Conversations with Daniel Dailey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Dailey.

Hi Daniel, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was 17, In 1998 I started as a dishwasher at a Johnnys Pizza in Woodstock. I worked hard and got an opportunity to buy into a partnership in 2007. From 2007 to 2015 I helped from sales. I left the partnership in 2015 to pursue success alone.

In 2016 I signed a lease and built a Johnnys Pizza in Roswell from the ground up. It was a slow grind opening a restaurant in an established community. By 2019 we were hitting our stride with online delivery, third party apps and moderate dine-in sales.

When Covid happened our greatest strength became magnified, online sales boomed, third party apps sales sky rocketed.

In early 2021 I bought another iconic Johnnys Pizza location opened in 1979 located in Atlanta on Cheshire Bridge Road. My goal with this location was to give equity to a manager that earned it with sweat equity. I partnered with John Rogers, he grew sales battling local distributions with homeless villages burning down two different bridges closing our main road to traffic. Almost 14 months total of lost revenue, loss of customers and eating habits.

We lost 30-40% of revenue for 14 months from 2021 to 2024. John didn’t lose faith and focused on service and lean staffing.
In 2025 John Rogers grew sales earning 2nd place in come back store of the year.

In early 2025 John Rogers invited me to his brother Tristan Rogers who was interested in joining our team. We just needed to find a location for sale.

In March 2025 we heard news of Johnnys Pizza on Cascade Road was struggling and needed new leadership. We got Tristan training right away in both of our restaurants and made an offer. This pizza shop was neglected, dirty and needed a full refresh. Our offer was accepted in April and 39 days of cleaning, painting, repairs and paperwork later we opened May 19 2025. We were off to the races earning come a franchise award back store of the year, highest sales growth in the franchise.

We weren’t ready, but in October 2025 we heard a location we were very interested in was available. We made an offer to buy Johnnys Pizza in Jasper.

We had a plan, John Rogers would move to Johnnys Pizza in Jasper and our manager at Johnnys Pizza Cheshire Bridge Road would join our ownership team.

We closed on Johnnys Pizza Jasper in December 2025 with John Rodgers at the helm.

In January 2026 Thomas Goodall joined our team as operating partner and owner.
Thomas took full control and has grown the sales 15% in the last 6 months.

We are looking for our next partner and location.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
2016 to 2019 slow growth, insane debt to stay open.
2021 my partner walked away from sweat equity to take care of family.
2021-2024 road closures do to homeless bridge fires.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As an employee I focused on ownership mentality. I look for this same mentality from my management team.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Increasing income to buy freedom.
Giving opportunities for managers to do the same.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://johnnyspizza.com/
• Instagram: @johnnys_roswell