When you start off broke - and we weren't broke, we were negative broke - you never forget that. You stay appreciative.
It was Labor Day weekend in 1983, and Dad hired me to run Mick's Lounge, a bar he co-owned, for $200 a week. The business was nearly bankrupt. But I said, 'Dad, I can fix it.' It was the most natural thing I'd ever done. It just made sense to me.
With a head coach, you make a mistake and learn. With a king, you make a mistake and get your head bitten off.
I bombed the LSAT and quickly discovered that law school wasn't for me.
Find something you love to do. Work it to the bone. And you'll be successful.
When you have built a $3 billion company out of a broom closet, I think you are entitled to a nice house.
If you don't take care of the people doing the heavy lifting, they will burn your castle down.
I don't condone racism. I don't condone prejudice.
You've got to have free markets with limited government, with the proper amount of regulation where you don't jam entrepreneurship.
I don't think you can control people. I don't think you manage people. I think you give people a direction, you give them the resources, you lead by example. They get it right, you say, 'Atta girl.' And they get it wrong, you say, 'Not good.'
Daddy was fun-loving and lighthearted - he lived life to the fullest and was not scared to take a risk.
The original goal for Papa John's was to make $50 grand a year and have $50 grand in the bank so I could get a date.
NFL leadership has hurt Papa John's shareholders.
Many in the media reported that I said Papa John's is going to close stores and cut jobs because of Obamacare. I never said that.
Companies like Papa John's are largely a collection of small independent businesses.
I was born and raised in the state of Indiana, and it's where I started Papa John's, so this state and our partnership with the Pacers hold a special place in my heart.
My wife's a redneck, and she loves a muscle car.
Better ingredients, better pizza - it's not a slogan. It's a way of life.
I will not allow either my good name or the good name of the company I founded and love to be unfairly tainted.
I buried my dad on a Thursday and showed up for work on Friday.
