On any given day, students might walk by the front window of The Flying Pizza, a New York Style pizza joint on High Street, and see a cook precariously spinning pizza dough on the tips of his fingers. The man tossing the dough over his shoulder, behind his back and possibly juggling two or three circles of dough at a time is Patt Miller, owner of the restaurant since February 2008.

Miller, full and legal owner of The Flying Pizza, is a former business student at Columbus State and captain of the United States Pizza Team, where he travels the world competing against other countries in pizza tossing performances. He has won several awards for trick pizza tossing – his best trick is tossing three pizzas at one time – as well has his culinary skills in pizza making.

Miller has been to Paris, Naples, and Sydney; he has appeared on ESPN, The Rachel Ray Show, Food Network’s Paula Dean and CBS showcasing his pizza tossing talent.

Patt Miller is 21 years old.

And he already owns one pizza place, is in the process of opening another before football season and hopes to have a third by 2009, he said.

“No way did I ever think I’d be this far by 21,” Miller said. “I knew I always wanted to open my own (pizza) shop. It just happened sooner than I expected.”

Miller said he has been working with pizzas since the age of 15 in his hometown of Cincinnati. When he came to Columbus for school, he lived near Ohio State’s campus and needed a job that was close by. It was then he discovered The Flying Pizza.

“I walked in three years ago and told the owner I could do pizzas,” Miller said. “Then he told me to come behind the counter and prove it.”

The rest is history.

Last year the owner of The Flying Pizza told Miller he was retiring and the two joked about Miller buying the shop. Miller said the old owner told him that if he really wanted to buy it he needed to get serious and do it. So Miller did, and his dream of owning a pizza place became a reality.

He dropped his classes at CSCC to focus on his newly owned business. Miller said he has learned much more through experience than school ever could have taught him.

“You don’t need college if you are willing to work hard,” Miller said. “If you go to the bank to take out a loan they don’t ask to see your college degree. They want to know about your credit history and business plan.”

Miller said he knew buying The Flying Pizza on his own was a big risk, but also that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He said he knew that school would always be there, but there was no guarantee the chance to buy a pizza shop would be.

Miller’s advice to other investors is to be willing to work hard and to only invest money you can lose.

His success has come through hard work, determination and his love for what he does, Miller said. He said if you love what you are doing the hard work will come naturally.

Now Miller spends more than 60 hours per week working at The Flying Pizza, depending on the week. He said business is slowest during the summer and busiest during football season.

“Some days I’m there four hours; some days it’s 10,” Miller said. “But with so much competition on campus you need to work hard to stand out.”

Miller said he does not get to play as much as other people his age, but the location of his shop provides him with somewhat of a campus lifestyle.

Miller said he has added a few different ingredients to the pizza sauce since he has taken over, but has not made any major changes.

“It’s been working for 22 years so there’s no need to mess with it,” he said. “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

With the opening of his other shops, Miller said he wants to add delivery to his services as well as maintain the entertaining atmosphere and especially the pizza loved by many OSU students.

Michelle Sullivan can be reached at [email protected].