We recently connected with Ashley Patino and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

In California, the bay area mandates health coverage for employees, requires breaks for lengthy shifts, and most employers offer some sort of PTO, as opposed to my experience working with food/food service in Virginia. After living out west I wanted to bring these principles from there to here and make pizza bones a place worth working at. For me, it’s an awkward notion when writing a business plan and even to this day to think, ‘why would anyone else care about this mission/idea/dream? and, ‘what is the incentive?’

Pizza Bones is run by everyone, it’s the cumulation of its parts and all the hands that have helped and contributed to it. Yet, whatever happens outside of Bones, is way more important than what happens inside of Bones- and I don’t think that the classic capitalistic model considers or cares about that. Employees get vision and dental coverage, paid sick hours, and soon they’ll have matched IRA accounts. Unfortunately, in Virginia, this isn’t the industry standard.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am from Northern Virginia and moved to Richmond for school. I’ve collectively lived in the city for a decade, with a 4 year stint in the Bay Area. I worked in coffee before I switched to baking and apprenticed at Sub Rosa, moved to Oakland and worked at Tartine, Del Popolo, and Andytown. While there I was surrounded with incredible people at the top of their field like Richard Hart, Crystal White, Wendy Williams, and more. I’ve traveled a lot and staged with Bianco, Dave Miller, Kate Pepper, Josey Baker. The mission was to soak it all in, make friends, and move back to Richmond to start Pizza Bones.

Pizza Bones is essentially a pizza party with naturally fermented pizza coupled with naturally fermented wine. It was born from a stubbornly spoiled palate craving balance between health and glutton; and balance between quality and approachability. We use whole grain, organic flour, organic tomatoes, and cheese without additives. We make 14 inch pizzas that are best for sharing, but made for potential reheating. The wines come from agriculturally conscious producers and are chosen not just based on flavor profile but based on what happens in the vineyard and during the wine making process. You can think of Pizza Bones as a friendly community hub, or as just a friend – because we hope to be supported and we also hope to be supportive.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I wrote my business plan pushing out the weary money and funding thoughts entirely and stopped letting the money fears get in the way of the project. Which is not to say the money fears are not valid (because money is real and is a hurdle), but once you accumulate a real plan on paper, it does become a smaller, more approachable issue. Planning out your business helps to put money into perspective so that you can then find a way to fund your project.

First, I had the business plan and knew what size building I was looking for, how much I expected to pay in rent based on current rates and how much revenue I expected to bring in weekly/monthly. Next, I tested the product. This helped gain interest (as well as personal confidence), and also helped me estimate regular food costs.

Banks were a lot, we’ll come back to that. At this point at least, I had enough interest in my plans and product that investors came from the woodwork. Friendly investors, I should say, who were not out for shark-like returns and agreed to the Operating Agreement put forth which provided me with majority ownership and say.

We did utilize a kickstarter campaign. Which was awesome and with everything, along the way, I ask for a lot of help. Provided the business wasn’t open yet, I still had time to fulfill rewards and it created a very enjoyable following of people who wanted to know more and follow along with the project.

Now, calculate how much you have (even if it’s all just a theory) with personal investors and kickstarter (minus taxes and rewards)- that sum can determine any sort of deposit whether it be on a location and/or a loan; it’s something.

We opened with very little money and after almost 2 years of operating, we are still adding to our space. I wish we could have opened the space of our dreams from the start, but it didn’t work out that way and that is OK, because it is so cool that we’re still open and we’re able to do that now.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

My advise is to be always willing to be better, continue learning, admit your faults, be transparent, and be upfront. I think the whole team at pizza bones feels good because they are comfortable with their roles, they know what they are responsible for, but also welcome and appreciate feedback. They are all valued and seen as humans versus workhorses.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pizzabonesrva.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/pizzabonesrva. instagram.com/friendbar

Image Credits
Farrah B Fox