Several hundred students packed into the PNC Horn Auditorium at the College of Business for the sixth and final event of the inaugural year of the John H. Schnatter Center for Free Enterprise.
The standing-room-only crowd got a chance to hear Schnatter, founder, chairman and CEO of Papa John鈥檚 International, tell the story of how his business started in a tavern broom closet and became the third-largest pizza delivery chain in the world.
He used the company鈥檚 television advertisements to show how it has grown, beginning with a vintage 1987 ad, and sprinkled in advice and lessons:
- On hiring: 鈥淗ire for attitude and train for aptitude.鈥
- On advertising: 鈥淣othing sells like the truth.鈥
- On day-to-day work: 鈥淲ake up. Kick ass. Be nice.聽Repeat.鈥
- On employees: 鈥淏e kind. Be respectful. Make sure they win. Teamwork is a byproduct of doing the right thing.鈥
- On consumers: 鈥淭he customers can fire you anytime they want just by not buying your product.鈥
- On being successful doing what you love: 鈥淚 wish that for all of you.鈥
Schnatter said Papa John鈥檚 is close to opening its 5,000th store but that he doesn鈥檛 think too far ahead. Beyond a year or two, he doesn鈥檛 know what the future will hold, he said.
The Schnatter Center opened in August 2015 with a $4.64 million donation from the John H. Schnatter Family Foundation and a $1.66 million donation from the Charles Koch Foundation. Its purpose is to engage in research and teaching that explores the role of enterprise and entrepreneurship in advancing the well-being of society.
Stephan Gohmann, director of the center, said planning has already begun for the second year. An event scheduled for September will feature a former resident of North Korea who escaped the country.
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