Meet the best friends behind the fastest-growing black-owned pizza chain on the East Coast

Shawndell Pullam and Ryan Whitfield have been best friends since 1991, and played basketball together growing up. However, their passion for entrepreneurship will see them become business partners, cementing their three-decade-old friendship.

The duo went into business together after high school, and were into designing graphic t-shirts. However, in 2016, they opened their first Smoothie King branch, and today, they proudly own six Smoothie King franchises across the DC Metro area.

Years later Pullam and Whitfield transferred their success in the smoothie business into the pizza industry with a class of their own – they founded BurnBox Pizza, in addition to their smoothie locations. 

According to Black Business, the pizza chain, which is located in Maryland, is a vegan pizza restaurant chain with several menus to give guests an inspirational and healthy experience. The brand also inspires positivity and provides humanitarian needs in communities by combating the hunger crisis.

“In our hometown of PG County, Maryland, alone, there are over half a million people struggling with hunger,” Pullam said. He added that this inspired him and his partner to donate a free pizza back to the community for each one sold.

“We’re more than just your neighborhood pizza shop,” he said. “We’re a pizza eatery with a mission: Fight hunger in the community through customer donations. The more people we feed, the happier we are. Not just as a company, but as a society.”

The chain uses the highest quality ingredients, offering “brick oven pizzas with 25 toppings including vegan and vegetarian options, fresh salads, and baked buffalo wings,” according to Black Business.

So far, the duo has opened two locations in Maryland, one in Waldorf and the other in Kettering. They are also planning to scale up their operations by launching additional branches outside Maryland, across America. They are also open to franchise opportunities.

Aside from being business partners, Pullam and Whitfield are also best-selling authors of Now Open: How We Built A Multi-Million Dollar Franchise Business In 12 Months. The book teaches potential entrepreneurs how to be successful in the industry.