A Naval Officer’s Journey to Papa Murphy’s Franchise Owner

Soaring from the Skies to Serving Up Fresh Pizza as a Papa Murphy’s Franchise Owner

After 20 years of service as a naval flight officer, including combat experience, Aaron Bonner decided to take his leadership skills to the world of entrepreneurship by becoming a Papa Murphy’s franchise owner. In this inspiring interview, Bonner openly shares his motivations, the extensive corporate support he received, how his military background prepared him, and his deep commitment to serving his local community.

Despite facing numerous setbacks that delayed opening his first Papa Murphy’s for two years, Bonner’s determination and positive attitude never wavered. From fond childhood memories of the brand’s affordability for his family, to plans of providing fresh, high-quality food options to underserved areas, Bonner’s sincerity and vision shine through. After overcoming the challenges, he is finally opening his inaugural location in July, with more stores already in the works to further his goal of giving back.

What has your Papa Murphy’s franchise journey been like?

Bonner: I started my journey about 2 years ago now as a new construction franchise location. We had a lot of setbacks and delays, but we are proud to finally be opening our doors in July. Our first store will cover the Ridgeland community or Bluffton/Hilton Head area.

What do you like best about the Papa Murphy’s brand?

Bonner: As a kid in the Midwest, we would have these bad storms and lose power, and the one thing we would have was a Papa Murphy’s pizza. We would start the generator and warm up a Papa Murphy’s pizza and eat together. That memory never left me.

When I looked at opening a business, I wanted to do something that gave back to the community in a similar way. With Papa Murphy’s we can enter schools or elderly care centers that don’t have fresh ingredients or balanced meals, and offer them a meal that is, in my opinion, made with the best and freshest ingredients. To be able to provide for a community that shares my background, to give back in whatever way I can, is a big deal for me. I believe that what I am bringing to my community can help change lives, and I know my community loves what we are bringing too.

What was training like?

Bonner: I have to give a huge shout out to the Hoffman family out of Kansas City, who have 6 stores. They trained me for 5 straight weeks at a pretty high volume store, with a lot of work coming through the doors. I looked up to them so much, and enjoyed soaking everything in. I am so thankful.

What is your experience with the corporate support team?

Bonner: As far as corporate, I didn’t know what to expect. This is my first franchise, but I am still taken aback by how unequivocally corporate is on our side. That has been from day one. The reason it has taken us 2 years to open has had zero to do with corporate. The corporate team has been ready to go, training me, keeping me steady and on track. They’re very underrated. I would never have known corporate would have helped me so much, especially on the construction side. I have no experience in construction, and I leaned on the subject matter experts within corporate like Gene and Greg, and they held my hand through the whole process. I’m just super thankful.

How has your experience as a Naval Flight Officer helped you become a business owner?

Bonner: As an enlisted crewman, I had a lot of combat experience. I flew for my entire 20 years. It was 100% chaos all the time – and my job was to manage the chaos. That experience of insurmountable difficulties prepared me to face literally death-defying situations. Operating a restaurant, or working in an office, is a lot easier than working with a pilot who has lost their sense of direction due to vertigo while flying a plane.

The biggest skill I learned that transfers over to owning a business in any industry is to be able to communicate. We still need to get the job done. How do we make this pizza with an autistic worker and the High School varsity captain work? I need to be able to communicate with both of them on different levels. Being an effective leader in difficult situations teaches you how to communicate with everyone with all backgrounds, cultures, and languages. In the process of learning how to communicate with your team, you build a team concept that is second to none.

What is your favorite way to reach out to the community?

Bonner: I’m very involved in my community. I’ve been in public speaking for the last 20 or so years, trying to pass off my knowledge to the younger generations. I do a lot of my involvement with kids. I have a teenager in High School, and I’ve been very involved in their Booster club and in their sports programs. If you have free time and you are a parent of an athlete, they take your time easily. So I’m very happy to do a lot of mentorship, public speaking, working with kids, and now, with opening our store, I’m doing a lot more community outreach through talking with everyone. I want everyone to know me and know why I am doing this, it’s not about the money. I want kids to know you can do this too. If you put forth the effort, you can do it.

What are you most proud of in your time as a franchise owner?

Bonner: The fortified determination. Life, death, delays, we saw it all while building our store. The corporate team is surprised that I come to every meeting with a smile, but I have people looking up to me, or depending on me. It has been an exercise in how am I going to be tested, how can this venture be tested? It is so easy to quit. But my determination and patience won’t allow me to quit, and I think that is a common skill that entrepreneurs find when they want something to succeed. I just know with what my community is talking about, it will be worth the wait. So I am extremely proud that we have finally made it, and we are already creating the plans for our next store.

Become a Franchise Owner with Papa Murphy’s

Do you see yourself as a business owner giving back to your community? Are you looking for a way to use your military skills to work for yourself? If the answer is yes, Papa Murphy’s may be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. Learn more about the Papa Murphy’s franchise business model, the cost to franchise, and how we support franchise owners by visiting our research pages here.

If you’re ready to have a conversation about franchising with Papa Murphy’s, we invite you to fill out our form here. We look forward to hearing more about your entrepreneurial goals and how Papa Murphy’s can help you achieve them.