By Rick Hynum
If I’ve learned anything as PMQ’s editor-in-chief over the past 13 years, it’s that every pizzeria owner has a great story to tell. I’ve also learned that you all have pain points, something—or several things—getting in the way of building the pizza business of your dreams.
What’s keeping you up at night? Have you hit a brick wall in growing sales or scaling your brand? Is marketing your Achilles’ heel? Employees who don’t buy into your mission—or even show up for work? Or maybe you’re still trying to perfect your dough or build a menu that really sells? Could automation make your pizzeria run more smoothly?
It’s PMQ’s job to help you address those pain points. That’s why we’ve launched the Pizza Power Forum, taking place September 4-5, at the QSR Evolution Conference in Atlanta.
The Pizza Power Forum will be an intimate and relaxed gathering of pizza pros like yourself, and it’s packed with panel discussions led by 16 industry visionaries and operators who have gone through all the same struggles you’re experiencing. You got into this business because you love making pizza, and so did they. And, like you, they started with very little and went after the dream anyway.

Speakers and Sessions
Do you dream of a pizza business that can practically run itself—or at least with minimal staff? So did Andrew Simmons of Mamma Ramona’s/Pizza Roboto in California and Erica Barrett of Dough Boy Pizza. And they’ll tell you exactly how they’re finding success right now.
Ready to scale your pizza business but don’t know how to start? Join us and learn from the founders of emerging chains like Khanh Nguyen of Zalat Pizza and Brandon and Zane Hunt of Via 313, both in Texas, and veteran operators behind established brands such as Shahpour Nejad of Pizza Guys in California, Michael LaMarca of Ohio-based Master Pizza, and Joey Karvelas of Karvelas Pizza Co. in Georgia.

Other speakers are pizza making virtuosos, industry consultants and crackerjack marketers with just one or two units, and that’s the way they like it—at least for now. They include Alessio Lacco and Sofia Arango of Atlanta Pizza Truck; Wilhelm Rodriguez of Papa’s Pizza in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico; Alex Koons of Hot Tongue Pizza and Purgatory Pizza in Los Angeles (pictured above); Bruce Hershey of Piper’s Scratch Pizza Shop in Palm Harbor, Florida; and Peyton Smith of Mission Pizza Napoletana in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. And then there are pop-up wizards like Alexandra Castro of Pizza With Ale in Atlanta and Louise Joseph of Dough Girls in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Best of all, every speaker knows your paint points and wants to help you solve them. You’ll learn more about them in the coming weeks at PMQ.com, in our e-newsletter (sign up at PMQ.com/subscribe) and in the August issue of PMQ. Meanwhile, click here to register today, then join us in Atlanta and start building the pizza business of your dreams!