Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Risi.
Hi Joe, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I got started in the pizza business when I was 15 years old. I worked for a local family-owned pizza shop that was literally a pizza factory. I loved my boss, who was an immigrant who had found his place in the industry, and I learned more from working with him than I realized. In my mid-twenties, my brother and I bought a pizza shop. We were young, ambitious, and clueless about operating a business, but both of us gave 110%. We were very successful. However, the long hours, extra responsibility took its toll on my marriage. It wasn’t long into our endeavor that drugs, drinking, and partying took a hold on me. The business imploded, family collapsed, I ended up homeless.
After several years learning who I am and what my purpose was, I remarried a wonderful woman who supported my ideas and dreams. We built our family on love and grace and a lot of homemade pizzas.
During the pandemic, I purchased an Ooni backyard oven. We began making and cooking pizzas for fun and would deliver them to friends and family. It started out as us having fun until people started asking us to make pizzas so they could pick them up.
One thing lead to another, and we purchased a second oven. At this point, we felt like maybe we could do this part-time, as an additional income, so along with some family help, we purchased a trailer and outfitted it to make pizzas on the road.
We have now been running our business at pop-up style events, Breweries, and private or corporate parties for two years.
We are booked solid on weekends from April up until December. We have grown from a one-man operation to now having 4 more staff members. We rent a commercial kitchen in Youngstown weekly to do our prep. We are learning how social media works and helps small businesses like ours.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Product development has been smooth. We have had a lot of great feedback on the pizzas we make.
One obstacle was funding. Through a group of family members coming together and supporting this dream, we have been able to get started. The business has been able to pay for itself since the first initial investment.
Social media has been a challenge. Learning different ways of marketing on different platforms has been a trial-and-error process.
Learning which types of events allows us to share our passion and serve the community best has also been a trial-and-error process. What works for some food trucks or concessions does not always work best for us.
Lastly, balance… finding and living in the place where I can balance family time, work time, and then prep and production time on the trailer has been a challenge. Sometimes you need time for yourself and family and have to be okay with refusing events.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our passion is to bring people of all walks together through food. Whether it’s a family eating together in their homes, or friends out at a Brewery, enjoying their night, we know good food helps to create good memories.
We specialize in a hybrid pizza that is a cross between Napolitano and New York styles. We had spent months perfecting our dough recipe to where it is today. It is not a fast-rising dough. Typically, our dough ferments a total of 72-96 hours before we use it. This helps with the flavor and texture of the dough.
We have added several items to our menu that are from our family’s recipe bank. We like to think that when you eat our food for dinner or lunch, that we are giving you a part of our family history. Once you eat with us, you are like family as well.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
Pizza Today, Pizza Magazine Quarterly are excellent resources to see what is going on in the industry.
Instagram is a fantastic platform that I use to connect with other Pizzaiolo across the world to see how we can push ourselves to be better. To be more authentic and to provide a top-quality product at every bite.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Therisifoodcompany
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theRISIfoodcompany?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Image Credits
The Risi Food Company
