Jacob Stephens – Founder, Post game pizza

If you lost the match there was no one to blame but yourself.  It was me against someone else.  Whoever worked the hardest would end up winning the match.  At the end of the day, hard work always beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

Getting out of high school I went to Northwest Missouri State for 3 years to further my education in Animal Science.  I always had dreams of being an Equine Veterinarian.  After 3 years of being away from home I got homesick and decided it would be best for me to finish my degree closer to home.  I transferred back to Missouri State and finished my Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science.  While attending school at Missouri State, I picked up a Job delivering Pizzas at a mom-and-pop pizzeria just outside of Branson, Missouri.

Although I did not know it at the time, that pizza venture would shape me and build the foundation for what I became today.  I would work that business seven days a week.  I would get up early to go door hang early in the morning and late at night.  We built that business from nothing.  I learned all the ins and outs from that environment.  When I got closer to completing my Bachelor's Degree, I had lost interest in continuing my education.  I wanted to open pizza restaurants.  I had this itch I could not scratch, and I had not satisfied it yet.  I talked to many people about starting my own brand, and many people laughed at my dreams, but my parents stuck behind me and backed me up.  They saw the fire I had behind me and everything I wanted to accomplish.  I was 23 years old, just out of college, and I talked my parents into loaning me the initial money to open our first pizza restaurant.

It was 2015, and we had our sights set in a little local community just outside of Springfield, Missouri.  The town, Marshfield, Missouri, was open to our development.  We started building the first location on a bare-bones budget, but I knew the product would speak for itself.  I just needed to keep fueling the fire and brand with better systems and procedures.  We searched high and low for used equipment, and most of it didn’t even work.  We kept at it every day.  I would be there seven days a week from open to close.  I would sometimes catch a nap on some delivery bags in the kitchen when it slowed down in the afternoon.  A lot of local reps would call and ask if I was awake from my nap yet but I was determined to get my parents’ initial investment paid back.  I would not stop until I did.  I had my parents paid back eight months from the opening date.  Once I had them paid back, I immediately went out and bought a new point of sale system with the capability of online ordering, and we developed a website.

Once we developed a website and started introducing some technology into the brand, we reformulated the logo.  We came up with some new menu items/specials and ramped up the volume.  I was ecstatic about everything that we were building.  We were able to reinvest back into the business with some updated equipment and signage.  At that point, we were ready to build a second location, so we looked at a neighboring community about 15 miles away, and started building another location in Rogersville, Missouri, in 2018.  The Rogersville location has taught me a lot about being a multi-unit leader.  Shortly after opening in Rogersville, an opportunity came up to open a 3rd location just after the opening of our 2nd location.  We pounced on it opening a 3rd location in Ozark, Missouri in 2019.

Our Company was growing and building.  We weren’t setting the world on fire, but we felt like we had a solid system and foundation.  Around the Fall of 2019 we had 3 pizza restaurants running strong and I decided I would try my hand at a local bar and grill.  I started building a bar and it was scheduled to open in March of 2020.  And then, the world was hit with a global pandemic.  Once the pandemic hit, we had a major shift in our workforce with constant turnover and training,  which exposed my lack of systems within the pizza restaurants, almost like we built a house on top of a muddy, slippery, hill.  The house stayed intact but it was slipping and sliding everywhere.  We ended up getting out of the bar business in 2021 so I could give everything I had to rebuild our brand systems, procedures, and foundation.

In 2023 we were experiencing technical problems and I researched heavily into new technology companies.  I have now put our third computer system into our company.  I knew this would be no easy task, but I went ahead and made the switch.  This experience has been the craziest ride we have taken yet!  I got on my first plane in over 20 years to attend the 2023 International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.  That led me to meet more and more people in the pizza industry across the country, attending pizza expos in multiple states, telling our story, and talking about our brand, which ultimately led me to the decision to Franchise the Brand!  I am now a passionate business owner, product developer, influencer, and franchisor.  I have overcome my fear of flying.  I have overcome the worries of people laughing at my dreams.  I am now a proud speaker of our history, our brand, and our future.

Thank you for reading
Your Friend,
Jacob