Franchise Focus

Young Pizza Guys franchisee brings fresh perspective to business

Kaitlynn Caster became a Pizza Guys franchisee at the tender age of 24. Here are the lessons she's learned and the challenges she's faced.

Franchisee Kaitlynn Caster, center, with employee Justin Raftery, left, and her father, Scott Caster, right. Provided.

July 27, 2022 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group

Kaitlynn Caster isn't your average franchisee. Born into the family of a Pizza Guys delivery driver who eventually worked his way up to franchisee himself, Caster eats, sleeps and breathes pizza as the franchisee of a Pizza Guys location in Davis, California.

Only 24, Caster has learned much in a short amount of time. She began her career at Pizza Guys working in her dad Scott's store as a shift leader in high school.

"I never really thought a career for myself would be Pizza Guys," Caster admits. "I didn't even consider it an option. My parents always said just go do what you want to do. You don't have to do Pizza Guys. They would support me in whatever I did."

So, after high school Caster entered San Francisco State University. She was working at an In-N-Out to makes ends meet, but found it wasn't fulfilling and she missed home. She talked to her parents, who offered her a position as a delivery driver at their Pizza Guys franchise in Woodland, California.

She came home, entered Sacramento City College and studied business, which she found she loved. She thought she'd like to run a business and the answer lay right before her – owning her own Pizza Guys franchise.

Her father put her on a five-year plan, telling the 18-year-old that if she put at least five years into working different positions at Pizza Guys he would help her own her own franchise, including serving as a manager to learn how to be hands-on in the business.

In Oct. 2021 at the age of 24, she became the co-owner of the Davis, California, Pizza Guys with her dad.

Challenges

Managing COVID-19 was Caster's biggest challenge. As a delivery and carryout business, Pizza Guys was well-situated to take on the influx of business brought by the pandemic. "We were one of the first businesses that sales went up because people were at home. They wanted pizza delivered, so we were much, much busier than normal," Caster said.

Kaitlynn Caster in an early photo. Provided.

On the other hand, however, trying to keep her employees safe from infection and juggling exposure while also being so busy proved challenging. She was in charge of that at two locations at the time, Woodland and Davis, as well as serving as an essential worker herself during staff shortages.

Caster said it was difficult early on to manage employees who were older than her, especially those in their late 20s and early 30s. "I had to kind of gain some confidence and my dad really backed me up on that," Caster said. "He said, 'They'll treat you with respect, you just have to show some confidence."

It eventually got easier as Caster was able to hire her own crew and train them as the boss from the start.

"It was definitely hard for me to gain that confidence but I eventually did," Caster said.

What Caster brings…

As a young franchisee, she says she brings fresh ideas to the table that maybe older franchisees haven't considered, such as social media and technology. Social media marketing is big, and it's an outlet Castor has embraced at all levels.

"I know corporate does it very well," she added. "They have a company that controls our social media. But I just feel like being so young, you're able to see a business side from a younger perspective versus someone who's been at it for a while."

Technology also plays an important part in Caster's operations.

The biggest reward she gets as a business owner is implementing new practices and watching them succeed. She enjoys training employees and watching them flourish as well.

"I've had employees come in who were super shy and watching them become hard workers and stay with us more than a year" is rewarding as well, Caster said. She enjoys meeting new people and watching them grow into good employees.

Franchisee Kaitlynn Caster works alongside an employee at her Davis, California, Pizza Guys store.

The future

Caster plans to open new Pizza Guys stores. She'd like to partner with her dad on one more location and then branch out as sole owner of stores in the future.

"There's no limit for me," she said. "I'll take as many as I can get and handle. I feel like two more in the next couple of years would be awesome."

If she had a piece of advice to give to another young franchisee, she'd tell them to "make sure they love what they're doing. If you come to work everyday and you don't like it, change your path because you have to really give your all to something and love it at the same time in order for you to see success. I feel like this generation really wants to work in something they love. They don't care about the money as much as older generations might. Don't settle for something that might fill you financially and just do something you like."

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.

An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.

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