BBQ Dad Jody Flanagan, Pitmaster, Dad, Foodie Influencer

00:00
Recreation Technology and he's like, let me stop you there.

00:10
Welcome to another episode of Chewing the Fat. I'm your host, Big Robb. Thank you so much for tuning in, downloading the podcast. I certainly do appreciate that.  And to the folks that have bought me a coffee at chewingthefatbr.com, I certainly appreciate your  financial support for the podcast as well.  This podcast where we tell  beautiful, messy human stories  and joining us in studio. I'm so happy to have in front of me, the barbecue dad himself, Jody Flanagan. Jody. What's up, Big Robb?

00:40
Hey man, thank you so much for coming in. Thank you for having me in your wonderful home. I appreciate that. It's nicely lit.  Is it too dim in here for you? No, I love it. No, I love it. I love all your sound stuff too. Well, it's,  it's for the work stuff. So it definitely helps, right? Oh yeah.  A ton. Right. I first moved in here and like stuff was, I didn't have all the, all the clouds up in the stuff on the wall. It was like, it was like an echo chamber, it's pretty good and quiet.

01:08
Does what it needs to for the day to day now, so right? That's how you make money, right? yeah besides, know people supporting you on the podcast, but wait, you know, yeah, you're a voice actor Yeah, exactly. I mean that ain't that ain't really making money It's helping the podcast to stay going and help the word get out. But yeah, well, Jody you're the barbecue dad because You like barbecue. That's right. That's right. And I have kids and I want to educate and and teach other people

01:38
about how to do barbecue. A lot of folks find uh barbecue a little challenging and a little scary when they start out at first.  And I really like to dumb it down  and data fight a little bit and kind of uh teach folks from a higher level. Make it approachable. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You stole the words right out of my mouth. Yeah, yeah. I hate to say, I hate the  term like dumbing it down. It's like, no, no, you're...

02:06
I believe everybody's intelligent enough to pick this up, but I'm gonna simplify it. I'm gonna make this a little bit easier and more approachable for you. That's right. Now we're here in Augusta. Is Augusta home to you or did you move here? Yeah, no, born and raised here in Augusta. I only left for a few years to go down south to Statesboro, Georgia. Okay. After Statesboro, you know, I thought I was gonna move to the big city of Savannah or the big city of Atlanta. Yeah. But...

02:34
The force has had me just drawn back to Augusta. um love this city. ah love how you  kind of know everybody. If you're out and about, if you go  to places, if you're not an introvert, you tend to run into the same group of folks.  I  love that about this town. um And I love just going somewhere and seeing somebody and getting to talk to them instead of  visiting the grocery store and  not

03:04
necessarily talking to anybody. I'm not the type of person that openly speaks to people I really don't know, know, unless I'm asked a question or that. that's why, you know, I thought about it probably a couple months ago. But that's definitely why I love this town is I always run into somebody I know and I get to strike up a conversation and catch back up.

03:28
But no, yeah, born and raised here in Augusta, actually Harlem, Georgia. I graduated in 02, which ages me. I love that little town as well. It's grown up, it's got some really cool stuff there now. Absolutely, absolutely. They've done a really good job of keeping that hometown feel going while also progressing and growing as a town. know, you know,

03:54
I know the  chief police Rob Lewis, shout out Rob, we went to school together. ah I know  the mayor,  Roxanne Whitaker, if she's still the mayor. I went to school with her daughter, um Raven Whitaker.  Not Whitaker now, uh but no, I know a lot of great people that  still live there, that still work around the town. uh But Harlem technically was my first home, Harlem Grove Town area. um Yeah, but now, uh

04:23
tell everybody, I'm from Augusta, because they know where Augusta's at. They don't know where Harlem is. They don't know where Evans is, Columbia County.  North Augusta, it's like, oh, they just, you know what I mean? They don't realize that's in a whole other state. know what I mean? So yeah, no, I'm from Augusta, Georgia. um So growing up  here,  because you've got a bit of fame on you now from your online presence,  from being the barbecue dad and things like  that.  What were you into?

