A Papa John’s worker has defended his job to commenters who questioned why he was “wasting his talent” working there.

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Joe (@d0ughjoe), who has gained recognition on TikTookay for his spectacular dough dealing with and spinning abilities, defended working for the pizza chain, explaining that they’ve helped to help him by way of faculty.

Commenters flocked in with messages of help, with many praising Joe’s hardworking perspective, whereas others requested if he was being paid further by Papa John’s for serving to to advertise their enterprise.

What occurred within the video?

The video was posted to TikTookay on Oct. 16, 2025, and rapidly amassed over 1.5M views. In it, Joe—recognized to viewers as Dough Joe—responded to a remark studying, “You’re wasting your talent working for Papa John for minimum wage lmao.” 

“I mean honestly, I can understand where you’re coming from. But what a lot of these comments don’t realize is I’ve been working for Papa John’s for 6 years now,” he mentioned, whereas making an Italian Sausage pizza.

“I’ve been able to support myself through college, buy my first car, I’ve been able to do a lot of things thanks to this job. What you might say is a low skill or low-paying job has actually taught me a lot.”

Joe then defined the motivation behind his hardworking perspective. “A wise man once told me—how you do anything, is how you do everything.”

@d0ughjoe

It’s by no means wasted if you preserve getting Better!

♬ authentic sound – Dough Joe

Commenters, together with different meals manufacturers, had been impressed by Joe’s willpower and resilience. 

“That mentality will take you VERY far in life,” wrote Kimberly.

“He’s a doughtivational speaker,” wrote Slim Jim. 

“Can we just normalize not judging people for what jobs they do? It’s such a red flag,” added Brandie.

Others shared their very own constructive tales of working for the pizza chain. 

“I worked for Papa John’s for 13 years and I bought multiple cars, a house and graduated college while there,” one particular person wrote.

Many commenters additionally tagged Papa John’s within the feedback asking them to present Joe a increase, with some admitting that he had influenced them to eat there for the primary time in years.

Who is Dough Joe?

As the remark suggests, that is removed from Joe’s first video wherein he movies himself making pizzas at Papa John’s. In reality, the content material creator has constructed a following of 3M, encouraging individuals “To be on the path to Better”, as his profile description reads.

Joe is thought for his potential to effortlessly spin dough, usually throwing and catching it whereas lip-syncing to numerous songs, as different staff watch on in awe. One of his latest movies, the place he spun dough to Nickelback’s How You Remind Me, was reposted by the band themselves.

Naturally, he additionally has many followers who take pleasure in his content material for easier causes, with one commenter writing, “I feel like a female bird” and one other asking “Why do I find this so attractive?” In this sense, Joe’s movies might additionally fall into the broader class of sizzling chef thirst lure content material—which has been closely mentioned on-line as a subgenre of TikTookay. 

@nickelback We’ll take 4 giant, thin-crust pizzas with further cheese and sauce, please 🍕🤘 @Dough Joe ♬ How You Remind Me – Nickelback

Joe additionally has a twin brother, @doughtoli, who posts related content material to an viewers of 1.8M. The two are colloquially known as the Dough Twins, and even appeared in a Papa John’s industrial which was posted to the pizza chain’s official TikTookay web page. 

As for whether or not Joe is paid any extra by Papa Johns for his latest advertising efforts, a Redditor claiming to be a former colleague of the boys just lately held an AMA answering this and different questions. 

“Any idea on the compensation Doughtoli has made? Did they get him some franchises or something? He’s been their best ad campaign in years,” requested Blackops606.

OP average-bassplayer replied. “Up until around a year ago they pretty much only got paid for filming commercials for the company but last I checked they’re on corporate payroll,” he mentioned of each the Dough Boys.

Salty-employee requested, “Are they good dudes?”

“Yes, they always make sure to help out with orders and clean up after making videos,” OP clarified.

The Daily Dot reached out to Dough Joe and Papa John’s for remark however didn’t obtain a response on the time of publication.