By Jonathan Wasserstrum
Forbes, January 3, 2017
... For this installment we have Michael Lastoria, CEO of social eatery concept &pizza. For more information on &pizza and Michael's vision, you should read this story as a compliment to what you are about to read.
1. When did you first know you were going to be an entrepreneur?
I don’t think it’s something that occurs to you in a specific moment, like some kind of midday revelation: ‘I’m going to be an entrepreneur.’ I realized early on in my working life - 6 weeks in - that I had ideas about industries and business and I saw opportunity where others didn’t. And then I committed myself to acting on it. ...
5. What are you most excited to work on at that moment?
&pizza. It’s not any one project, or any one thing. It has been about building something more than just a pizza shop. We want to be a tribe of people connected by something greater than their place of work. We want our ampersand to stand for something more - a lifestyle, a culture, a belief system, a way of relating to the world - and we work hard to stay true to that mandate.
#fightfor15. All of our work counts for nothing if our people cannot live on the wages we pay them. The minimum wage raise is the single clearest way to say to our Tribe, ‘we value you.’ And that’s important to me. It’s equally important that fair pay will not stay at &pizza, but continue to spread all across the country. It’s a simple, but critical, concept: allow your staff to thrive and your company will thrive.
I also helped establish a creative agency – JWALK – run by my business partner Doug Jacob. Small by design and nimble by nature we help clients define purpose and the importance of design-driven, culture-centric, brand-led philosophy. ...
12. If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing instead?
Trying to do this. Trying to build a brand that’s admirable - morally, aesthetically, in terms of quality product. Consumers are smart. And getting smarter. They have access to information they’ve never had before. Access to more options than ever. Every purchasing decision is now seen as a statement of self, which makes brand building more important than ever.
Copyright 2017 Forbes