“I was in survival mode my whole life, from being a kid to high school,” Hayes tells Fortune. “I was always a hustler. I was a serial entrepreneur even when I was younger.”
Hayes is now a protracted methods away from his teenage years shoveling driveways, and his early profession as a postal-service employee. In 2014, the Philly native lastly pursued his ardour after his ailing father wished for him to start out his personal enterprise—so he opened Massive Dave’s Cheesesteaks, named after his late father, in a Shell gasoline station in Dunwoody, Georgia. Ten years later, the chain has exploded throughout the U.S. with 12 areas, and 4 new restaurant openings accomplished in simply 4 months of this yr. Two of Massive Dave’s hotspot areas in Atlanta introduced in round $1.1 million to 1.8 million in web gross sales final yr; and the chain sells a cheesesteak, starting from the fundamental $11.99 sandwich to $46.99 specialty selections, each 58 seconds, with greater than 1,500 of the long-lasting sandwiches offered daily.
With 100% of Massive Dave’s franchise house owners figuring out as Black or BIPOC, Hayes is pouring a refund into underserved communities, spreading his entrepreneurial spirit past the suburban sidewalks the place he as soon as offered bean pies.
“As I’ve been able to be an entrepreneur and [in] growing this business, I learned that my gift is not even making the money. My gift is actually giving people opportunity,” Hayes says. “I’m able to lift people through my dream. I’ve got 400 employees right now, and everybody has an opportunity to be able to spread their wings inside of Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks.”
Leaving the U.S. postal service to pursue his dad’s want
Despite the fact that Hayes embodied an entrepreneurial spirit from a younger age, his first job after highschool in Philadelphia was a traditional nine-to-five. Throughout his early 20’s, the CEO was working for the postal service, making good cash with well being advantages. However every part modified when his father fell ailing—he was battling lung most cancers, and wanted assist throughout his closing years. Hayes’ employer wouldn’t let him take day off to be at his aspect, so Hayes was compelled to stroll away from his steady profession.
“When I got in the postal service, I thought that that would be the career job that I would probably retire off of,” Hayes says.
“I went to my boss and I said, ‘Hey, I’ve been working here for almost four years, never taking a day off. I need time off for my father so I can be there with him.’…And my boss told me, ‘I’m sorry, it’s the holidays, I can’t give you off.’ I said, ‘Listen, I’m gonna get another job, I’m not gonna get another father.”
Spending these closing moments with father would reshape each his private life {and professional} life endlessly. Not solely was it life-altering to see his father and greatest buddy cross away from the harrowing sickness, however his dad’s closing want additionally modified the trajectory of his whole profession. Hayes mentioned he promised his father he would have one thing to point out for his laborious work. 5 years later, Massive Dave’s Cheesesteaks—named in reminiscence of his father—could be born in an outdated Shell gasoline station.
“My dad gave me principles and morals that’s instilled in me today…When it comes to Big Dave cheesesteaks, I always think about how my father would do it. Because watching your dad die in front of your face is something that you’ll never forget,” Hayes says. “I wouldn’t say I was forced into this career, but it was something that I felt like was needed, and it was something that I felt like I wanted to honor my father.”
From shopping for an deserted Shell gasoline station to opening 12 areas throughout the U.S.
In 2014, Hayes lastly determined to satisfy his father’s want and put his marketing strategy into motion by opening up his personal joint. And he discovered the right place to do it: at a 700-square-foot Shell gasoline station in Atlanta, Georgia, close to the place a few of his members of the family lived. Though the serial entrepreneur is now recognized for his cheesesteaks, he truly began out slinging Italian ices.
“It was called Dave’s Philly Water Ice. Nobody was supporting me—I thought when I opened this business up, I’d have lines down the block. And people used to be like, ‘Are you selling cups of water?’” Hayes reminisces. “I’m telling my mom, ‘This is not gonna work. It worked in Philly, but they are just not adapting to us.’ My mom was like, ‘Listen, do the thing that you really wanted to do, put the cheesesteaks in there.’”
Hayes shortly pivoted the restaurant to serve up the long-lasting Philly sandwich: a bread roll filled with seasoned halal beef, onions, mushrooms, peppers, and cheese. Regardless of the menu revamp, hungry clients nonetheless weren’t flooding into his restaurant till a pair years later when rapper, actress, and TV host Eve popped into the shop. The Philly-native was on the town taking pictures comedy-drama movie Barbershop: The Subsequent Lower, hankering an genuine cheesesteak. Her assist got here within the nick of time.
“My ego, my pockets, my business, everything is falling apart because I’m not making money. I don’t have people supporting the brand. And then life taught me, ‘If you keep chasing, something will happen,’” Hayes says. “Later on that week, she popped up…She just posted [on social media], and it went viral. Next thing you know, I got lines out the gas station—it was more traffic than I could handle.”
The success didn’t cease there. In 2018, Hayes was invited to characterize Georgia at a sandwich competitors in Alabama. With no prior expertise working in skilled kitchens as a chef—he discovered make good meals along with his grandfather, cooking up meals on Sundays—Hayes took seventh place and beat out 1,500 skilled professionals. At this level, Hayes and his restaurant chain had been getting increasingly consideration; the model opened two areas in Georgia in 2020, and three contained in the Mercedes Benz Stadium. In 2022, Massive Dave’s flagship location in downtown Atlanta generated over $2.3 million in income alone.
Despite the fact that hundreds of cheesesteaks at the moment are flying off grills and into clients’ palms day by day, Massive Dave’s multimillion-dollar success was something however meteoric. It took years of regular laborious work and incremental wins for the enterprise to face the place it’s at present—and Hayes wouldn’t have it another means.
“Everything in my career has stages, where I’m blessed to say that I didn’t move too fast and move too slow,” Hayes says. “I moved at a good pace.”
