The tale of an individual’s life generally commences in the present tense. However, knowing the back story helps everyone to understand the forces and events that shape the life up to that point. Knowing that a lot of Rose Gaglio Thompson’s early childhood and adulthood revolved around the dining table with food as a pleasure enjoyed for hours over lively conversations with family members and friends helps to better appreciate her success as the co-owner of the Naples and Fort Myers Pizza Fusion franchise locations.

Gaglio Thompson’s deep love for homemade foods prepared in her mother’s kitchen from scratch with only the freshest ingredients may have influenced her present career as much hanging out in her parents’ restaurant. “It certainly laid the foundation for the enjoyment I get in seeing my customers celebrating many of their special occasions over meals in our restaurants,” she says.

“My parents were born in Sicily and moved to the U.S. I was young when they owned their pizza restaurant in Michigan. The restaurant closed before I could do much more than hang out there,” quips Gaglio Thompson, a Florida resident for 15 years.

Being eco-literate with personal ecological principles, Gaglio Thompson found great appeal in Pizza Fusion’s long list of environmentally conscious franchise policies and practices. “We’re not your typical pizza restaurant business. Social responsibility is just as important to us as profitability, which is obvious in everything from how we deliver food in company-owned hybrid vehicles to recycling and giving customers discounts for returning pizza boxes so we can recycle them. Even our spudware utensils, made from 100 percent potatoes, are biodegradable. We go the extra mile to do the best thing for everyone—the customer, the environment and our employees,” she explains.

Pizza Fusion’s restaurant menu is organic and all natural. “We stay as locally sourced as possible. Our produce mostly comes from Oakes Farms. When they don’t have what we need, we order from Global Organic. Our Naples restaurant is practically farm to table, since it is conveniently located in the same plaza as Oakes Farms’ Food & Thought Organic General Store. We walk over and buy what we need,” says Gaglio Thompson.

Menu items, including gluten-free offerings of pizza, brownies and beer, enable celiac-sensitive individuals to indulge in America’s favorite food—pizza—in the unique restaurant environments that Gaglio-Thompson enjoyed designing. In Fort Myers, tables are made from wood from an old barn that was demolished. Patrons can also eat at their unusual ice bar. Both locations are painted with soy-based paint. In Naples, the tables are built from wood salvaged from an old bowling alley.

More than 5 billion pizzas are sold worldwide every year, and Italian is the most popular ethnic food in America. Health-minded individuals can enjoy them both at Pizza Fusion.

Pizza Fusion locations include 2146 Tamiami Tr. N., in Naples (239-262-8111, PizzaFusion.com/Naples); and 12901 McGregor Blvd., Ste. 5,in  Fort Myers (239-337-7979. FortMyers.PizzaFusion.com).