How the owner of a pizza empire builds and empowers his team

Chef Tony Gemignani is a master of multitasking. His flagship restaurant Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco serves enough pizza styles to please everyone’s taste—from Detroit-style pan pizza to coal-fired New York classics—cooked simultaneously in four different types of ovens.

Tony is also the owner of nearly 30 pizza and pasta restaurants on the West Coast and is currently launching 100+ franchises of his fast-casual concept Slice House. “[What was the] pizza that you loved as a kid? Hopefully I can recreate that for you, and you eat it and you’re like, ‘It brought me back to when things were much simpler in life or happier in life,’” he said. 

How does this serial entrepreneur manage with his hands in so many pizza pies? “It’s always about your team,” he said. Tony credits his staff with keeping multiple processes and business styles running smoothly. Below, he shares tips for building and managing a team that embodies your vision—whether you’re there or not.

Hire people for their open-mindedness, not their skillset

For Tony, curating a workplace culture is a lot like making a great pizza: You maintain the best atmosphere, establish clear processes, and trust in your team to create a consistent and high-quality product. 

“How do you [encourage] a team to create the culture and for them to understand the culture and be excited to work there and make great pizza? It’s the most challenging thing [for a business],” Tony said. “There’s a lot of leading by example. There’s a lot of team building. There’s a lot of coaching.” 

Tony said his leadership style is inspired by his father, a coach who taught him to look for people who are excited about growth and mentorship—not necessarily those who are already skilled or successful athletes. 

“Find that individual that wants to learn, rather than finding an individual that’s great at something and doesn’t want to be taught or learn new systems,” he said. “You want an employee who wants to learn and has an open mind. Of course you want a skill set. But at the same time, a lot of operators will agree with me that sometimes it’s better not to hire somebody who has bad habits or habits that we want to change.”

Learn to delegate and share the weight with a trusted team 

Tony’s businesses operate at a large scale, meaning it’s crucial that employees adapt to existing processes. The back-of-house team must balance baking several different pizza styles at different temperatures, while the front-of-house team articulates those differences and finds the right fit for each customer. It can be an adjustment at first, but a streamlined operation keeps the doors open, Tony said.

“We always want longterm in our business. [That takes] a lot of developing and getting to know your employees as much as you can. I’ve built some great foundation that I’m able to go ahead and keep building and building. You’re always trying to hire more, and sometimes you think you could do it all, but you’re a better person if you have a better team behind you.”

Another key to Tony’s longevity is knowing when to scale up and hire more people. Learning how to delegate sets a good example for your team as well—whether it’s at a restaurant or a landscaping company, no one should handle every task themselves.

“People think they have to carry all the weight on their shoulders,” he said. “It’s not about you, it’s not about me, it’s about we. [Business owners] need to understand that. My success is your success, and that’s something that I always say [to my team].”

Tap into your team to respond to reviews

As Tony has scaled up his businesses, he’s also tapped into his team for another task: reading and responding to reviews. 

“I have people now that look at them every day and address them as quick as we can,” he said. “Once in a while, my managers come to me and say, ‘It’s been awesome. We’ve had 20 5-star reviews, and then we had a bad one.’ Maybe something wasn’t clean or it was loud. I get it. It’s kind of out of my control, but we do take it to heart. I do look at the ones that are serious, and we want to make [the experience] better, and we want to educate better, not only the customers but the team.”

Did you know? You can invite up to 15 users to your Yelp Page. Anyone who accepts your invitation will also be able to respond to reviews and messages, update business information, upload photos, and more.

If you do choose to bring on another person to help manage your Yelp Page, just make sure they are trained to represent your business and your customer service practices accurately. When you respond to a review, you’re speaking not only to that reviewer, but to a whole audience of potential customers—88% of consumers say they’re more likely to use a business if they see the owner responds to reviews, according to BrightLocal.

These lessons come from an episode of Behind the Review, Yelp & Entrepreneur Media’s weekly podcast. Listen below to hear from Tony, or visit the show homepage to learn about the show and find more episodes.