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“We built that into our performance reviews,” Abell says. “We built it into all the things that we do. But we also recognized that it’s difficult to explain that to the 16-year-old working in a restaurant. So we came up with a promise for all of our stores and associates to live by. And our promise is really simple: It’s to serve the best pizza and make someone’s day better.”

Abell quotes an old Jimi Hendrix song: “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” Thus, Donatos abides by three tenets: Treat others the way you want to be treated. Always lead with love. And do the right thing.

As an example of doing the right thing, Abell points to the pandemic era and Donatos’ opportunity to receive a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan.

“Stepping into the pandemic, none of us had any idea what was going to happen,” she says. “And the first few weeks, like the rest of the world, our sales declined significantly. So we applied for the PPP loan and were approved for $8.2 million. Then, a couple of weeks into it, our sales started rebounding, like a lot of pizza places. So we called an emergency board meeting, and under agape capitalism, we looked at the spirit and the letter of the law for that loan. And we ended up turning down the loan, because the spirit of the law was about making sure it was granted to the people that were struggling and unable to make rent or pay their people. Since our sales rebounded, even though we weren’t sure what was going to happen the rest of the year…we felt like the right thing was to turn down the loan.”

That turned out to be a “great year” for Donatos, Abell says. “Of course, it’s never easy to turn down $8 million, being so unsure what the future holds, but we believed it was the right thing to do. And, to this day, I still believe it was the right thing to do.”