The ovens look great. Thank you for the amazing customer service. You are really doing things right. Michael
I am crazy busy again this week hoping to hit $20,000 this month. I had a 10K catering gig last week. Also became official pizza for the local high school. Have BB King and Adele concert this week and a private gig plus soccer tourney starting tomorrow so doubling up on 2 of the days. I’m freaking exhausted but loving it. Dave K

I’ve never met The Fire Within’s Joseph Pergolizzi, but I feel like he’s my new best friend! I’m a avid amateur pizza maker. Eight years ago I built a wood-fired pizza oven in my backyard in Portland, OR. Back then I taught college, had summers off and used to talk to my wife about putting a wood-fired pizza oven on a trailer and going around to parks and beaches and farmers markets. Our son was born the next year and like so many great plans it was put aside, out of sight but never quite out of mind. We moved to Washington state, changed jobs and watched our boy grow way too fast. Last year, when I became aware of Joseph’scompany, The Fire Within, and realized that they put authentic wood-fired pizza ovens on high-end trailers built by Colorado’s Maxey Manufacturing, I knew I had to reawaken my dream.

I reached out to Joseph with endless questions which he patiently answered. Questions about the oven. Questions about farmers markets. Questions about business licenses, health department permits and equipment suppliers. In fact, he once called me back from his chiropractor’s office! Finally I took the plunge and bought a Concessionaire. The trailer is incredibly-well built and very intuitive to use. There’s no wasted space and many components do double duty, such as trailer doors that convert into tables.

Success came quickly! My wife and I started vending at a small, local farmer’s market. From day one were far and away the most successful vendor at the market, selling out every Saturday. There is something magical about cooking in a wood-fired oven. People are drawn to it. Our confidence and abilities have grown steadily and now we are starting to vend at much bigger festivals and starting to cater as well. We are getting calls from people we’ve never met asking us if we’d be willing to vend at their big events! It’s amazing how much fun and satisfying this work is. I mean, we’re feeding hungry people! How cool is that! So thank you Joseph for making real something I’ve dreamed about all these years. Russ K

Well we got the trailer and have attended 3 functions in the last 15 days. We sold a total of $16,000 in 6 and 1/2 days and that is with 3 sometimes 4 people. We can put out about 50+ an hour (9 and 16″).The most in a day we sold was 395 pies in a day. Our bottom line profit is about 55% after all is said and done and that includes ALL the associated costs. We have learned a lot and have alot more to learn. If you are interested I would like to share our knowledge at one of your events. I know others may not want to hear the short cuts we have taken but I don’t think we have compromised the quality at all. Our idea is to make money and we definitely know how to do that.!!!! Also you should be getting a few inquiries from this area about the trailers. We have talked it up to a number of people. We actually have had to turn down quite a few events because we are heavily booked for the next while. Rob
Thanks for the update about the clips. The horse show ended on the 23rd and everything went great. Horse people from all over the country attended and a lot of them said that we had the best food that they have had at any horse show that they have been to. I have already been invited to do this show next year, so that is almost 3 weeks of bookings to count on each year. Also the show manager of the Cleveland Gold Cup has asked me about providing food for a show in September.

People were very interested in the wood fired oven as it is a relatively new concept. People also liked the idea of pairing the pizza with gelato. We also offered a caprese salad, a watermelon salad and an italian sandwich where I made the loaf of bread to order in the oven.

Overall things went very smoothly considering that this was my first big event. I remember at your seminar that you kept telling us that “you will work it out” when people had specific questions about handling certain situations. That was never more true than at this event. You never would be able to account for all the variables you might encounter at an event as each event is totally different, but as you said I “worked it out”.

