Rose Totino, founder of the eponymous Totino’s Pizza, brought the famed Italian pizzas to American taste buds in an easy-to-eat, frozen package. She charted its growth from a small takeaway in Minneapolis to becoming the #1 pizza maker in the US in the next 20 years. Not only a suave businesswoman, Totino is also fondly remembered for introducing the first pizza dough suitable for freezing and subsequent baking.

Rose Totino was born to Italian immigrant parents in 1915, in a small town in Minneapolis. Brought up in poverty her entire childhood, Totino dropped out of school at 16 to help manage the household expenses. She imbibed the virtues of hard work and ethics from her parents, and never shied away from spending long hours cleaning people’s homes to earn an honest living.