USPT member Jon Garland reflects on how he has learned to be a better leader at home and in his pizzeria.
Jon Garland, co-owner of the Saccone’s Pizza location in Austin, Texas, recently marked his sixth year in business and took some time to reflect—and to look ahead—in a chat with PMQ. As it turned out, foremost on his mind was, well, his own mindset and how it has changed for the better in the past year.
Brian Hernandez: When you say this has been a year of growth, what do you mean?
Garland: My focus this year has really been growth. I mean that across the board. Spiritually, in my faith,
as a husband, as a father, as a business owner, as a member competing on the U.S. Pizza Team, as a volunteer in my community—all the stuff that I’ve been putting in this past year. And I’m starting to see results.
Hernandez: What have you been doing differently?
Garland: Getting outside of my comfort zone more. Doing more outreach, more community involvement through church, building more of a communication network through things like the chamber of commerce, talking to more people, being more intentional about relationships and not just staying in my own little circle.
Hernandez: How does that help you as an operator?
Garland: It helps me communicate better, and it helps me lead better. It helps me be more understanding with people, whether that’s my staff, customers or people in my everyday life. I feel like I’m a little more confident now, and I’m more efficient in the way that I’m communicating with people….I’d also gotten addicted to being busy. That doesn’t always mean being productive. Being intentional with my time is super important. I get up early and have my ‘me time’ in the morning, whether that’s exercising or reading or sometimes getting some work done before anybody else in my house is awake. That is always a good, productive start to my day. Usually when I do that, I’m going to have a productive rest of the day.
Hernandez: Why does that matter so much for you right now?
Garland: I have a three-year-old and a five-year-old at home. I want to be present, and that takes precedence. That’s why I have to be very careful about how I spend my time. I have to pick and choose what’s really important to me.
Another big area of growth (as an operator) is being able to admit, ‘OK, we messed up on this one, but we’re going to do something about it, and we’re not going to sit with it for very long.
Hernandez: What was the situation there?
Garland: Within a little over a year, we were on our third different POS system. The first one had been great for a long time, but it was [outdated]. The second one [didn’t live up to] what was [promised] to us. I couldn’t do it anymore, because from an owner standpoint and for my staff, the amount of phone calls that we would have to put in, sometimes every single day, was ridiculous. So we moved on, and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made for my business.
Hernandez: At Pizza Expo this year, you took ninth overall in Traditional as well as third in the Southwest Region for Traditional. What did that mean to you?
Garland: What an honor to finish in the top 10 out of so many competitors in such a huge competition! You always want to win or you want to place, but realistically for me, my goal going into it each and every time is to come in the top 15 to 20 percent, and that’s consistently where I’m at. I’m happy with that.
Hernandez: What did this year’s competition teach you?
Garland: It taught me to continue to get better. I’m getting closer, and that makes me hungrier and hungrier. [Competing] also gets me to talk to people more and ask them, like, how much are you really investing and putting into these pizzas for these competitions? One of the biggest things I’ve learned at the shows is…[the importance of] letting that dough sit out at room temperature. That makes the cook on the pizza so much better. You never have to worry about a gum line. We’ve also started stretching with semolina, and that’s helped the pizza hold up better in the box. For us, that’s important.
Hernandez: What advice would you give operators who want to get more out of these competitions and events?
Garland: Go up and introduce yourself. Most of these guys and gals, they’re all really nice people. They’ve been there before, and they are more than willing to have a conversation with you and share things with you.
Brian Hernandez is PMQ’s associate editor. Listen to the full interview with Jon Garland on Peel: A PMQ Pizza Podcast or read it at USPizzaTeam.com/Jon-Ga
