My second job ever was as a pizza cook at Good Times Pizza, a family-owned establishment in Tampa. My brother was the assistant manager and I was 15 and legally able to work. The kitchen is usually where young teenagers begin their after school jobs in the States back in the mid-80s. I likely worked between 16-28 hours a week if I recall. Evenings and weekends, of course.
Here are the things I learned about being a pizza cook.
1. Networking is key.
My older brother was already the assistant manager at Good Times Pizza and I asked him if I had a shot at getting a job there. He said why not and took it upon himself to set me up with an interview with the owner. Before the interview, I filled out the job application one pager. I was ready to go. I got the job. Without that connection, I probably wouldn't have sought the opportunity on my own. I was 15 and had other things on my mind, like girls and sometimes school. But knowing a guy on the inside was essential. I saw a side of my brother I had never seen before. He was a fair manager, very positive, helpful and hardworking. His professional behavior was in great contrast to the jerk he sometimes was at home, especially when we were younger. He had matured and I grew up also in realizing that he could be a good link to a new job making pies.
2. Get to know your team.
I found out quickly that a kitchen runs only as well as the communication between all the cook staff. In order to facilitate good communication I got to learn who my colleagues were and what they were into. I asked questions about where they went to school and what they did. All this small talk helped out when I needed to ask them for help or to arrange pizza orders as they came in. There was the party animal jock type, the cute female socialite, the strict owner etc. I learned how to communicate with each of them and they also learned a few things about me. We rode through all the busy times and slow times and we persevered when Hurricane Elena kept us busy at the end of August in 1985.
3. Listen to your customers.
One early evening, I received an inbound customer call and the lady on the other side told me what she wanted to order. She had an accent and I envisioned a petite middle-aged Asian lady on the line. Something she said really stuck with me back then and even today. At the end of telling me what she wanted as toppings on the pizzas she kindly asked, "Would you please be generous with the cheese?" I asked to clarify, "Generous with the cheese?" Surprisingly, I had never known cheese to personify itself as being generous. The lady went on to say that the last time she ordered, the pizzas were just OK and that the only issue was that the pies didn't have enough cheese on them. I ensured her that I'd personally make sure that we would be Extremely Generous with the cheese. I ended up making the pies myself, knowing that if the owner would do it, she'd precisely measure exactly only a half cup of cheese on the top or whatever strict regulation she espoused in order to reduce expenses.
This cheese generosity, or lack there of, at Good Times was a red flag for me. Customers were not receiving good value for the money if the product was inferior and did not adhere to the 3 globally recognized tenets of the pizza making industry. Exceptional Crust, Sauce and Toppings.
In Summary
Good Times Pizza branched out into pizza delivery service as my brother became one of the main delivery dudes. The store hired 3 or 4 drivers to handle transport. They were students from Egypt and drove VW Passats or the like. Nice guys who came to study their Masters or continued with PhDs. I learned my first words of Arabic from them. Starting with all the bad ones in true teenager fashion. I even went along for a ride or too to see how the delivery service worked.
I learned quite a lot about networking, teamwork and customer needs during my time at Good Times Pizza. We even managed to barter with the neighboring TCBY - This Can't Be Yogurt franchise and we occasionally swapped pies for iced yogurts. Good times indeed and great memories.
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