04:53
here when you was growing up, when you were in Harlem, when you were,  I mean, you went to Statesboro, I'm assuming you went there, went to school there. Yeah, Georgia Southern. Georgia Southern. Hail Southern.  And no one else.  Go Eagles. There we go. Yeah. Yeah. So what, so what were you into as a kid? And then as you transitioned into college and stuff like that? Yes. So,  you know, I think about it and I really wasn't into too much  as a kid,  besides baseball.

05:20
um Harlem is known for having a really good baseball program. um But no, came from,  my mom and dad were divorced. So I went to my dad's house every other weekend. um And I lived with my mom and my stepdad  and occasionally my stepbrother.  And um I felt like I was just a normal kid riding the bike  down the street, two to three miles to Harlem Park with a bag full of baseball gear.

05:50
meet, you know,  seeing if anybody was parked at the park. If they weren't parked at the park, I was going to ride around the neighborhood and see where all the bikes were at and just stop  and, you know, hang out with everybody. um I really  didn't feel like  I kind of found  what I was kind of meant to do until college. um I started working at a restaurant called the Shell House  in Statesboro. It's actually based out of Savannah. They tried to

06:19
to run one in Statesboro. um But  there, I learned a lot um from the Lindy family.  I  learned that I had a servant's heart.  I learned that I really liked  serving people.  Not like  walking up to a table and serving them, but like  doing things for people.  really,  really enjoyed that.  I liked,  you know,

06:49
getting to meet people, finding out what their needs were, and trying to meet those needs. And then coming back to Augusta, I fell into the F &B world, the food and beverage world, and hospitality really came to the forefront, especially being from Augusta. We've got the Masters tournament, the big golf tournament every year. And I really felt...

07:18
drawn to  the hospitality aspect of food and beverage. um Going up and making a table visit as a manager and  checking on folks and making sure that they enjoyed their food. Oh, I only see that you  ate a couple of things off your plate. Did you not like that food?

07:34
No, just didn't taste good. Well,  me get you another menu. Let me see.  See if there's anything else on the menu that you like. Let's go ahead and get it for you. I want to get you fed. We want you to live here with a full belly. um Things like that. Making sure that people's drinks were full. Cleaning up the plates.  Helping the other servers out. Helping the  dish guys out. Helping the take the trash out. I don't know what it was, um but I just found myself.

08:02
being very fulfilled in that  industry  and just actually  getting something out of it. And I didn't really realize that until later in life that that's what it was really. That was just kind of laying the groundwork. Right, that really was it.  It's only been the past four to five years that that's what I really,  doing a little bit of soul searching and digging, trying to figure out myself and uh what makes me happy.

08:31
instead of what makes everybody else happy. I really found out that that's what it is, man. You got to in its heart. You enjoy serving people. You enjoy making people happy. I guess early as a kid, was always kind of the class clown, making people laugh. I was always a bigger kid. And I might have got picked on at first, but then I started making fun of myself. And then you're the fun kid in the class.

09:00
And I really feel that that just all goes back to just having a servant's heart and just wanting to do for others. I just wanted to make other people laugh growing up or just wanted to  make sure that somebody's belly was full growing up.  I just said that I probably started in college, but now that we're having this conversation,  I probably started more  in middle school or in high school trying to take some of those jobs off of my mom's plate.

09:30
you know, cooking the dinner or, you know, helping with the laundry or helping with the dishes or helping cut grass and stuff like that. And that's, you know, that's probably where that seed was planted. know, but then, you know, it just blossomed into, you know, food and beverage. You know, and after food and beverage, you know, after doing it 10 plus years, you know, you kind of find yourself a little bit burnt out and not appreciating what you should appreciate and not,

09:58
going back to why you're really and truly in that industry, know, in the first place and that's to serve people. And I was working at the pizza joint in Evans and a good buddy of mine who I worked with at bars before as a bartender and as a restaurant manager, Mr. Ben Lesaft, he was working, you know, at Rec Tech and it was Rec Tech grills at the time. you know,

10:27
At the current point, they were growing like crazy. They were about to move to Westside Drive, their first move. And Ben came in and he was like, hey, man, I need somebody kind of like me that's outgoing, that's willing to sell some stuff, to pick up the phone, do some customer service, help some shipping, kind of the all-encompassing of the retail world. Would you apply for job with us? And I'm like, well, where are you working at?

