Tom Potter is the founder of Australian owned Eagle Boys Pizza. He left school at 15 and found himself jobless at 23. He opened his first pizza shop in Albury, New South Wales in 1987 and proceeded to build his business to become Australia and New Zealand’s largest privately owned pizza company.

Tom is a country boy, starting his business with a minimal education and little money behind him. Tom built Eagle Boys to become one of Australia’s home-grown retail and franchise successes, through radical change, innovation and at times unusual business and marketing tactics. Along the way, Eagle Boys won various National Franchising Awards and

Tom was awarded the Australian Financial Review’s Young Business Person of the Year. He was chosen to give the valedictorian speech at his graduation class at Harvard Business School.

As Eagle Boys Pizza continued to expand across Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, Tom oversaw the opening of over 300 stores, experiencing many of the highs and lows that affect small to big businesses.

When Tom sold Eagle Boys in 2007 after 20 years of remarkable success, the franchise indirectly employed some 4000 staff with over 120 staff in the corporate office in Brisbane. Sales annually in Australia and NZ had reached $170 million with an advertising spend of over $15 million annually.

Since selling, Tom has enjoyed semi-retirement, started a family, opened two new businesses and consulted to the corporate sector as well as the federal government. He has also enjoyed travelling across Australia and the world telling the ‘Eagle Boys story’ to rooms full of listeners eager to learn. Tom has shared his experiences and expertise with retailers and franchisees around Australia and the world. He has served on several Boards, including the Ports Corporation of Queensland, Wallace Bishop Jewellers, Brumby’s Bakeries and The Board of Brisbane. He has been a Commissioner on the AFL of Queensland. Tom Potter has been honoured as an Australia Day Patron on more than one occasion and was inducted into Australia’s inaugural Franchising Hall of Fame in 2003 in recognition of him being one of the 20 most successful and influential people in franchising in Australia.