This week, Tom Gozney – inventor, designer and entrepreneur – joins us to talk about what it takes to build a multimillion dollar pizza oven brand from the ground up.
From cooking up the initial concept for the Gozney oven (pun intended) to creating a suite of products that centres around community, Gozney opens up about the incredible amount of work that goes into staying consistent, inspired and centered. Watch the full episode below, read highlights from our conversation, and check out the products that Gozney uses to unplug and recharge.
The Unexpected Way He Started Gozney
“I did not have a very traditional start. I was a bit of a naughty kid. I had troubles with drug and alcohol addiction until the age of 21. I went into rehab and came out of treatment and was desperately trying to find community.
“When I built a pizza oven in the garden, and when I lit it, something transformed in my life. Over the course of the coming weeks, all my friends stopped bringing beers [when they visited] and started bringing [pizza] toppings, and it just naturally transformed my social dynamic. So the oven was this beacon of hope and purpose for me.”
Tom Gozney cooking up a feast in the new Gozney Dome (Gen 2) oven with chef and restauranteur Matty Matheson.
Courtesy of Tom Gozney
What Fuels His Creativity
“I find all of my ideas come when I’m either driving somewhere, walking alone in the woods or solo traveling: I’m reflecting, but it’s not like I ever block my calendar out and have two hours for creative thinking. I do it on the go.”
A Unique Approach To Style
“I don’t do suits. In the early days, when we used to have board meetings and I felt like I had to be formal, I was too scared to have my own identity. But now we have a value in the brand that is respectfully irreverent. We don’t take stuff too seriously. We don’t conform to norms. I like elevated streetwear, and I’ll put on some loud shoes. I need to keep a little bit of that irreverence alive.”
His Travel Essentials
“I’ve become really ritualistic in being organized. I get stressed-out about traveling. I’m obsessed with my Rimowa suitcases—I just love them from a design perspective. My Rimowas are a staple part of my traveling journey, but I’ve gone through multiple different travel bags that go on the top of my Rimowa, and that’s like my little command center.
“When I travel, I have everything in the pockets; it’s systematic, and everything goes in the same place every time I travel. It keeps my stress down. It allows me to know that my passport’s in a certain place, my iPad, computer, all that stuff. I currently use a Rains bag. It’s matte black, and it matches my Rimowa. It clips onto the top of it, and it’s got a compartment for everything. It’s perfectly designed.”
A Trendy-But-Effective De-Stressing Method
“I’ve jumped on the cold plunge trend. I did it for the first time a month ago, and it was life-changing. The first time I got in, I could do 10 seconds. And I was like, ‘How does anybody do this?’ And then we kept doing it, and I built it quickly. I was amazed with the resilience that you can build.
“Friends of mine build these incredibly high-end luxury saunas. So we’ve got this incredible wood-fired sauna in the woods from Out of the Valley, and they are just very premium, very beautifully designed, handmade. It’s got a shower built into it as well. So you go from sauna to the cold shower and do contrast therapy. I don’t like jumping on a trend, but I’ve started doing it, and I love it. It’s so good.”
Notable People He’s Installed Ovens For
“We’ve put some in some really wild places. It’s really cool to go from an idea of building a pizza oven in the garden to then meeting these people. I feel really proud of that.
“We’ve put ovens in LeBron James’ house. I went to his house and had lunch with LeBron once, which was really odd. I’m just like, ‘I’m a pizza oven guy, man. What am I doing here?’ Imposter syndrome was 10 out of 10. My ovens have gone into Jay-Z’s place in Malibu.”
“It’s been an incredible journey,” says Gozney. “We’re 15 years in, but I still feel like we’re in a scrappy startup phase.”
Courtesy of Tom Gozney
Tom Gozney’s Tools For Success
We asked the pizza mogul for the products that give him a leg up in the kitchen and on the road alike:
- Wireless Headphones He Doesn’t Go Anywhere Without: “The Apple AirPods are my go-to. I love listening to my hip-hop [with them]. Hip-hop is a good source of creativity for me.”
- His Tool For Staying Focused: “I can get distracted, and my brain moves really quickly, so I really like to attach myself to things that don’t ping notifications at me all the time. There’s a tablet that I use that doesn’t allow email or messages called Remarkable. It’s basically just an illustrator’s digital notebook that you can draw ideas in.”
- His Travel Essential: “I’ll always wear an oversized hoodie when I travel. My hood is up, I hide from the world and my creative ideas spark.”
- His Go-To Coffee Machine: “I generally get up a bit earlier than my family. I’ve got three little kids in the house, so I try and carve out 10 minutes for myself of quiet time. I hit the coffee machine before the gym—but I’m basically the family barista.”
Watch the full interview on YouTube or stream it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Next week on Forbes Talks Shop: Fashion Designer Jenni Kayne on the tools, products and rituals behind her success.
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