10:57
He was like, oh, Rectek Grills. And I'm like, well, I've never, there's a grill company in Augusta. A recreation technology. And he's like, let me stop you there. It is not a recreation technology.  We'll get into how it's spelled. We'll get into  what the name means and all of that good stuff. um But yeah, I'd love for you to apply it. I'm like, no, no, man, I can't leave this  guaranteed money.  bartenders,  at that late 2000s, I was making really good money as a bartender.

11:26
really good tips.  And I knew everybody at the bar, you know, that was another thing about working at the food and beverage industry.  If you're gonna be any good, if you're gonna make any money, you've gotta learn who people are. You've gotta learn what they like. You gotta go ahead and kind of have it drawn up on the computer before they sit down.  You know, it's very impressive  if you know a guy likes Bud Light and...

11:52
when he sits down, you go ahead and you're bringing him his Bud Light.  You know what? So what if that's a $2.50 mistake? So what if he didn't want to drink Bud Light that day?  He's going to be impressed that, holy crap, you remembered that this is what I drink? I was like, yeah, past five times you've been in here, all you've ordered is Bud Light, so I'm going start bringing you Bud Light every time you come  in. A lot of people  don't think that far into it, um but... uh

12:19
But yeah, he came in, you know, probably for three weeks straight on Tuesdays. You know, he would get his  super heavy IPA  and slice a mushroom. um That's what he ordered every time. And his beautiful wife Megan would come in with him as well. You know, she'd be drinking the Miklo Bultras. I still remember what they were drinking. It's crazy to me. um But uh one day, you know, was  just, he asked me and I looked up and down the bar and I was just like, man, you know what? I'll see you on Monday for that interview.

12:48
And  I showed up on Monday, you know, a little early to this building off of West Side Drive, 2002 West Side Drive in Augusta, Georgia,  at the end of a cul-de-sac. um And this building  looked like  nothing was in there. You know, there's no signs.  There's nothing on the door. know, open the doors. You know, there's no office equipment. There's no grills.  It's completely empty. know, and I'm, you know, I said, hello, hello.  You know, and Ben's office is tucked off in the back.

13:18
And he's like, hey, yo, come on back here. So I go off back there. He's literally laying on the floor on his computer with a headset on. You know, the only thing set up is the phone and he's on his computer, you know, taking orders or  doing customer service  or, know, whatnot. he, you know, he grabs the mic and he says, Ray will be here in just a little bit. Just hang out, you know,  grab a chair, hang out in the front. You know, so I grab a chair and just sit out there, you know, and Ray Karns, co-founder of RecTech, you know, he's

13:48
maybe 15 minutes late, you know, and he kicks in the door, he looks both ways and he's like, I guess I'm interviewing you.  I said, yes, sir.  You know, so  his office was located right there at the front. He opens his door, his office is set up, thank goodness.  You know, he's got a  beautiful, I remember just how awesome his desk looked. I was like, man, that is a beautiful wood desk.

14:14
You know, there's pictures of his kids. There's a picture of, you know, the original red and black rec tech behind him.  You know, he's got these awards. know, it looks like he had awards.  Um,  and, you know, 37 seconds into that interview, I was just like, I'm, working for you, sir. It's like you, you felt his passion,  you know, you felt his,  his confidence. just exuded and he still does.  but he was just exuding this confidence.

14:44
that I knew that that place was going somewhere, some way, somehow.  And if it wasn't, he was going down with that ship and he was going to take care of his people. uh So  that was the day  that started it all. ah I put it my two weeks  and I started on  July  4th,  which if you know grilling. That's a big barbecue day. That's a big day for everybody.  Before I left the interview, Ray was just like, read.

15:13
read the website, check out the website, just know the website before you get here.  And  at the time, you know, was just two people, was Ben Lusat and  Mr. Harry Doss picking up the phones and doing all of that good stuff.  And Harry was off, he was going to Disneyland with his kids. So, you know, they slapped a phone on me.  And  the first day I was just thrown into the fire and he was just like, just answer their questions. If you get hung up, come and get me.  You know, and he had another guy.

