Franchisee Voices: Jack Fladeland of Your Pie

Born and raised in Mebane, N.C, Jack Fladeland has grown up around the restaurant industry and is the son of a Subway franchisee. He’s been running Mebane’s four Subway restaurants since 2011 when he took over for his dad. Today, he has plans to bring North Carolina its first Your Pie location alongside his wife Alyssa. Motivated by Your Pie’s unique concept and backed by the years of experience in the industry, Jack is excited to introduce Your Pie to the area and has big plans for expansion one day. He’s slated to open his Your Pie in the Triangle area in November of this year and hopes to open a second location by the end of next year, as well. 1851 caught up with Jack to learn more about how he got involved with the brand.

Tell us a little bit about your background.

I grew up in Mebane, N.C., and went to high school in town at Eastern Alamance High School. I was born and raised in Mebane. After high school, I went to Appalachian State University where I studied business management. I met my wife Alyssa there too and she is from Illinois. Right now, we’re expecting our first child to be born right around the time of our Your Pie opening in November. She’s going to be helping out in the store when she’s up to it after our child is born. We graduated in 2011 and were married in 2012.

From there, I began working with my dad who owned the four Subways restaurants in Mebane, and had been the owner for the last 20 years. I took over the stores after I graduated and I primarily managed them. I set schedules, hired people, tallied inventory and even made sandwiches.

I won’t be running these Subways when I get my Your Pie location up and running and I’ll probably pass this along to my brother. I’ll stay on for now while they need me, but I’ll start to have less of a role as we get closer to my Your Pie opening. Your Pie will also be a family business since my father is a partner and Alyssa will be working in the store when she can.

Why did you choose to become a franchisee with Your Pie? How did you learn about the brand?

I read an article online about LeBron James joining Blaze Pizza, so I looked that up. I liked its concept and I had always wanted to open my own business and franchise so I began researching places with similar concepts. I traveled all over to conduct my own taste tests and Your Pie was one I was really drawn to. Eventually, once I got a little more interested in Your Pie, I spoke with Ken Caldwell and he was very helpful. My dad and I did a little more research on our own and we both came back to Your Pie. Soon after that, I had the chance to sit down with the CEO and the founder and pick their brains. There’s just a special feel to it.

It’s a unique concept that I think people around here will be interested in. It’s a company with a pretty strong base and they’re willing to work with me. I was really drawn to their microbrewery idea and it’s going to help me pick and choose and become more local.

I like the stone ovens, the emphasis on quality and the fact that we make our own sauces and use fresh veggies. It’s a make-your-own pizza, down-the-line concept. I think it’s really going to fit in around here because I know this community.

Do you provide any interesting services or work with any other local businesses, organizations, or prominent individuals in the community?

Right now, we’re in a small town. We’re looking in between Raleigh and Durham for our location and what will be North Carolina’s first Your Pie, too. We’re in Mebane and the people here know me and my family as the Subway family. The churches in town know our name and we’ve participated in the events, locally. I love this town and I love the people who know us. I definitely want to be a part of this community or any community we open in. Anything we can do to do that, we will.

What’s next for you and your business? Do you have any development/expansion plans with the brand?

Right now we’re signed for one, but we hope to sign on to open three to five more in the next five years or so. We have really high hopes about our first one. If it opens like we expect it to, we plan to open another by next year.