0024 Jim Mizes, Blaze Pizza & SiteZeus

Tech and Mortar

3 main takeaways:

1. How to create a foundation and team within a restaurant that supports growth and success.
2. The importance of discovering your “zone of genius” and how it can lead to internal joy.
3. Building a team that is service-oriented rather than task-oriented.

Speaker bio:

Jim Mizes started his career in the retail industry as a young man working at his father’s pharmacy. He then went to school and received a degree in accounting and began working in typical finance jobs. After realizing that accounting wasn’t what brought him joy, Jim joined Taco Bell as a general manager and quickly worked his way up to their VP of operations. In 1989, Jim repositioned the brand’s 59, 79, 99 campaign and saw a 60% growth in same-store sales. After building up several restaurant brands, Jim finally joined Blaze Pizza where he grew the brand from 2 stores to over 340 in only 6 and a half years.

Jim is now retired and recently joined SiteZeus’ board of directors to continue to help retail and restaurant brands grow into new markets.