15:39
in there, Mr. David Hopkins.  David did not work for the company, but he kind of knew about, you know, the grills.  And he had David answering phones too. And David's over there asking me questions. Like I knew what I was talking about. ah But no, did, you know, I looked at that website, you know, for hours  every day. ah It was really, you know, for a beginning website, it was really laid out well. ah You know, the story was on there.

16:05
The five things that made the grill different were on there.  There was even some competitive stuff on there to where  if somebody called and asked questions about another grill, you kind of knew how to kill  them.  And  that was the start of a 12 and a half year career.  I um was technically hired  sales, but I  slowly, I guess,  learned and  earned the sales manager position. um

16:36
But at that time, all picked up the phone. We all sold grills.  We all did customer service. We troubleshooting,  recipes. ah We cleaned the toilets. We swept the floors. We shipped stuff. We went outside and packed grills.  We received stuff. Because  I was technically the sales manager, but we did it all.  Harry was technically  the shipping manager.

17:05
At the end of the day,  everybody would take the phones off,  let the uh recorder take everything, and then we would go to Harry's office and we would just help him and finish off his day, finish off everything that needed to be shipped.  And in those days, it was eight to eight, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.  We didn't leave until all the jobs were done. um

17:28
The cycle started the next day, know, 8 a.m. we would get there and we would listen to all the missed calls. We would call all the missed calls back because it was, you know, we were hunting sales, man. Yeah, yeah. You know, and once I kind of found, once you find that groove, man, you know, it's easy to talk to people. Yeah, and so from moving in from that, talking to people about selling the grill and it's selling itself and all like that, and then the moves that the company made, you moved up through the company as well and became kind of a, I mean,

17:58
Ray's a figurehead. Ray is. Yeah, no doubt. is, it's,  and Ray are synonymous, but also  Barbecue Dad Jody's pretty synonymous with Rec Tech as well,  because you started doing the YouTube videos, you started doing Instagram videos and Facebook Lives and things like that.  Where was that transition for you to be the personality  of...

18:20
Regtech because you I mean you weren't the only chef there I mean you got chef John you got chef Greg Yeah as well that are shooting videos and going out and then you all start doing competitions as well correct and and winning competitions on a pellet grill right right right no um you know  I Don't know  You know it was a further further down the road  You know when I kind of came the face of the brand

18:45
But I do remember, I believe it was August of 2015, it was the day that Facebook said  that you could go live.  And  Ray came in,  he kicked the door open, he was like,  you know what we're doing today boys? You know, we're gonna go live. And we're like,  You got a TV crew coming, but what are you talking about? And he was like, Facebook today said that you could do live videos. And you know, we're like, oh okay, all right, well then let's do that Ray. um

19:15
All right, go to the store,  get something to cook. Let's cook some burgers.  And  August 2015, we  cooked burgers  live on Facebook for the very first time. um And  I really felt like that day, I just became super, super comfortable in front of the camera.  I kind of learned my superpower. um And then for every day, every Friday,

19:43
for like four and a half, five years,  we were live  on Facebook and we called it Fun Day Friday.  And it became  its own little monster,  you know, to where we got, you know, thousands of people watching live on camera  of us,  you know,  living the Rectec lifestyle. know, people  that bought the product wanted to learn more.

20:10
And they wanted to learn who was working there. They  wanted originality.  They wanted to see other aspects of the business.  And that was how we were able to show them, kind of introduce them into our world.  And  people ate it up.  again,  Ray started it. He's, super infectious when he starts talking about that product. Like I said, he exudes the confidence that he has in life in general.

20:41
And he's very addicting.  I could watch him talk about random stuff all day. I really can. um But he started it all.  one day he was like, I can't do this every Friday. And we started this. So Jody, you're going to start doing it every Friday. um And I said, yes, sir. Yeah, sure.  I can't be on the phones, right? And he's like, no, no. Put that down.  Fridays are for you to go live. That's all I want you to do. And I would start.

21:09
planning out Fridays, know, I would go shopping the day before, you know, make sure that everything was laid out. Um, you know, we even built like a little outdoor studio on the backside of West Side Drive. Shout out Sean Carnes, Ray's cousin. built that for us. And, you know, we just, we, started to, to grow that, you know, that audience. So those folks want to watch us. Um, and then I believe, you know, what was it? 2018 when COVID?

