If founders, chefs and other creatives are the beating heart of the restaurant industry, then franchisees are the veins delivering their ideas to all corners of the globe. Franchising is critical to the success of the industry, allowing brands to quickly scale their big ideas using other people’s capital. And whether it’s a mom-and-pop restaurant owner with one or two franchised restaurants or a seasoned veteran whose influence in the industry is well-known, franchisees — with all their individual attributes, styles and personalities — make a huge impact on the success of a business.
In this week’s installment of Franchisee Spotlight, we’re highlighting the impressive career of Marco’s Pizza franchisee Stephanie Moseley, who transitioned her career from being an Air Force captain and recon intelligence operative to juggling two jobs in the biotech pharmaceuticals industry and owning four Marco’s Pizzas in the Virginia region. This year, Moseley was recognized as a Franchisee of the Year by the International Franchise Association and was named a Women Franchisee Rockstar by Franchise Business Review. We spoke about her achievements and what she hopes to accomplish next.
Store Breakdown:
Moseley currently has four Marco’s Pizza locations: two in Newport News, Va.; one in Suffolk, Va.; and one in Yorktown, Va.; with a fifth set to open in February in in Virginia Beach.
Military Background:
“I was involved with the ROTC at the University of South Carolina. My father had retired from the Navy and he was a World War II veteran, so I thought I would give it a shot and I loved it. I loved the structure, the leadership […] and I was proud to be part of ROTC. After I graduated college, I received my commission in the Air Force and became a second lieutenant, and I spent seven years in and came out as a captain. I was an intelligence analyst with a top-secret SCI clearance. I was stationed in Denver, and from there I went to Okinawa, then South Korea, and then ended in Austin, Texas. After that, I got out of the military and I became a pharmaceutical rep., and I've been doing that for the past 30 years, and I am currently in the biotech arena.”
Transition to Franchising
“I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur […] I passed by a flyer that said Marco's Pizza on my way home and I thought that sounded interesting. I was looking for an Italian concept because I was born in Pisa, Italy, so I love all things Italian. So, I went in and I read about how the sausage is made in the store. The dough is made fresh from scratch every day. I bought a pie and tasted it and thought, ‘I want a piece of this pie.’ So I got a hold of Marcos corporate and went through the process and became a franchisee in 2016. In 2018, I opened my first location in Newport News, Virginia.”
Why Marco’s Pizza
“I'm a single proprietor, so there’s a beginning and an end to my money. So number one, all I had to do was taste the pizza to know I wanted in on the business, and I’ve never met anyone in my life who doesn’t like pizza. […] I figured, if you can provide a good quality product even in a downturn economy, you should be able to survive. The other reason I chose Marco's Pizza was because the franchise fee for getting in was low, comparatively speaking, to other companies. At the time, it was $25,000, and others were asking for $50-100k. Marcos also allows you allows you to purchase one store at a time. So for a single person like me, that was important, because I didn't have a lot of cash to lay out to pay for, say three or five stores at a time.”
How She Turned a Failing Store Around
“One of the first things I brought with me was the importance of having the right team in place. When I opened my first store, it was an epic failure. It was failing because I didn't have the right leadership in place. […] It took me a while because you want to give people a chance. That was a mistake: I held on too long and did not take action. But when I finally did, I found the right person who had pizza experience, and who could run the store successfully and allow me to do my other job. […] As soon as I hired the right GM, the store did a 180, I went from being grossly in the red to in the black in just two months, and then turned that store into a million-dollar unit. […]
How the Military Churns Out Successful Franchisees
“In the military, I always put my people first and found that they would go to the ends of the earth for me: joyfully, not begrudgingly. You have to do the same thing in franchising. My people come first, so they give me their best. You have to be flexible, and adapt in the restaurant industry, just like the military is always changing […] During COVID, the rules of engagement were always changing, so you had to be flexible, and just adapt to keep things moving. In the military, failure is not an option. In the restaurant industry, or in entrepreneurship, my attitude is I eliminate failure as an option. I just have a very ‘never give up’ attitude. That’s one of the reasons I was able to save my first store. […] Being an intelligence analyst, I had to do a lot of critical, tactical and analytical thinking, and I brought those skills with me to Marco's Pizza.”
How She’s Tackling Inflation & Higher Wages
“It's a huge challenge, as well as wage increases […] A lot of people found out that they didn't want to work in a corporation anymore, or in the fast food industry anymore, and instead, they started DoorDashing and making their own paths to income, so it became hard to get employees. We had to adapt to that and offer more money, more perks to solve the employee shortage problem. Inflation has been a big issue because it's allowed the cost of goods to go way up. I've had to pivot and make changes to how we do things in order to hedge off the nuances of high inflation and we have to stick with it.”
Award-Winning Franchisee
“I just kept thinking, ‘I haven't done anything! All I did was turn around my store when it was failing. I was hanging on by a thread, and I made a knot on the end of it and just started swinging.’ But I later learned that that's the story they like to hear, because a lot of people in my position would have given up and just walked away.”
Advice to Other Franchisees
“Humble yourself and ask for help. […] If you’re with a franchise, you're not alone, and you shouldn't be alone. […] There are so many moving parts to owning a franchise, so you can’t know it all, especially if you’re new. […] And then you have to have the right team around you. Don't be afraid to change your leadership, if it's not the right person. Don't hold on to that person, because it's going to bring you down.”
Career Goals
“I’m going for 10 stores, and I’m halfway there. It’s great, because it allows me to give young people the opportunities to advance into leadership positions, which is something that I'm really passionate about. It warms my heart to see them thrive and see their dreams come true, so my dreams are coming true too.”