Story by Brian Hernandez | Photos courtesy of Brian Bailey
Whether you’re a franchise operator or an independent pizzeria owner, there’s something fascinating about somebody who starts as a delivery driver and winds up operating 160 pizza stores across five states.
Brian Bailey, CEO of Team Bailey and the largest Domino’s franchisee in the United States, joined Episode 56 of Peel: A PMQ Pizza Podcast to talk about growth, leadership, systems, culture and why he still prefers working inside his stores over sitting behind a desk. The full episode drops May 29. Meanwhile, here are some highlights from our conversation.
Brian Hernandez: When did you realize Domino’s was going to be a career and not just a temporary job?
Brian Bailey: I went to school to become a rocket scientist. I was supposed to be working for SpaceX more or less, and I didn’t get a job right away, so I was flat broke and decided I had to do something. I moved back home to my mom and dad’s house in New Mexico to put out resumes and have free rent.
During the process, I saw an ad in the newspaper for Domino’s Pizza, and I thought, well, I’ll go check it out until I find a real job.
To answer your question, when did I realize I wanted to become a franchisee? It was during the interview. The manager of that store did such a tremendous job of not just saying, “What can you do for Domino’s?” but “What can Domino’s do for you?” He sold me on the whole pizza dream during the interview. By the time I left, I was so excited. I thought, “If this guy can do it, I can do it.” From day one, I wanted to become a franchisee.
Hernandez: You became a manager in just 58 days. What helped you move up so quickly?
Bailey: I grew up in a military family. My father served in the Air Force for 22 years, and growing up in that environment taught me the value of structure, discipline, accountability and leadership from a really early age. Those lessons carried directly into my Domino’s career and helped me earn opportunities to move into leadership roles quickly.
Hernandez: What did buying your first store teach you about ownership?
Bailey: Starting out as a delivery driver and working my way up through the brand from manager to district manager to director really taught me, step by step, what it takes to become an owner. Domino’s is really good about taking you along in the journey and teaching you every step along the way. Now that I’m an owner, what I get to do is help create the next generation of pizza makers. We’ve been so blessed by people who started working for me as delivery drivers who now own their own range of Domino’s stores.
Hernandez: In 1999, you had 12 debt-free stores. Why did you decide to keep growing when you could have sold out and walked away?
Bailey: We had three choices once we hit 12 stores: sell, coast or go big. I didn’t want to sell, and I don’t like to coast, so we decided to go big.
At that time, Patrick Doyle was becoming the new CEO of Domino’s Pizza, and he had two things that really ignited my passion for the business. One was the new Pizza Theater image for the stores. In 2012, depending on square footage availability, some store’s designs included an open-area viewing of the food preparation process and a step platform for children to see the action with the ability to order from a kiosk and track carryout orders electronically.
The other was [Doyle’s] vision to become the No. 1 pizza company on the planet. So we set a goal of 50 stores in five years, and we did that in three. Then we set a goal of 100 stores, and we did that in about three-and-a-half years.
Hernandez: What were the biggest challenges in going from a small operator to a large franchise group?
Bailey: One of the biggest lessons I learned along the way is that growth only works when you have great leaders, strong team members and solid systems in place that support you as you expand. I always tried to stay ahead of the growth by building the infrastructure, the processes and the leadership teams before we actually reached the next level.
Hernandez: What mistakes do operators make when they try to grow too fast?
Bailey: Having the right team in place along with the right systems is so important. Those are two of the main things that I would suggest operators focus on as they try to grow.
Hernandez: How has your role changed as the business got bigger?
Bailey: Unfortunately, as you get bigger, the requirements on your time for admin increase significantly. I’m an operator. My favorite place today still is being in the stores, working side by side with our team. But the opportunity to become an instrumental leader and inspire the next generation of Domino’s franchisees really outweighs that.
Hernandez: How do you build leaders who can run the business without depending on you every day?
Bailey: Just having the right team of leaders to start with—leaders that feel appreciated, trusted and empowered to run the business. I aim to inspire our leaders and then give them guardrails and get out of the way so they come up with the ideas and plans to move the business forward.
Hernandez: How do you keep culture consistent across 160 stores and more than 3,000 employees?
Bailey: We get together really often with our operating partners and directors above store level. We hold big rallies throughout our portfolio just to keep the passion ignited. Our company acronym is BAM. Whenever we do something really great, we say BAM. It also stands for Brian, Anthony and Michelle. We call ourselves the BAM Fam. We’re all family here at Team Bailey.
Hernandez: What role has Michelle Bailey played in building the business?
Bailey: My awesome wife Michelle, she is the M in BAM. We often say without her, we would just be BA. Her title affectionately is “Mrs. Boss” in our company. She’s amazing. She’s so great with people. She’s my rock, and I wouldn’t be here today without her.
Hernandez: Why is giving back such a major part of your company culture?
Bailey: We want to make a difference, not just make pizzas. We prefer not to just write checks out to organizations. We want to make a difference in people’s lives. Some of the things we’ve done include fundraisers for moms whose kids have cancer and helping spouses of fallen first responders.
We’ve personally donated $250k to the Domino’s Partners Foundation. It’s all about team members helping team members. Ninety percent of our 3,000 employees contribute to the foundation, a program designed to extend a helping hand to our team members in times of injury, disaster recovery, illness and personal hardship, or when life just happens.
Hernandez: What do you want operators, managers and drivers to learn from your journey?
Bailey: The American Dream is still alive and well in America. If you’re willing to work hard and you’ve got the drive and discipline, the sky is still the limit, especially in pizza.
For more from Bailey, including his thoughts on scaling operations, leadership development and why he still prefers working inside stores instead of behind a desk, check out Episode 56 of PEEL: A PMQ Pizza Podcast when it releases May 29 on all major podcast platforms.
Brian Hernandez is PMQ’s associate editor and coordinator of the U.S. Pizza Team.