21:38
What was COVID? 2020. 2020. And we kind of opened it up. We just started to go live every day. And I really feel like we grew our audience. customers. about 2018, 2019 is when we got Chef Greg and Chef John coming in and doing other more chefy, technical style videos. I was always the fun guy. And we would show folks the...

22:08
what we were really doing at work, you know what saying? cracking beers at 11 o'clock during the afternoon. um now  I really feel like it was around that 2018-ish time where they were like, man, Jody, you're really good at this,  And I'm like, no, man, we probably had 50 people watching today. But you really couldn't see the conversion from sales.

22:37
at that time, we really, you know, if you watched who was ordering and watched who was watching, you could kind of see, oh, wow, Warren was watching today and we got a $2,500 order from a guy named Warren. know, so it was around that 2018 time where they were like, man, you're really good at this. You need to stay in front of the camera. And you know, that's when, you know, I...

23:05
I really started to watch other people and tried to like figure out why they were good  and how I could get better and what I could do to improve myself. uh But it  all came down to just being yourself and being authentic uh and  not lying and not trying to be scripted so much because  we tried to have the professional lighting and have the professional set up and uh

23:34
all of that good stuff. And it is great. It looks good. It feels good, but it doesn't translate authenticity. know what I'm saying? So, um, it looks a little bit too different than what  the people who are using the product are seeing, right? Because they're, they're like, well, I just, I'm on my back porch and I got my, you know, I got my bullseye and I don't have, you know, a 20 foot table with, you know, 14, you know, briskets on it and all that other stuff or whatever. It's like, I'm just  like, I'm here in my,

24:04
my headlamp.  That's right. Yeah, we found way better success when we were super authentic and didn't have all of the technical stuff and  set up all the crazy lights and have all the crazy microphones and  we  tried  doing sound effects and  different guests  for Fun Day Friday. But it all just boiled down to showing how the grill worked.

24:27
Showing somebody that worked there and their job and you know how crazy they were and how crazy we were and being super authentic and that's really where we got  you know, that's where a lot of our success came from is  you know, just being authentic and You know when you're like that people let you in their home via their computer via their TV uh You know, and then we started People started sending us stuff People started sending us presents people started  sending us things in the mail uh

24:56
And that turned into,  Judy, you're getting a lot of mail. Let's just open this stuff up live too.  And we would have mail time on Mondays. I would open up all the stuff that was sent from the weekend.  And man, we got the best stuff.  Iraqi war veterans would send uh us uh these big giant used bullet shell casings that had American flags in them. And we got all of these challenge pins.

25:22
and we would get t-shirts and somebody sent me my first pair of New Balances. um Shout out Josh, I can't remember his last name,  but he sent me my first pair of white New Balances that I still have to this day, that I shine up all the time. It's  one of my prized possessions.  I still cut grass in them. um yeah, we started getting all kinds of crazy mail and then people started to send us the glitter bombs.  We got a bunch of...

25:49
bunch of alcohol people would send us bourbon and vodka and uh you know,  we got into a loop where people were sending us their products.  you know, because,  you know, we were popular on Facebook and we were opening and I really felt like that bar stool kind of stole that from us. ah Dave Portnoy, I'm talking to you  because, you know, they started doing that during COVID. People would send them stuff and they would just open it up at their houses. You know, I really felt like they stole that from Rectech.  You know, we had that idea first. um

26:18
But yeah,  man, my superpower is in front of the camera.  I'm very comfortable in front of the camera. I can ramble on.  I can't do that in real life, though. um I  find it difficult continuing on conversations  in real life. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's like a little stroke ADHD or the tism.  But I'm not  as comfortable in real life  as I am.

26:47
behind the camera. know, there, uh I'll say this from having worked in radio for 30 years,  you know, there's, there's a little switch  that you, that, that, that whether you realize it or not, I think when you're, I'm gonna put in air quotes, personality  that turns on and you're like, all right, I need to be on, I gotta be on, I gotta be in this is part, this is what this,  this is what big Rob does. Right. You know, whereas Rob is not big Rob.