The gelato side of the business might be something that your pizza oven owners might be interested in to add to their business to increase revenues. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks again for your help and let me know if you have any prospective owners that may want to talk about the business. I would be more than willing to be a referral. Scott M

We just did our Third event was last Saturday- we brought 100 crusts to a benefit fundraiser that was also selling hot dogs, baked goods and gumbo. Sold out in 2 hours. WOW! It was all zoom zoom push the pies through but so much fun and a great rush! We have one more ‘practice party’ scheduled before our first big 11 day event at the end of the month. We are hoping to sell an average of 300 pies a day during this period, and I am madly making dough and rolling balls for the freezer so we will be prepared. I expect to be exhausted at the end, but we are having so much fun and it’s the best thing my husband and I have ever done together in public. I just booked 5 events in 2 days. Thank you for developing such a GREAT business concept! You guys ROCK! Sabert L
Thank you for coming up with this concept. It brings my family close. The oven looks great after a year of events, although I garage and polish it frequently. We get so many compliments on it. Not as many as our pizzas though! Ron A
I think the first farmers market was a success! We cooked some steaks and pizza for Mario Batali on Saturday at a private fishing picnic, also a success! Brigitte B
We had our second event last night, a birthday party for my nephews’ daughter and son, about 40 pizzas. Lots of fun. We are both so pumped about how the oven and our pizzas are being received. Thank you again for a wonderful product. Nancy S
Your attention to helping us grow our business is a real difference and much appreciated. Charlie
I’m sure I will dream up more scenarios on where I can cook and I’ll have more questions when I wake up in the morning! Thanks for all your help…I appreciate all the time you spend in meetings and on the phone to make the experience on my end really awesome! Monica M
I haven’t burned anything down yet!!! I’m just getting used to the heat, like we were talking about I think its trial and error and eyeing it is the best way. Instinctively knowing and testing by hand is the best way. I am understanding the oven more every time I fire it up. I have a gig next Sunday so we will be on cue for that. Thanks. Teddie C
You and your team make a great product. You once told me that I should send you a message after I have had a chance to drive the trailer. Well, I can’t believe how nicely it drives. It is simply amazing. With out having any towing experience I don’t feel overly nervous about driving it, I also feel that it is very easy to back up. Actually, it’s a lot easier to back up than I thought. Thanks for working together to offer an A++++ product. The combination of oven and trailer makes for a great center piece! Jeff
Can’t be much more pleased with my start–great press, some great early events. Have received excellent customer/client feedback–the pizza has been received glowingly. I am pretty happy at this point with my pizza product and method, but still wanting to improve and learn. No question at this point the product is far superior to anything in my general area and beyond. I would put myself up against anyone in the area for sure. The trailer so far has been great. Been real fun and quite an education learning its quirks and characteristics. Still working on marketing myself in the right places, but continue to get referral and word of mouth bookings. Peyton
I finally got a chance to come up for air (and count all my money), and am enjoying the local 4th of July festival. Its a 3 day annual event we are working, and not one person out of the est. 10,000 people in town hasn’t heard about the wood fired pies that some kid is slinging out, blowing peoples minds. Things couldn’t get better, but they will. I can’t thank you enough for showing me how to do exactly what I was dreaming of doing. Permanent location coming soon! (and website, and clothing, and business cards, and pictures. I know you feel as excited about this business as I do and hope all is going great for you too! Cody
We had a great and memorable first event. We parked the oven just off the front door of the brewery so we greeted everyone entering. The dough was amazing even in the cold weather. The oven worked great and everyone loved the pizza. We offered three pizzas and kept it pretty simple. It started out a nice evening with the sun still shining and it ended snowing 2 inches on us by 9:30. We didn’t have room to setup a tent so we were stretching and topping pizzas in the snow! What a memorable first night. Thanks for all the great tips. Sharbel
I buy some of my toppings at the market. Roma tomatoes, basil, sometimes spinach, etc. I try to buy things that I normally need, from a store, before I go to the fresh market because there have been times when the produce vendors did not have what I needed. But I always check out what the produce vendors have every week and maybe try something new. Every week I do get a large bunch of fresh basil from an organic farm. I always trade a large specialty pizza for basil and maybe some tomatoes. That kind of relationship is priceless. They feel grateful/excited to have a wood fired pizza every Saturday morning and I feel good making it for them. Chris
