot because it is so
13:29 --> 13:32 costly to turn over a building and stuff like that.
13:32 --> 13:36 So we have learned that, you know, since this was Nicolosi's,
13:36 --> 13:38 we had the bones of a hood, we had the bones of all those kind
13:39 --> 13:42 of equipment. Um, so that really helps to find something. So the people
13:42 --> 13:45 of Poway are on the search for a place like this for us. Yeah,
13:45 --> 13:48 just like families, just like 80 families are trying to help this
13:49 --> 13:52 business grow. Yes. It's almost unheard of. Like, I know, you know,
13:52 --> 13:56 there's— I think it's one thing to have support from a fan base and say,
13:56 --> 14:00 you know, if you do this, we'll support you. But I think it's another
14:00 --> 14:03 thing to have communities be like, we're going to put our hands in to try
14:04 --> 14:08 to help you guys grow. I think that's it. And on the same, same conversation,
14:09 --> 14:12 school districts. So school districts have been a giant
14:12 --> 14:15 support for us, obviously, because you see the mission
14:15 --> 14:19 and it ties into what they are doing. Um, so we have had contracts
14:20 --> 14:22 and we've had bids and we've had board members and we hear all this stuff
14:23 --> 14:25 like, we're going to put you on our Friday pizza day, we're gonna do— we're
14:26 --> 14:28 gonna— you're gonna win this, you're gonna do this, you're gonna be our person.
14:29 --> 14:32 And so that is across San Diego County, which is— I feel like
14:33 --> 14:37 this is unheard of. 100%. This is— and that's what— and pizza restaurants,
14:37 --> 14:41 you get government contracts. We're on the COVID of like PMQ Pizza
14:41 --> 14:45 Magazine, like all kinds of stuff. We won San Diego's best fast
14:45 --> 14:49 casual this last year. So like, it feels
14:49 --> 14:53 backwards almost, you know? But it's so rad to see that
14:53 --> 14:56 this is their— they've raised their expectations at the same time. But you as a
14:57 --> 15:00 business 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 --> 15:08 fast. 100%. Yeah. So we're, my husband's really good at like
15:08 --> 15:12 real tight and real conservative with our hours,
15:12 --> 15:15 with our supplies, with what we got going on. So, excuse me,
15:16 --> 15:19 but he, um, so he's really good at that and he's had
15:20 --> 15:23 a track record for that with other businesses and such. So he wants to see
15:24 --> 15:27 the financial success of it because he has to prove that for Poway,
15:27 --> 15:30 for Eastlake, for other Washington companies that want to
15:31 --> 15:34 do something like that. Yeah, because you're, it's almost
15:35 --> 15:39 like this, I'll say reverse pressure, but it's coming from a different angle,
15:39 --> 15:43 right? Where I think like if people were to come in here and then you
15:44 --> 15:48 were like, people were waiting in line in any restaurant,
15:48 --> 15:52 I think that's one thing. But now you're having this demand from this almost
15:52 --> 15:55 connective piece of the community that says that we need to have this in
15:56 --> 15:59 order to make
15:59 --> 16:02 us feel like we're part of this. Yeah. They want to be a part of
16:02 --> 16:05 this as well. And I think it's a different type of it's not a customer
16:06 --> 16:09 base per se, but it's families that are, you know, 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 --> 16:16 we don't even know it, really. Yeah, it's a different type of business. Um,
16:16 --> 16:20 what are, what are some of the, the, the growths and
16:20 --> 16:24 then some of the hurdles that you've seen so far being in business in literally
16:24 --> 16:28 a year? Yeah, so really we have, I feel like we change
16:28 --> 16:32 what we do all the time. We're just trying to find the right um,
16:32 --> 16:35 niche of what we're trying to do and what we're trying to sell,
16:35 --> 16:40 um, and what we're trying to kind of accomplish with the front prep line
16:40 --> 16:43 and, um, cross-train all of our individuals,
16:43 --> 16:46 but yet still like, okay, maybe we need to tweak this recipe a
16:47 --> 16:50 little bit and stuff like that. So the one of the biggest hurdles we have
16:51 --> 16:54 is that we have so much going on on
16:55 --> 16:58 the outside stuff and what you're talking about, schools We just got a pizza trailer,
16:59 --> 17:02 like scheduling, all this kind of outside stuff. But the inside structural
17:03 --> 17:06 stuff is what we really need to make sure that's dialed in and
17:07 --> 17:10 rock solid. And so we always kind of have to come
17:10 --> 17:14 back and, you know, back to Plan A and really make sure
17:14 --> 17:16 all of that 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 not
17:22 --> 17:25 only C&T but Alpine. I can't imagine right now if we had like 5 restaurants
17:26 --> 17:29 where that would, that would really take a lot of bandwidth to implement
17:29 --> 17:33 all that. So we're not there bandwidth-wise to
17:33 --> 17:36 do that. And so that's a hurdle that we're trying to have because we have
17:37 --> 17:40 the need, the people want this, this, this, but we're not structurally there,
17:41 --> 17:44 I feel like, to implement and give that attention to Poway and give that attention.