27:14
Yeah. And there's a switch that turns on in the, in the  situation and  that superpower turns on and big Rob can shield Rob from the people because big Rob likes to talk to people. Right. And have conversations with people and be goofy and do crazy stuff. Right. Whereas Rob  might necessarily rather be listening to jazz and reading the book. Right. You know? Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly how I am. I don't know. You know, I wish I could turn it on a real life.  Um, yeah. So from

27:44
from  being in front of the camera and you've gone a lot of places, you've made a lot of  cool content and things like that. Oh yeah, you were talking, you did say,  let's go into this, you were talking  competitions. Again,  I met some of the greatest people at a barbecue competition. um One of my most favorite stories I like to tell,  and I'm glad we got into this, is...

28:14
Me and my buddy, Matt Lane, we were sent  by rec tech to go to Memphis in May every year  and  to participate.  one year, we're sitting in Memphis traffic and we always stayed at the Peabody.  If you didn't know  what the Peabody Hotel is, and Memphis is super famous hotel,  they have these ducks  that live there.  And they parade the ducks down, up and down every day. They've got a giant fountain in the lobby. They parade the ducks down.

28:41
They have a duck parade. They roll out the red carpet. The ducks walk up and they get in their little pond and they sit there all day. And then they have  an exit parade that they do later on in the day and they go upstairs and they go back to their house. But we're staying at the Peabody Hotel and we're in this traffic  and me and Matt Lane are listening to Zombie.  You know, I believe it's the Cranberries, right?  zombie.  So we're listening to that song.  We've got the windows rolled down in this big white dually,  you know, with Rectek plastered all over it  and  none other.

29:11
than Dave Grohl himself  runs up to us, jumps on the side of that truck  and starts singing Zombie with us. Wow. He was actually staying at the Peabody at the time and he was actually going to the uh liquor store across the street or gas station to get a pack of cigarettes.  And  he grabs onto the side of that truck and he whips out Zombie with us. And  we're still singing wide-eyed, like staring at...

29:38
at Rock and Roll Royalty, Dave Grohl. he gets down, he runs off and he's like, all right, boys, see you later.  And we didn't know it at the time, but he was there for the barbecue comp.  He was there at Memphis in May. And I believe he might've been picking up a custom pit that he had made or something.  And the next day,  after we ride that high later that night,  we wake up early and get to the...

30:07
get to the grounds  and  he comes walking up, he's with this entourage of people and  we're like, Dave Grohl, you jumped on our truck last night. He was like, oh, what's up boys? And um we were just like blown away by how nice he was and how he actually remembered us from singing Zombie in the middle of Memphis the other day.  And then later in the day, he comes walking up with my son in his arms  and my wife had...

30:37
She was,  Ray flew her in uh so that she could experience this, because it's the World Barbecue Cooking Championship. mean, the biggest names are there.  And  he flew my wife and my son in,  and he comes walking up with my kid in his arms. My kid's  got the Rectek shirt  on. He knows who the kid  is, whose kid it is, and he comes walking up and I'm just.

31:01
Man, so I still have this picture. What is my life? Right, right. And my wife's like, you know, you can see the tears in her eyes. She's like, it's Dave Grohl. He's got John Dylan.  And I'm like,  And I still have to this day have that picture of him just holding my kid. you know, he's got his sunglasses on. He's Dave Grohl with the backwards hat on. And I'm just like,  man, that was,  you know, that was a cool thing that barbecue  and  was able to deliver to me,  you know. uh They say never meet your heroes, but man.

31:31
That dude was amazing. I hear great stuff about  Dave. That's just how he is. Yeah, no.  He was absolutely awesome. And you didn't see  him turned down talking to anybody or  a picture  or anything that day. um That was absolutely amazing.  But yeah, that is my favorite. uh That's my favorite experience, my favorite story to tell  other folks at the barbecue and...

31:58
That community is just so welcoming, so inviting. And even later in the day, there's guys like Mo Quezon and Myron Mixon and Heath Riles and all of these world championship barbecue guys. And they're coming by our spot, just walking on in saying, hey, I see you go live every Friday on Facebook. And I'm like, wow. Myron, you see.

