PART TIME TO OWNER
REGINA ACUNA, CA
I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley in California. I have
two beautiful daughters Selah (age 20, who is about to take on the GM
role at one of our JM locations- couldn’t be prouder!) and Naia (age 17,
graduating HS this year!). I married at 21 after graduating with my BA in
Music from Cal State Northridge, and lived in Ventura County
(Carpinteria, Thousand Oaks & Ventura) for almost 15 years. At 35 years
old, I decided to go back to school and become a nurse. I had just
divorced from my husband and needed to find a career of my own
since I had been a stay-at-home mom for both of my daughter’s early
years. After 2 years of classes (working hard for straight A’s) I was
re-evaluating my choice when my dad asked me, “Why don’t you work with your brothers?”. My brothers had already purchased their first Jersey Mike’s together and planned to possibly buy more. I had a lot of restaurant experience in my past. My ex-husband and I owned a restaurant for a few years in Ventura called Hush, and I was also a server/lead trainer for close to a decade at California Pizza Kitchen. CPK offered me a GM position multiple times but I always turned it down. My brothers had asked if I wanted to manage their first JM store in North Hollywood but I had declined and began to pursue nursing. I wanted to pick a career that had a purpose and was about helping people. I knew that if I didn’t pick something that was intentional about serving others, I would end up feeling empty and my job would feel meaningless.
After re-evaluating my nursing career and the time it would take to finish while my daughters were just entering high school and still needed a lot of my attention, I started thinking about what it might be like to get back into the restaurant business. I approached Daniel and his wife Bethany about joining their team and they said yes! They warned me that they had only just closed the deal on their second store and there was no position for a GM role AND they weren’t even sure if or when they would open more stores. We decided I would just take a leap of faith and start right away (2017), training as a crew member and we would see what happens. I was excited for the opportunity, and I continued to work as a server while working for Jersey Mike’s so that I could make ends meet as a single mom. None of us knew what was around the corner. Here we are 5 years later, with 9 stores and I am their District Manager, overseeing 5 of them. The journey I’ve had has been AMAZING. I’ll never forget the very first conference Bethany took me to 2 weeks after being hired, “The Coach’s Clinic” in Denver. Keith spoke about “love.” I had never heard a corporate team talk about “love” like this! I listened to them speak about authentic care for people and their heart of generosity. “Wow, Jersey Mike’s is about so much more than ‘just sandwiches,” I thought. This is exactly what I wanted to be a part of. This is the kind of job that cares about the impact we make on people every day, and this is what I had been looking for! “The Coach’s Clinic” was a confirmation that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Daniel and Bethany have taught me so much. I grew from crew member, to shift lead, to GM to District Manager. Last year, I was given the challenge of handling one of our new store’s grand openings from top to bottom and it was such a success! They nurtured me, empowered me and trained me well. They helped me level up. They poured into me so I could pour into others. My passion for developing others and helping them grow into leaders blossomed! I discovered strengths that I never knew I had and I also experienced unimaginable growth with Jersey Mike’s.
This last summer, Daniel and Bethany told our group that there was an opportunity to be a part owner of some stores up north and no one responded with interest. From the beginning, I had told Daniel and Bethany that I would just like to be the operator of their stores and to continue developing leaders, that was enough for me. I was honestly scared to take on the responsibility of ownership and I would never even allow myself to consider it. As I spoke to my friend Dean, who had just become a franchisee himself, he encouraged me and inspired me and reminded me of my capabilities. I could hear my own voice inside, reminding me that people either live from a place of love or they live from a place of fear. I decided not to make decisions based on fear anymore as this has been and will continue to be a lifelong journey of living FEARLESS. I choose to live from a place of love and wholeheartedness, and with that, I told them I was interested in being an owner. The opportunity was more than we had originally thought. The acquisition ended up being a 5-store deal (more than I had imagined)! The journey continues to be an amazing experience with the people I get to meet and work with every day. I am so grateful for Jersey Mike’s and those that have invested so much time in me, I promise to give back and make everyone proud!
DEAN BLISS, CA
I was raised by a loud Italian family in a really small town called
Windham, which is in upstate New York. Originally from Brooklyn,
my family was a huge fan of subs, and we loved our local deli in
Toderos. This was a hole-in-the-wall, family-owned shop that was
truly the heart of our town. The family knew all their customers by
name and order. Toderos was our SPOT, and you could always find
us there for our weekend lunch, after little league games, and on
birthdays.
