Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Powells
Hi Robert, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Today, I am the co-founder of the Nozzleman Pizza Company. We are a firefighter-founded quick serve restaurant (QSR) pizzeria concept that started in Reno, Nevada. My business partner Jesse Corletto is a retired firefighter with extensive restaurant operating experience. Jesse and I have been friends for years and one day we decided to create and build the Nozzleman Pizza brand… We recently entered into an agreement with Walmart to open up over fifty Nozzleman Pizza QSRs across the country, beginning with Walmart store number 1648 in Carson City, Nevada. Walmart is a legendary American brand and we are very proud to partner with such a great company.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Turning a very unique pizza concept into reality certainly has its challenges. The biggest challenge for us (and most early stage companies) is funding. The fortunate thing about Jesse and I is that we have successful track records in business and are stand-up, honorable guys. We want everyone who we work and partner with to succeed. A few people invested in us at the very beginning but we still entertain investment offers, especially since we plan on going public one day. Smart investors invest in early stage pre-IPO companies with huge future growth potentials. That is us. We see ourselves as potentially the next Domino’s or McDonald’s, especially considering how we have partnered with Walmart, and how we also plan on opening up pizzerias inside of commercial airports across the country. Our huge growth strategy is too detailed to list in this article… Having said this, there will always be challenges. One big challenge is not knowing all of the answers. Every business person will always encounter a situation that they may not know how to immediately resolve. But the successful ones figure it out. Building a brand can be like a constantly evolving puzzle and remaining calm and focused is a key to succeeding. If anyone starts a company there will always be struggles and challenges, but if they remain focused and passionate they then have a high probability of succeeding. Also, whatever business a person starts they need to enjoy it otherwise it will be a struggle from the onset… For me personally, I absolutely love love love our pizza! I eat so much of it that I fear morphing into a pepperoni pizza one day (:
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Our focus is on our current Walmart relationship and on our soon to announce commercial airports relationships. Every day we’re working on the logistics–architectural planning and designs, locations buildouts, overseeing construction, dealing with vendors, baking awesome pizzas, and creatively building our brand. We are also franchisors of the Nozzleman Pizza brand and if anyone wants to own a Nozzleman Pizza franchise, including one inside of a Walmart, we would love to hear from them. It could be a wonderful opportunity for someone to earn a great living while working for themselves. We would assist each franchisee from A to Z… On another note, personally, I never had a professional career, unlike Jesse who was a firefighter for over twenty years. I’ve always had a business, going back to when I was a kid when I was wheeling and dealing baseball cards. That’s when I learned about entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is like a business virus that never goes away. It stays with me throughout my life. I love the hustle and unrestricted creativity that is involved. Throughout my life I have made a lot of money and have lost a lot of money. But as I get older I gain more wisdom and in turn I make less mistakes and better decisions. If I lived to 500 years old I would still be learning and learning. It never ends as long as I keep my mind open and ego in check… Before Nozzleman Pizza, I co-founded the Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shops. I built the brand from one brick and mortar store into 84 franchises across the country and we became the largest soda pop and candy shop franchisor in America. It was an amazing experience but also super stressful in the early days because I started it just before the big recession of 2009-10. There was no turning back when the economy crashed and so my former business partner Ryan and I had to grind through the enormous amount of financial hardships all day every day to make the company succeed. And we did.
What matters most to you?
The older that I have become in life the more I realize how important it is to give back to people and communities in need. Nozzleman Pizza donates a percentage of pizza sales to firefighting communities, as well as to actor Jeremy Renner’s RennerVation Foundation. His foundation supports local foster children and special needs communities. My business partner Jesse and Jeremy are close friends. Nozzleman Pizza also hires special needs people so they can become a part of our pizzeria family. One of the wonderful things about Walmart is that they hire a lot of special needs people to work in their stores and they donate to a lot of communities in need. Although Walmart is a much larger brand than Nozzleman Pizza, we share the same vision, values, and principles when it comes to giving back to people and to communities in need… Also very important is to give our customer base an excellent product at great price points, and along the way, give each person an fun entertainment experience inside of all of our Nozzleman Pizza firefighter-themed pizzerias.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nozzlemanpizza.com
- Instagram: Nozzleman Pizza
- Facebook: Nozzleman Pizza
