From Fan to Franchisee: Why This Longtime Crust Pizza Co. Customer Brought the Business to Baton Rouge

When Fernanda Collins and her husband, Austin, lived in The Woodlands, Texas, Crust Pizza Co. was their go-to restaurant. After Austin was transferred to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for work, the couple searched for a new pizza place. However, after giving several options a try, Fernanda continued to be disappointed in what they found. 

On a trip back from The Woodlands visiting Austin’s family, Fernanda did a Google search for something to stop and eat on their way home. When she came across a Crust Pizza Co. in Lake Charles, Louisiana, she was surprised to find out it was the same restaurant they loved back in Texas. After doing some more research, she found out the brand was now offering franchise opportunities and joked with her husband that they should open one in Baton Rouge. That joke soon became a reality when the couple decided to go for it and bring their favorite pizza place to their new home. 

1851 Franchise spoke to Fernanda about her franchise journey with Crust Pizza Co. and her plans for the future. 

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Fernanda Collins: I have been a graphic designer throughout my whole career. My husband, Austin, and I — we lived in The Woodlands before we moved here to Baton Rouge and we were customers of Crust. We lived literally a walking distance from the original Crust in Panther Creek, so we used to go all the time and eat the pizzas there. Sometimes we’d eat dinner in a different restaurant and on the way home, we'd stop at Crust to have a brownie and ice cream. 

My husband was transferred for his work to Baton Rouge. When we first moved here we would look for high rated pizza restaurants. After trying many different options, we still missed Crust Pizza. We never found a place that offered all the things we loved from Crust.

We often travel to The Woodlands to visit friends and family. On the way back to Baton Rouge from one of the trips, we were passing Lake Charles and we started looking for places to eat just to find out that there was a Crust Pizza Co there. After a little research we found out that they started franchising. I joked with my husband in the car, saying, “We should totally open one in Baton Rouge.” At the time, it was just a joke because we never thought that we'd be in the restaurant business. But then we started talking more about it.

Austin's father had an office in Panther Creek, near the original Crust Pizza Co. — so he knew Mark Rasberry, CFO of Crust. After Austin mentioned it to his dad, we got a meeting scheduled with the Crust team — and then we just decided to open our own Crust Pizza here. Even though we never thought of opening a restaurant business before, we really love the brand and the product and we thought Baton Rouge was giving us the opportunity to bring a good atmosphere, fresh ingredients and delicious food to a very welcoming community.

That is why we decided to open the franchise. I left my job as a creative director at a communications agency to dedicate my time to Crust. We believe being present in the business makes a huge difference not just for our customers but our employees as well. Austin is still working at his job, but in his free time he helps in the business as well, managing the financial and backend part of the business, while I work with operations.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Fernanda: I never really put much thought into it. I don't think Austin and I would ever open a restaurant on our own. Being a franchise gives us the security of having somebody that will tell us what we need to do, that will guide us, that will show us the path instead of us just doing things on our own without having the experience.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Fernanda: It is a combination of a few things like the quality of the food, fresh ingredients, being a family-friendly place and the atmosphere of the store.  A few times during the process of opening our store we questioned ourselves if we were doing the right thing. During that time we would visit many of the stores in Texas, and every time we walk to a new store and eat the food we were assured that we were doing the right thing.

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

Fernanda: We just celebrated the first year of our first location. We are on the right track increasing our sales and our goal is to have multiple locations.

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know?

Fernanda: I am originally from Brazil and my family there, they all own businesses. I feel like I have this entrepreneurial mindset. My parents always had businesses — my grandparents too — so they were always involved. I grew up around that, seeing everyone work on their own business.

My grandma used to have a restaurant in Brazil, and one of the things she served was pizza. It was a Brazilian-Italian place, with a very different style than Crust — think white tablecloths and all that. As a child, my grandma had made a chef's uniform for me, and I would wear it at the restaurant to make pizzas. Of course that didn't give me restaurant experience, but growing up and that environment makes me feel like a pizza place has always been a part of my life.

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

Fernanda: I think one of the very important things is being present. It makes a big difference. Our customers often tell us how much they appreciate seeing us involved. It also affects our workers — they perform differently, knowing that we are around and taking care of the place. So, being present is crucial for the business to be successful.

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/crust-pizza-co/info.