17:45 --> 17:48 So we, it's going to probably take about another like 3 to 4 months to
17:49 --> 17:52 make it really sound and true. I thought you would say 3
17:52 --> 17:56 or 4 years. I mean, honestly, probably, probably, who knows? Come back
17:56 --> 18:00 and ask me. But, uh, but to really feel like we can walk away
18:00 --> 18:04 and it, and it run. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm just kind
18:04 --> 18:08 of curious for, for you and Josh on your side as
18:08 --> 18:13 a couple doing business together, how does this feel
18:13 --> 18:17 for you? Is it, does it feel, is there this excitement with
18:17 --> 18:20 pressure going on at the same time? Or you guys were just like, we'll offer
18:21 --> 18:24 rides, this, we're kind of riding this wave of the community that's, that's asking for
18:24 --> 18:27 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 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 worked together
18:39 --> 18:42 for a long time. I would do like their general bookkeeping and stuff like that.
18:42 --> 18:44 But that's all I did. And I kind of stepped out, he handled like the
18:45 --> 18:48 the major burdens of everything. And so with this, we have 2 different
18:48 --> 18:52 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, he's super
18:56 --> 18:59 giving in all the, like, the mission of what we want to do and the
18:59 --> 19:02 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 --> 19:12 So we both have great strengths, But they're different. And so
19:13 --> 19:16 when we collide, but we do feel the pressure at times, you know, a lot
19:16 --> 19:20 of great stories, a lot of kind of like good recaps when we're kind of
19:20 --> 19:24 talking about things, but a lot of pressure at the same time because we need
19:25 --> 19:28 sales, we need to kind of keep afloat and all these different things. And so
19:29 --> 19:32 that for me, just as a helpmate for him, it kind of like makes
19:32 --> 19:35 me stressed, you know, because it takes my good vibes down.
19:35 --> 19:39 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
19:46 --> 19:49 of like, let's just let it be for a minute, you know? So what do
19:50 --> 19:52 you think has changed about you to make you a better business owner over the
19:53 --> 19:56 last year? I think not realizing I'm not the expert
19:57 --> 20:00 or I have the best opinion on everything. There's a lot of people, and whether
20:01 --> 20:04 they have experience in the restaurant business or not, or age or where they come
20:05 --> 20:09 from, everyone's got a great idea somehow. And all that can be kind of implemented
20:09 --> 20:13 into a portion of it, a percentage of it, but not feeling like my way's
20:13 --> 20:16 got to be the way. I think that's the best way to be flexible and
20:16 --> 20:20 be a good team, you know, team person and
20:20 --> 20:23 work together. So yeah. Yeah. And, you know, when you were bringing
20:23 --> 20:27 up the, now the food trailer, what is your
20:28 --> 20:31 approach to that since this is a different avenue
20:32 --> 20:34 of the business? I mean, it's still in the lane, but you were sort of
20:35 --> 20:36 going out a little bit. What are you— what's your approach to this right now?
20:36 --> 20:39 Yeah. So we've We've been— since day one,
20:39 --> 20:43 we've been doing a ton of events. Special Olympics,
20:43 --> 20:46 um, Santee does a big concert series out here. We've been a food
20:47 --> 20:51 vendor there. Um, so many food vendors at different agencies. And you
20:51 --> 20:55 were doing all pop-ups? All pop-ups. Canopy, we bring the pizza in hot bags,
20:55 --> 20:58 all that kind of stuff. And if we need more— so Santee, we did 4
20:58 --> 21:01 runs back and forth of bringing pizzas. And that's when we're like,
21:02 --> 21:05 okay, we got to figure a better way to do this, you know. And so
21:06 --> 21:09 that pizza trailer was kind of born from this. And so we kind
21:10 --> 21:12 of thought, and we just got it wrapped. I'll have to show you the pictures
21:13 --> 21:16 of it, but it looks so cool. But we have a giant need for that.
21:16 --> 21:20 So we are kind of thinking of it as different divisions of
21:20 --> 21:23 what our home restaurant is. So schools and
21:23 --> 21:27 catering is one division because that's a whole setup. That's a delivery.
21:27 --> 21:30 We got to come here early. It's on a time schedule, different things.
