Rising Stars: Meet Matthew Hess of Oxford, Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Hess.

Matthew, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
After 25 years as an Human Resources and leadership training executive, I couldn’t find the right creative outlet, even though I was teaching from the book I wrote! Then, I watched the Chris Bianco documentary on Netflix, and was struck by the spark of inspiration. I remembered back from our band days, “don’t fight the spark!” A creative and artistic outlet that would allow me to potentially make money to live.
I’ve painted, been in bands, written poetry books, done sculpture, and been in multiple galleries and shows, but never have I been able to watch people nod their heads, look across the table at their buddy and say, “this, this is really good!” Then look at me and give me a smile and a thumbs up while chomping away. That’s special. That was the greatest by-product of all.
So, after seeing Chris Bianca, I built a pizza oven in my back yard, in the middle of winter, under a tarped and heated tent so the mortar would dry. From there, it evolved into what it is today. Hand made ingredients imported from Italy and prepared in a wood fired oven that I built on-site.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
A steady flow of customers is important so the temperature of the oven can be consistent, the dough is better managed and of course that’s what every restaurant wants is predictability, so that’s what I’ve been shooting for – a steady flow of customers when we are open. Sitting around waiting is expensive and a waste of mine and my employee’s time. We did a lot of that in the first year. I was learning when people wanted to eat our pizza and what timeframes worked best for everyone. We’ve gotten much better the second year. My son, Hayduke has been at Bello the entire time. He even did the tile in the bathroom! He had 4 years restaurant experience and was a Sophomore at Miami when we opened, so his insight was incredibly helpful and not to mention he’s great with patrons and is great at keeping me on task.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I got into the pizza game because I saw it as a creative outlet to make edible pieces of art. Most of my free-time was spent creating sculptures, writing, playing music or sports. I needed a mode to earn money, maybe not as much as my corporate life, but more satisfying I hoped. Luckily I was right, and the stress associated with my new life is there for certain, but I at least I was able to create a beautiful (Bello) place to let the stress go, create art, share my art, and enjoy people enjoying themselves on what I’ve created for them. The satisfaction is greater than I could imagined. Not to mention being able to work with my son in more of a partnership capacity has been simply magic. I make the dough and sauce from imported Italian flour and tomatoes. I slice the tomatoes for the margherita’s, and I make the pizzas. I love it, but it’s a lot and I’m looking for someone who can work beside me and learn to make pizzas the Bello way. Pizzaiolo in search of student interested in learning to prepare and make artistic Neapolitan pizza.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was fond of most people in most groups, and most seemed fond of me. I guess I was lucky to have grown up in a school, at a time when it was just jocks, the band, the hoods, and nerds. I was partially kind of all of those groups, just like everyone was I guess. I think mostly though I just saw people in Star War’s terms – do you fight for the Jedi, or the Empire? It didn’t really matter if you carried a lab book, tuba or smoked in the student smoking lounge.
I was always outdoors, played sports – football, basketball, baseball, track. Then in college – went on a basketball scholarship, and then transferred to Ohio University where I played Rugby and graduated with a psychology degree. I love to golf weekly with my best buddy, Matt Allen from 4th grade. I loved to surf when I was younger, and snowboard. Mostly now, I spend my time planning, and thinking about climbing high points and canoeing with my sons.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.bellopizzastudio.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16beHtLJPA/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-hess-03122561?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app