After retiring from the Air Force in 1992 to pursue a career in either the FBI, CIA, or DIA, Stephanie Moseley’s plans took a turn and her bright future ended up with her being a successful entrepreneur.
Moseley, who also has been serving in pharmaceutical sales since 1993, started looking into being an entrepreneur a few years back.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I ended up narrowing it down to wanting an Italian concept,” she said.
Being born in Italy, Moseley decided there was no better choice than to open a pizza place. From there, things continued to work in her favor.
“I was driving home one day and I saw this Marco’s Pizza and it sounded intriguing,” she said. “So I went in and bought a pie and it was love at first sight.”
By November 2018, Moseley had opened up her first Marco’s Pizza in Newport News, Virginia. But Moseley didn’t join Marco’s Pizza just to own one store. She acted on an opportunity to become a multi-unit, empire builder from the start.
After opening her first store, she then opened up another location in Suffolk and Yorktown.
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It wasn’t easy at first opening up more than one location, though.
“I hired the wrong general manager for that first location and I realized he wasn’t going to cut it for me; my store was failing,” she said.
But thanks to her time in the military, Moseley had persistence and resiliency. Instead of giving up, she found a new person to be the general manager that had the same mindset as her for the growth she envisioned for the store.
With the help of him, the store is now a $1 million unit.
Because of Moseley’s success, she recently won the International Franchise Association’s prestigious Franchise of the Year Award for 2021.
The annual recognition honors a select group of franchisees that have demonstrated excellence within the franchise community.
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Moseley proudly represents Marco’s as the only pizza brand franchisee to be recognized among this year’s winners.
“I think that first store in Newport News that I opened was a key part of me winning that award,” Moseley said. “It made me reflect on the first store and how it was failing and how I kept determination to find a way for the store to succeed and that is the true spirit on entrepreneurship- resilience.”
She said when she was told she won the award, she was shocked, honored, and humbled because it validated her efforts and hard work and how it didn’t go unnoticed.
Moseley has continued to be a leader in her businesses just like she was in the military and is excited to be opening her next pizza location in April in downtown Newport News.
The location will provide Marco’s Pizza as a lunch and dinner option on the Newport News Shipbuilding campus, which is the largest industrial employer in Virginia and sole designer, builder, and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy submarines.
“I wanted to be able to sell pizza on the shipyard,” she said. “They a select few people are offered to be able to do this and it’s great because it allows me to serve the military in a different fashion.”
Moseley, who served seven years in the Air Force as an intelligence analyst with top-secret clearance, said that by being a military officer, she developed skills in leadership and knows how to accomplish a mission successfully.
“What’s key is finding the right leadership team,” she said. “The officer is only as good as their NCO and it’s the same for my business.”