We were lucky to catch up with Linda Dwyer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Linda, thanks for joining us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

When we first started the business, we relied on family and friends to help us run the business. As sales continued to increase, we needed steady employees. As I am also a business teacher, we then hired some of my students, This ended up being a perfect solution. I could select students who I knew had a strong work ethic and provide much needed jobs.

Many of the students we hired are still working for us. Even after they graduate from college, they’ continue to work part time for us.

We strongly believe that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of you. Their dedication enables our business to be successful. As a thank you for their hard work, we’ve taken some of our long-standing student employees with us to Italy where we vacationed and researched pizza making by visiting many pizzerias.

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.

My husband built a pizza oven in our backyard, and we would have pizza parties on the weekends. After several years of entertaining guests, many of our friends and family encouraged us to start a business. My husband built a mobile wood-fired pizza trailer, and we took our pizza on the road.

With my business education and my husband’s cooking skills, we created our business. I teach entrepreneurship and financial accounting and was able to put those skills into action to start, run, and grow the business.

Our first event was so successful, that we knew we were on the right track. We essentially bring the pizzeria to the customer. Our focus has been weddings, graduation parties, corporate events, etc., but the most rewarding part of running this business are all the amazing people we work with and meet along the way

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

A time where we had to pivot happened during Covid. Because all the restaurants were closed and began shifting to takeout, our business actually increased. We implemented a model where we would set up Neighborhood pizza parties. This provided a reprieve for many families who needed a break from cooking.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

We started the business with personal savings and a small home equity loan. After a year in business, we made enough money to pay off our loan. We rewarded our employees who worked so hard by taking them to Italy.

Contact Info:

• Website: Wolfspatiopizza.com
• Instagram: Wolf’s Patio Pizza
• Facebook: Wolfs Patio Pizza

Image Credits
Katie Dwyer Photography