Jim Mizes

President and CEO, Blaze Pizza at UCLA Anderson School of Management

Schools

  • UCLA Anderson School of Management

Links

Biography

UCLA Anderson School of Management

Jim Mizes is the founder/entrepreneur’s best friend and partner, as he has spent the last 20-plus years working to scale and build new brands. After an initial career in finance, Mizes moved to operations in the late 1980s with Taco Bell. At Taco Bell, he pioneered the 59/79/99-cent menu of the early 1990s that changed the value equation for fast food. In the early 1990s, he shifted to working with founders, first with Noah’s Bagels for four years as the chain grew from 10 to 130 restaurants. He later moved to Jamba Juice and supported growth from 50 to 450 locations over five years. After helping to build a regional health club company with its founders for over eight years, he joined Blaze Pizza and founders Rick and Elise Wetzel to help build the leading fast-casual artisanal pizza brand. Since joining Blaze Pizza in June 2013, the company has grown from two restaurants to over 300. He now has sights on a unicorn IPO in the next few years. Blaze Pizza is the fastest-growing company in the history of food service.

Mizes earned his B.A. in economics from Dartmouth College and his MBA from the UCLA Graduate School of Management (pre-Anderson).

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