Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rocky Shanower. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Rocky, thanks for joining us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry?

What is the difference between an independent operator and a large corporate business? Two consistent differences are the intention in the product that they serve, and the intention in the way that they serve their customers. A difficult thing to do in a restaurant is have consistency day in and day out. This is where large corporate businesses have the advantage. They have systems, buying power, and capital to provide a consistent experience. Where they can’t compete with the local independents is on the personal touches. The focus on the small details that make an experience truly special. If you want the best cup of coffee when you are traveling, you will most likely find it in a small independent coffee house off the beaten path. If you want the most convenient and consistently decent cup of coffee, there are plenty of chains with drive thrus that offer that. In our business, we seek to change the status quo. Our mission is to make a positive impact on everyone that our business interacts with. This means that our focus is not purely guided by profitability but by the impact it makes on people. After all, the hospitality industry is nothing without great people. We care about the people we work with such as our vendors and producers and their success. We care about our guests and creating a place that they can make lasting memories. But we care the most about the people inside of our business, our team members. The difference between what we do in our local restaurant and most of ‘Corporate America’ is that we make decisions that drive our business first and foremost based on how it impacts our people, not solely on market share and creating revenue. My experience is that in large corporate businesses, employees are not bought into the mission. The employees feel like a number with no personal connection to the business, so why would they care about it? In a local business, employees are family. The team works together, owners and employees all succeeding together. When we make a decision to change our hours of business, we think about our team. When we change something on the menu, we think about the people in the kitchens. When we think about expansion, we first consider the people who are within our team. Ultimately there is no replacing the human experience. As big corporate business seeks to replace their people with screens and robots, we are seeking to lean into our biggest strength, human connection. I firmly believe that we all decide how we spend our money and who we support based on the emotions of how it makes us feel. Who’s pizza is the best is subjective, but there is no mistaking how an experience made you feel.

Rocky, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started in the restaurant industry at 16 years old working at a local pizzeria in my hometown of Sugarcreek, Ohio. I worked at several different jobs in different industries throughout my high school and college career until getting the opportunity to purchase an out of business restaurant at the age of 22. My wife Courtney and I are both self taught both in the kitchen and also in business. I dropped out of school from becoming an art teacher to pursue a career in the pizza industry. We have been in business for 20 years and have created 3 unique pizza brands which have grown to multiple locations in both Ohio and Texas. In 2020 I was honored to win the Young Entrepreneur Contest in Pizza Today. I have been able to become a speaker and consultant in the industry as well. In 2023, I was nominated to join the World Pizza Champions team which is a non-profit organization that seeks to elevate the industry by supporting charities such as Make-A-Wish Foundation as well as helping other people in the industry succeed and build a life for themselves in the pizza industry. I am passionate about developing relationships with other businesses and collaboration to enrich our business. We are located near Amish Country in Ohio which gives us the unique ability to source fresh local products for our ingredients. These connections have given us the ability to create seasonal menu items and offer something new and fresh to our community.

Any advice for managing a team?

This question is close to my heart. One of my favorite parts of owning a business is building the team and creating an environment where they can thrive. I get asked constantly, “Where do you find your people?” People are always commenting on how many amazing, friendly, hardworking young people we have in our restaurants. They think we have a secret formula in tricking people into acting this way. The trick is, there is no trick. You have to actually care about your people. You have to put the time and investment into teaching them. You have to lead by example and actually care about your product, your customers. When they see this behavior from the top down consistently, everyone will naturally get on board. My goal has always been to create a fun light hearted place for people to work. I try to not take myself too seriously, but to take the mission of our business dead serious. One of our mottos is ‘Always be productive’ and this goes for everyone in the business no matter what your role. If you are being paid by the business to do work, you should be doing something that is helpful to the business. If you are not being productive, you are being harmful to the success of the business and the team.

How’d you meet your business partner?

So my founding partner is my wife Courtney. We were dating when I decided to open our business. My other partner is my long term best friend who I met in the 6th grade named Zeb who left his career in nursing to be a part of our team. My other partner is Chad. I love sharing the story of Chad.

I hired Chad about 10 years ago as a part time delivery driver. Chad was working for a large company in IT and wanted a second job to make some extra money. I was managing our original restaurant at the time and having a hard time with staffing. I had come to the conclusion that I needed to reduce the hours the restaurant was open because I was feeling overstretched and needed to make more time to be with my family. I was counting the drawer at the end of a long Friday night and Chad was mopping the floor. He asked me about my decision to cut our lunch hours when he knew we were busy. It wasn’t unusual that he and I would talk for hours at the end of the night. I explained the challenges I was having and that I would gladly give up part of my salary just to have more time before we both went home. A few days later I got an email from Chad. He laid out a solution to my problem. He said I needed a General Manager and he calculated the salary and how if we didn’t give up our lunch business, we could afford to hire one. He also said if I couldn’t find one for that salary, he would throw his name in the hat. We sat down and talked the next week. A week later Chad quit his IT job and came on full time with us and went from a delivery driver to the General Manager. This was about 5 years ago. Just this year, Chad has since trained his replacement for our flagship store and has become a partner in our business that helps develop technology and helps train our store managers.

Contact Info:

• Website: parkstreetpizza.com. bahlerstreet.com
• Instagram: parkstreetpizza. bahlerstreet. theshanowers(personal)
• Facebook: Rocky Shanower. Park Street Pizza
• Linkedin: Rocky Shanower
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@parkstreetpizza2537
• Yelp: Park Street Pizza

Image Credits
Agape Photography