Pizza Is My Life

Episodes

June 4, 2021

[WGD 69] Running a solo brick and mortar in Portland with Craig Melil…

60 pies a night. Be more in tune with your customers and your craft. Leave a legacy. Today we speak with Craig Melillo from Gracies Apizza. In this conversation, we talk about his switch from having employees to running the s...

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May 28, 2021

[WGD68] Make it beautiful, mentorship, and how to improve your pizzas…

I'm so lucky to be able to geek out on dough with Chris Decker. In this conversation we talk about making beautiful pizzas, his mentors (some obvious, some not) and Chris' soon to be wood fired pizza spot plus the adaptations...

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May 21, 2021

[WGD67] Branding, Building A Team, Connecting with Customers, and Del…

Sorry for the swearing! I will try to chill out on the F Bombs! We speak with Jay from Arty Stan Pizza. Jay talks about delayed gratification, building a team, and being cheeky with his customers. One thing I really love abou...

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May 14, 2021

[WGD66] The In's and Outs of Pizza Consulting, Using local ingredient…

Anthony falco has been in the pizza industry for 15 years and in this conversation, we focus on his new book coming and we dive in on his journey as a pizza consultant. We talk about the moments leading up to it, how he got h...

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May 7, 2021

[WGD65] Quitting your job and inspiring people to make pizza w/ Santa…

While we do talk about the Santa Barbara Baker style pizza, fresh toppings and leoparding included, a great chunk of this conversation really is about following your dreams. We talk about how Santa Barbara Baker quit his job ...

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April 30, 2021

[WGD64] Sourdough, pop ups, and community building with Mike Vaona fr…

Today we speak with Mike Vaona. He's the author of the book, Rose Hill Sourdough. And he's also the head of engineering over at Ooni. We talk about his life prior to Ooni as a pop up operator and break down his lessons and su...

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April 23, 2021

[WGD63] Pop ups, Food Writers, and Taking Action with Chachi from @Ch…

Chachi has traveled up and down the west coast cooking in fine dining, slinging pizza for a large tech company, and doing wood fired pies. When the pandemic hit, he had the opportunity to host his own pop up at a restaurant h...

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April 16, 2021

[WGD 62] Building A Pizza School Bus Serving Detroit Style Pizza with…

Today we speak with Brett from Izzys pizza bus. And yes he operates his Detroit Style Pizza business out of a renovated school bus that he fixed up all by himself! We talk about his story pre pizza as an audio engineer and ho...

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April 9, 2021

[WGD 61] Wood Fired, Simple, Local Ingredients and Vegan Pizza w/ Sam…

Today we talk with Sam From Ammazza Pizza. Sam is a 20 year pizza vet who currently manages the behemoth of a restaurant known as amamaaza pizza. Their focus is simple, fresh, and local wood fired pizza and they also have an ...

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April 2, 2021

[WGD 60] Pop Up Failures Sustainability and Respecting the Craft with…

In todays episode we talk with James who runs the pop up under the alias Kilroys Pizza. Of course we go over the clever reason as to why he uses that name. We also take a deep dive on his pizza experiences leading up to him b...

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March 26, 2021

[WGD 59] Product First. Market Second with Evan Weinstein from Underg…

Today we talk with Evan Weinstein In 2019 BC (Before Covid) Evan owned a company that promoted 300 club shows a year, 3 music festivals, and he had a staff of 9-10 employees when covid hit, live entertainment was one of the f...

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March 22, 2021

Club Pod 2: Flour

John Arena says that home pizzamakers now know more about baking than professionals did 20 years ago. The cumulative knowledge in this group is on point. We talk about whole wheat, buying local, hydration and so much more. W...

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March 19, 2021

I think we got something more than pizza- Tavern Style With Jerry fro…

We speak with Jerry, a Chicago native doing tavern-style pizza in Portland. Like many people, Jerry started experimenting with pizzas in the pandemic- first with home made dough. Like many who enter this world, making pies be...

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March 16, 2021

Club Pod 1 : Charity Pop Ups

This episode was recorded on Clubhouse to discuss Charity Pop Ups. Let me know if you like the idea of engaging with the guests, asking questions relating to certain topics. As you will discover later in the episode, we had a...

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March 12, 2021

The Oh Sh!T Plan- creating an emergency plan with Nicole Bean from Pi…

Today we talk with Nicole Bean, one of the owners and operators of Pizaros Pizza Napoletana. As you may have seen in recent news, Houston experienced some crazy weather and oftentimes, that will mess you up if you're in the b...

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March 5, 2021

Humble Beginnings- Origins story of Scott Deley From Scotts Pizza Pro…

In this episode we talk with Scott from Scotts Pizza Project. His IG has blown up in the last year serving up beautiful looking pizzas on his Ooni but not because he hacked the algorithm, but because he has a process of truly...

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Feb. 26, 2021

It never gets old. Wise advice from one of the best pizza makers. eve…

I finally had the pleasure of having John Arena, co-owner of Metro Pizza on the show. He has been making pizza longer than anyone I've ever spoken with. When someone with that much knowledge and experience talks, its guarante...

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Feb. 19, 2021

Social Media Tips from a Digital Marketing Content Strategist and Piz…

In this episode we talk with Laine. She goes by the IG alias @Pittsburgh Pizza. She is a fellow pizza lover managing a highly followed Instagram. We talk about key topics for anyone trying to level up their pizza game includi...

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Feb. 14, 2021

Never Stop Growing- Scaling, LLC's, and frozen pies with Chris @ a_sl…

I am excited to do my first ever part 2 interview with Chris! He is killing it in his local area as the OWNER of A Slice of NJ. In this episode, we catch up on where he is at and where he has taken his business. We talk marke...

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Feb. 13, 2021

Making the world suck less- giving away free pizza out of his apartme…

Ben Berman is the bridge the connects great causes, generous people, and free pizza. In this interview, I draw out the experiences and skills that precedes his philanthropic enterprise. Topics: Dropping pizza out of his windo...

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Feb. 12, 2021

Why AVPN Matters, wood fired, pizza trucks and being a pizza purist w…

In today's episode, we speak with Alessio Lacco. He is an AVPN (Associazione Verace Pizza napoletana) certified Pizzaiolo who owns Atlanta Pizza Truck. In this episode, we talk about the experience that lead him to educating ...

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Feb. 5, 2021

Building a Brand with Marc and Danny from Square Pie Guys

Marc Schechter and Daniel Stoller are the Square Pie Guys. They took the jump to starting the square pizza business a little over 2 years ago, a huge up-taking to begin with. To make the venture even more challenging, they op...

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Jan. 29, 2021

Introducing Roman style at an old school New York Style pizzeria with…

Today is a 🔥 episode with Giovanni Cesarano from King Umberto. We discuss how Giovanni puts his flair and style into King Umberto, a New York Pizzeria deeply rooted in tradition. We discuss how he became a partner in the busi...

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Jan. 22, 2021

Don't get ahead of yourself with Blaine from @PDXDoughBoy

What a fun convo with Blaine! This guy lives pizza and we talk about his mission to eat all of the best Pizza Portland has to offer. Blaine also makes pizza and we talk about his business, his lessons learned, and an awesome ...

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