21:31 --> 21:35 And then there's like the pizza trailer side of it. So not only— so how
21:35 --> 21:38 we're seeing it is like these 2 departments are something we can kind of bring
21:38 --> 21:41 in 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 in
22:04 --> 22:08 their community or their farmer's market or different things. And as
22:08 --> 22:12 you guys are expanding this, have you thought about the 5-year,
22:12 --> 22:16 10-year picture, what it looks like? Are there— are like planning
22:17 --> 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
22:24 --> 22:27 with like a bigger, broader vision of what we really want
22:27 --> 22:31 to do. This has been great and it's really served a need and kind of
22:31 --> 22:34 got all the motions rolling. But we now are thinking bigger picture in
22:35 --> 22:39 the ways of products. We're coming up with like some cookie tins,
22:39 --> 22:43 spices, pizza kits that you can kind of take and
22:43 --> 22:46 have a whole experience with your family at home. And so we
22:47 --> 22:50 just started talking about the new namings of it this week and how to get
22:50 --> 22:53 it out there. And we have a lot, we have a lot of great people
22:53 --> 22:56 in our corner to say, We got you. We'll help you with distributing. We'll help
22:56 --> 23:00 you with this. We'll help you with that. So, um, we're, 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 other
23:11 --> 23:14 states. What does that look like in your mind of like,
23:14 --> 23:18 are you going to 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, or— and that's really who the person's
23:30 --> 23:34 going to be that, you know, really has a vision for it and a connection
23:34 --> 23:37 to it. A parent or a special— a teacher
23:37 --> 23:42 they used to be or something in that area really will help drive the
23:42 --> 23:46 restaurant in that location to be what it's supposed to be. And so,
23:46 --> 23:49 yes, so in our franchise agreement, you know, different things you can set up
23:50 --> 23:53 where we are the team that comes out gives you a full quality control
23:53 --> 23:57 check and makes sure everything's good, the vibe is what it's supposed to be,
23:57 --> 24:00 and helping set up on a grand opening day and like be there. So,
24:00 --> 24:03 um, that is kind of like the least of my worries, I feel like,
24:03 --> 24:07 because I love that kind of stuff and, and helping people out, especially with
24:07 --> 24:11 this kind of mission. So it's a no-brainer for me. Yeah. And you
24:11 --> 24:15 know, your 1-year anniversary is coming up. What has that
24:16 --> 24:18 been like for you? Did think you were gonna have,
24:19 --> 24:21 be in this position? One year, 2 locations,
24:22 --> 24:25 possibly expanding to multiple locations. Like that,
24:26 --> 24:30 to me, that's almost unheard of for a food and beverage business,
24:30 --> 24:33 right? Yeah, so I didn't even, I don't even know that. Like we were,
24:34 --> 24:37 before all this, we were kind of like trailing back even our work
24:38 --> 24:40 style, like traveling a lot, just kind of doing our own thing.
24:41 --> 24:44 And then, 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 --> 25:05 that we're doing all these different things. And so, but what really has been
25:05 --> 25:08 like the neat part about it is that we've all kind of learned on the
25:08 --> 25:11 job together. And while we have Nicolosi's and Ron
25:12 --> 25:15 and the Burners a part of it, They're learning as well because it's a whole
25:15 --> 25:18 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 rad
25:25 --> 25:29 to kind of see the transition throughout this whole year. And coming
25:29 --> 25:32 up, we're having a big one-year anniversary for Alpine and
25:33 --> 25:36 then 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. Mark Grant
25:41 --> 25:44 for our one-year anniversary coming up and grand opening. So it's been cool. Yeah.
25:45 --> 25:49 And now start to wrap up. Grace can sit
25:49 --> 25:53 down 10 years from now and say, yeah, something that
25:53 --> 25:56 Pete's Abilities brought, I think, to, to the community. What would
25:56 --> 26:00 she say? Well, she'd tell you to get back to work,
26:00 --> 26:03 probably. Like, she's got to go. She's got to make a dough. So she
26:04 --> 26:08 doesn't have time for this. But she would just be— my
26:08 --> 26:11 hope and my vision for her is that she would kind of be where she's
26:11 --> 26:15 at right now. In a way that she's just doing what she loves. And there's
26:15 --> 26:18 a spot she knows she has a company. There's a spot for her. There's a
26:18 --> 26:20 spot for her, somewhere for friends. Some of her friends from high school are in
26:20 --> 26:24 here, you know? And so she has a spot and she's got
26:24 --> 26:28 to get back to work because that's really like, honestly, they are their focus.
26:28 --> 26:31 And so for her, it would— she's the queen of the
26:32 --> 26:35 castle in here and she'll fire and hire you in a second. You know,
26:35 --> 26:38 she comes in with a crown and a sash like, who are you? But so
26:39 --> 26:41 she'll be at the grand opening at all these things and just kind of,
26:41 --> 26:45 you know, setting the vibe. So For her, I think as long as she knows
26:45 --> 26:49 she has a spot somewhere like her friends do and her peers do, then she's
26:50 --> 26:53 set. She's golden. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome though. So let's tell the audience all
26:53 --> 26:56 the stuff you guys have coming up. Yeah. Oh no, I don't know. Help me.
26:57 --> 27:00 Okay, so you have the 1-year anniversary. When is that happening?
27:00 --> 27:03 That's going to be in August. August 12th, I think,
27:03 --> 27:07 up in Alpine. We have the 1-year anniversary for here in Santee,
27:07 --> 27:10 which is November 7th. And all of this, we— so we have
27:11 --> 27:14 Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. We have an
27:14 --> 27:18 email list, a text list, a rewards program. If you're here locally in San
27:18 --> 27:22 Diego, come by. I encourage you to come by in Santee and Alpine. Visit us.
27:23 --> 27:26 Just check the vibe out, you know, bring, bring someone that loves pizza and who
27:26 --> 27:29 doesn't? So. All right. Awesome. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Amy, for being on
27:29 --> 27:31 the show. This is The Personal Side of Business.