Today we’d like to introduce you to John Gonzales.
Hi John, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
My business idea of a Mobile Pizza Company started on a trip to Pompeii, Italy, In September of 2000. There stood a Wood Burning oven that was buried in 79AD in near-perfect condition. After inspecting the oven, I thought to myself that I could build one on my own. My father was a brick and stone mason, and I picked up those skills by working with him from the age of 12 y/o. I did some research on the construction of wood-burning ovens, and I built my first of 5 ovens at my house in 1998. My mother was 1st generation Italian, and she would make Sicilian-type pizzas at home along with many other Italian dishes; she was an excellent cook. In 1985 I started with the Encinitas Fire Department and would do the majority of the cooking on our shifts. My business idea was a combination of my parent’s experiences and my career as a firefighter; in July of 2011, I started my business providing catering to San Diego County and have a weekly Farmers Market in Leucadia on Sundays from 10;00 to 2:00. In 2011 and 2013 I had the pleasure of providing pizzas at Chino Farms for a book signing with Alice Waters
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road that I’ve taken hasn’t been easy, but with all the preparation skills that I learned from my time as a fire firefighter, I was persistent with the process from getting a health permit from the county and business license to ordering all the equipment, tools, and products to open my business. I created my own website, which really drives the majority of my contacts.
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 worked as a Firefighter for the Encinitas Fire Department from 1985 to 2014. During that time, I would work on my days off as a brick and stone mason to earn extra money. Those masonry skills allowed me to build my own wood burning oven and along with a few others for clients. By knowing the engineering and the dynamics of a wood burning oven plus the physics of fire, learned from my time as a firefighter, it helped me have the confidence to start my catering business with a mobile wood burning oven. I have cooked many types of meals in my wood fired oven, from roasts, fish, poultry, vegetables, legumes, and many others. As a business, what I’m most proud of is all the employees that I have employed, many being their first job as teenagers.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
My advice for anyone who wants to start their own business is talk to as many people as you can IN PERSON who are in that type of business you are pursuing and develop a business plan. Your business plan will always be evolving as you acquire more information, so keep going back to that business plan and hone in on the specifics. As far as what I wish I knew before I started, where do I start? There are many things you don’t anticipate, so have your fundamentals down so you can properly transition your business as challenges arise.
Contact Info:
- Website: bottarowoodfiredpizza.com
- Instagram: bottarowoodfiredpizza
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/john-gonzales-9613b4149
