We had the good fortune of connecting with Odie Oconnor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Odie, what is the most important factor behind your success?
There are a few important factor’s behind our success. The first one being to show up every single day and bring your best self to work. Starting a new venture is extremely hard and there will always be days you do not want to do it, but those are the days that it is most important to put in the work. If you only work on your business when inspiration strikes, you’ll very quickly get left in the dust. When you’re just starting out make it a goal to complete one thing for your business every single day- that could be as small as networking on social media or as big as filing your LLC, just make sure that you’re getting something done 7 days a week. The second one is always treat your staff with the respect you would want to be treated with. It’s important to remember that your employees can leave at any time, they’re spending years of their lives that they will never get back working at your business, always be kind and respectful to them. The third one is try to get 1% better every single day- constantly review your systems, operations, and procedures- always be looking to negotiate with vendors for better pricing- find the inefficiencies in your business and make a creative plan to tighten things up.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I began my first pizza business, Baby Blue Pizza, in 2016 in Portland, OR. Baby Blue was a pizza truck that served vegan, woodfired, sourdough pizzas. Opening Baby Blue really taught me what owning a business is really like, and all the surprise fires you’ll need to put out (one time the surprise fire was in the form of an actual fire when my pizza truck caught ablaze in the middle of a lunch service). The success of Baby Blue allowed me to open Boxcar Pizza -my first brick and mortar- in 2020. Boxcar is a Detroit Style sourdough pizza place also in Portland, OR. Opening Boxcar during the first year of the Covid pandemic presented a lot of challenges, but looking back opening in a time where people were not going inside of restaurants was the only way I could afford to open. I took over a second generation pizza shop, painted the walls, and began selling pizza via online orders 3 weeks after getting the keys to the restaurant. Customers would order online and then come pick it up, we would meet them at the front door and pass it through a little service window. Over the next few years I would work service, then work after hours on remodeling the space to make it my own. There is no way I would have been able to afford to buy out the lease and remodel before opening all in one.

The project that I am most excited about is Odie’s Pizza Co. I partnered with my long time friends Clayton Wheeler and Craig Applegate who own Blacktop Restaurant Group (Board and Brew, Pure Taco, Casero Taqueria) to open a sourdough pizza shop in Oceanside, CA. Our focus is gut-healthy 16″ New York Style and 14″ Grandma Style sourdough pizza, while also offering gluten free and vegan options that do not compromise on taste. We’ll also be offering wings, salads, 28 beers on tap, soft serve, and mondo ice cream sandwiches.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Whenever I have out of town friends visiting, our first stop is always Tribute Pizza in North Park. Matt and his team do amazing things there, and they have the best Caesar Salad I’ve ever had. The San Diego Zoo is also a must and you cant come to San Diego without visiting the beaches, my favorite being George’s in Cardiff. Right across the street from George’s is Las Olas- a great place for tacos and margs while watching the sunset. For lunch it would be Board and Brew in Carlsbad followed by a walk down the coast line.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There have been a ton of people that have had a major role in my success. I have had a few mentors that turned into amazing friendships- Scottie Rivera from Scottie’s Pizza, Craig Melillo from Gracie’s Apizza, and Will Fain from Handsome’s Pizza. Those three have been in pizza and restaurants much longer than I have and have always been so generous with sharing their knowledge when it comes to all things pizza.

A book I would highly recommend to anyone is “Inner Excellence” by Jim Murphey. The overall lesson is to tune out the constant noise of everyday life and fall in love with the struggles life presents you by reframing your principles surrounding love, wisdom, and courage.

Website: https://www.odiespizza.com

Instagram: @young_otis_ @odiespizza @boxcarpizza

Image Credits
Cameron David Smith Photography

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