I passed the inspection and the health inspector was impressed with the unit. Thanks for your help in making this happen. The friends and family event went very well. Everyone raved about the pizza and gelato. I got one catering job from that so far. I could have had 2 but they were for the same day. Perhaps another trailer is in the future!!! Scott
We just did our Third event was last Saturday- we brought 100 crusts to a benefit fundraiser that was also selling hot dogs, baked goods and gumbo. Sold out in 2 hours. WOW! It was all zoom zoom push the pies through but so much fun and a great rush! We have one more ‘practice party’ scheduled before our first big 11 day event at the end of the month. We are hoping to sell an average of 300 pies a day during this period, and I am madly making dough and rolling balls for the freezer so we will be prepared. I expect to be exhausted at the end, but we are having so much fun and it’s the best thing my husband and I have ever done together in public. I just booked 5 events in 2 days. Thank you for developing such a GREAT business concept! You guys ROCK! Matt T
I buy some of my toppings at the market. Roma tomatoes, basil, sometimes spinach, etc. I try to buy things that I normally need, from a store, before I go to the fresh market because there have been times when the produce vendors did not have what I needed. But I always check out what the produce vendors have every week and maybe try something new. Every week I do get a large bunch of fresh basil from an organic farm. I always trade a large specialty pizza for basil and maybe some tomatoes. That kind of relationship is priceless. They feel grateful/excited to have a wood fired pizza every Saturday morning and I feel good making it for them. Chris S
There are things about this trailer that you wouldn’t think about if you tried to build one yourself. Jacob C
Corporate party went well!!…455 pizzas served!! Dam never thought it was possible, but we made it with 20 minutes to spare.. Thanks for the encouragement. Joe O
Thank you for your help. We have our kickoff party this week and our first farmers market on friday evening so we are very excited and can’t wait to get going. Our oven looks awesome and thanks so much for your help. Sarah C
How did it go? Ohmagawd. Everybody’s hooked! We’re like the pizza pimps of central northern New England. The pies were outrageous. It’s a GRANDE SLAM, Your oven rocks, Joe. Cat is blissing out, and so am I. I made some pies with my home-made pesto the other night that sent seismic waves thru the universe. Life will never be the same! Mark C
We made it home safe and sound…a little later than we had expected…We had to stop and get a speeding ticket!! We really just thing the trooper wanted to know what we were towing! (he thought it was some sort of dog kennel!) You got LOTS of advertising! People were staring…taking pictures with their cell phones…one dude almost ran off the road because he was too busy lookin’ at her…and another guy pulled up beside us and rolled down his window and said “what IS that thing?”…it was great! She’s all cured…we cooked pizza all weekend…so much fun! Pipe Dream Pizza
I choose Joseph for a couple reasons, but in full disclosure I have to say that he and I have built such a relationship over the past couple years that I have actually helped him sell a couple ovens. Now that being said, I am not tell you this as a “car salesman” but more to be honest and to tell you that is the kind of guy Joseph is. If you go with his oven, you are not an oven sale to him, you are a client. He will call and ask you about it as time goes by, he may ask you for likes and dislikes, he will ask you about possible improvements and ALWAYS be there to answer any question you have. In fact, as far as that goes, we all will. If I didn’t like Joseph, believe in his product and what he is doing, you and I would not be having this conversation. So to answer your question about why I chose him, I knew the Forno Bravo name because I had been a member on their forum for a while and built my own oven in my backyard using their plans. I found Josephs name online and contacted him one day, he got back to me and answered EVERY question I asked of him over the course of the next couple months while I made my decision and found financing. He never tried to “hard sell” me or to push me at all and I liked that. Scott T
We used the oven for the second time since brian was here and all seems well. We had a three day craft fair we worked this last weekend. We sold 700 pizzas and worked our butts off. Tressa myself and our 1 employee did the whole weekend with a little help from our daughter. A great weekend!!! Hope all is well with you. Have a great holiday season. Michael J
OMG Joe!!! You have NO IDEA!! We are BURNIN’ UP this little town we live in…62 pizzas in one Monday night…on Valentine’s Day…in a BLIZZARD!! Emily J