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

Stephen , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

my goal as thepizzahulk is to spread the word of pizza to everyone. yea that might be done by a bigger more popular pizza guy, but he’s got an entire company backing him. Me, im just a guy who loves pizza it’s been a lifelong obsession. I don’t have a very robust flavor pallet so the few things I like I really dig into and pizza is at the top of the list. thepizzahulk is a passion project its something that I enjoy doing I travel around the great state of NJ eat pizza and talk about it. no scores nothing to in depth just putting out videos and pictures of pizza. most places get the stamp of approval by a sticker I place on the front door saying its been “PizzaHulk Approved” I do travel outside of NJ I have stickers on doors in NY CT PA FLA Chicago & Las Vegas I have a few other states on my invite list and ill get to them soon enough!

Stephen , 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?

pizza has been a life long passion but it became a real thing during the end of covid, everyone was becoming a foodie on social media, so I decided to hop on the train and ThePizzaHulk was born. I sent a request on instagram to my wife and her bff, bff was follower number 1, my wife followed 6 months later!
the page slowly started to grow what started as a time passing hobby driving around smashing some slices slowly started to become relevant, people would see my sticker on a door and id get a follow or a text from someone, local shops would send me invites and next thing you know im at 1,000 followers. I went to a handful of stops that would appear on barstool pizza reviews and then boom 5,000. its been a grind ive traveled all parts of NJ ive been to NY CT PA FL Chicago & Las Vegas all in the name of pizza, ive eaten more full pizzas than people have slices. I started with just a pizza a little review no score got better at taking my photos started doing a hand held pov view down with my sneakers in the photo now ive evolved into a quick video of the famed “pizza reveal” I slowly open the full pie and circle it with the camera add some music and a few fun edits and boom couple thousand people see each video on instagram. ive developed a pizza focused podcast called Smashing Slices. I do a weekly(ish) show highlighting some spots ive been or spots I need to get to. it’s been a steady build until October 2024 I was selected by PMQ PIZZA MAGAZINE as a TOP Pizza Influencer im surrounded on that list by some of the most influential people in the pizza game, and that’s kind of cemented me in the pizza industry. ive written a few articles that have been posted by local magazines and websites all in the name of pizza.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

honesty and being real. to many fake people out there. if I go to a pizza shop and I don’t like much about it I will NEVER trash it. I won’t give to much info about it but I will not attack them and slowly ive transitioned over to just putting out some content at a place ill feature and that’s it ill talk more about it if asked but you won’t get anywhere if you publicly let them know a quick dm to the spot letting them know what to fix can go a really long way.

How did you build your audience on social media?

POST Regularly and be yourself stick to what you know and don’t try to follow someone else. everyone you meet is some type of influencer or in my case a “foodie” I am not either I am a pizza head I love pizza I post pizza I have a pizza tattoo im not a foodie I don’t follow along with what others do I stay in my lane and focus on what im good at do I look to other people as an example absolutely but I know what I am good at and Ill add some things I see from others but stay true to yourself don’t sell out for a quick buck or a shot at something your not ready to really handle. it will all come in time the grind is part of your brand and who you are.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: thepizzahulk
• Facebook: thepizzahulk
• Youtube: thepizzahulk
• Yelp: thepizzahulk