Pizza Today - August 2018 - 42

the road to pizza & pasta

A Conversation with
Mike Shepherd and Mike Bausch
S TORY JE RE MY WHITE

Q&A with Mike Shepherd
PT: You've done International
Pizza Expo and Pizza & Pasta
Northeast for a number of
years. What commonalities do
you see amongst the attendees
of your workshops in terms of
the type of information they
seek from you?

The Pizza & Pasta Northeast
2018 show is set to rock the
East Coast in just two months.
Scheduled for October 3-4, the
show promises to pack the Atlantic
City Convention Center with a
smorgasbord of pizza - and
pasta - sights, sounds and
smells. Building on the success of
last year's inaugural event, PPNE
organizers have devised a lineup of
speakers for workshops, seminars
and food demonstrations that will
complement the show floor and the
competitions.
In this month's installment of
"Road to PPNE" we take a look at a
couple of those speakers - Mike
Shepherd and Mike Bausch - and
what they plan to bring to the show
to help attendees run their pizza
and pasta businesses better than
ever.

MS: 99% of all attendees that
take the time to sit in on one
of my seminars all share the
same trait - they are there to
learn. Who goes to the trouble
of booking travel, taking time
off work, and sitting in a
seminar for one, two, or four
hours unless they are trying to
improve themselves? They all
seek stories of success from
those who have done it, lived
it and breathed it. They want
to know how other pizzerias do
things, how they have tackled
huge problems and how they
might improve their operation.
PT: What specifically do you
hope attendees get from your
workshops?
MS: My hope is that they
come with an open mind
and then are ready to put in
the hard work. Attending a
seminar is the easy part, but
going home and actually putting what you just learned into
practice is the hard part. I hope
they gain a better understanding of the business end of the
pizza business. I want them
to understand how profit is

made, how all the little things
add up, and how each piece
of the puzzle fits into place.
The tedious, boring details
are sometimes all that stand
between being profitable and
going out of business. We all
want to make pizza and talk
with customers, but the reality
is that someone needs to count
inventory, build financial models, read P&L reports, project
labor and manage food costs.
Operators need to understand
the correlation between what
they sell, how much they sell
it for and how they market it
all plays into their profitability.
Attendees should come away
with a roadmap for how to
build their menus and convert
boring, unprofitable ones into
menus that get the customer's
attention and make big bucks.

nar after seminar, listened,
learned and grew. It's a hard
business that isn't getting any
easier and information, guidance and advice from those
with experience in the industry
was essential to my success.

PT: Do you remember what
it was like when you were in
their shoes?

PT: What most inspires you
about the new crop of pizza
makers you encounter?

MS: Absolutely. When I first
was getting started we didn't
have the Internet as a resource
like we do now. Pizza Expo was
one of the largest resources
(and still is) that a pizzeria
owner could take advantage. I
made sure that I never missed
a Pizza Expo or any of the other
pizza shows that Pizza Today
put on in Chicago, New York
or Atlantic City. I knew that in
order to be successful I needed
information and wisdom - as
much as I could absorb. I was
like a sponge: I attended semi-

MS: This new generation of
pizza makers is so eager to
learn and share. They have
both the passion for making
great pizza and the resources
to do it at their fingertips. The
industry is going through a
massive evolution, and these
new pizza makers are the ones
driving it. They want to know
the nuts and bolts behind the
methods and procedures rather
than follow some old tradition
because someone told them
that was the way it has always
been done.

PT: Why did you stop making
pizzas for a living and move
into a consulting, educational/
growth role?
MS: As my pizzerias grew in
size and volume I found
myself being more of a
human resource manager than
a pizza maker or a business
owner. I love pizza and I loved
making it for my customers,
but paperwork and compliance
consumed my daily tasks. It
was time to move on before I
lost my passion for pizza.

OCTOBER 3-4, 2018 / ATLANTIC CITY CONVENTION CENTER
4 2 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / A U G U S T 2 0 1 8


http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM

Pizza Today - August 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pizza Today - August 2018

Pizza Today - August 2018
Commentary
Contents
Contributors
Expo Spotlight
Interact
Conversation
Man on the Street
Tony’s Trending Recipe
At Your Service
Destinations
Knead to Know
Road to Ppne ‘18
2018 Independent Pizzeria of the Year: Empire Slice House, Oklahoma City, Ok
Product Showcase
Pizza Today Yellow Pages
The Marketplace
Reader’s Resource
Mike’s Monthly Tip
Pizza Today - August 2018 - CT1
Pizza Today - August 2018 - CT2
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Pizza Today - August 2018
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Cover2
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Commentary
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 4
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 5
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 6
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 7
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Contents
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 9
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Contributors
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 11
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Expo Spotlight
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 13
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Interact
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 15
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Conversation
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 17
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Man on the Street
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 19
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Tony’s Trending Recipe
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 21
Pizza Today - August 2018 - At Your Service
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 23
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Destinations
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 25
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Knead to Know
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 27
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 28
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 29
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 30
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 31
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 32
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 33
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 34
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 35
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 36
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 37
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 38
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 39
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 40
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 41
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Road to Ppne ‘18
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 43
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 2018 Independent Pizzeria of the Year: Empire Slice House, Oklahoma City, Ok
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 45
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 46
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 47
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 48
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 49
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 50
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 51
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Product Showcase
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 53
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 54
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Pizza Today Yellow Pages
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 56
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 57
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 58
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 59
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 60
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 61
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 62
Pizza Today - August 2018 - The Marketplace
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 64
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 65
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 66
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 67
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 68
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 69
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 70
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 71
Pizza Today - August 2018 - 72
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Reader’s Resource
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Mike’s Monthly Tip
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Cover3
Pizza Today - August 2018 - Cover4
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