As a young teenager, my family made the move from Windham to
San Diego. Sports and music were my passions, so by the end of
high school, I decided I needed to find a job to support my goals. A friend of mine was working at a local amusement park and said he could get me a job there if I wanted one, so I got my first ever job at Lego-Land! I worked there for a season as a Kodak photographer, where I learned a lot about sales and connecting with people. I loved that I was working, but I wanted to learn more. At that point, another friend of mine referred me to a different job working at Buy-Buy Baby. There, I fine-tuned my sales skills, and I became their top furniture salesman (You need a crib? I got you!). I had fun learning the operations of retail, but I still felt unfulfilled. It felt like a job, and I wondered what else was out there.
After school one day, we drove past a Jersey Mike’s, and my mom turned to me and said, “Hey Deano, you should get a job at Jersey Mike’s. You love Sammies!” The thought excited me, and I started going there on my lunch breaks. I became good friends with the crew there. Everyone was so friendly and like-minded. It seemed like a no-brainer to work there, so I applied. Ken Nicola was the big boss, and we did a handful of interviews. I was super shy and timid at the time, so I’m sure he had apprehensions about giving me a chance. I quickly fell in love with the job while doing doubles between Jersey Mike’s and Buy-Buy Baby. Eventually, I decided to consolidate my efforts and go all in at Jersey Mike’s. I was a piece of work back then. I begged for weeks to learn how to slice, but first, I needed to learn to sprinkle, wrap, register, and hot subs. Very Derek Jeter’esque. But the day finally came, and Ken asked me to come in at 8 a.m. to learn to slice with him. WOO, my big day! I made it my goal to be the fastest, strongest slicer on the team! I loved every minute of it.
A year later, I moved to Santa Barbara to go to college. It was really hard leaving my Jersey Mike’s family behind in San Diego, but I prayed that there was a location up north that would have a place for me. To my luck, there was! I was hired and quickly became a shift lead for the Robinsons at their Goleta store. I worked there for three years through college and gained experience in shift-leading while rising through the ranks to become assistant manager of the store.
Once I graduated in 2016, it was decision time. What do I do now? I still was in love with music, and I watched an inspirational video that did research on the one thing people regret most as they approach the end of their life. They all said the same thing: “I don’t regret the things I did; I regret the things I didn't do.” And just like that, I decided to move to LA to pursue a life in music production.
Once I moved, I figured there must be a Jersey Mike’s in LA. I found the closest location to my new home in North Hollywood and applied to work for Bethany and Daniel Acuña. My previous experience helped me lock in the job. I finally got to experience working at a top 56 store! Meanwhile, I did have some success with my music career like having Skrillex play one of my songs live in his set, opening a music festival in Ohio, as well as opening some shows in Hollywood. After being behind the curtain and learning about the industry, I still had a love for production. However, I realized it wasn’t the thing I wanted to go all in on anymore, so I started working harder at my job at Jersey Mike’s. I was quickly promoted to shift lead, and then, assistant manager, as the Acuñas worked on opening their second location in Van Nuys. Opening time came, and I was officially offered my first general manager position. A dream come true for me at 21 years old! From there, I filled various management roles for them across the multiple stores they opened in LA. I managed two top 56 stores, won seven crew incentive contests, trained six general managers, and had the highest amount of donations in CA for the Month of Giving. I truly love building teams and creating a culture of positivity and natural competition.
Then, I was nominated for the STAY program because I knew Jersey Mike’s was what I wanted to do for the long haul. I was the general manager for five years, until the Acuñas decided they needed someone more than a general manager. I joined their leadership team as the district manager overseeing three stores in LA, all of which were averaging 250+ bread daily. The Acuñas treated me like family, and over the years, we frequently discussed partnering up. A few opportunities came, but none of them completely fit the goal I had in mind. They did however make a commitment to continue helping me find a store of my own.
This year, we got serious about partnering up, and we set a goal to open a store together. We explored different areas around Los Angeles, and through cold calling and multiple conversations about selling, Big Bear became available to us. I was instantly intrigued. I loved the idea of taking over the only store on the mountain and building a network of roots in the area. Living in different cities in Southern California has helped me appreciate the peace and joy of being away from the commotion in the mountains. We worked out a deal: the Acuñas would help me finance the store, and I would be the operator.
As I reflect on my 10-year journey, I realize that every single store and every person I’ve met along the way has helped shape the person I am today. I truly feel blessed to be working in a field that I fit so naturally into, where I genuinely look forward to working every day. Thank you, Peter, for creating such an exceptional company founded on honest principles and for giving little guys like me, from a small town in New York, a chance to be somebody and make a splash in the world of sub sandwiches. I won’t let you down!
