The small town soul behind Pizza Ranch | Ross Groeneweg, Pizza Ranch | 052

Great teams make great restaurants. On The Pre-Shift, restaurant operators and industry experts dive into building great restaurant teams. We explore their stories, their strategies, and valuable lessons on running restaurant teams. Hosted by D.J. Costantino. Presented by 7shifts. In this episode of the Pre Shift Podcast, host D.J. Costantino welcomes Ross Groeneweg, Chief People and Strategy Officer at Pizza Ranch. They discuss the history of the family-owned business, which started in 1981 and grew into a 218-location franchise. Ross explains the company's successful franchise model and the relationship between franchisees and corporate, ensuring a consistent employee experience. He shares his personal journey within Pizza Ranch, starting from high school, advancing through various positions, and eventually becoming a leader. Ross emphasizes Pizza Ranch's core values, vision, mission, and benefits of collaborative franchisee relationships and shared learnings. The episode concludes with a sneak peek at upcoming company initiatives, including a new wing night promotion. 00:00 Introduction to the Pre-Shift Podcast 00:18 Meet Ross Groenweg, Chief People and Strategy Officer at Pizza Ranch 01:13 The Origin Story of Pizza Ranch 02:55 Franchise Model and Corporate Partnership 04:06 Ross's Journey Through Pizza Ranch 07:15 Core Values and Vision of Pizza Ranch 09:10 Challenges and Strategies in Employee Retention 13:41 Collaborative Nature of Pizza Ranch Franchisees 15:14 Career Growth and Opportunities at Pizza Ranch 21:12 Future Plans and Exciting Initiatives 22:09 Conclusion and Farewell Send us Fan Mail 📲 Connect with us Email us Follow on LinkedIn More 7shifts Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Subscribe to Food Runner, our Monthly Restaurant Newsletter 7shifts on YouTube Follow us on TikTok Read the 7shifts Blog About Us 7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.