32:25
You see me on Facebook and he's like, well, I don't really watch Facebook too much. yeah, yeah, we see you pop up all the time, son. And just like, wow, this is working. This is really working. If these folks are getting fed that stuff, imagine who else is getting fed that stuff as well. it was an eye-opening experience. I love Memphis and May. And if anybody's out there, if you get a chance to go to Memphis and May, go. You're not going to.

32:53
be disappointed in any way shape or form. uh And you can go and meet all of those barbecue people.  You know, that's why I originally wanted to go is you know, you can meet all of these celebrities and again, folks like Dave Grohl show up. uh But yeah, no, I love love Memphis and May and that was a that was  one of my favorite and most cherished memories  was winning that and you know, getting to meet Dave Grohl and you know, getting you know, kind of the

33:19
from that.  Are you going to Memphis in May again this year? Yes, I actually am going to be going to Memphis in May this year. I was asked to help  out another team. Yeah. So yeah, I'm really excited about that. uh You know, I'm just going, you know, as Barbecue Dad Jody and to help, you know, kind of volunteering my time. uh But yes, I'm excited.  I've got a good friend that runs at Kevin Grothe.

33:43
He's like the vice president of the Memphis and May barbecue comp and I'm really excited to see him again and catch up with him.  I've got a lot of friends in Memphis  still to this day.  A lot of folks talk smack about Memphis like they talk smack about Augusta.  You don't want to go off a Broad Street or you don't want to go off a Beale Street, but no. That  town is  so rich with history.  Every time I go,  there's this...

34:11
They don't really advertise it and it's kind of like a secret restaurant, but it's called Ida Betta.  And it's the street that BB King grew up on. um There's a restaurant, ah like a secret restaurant at the top of a bar and it's called Ida Betta. You can Google it and find it, but they don't have a sign.  You gotta, there's no door person. You gotta ask the door person at the other bar, like, hey, where's the Ida Betta door at?

34:38
and he'll show you to this random looking door that has an emergency exit on it, but it's really  to a stairwell that goes upstairs  and you can eat in this kind of speakeasy restaurant. I love the food there. It's absolutely amazing. um But it's never crowded.  Even when Bill Street is super, super packed. ah Ida Betta is  wide open. There's always a room. There's always a table available. There's always a spot at the bar available. uh

35:07
and I was going to eat there and enjoy it. But that's my Memphis. That's awesome. So what do you got going on now? Because I know that you here recently, you put up that you left Rectech. Yeah, yeah. And I had seen over the holidays some catering things. Is that what we're concentrating on now? So after 12 and a half years and missing signs,

35:37
This, you know, I lost my mom November, not this past November, but 2024. And I really feel like I should have left then and stayed with her, well, not stayed with her, moved in with her, but like kind of become her caretaper. I really kicked myself when she got sick for not, you know, picking that up and taking it.

36:06
I felt like the Lord was sending me signs  and I missed them.  And, ah you know, we lost my mom  and I feel like  I was sent more signs  and I didn't pick those up.  And I just feel like  I finally, you know, had my ears open, had my eyes open  and I was listening  and I was praying  and the Lord sent me signs and he says, you know, it's time.

36:36
You know, it's time for you to move on.  It's time for you to do something different. It's time for you to use your superpower elsewhere.  know? um And, you know, that's just what it was. know, that...  Rectech was not like, hey, get out of here. You know, it's time for somebody else to do this. No, you know, it wasn't like me.  You know, um I didn't want to leave.  I really didn't.  But  it was just time for me and my family.

37:03
ah My kids are eight and six  now  and it's  it's time for me Because they're not gonna be there forever. ah No and  it's it's time for me to you know, really pick up that dad sword  and be there  and  Be present  I feel like  rec tech was kind of a vice  for me. Mm-hmm, know along with alcohol and all the other stuff. I felt like I

37:32
put a lot into RecTac while not neglecting my family, but just not being there 100%. And it is just time to be there, try to be there 100 % and try to be there for the kids and try to be a super supportive husband while my wife kicks ass at her career. But yes, I started my catering company in 2021, applied for the LLC and all that good stuff.

38:02
in 21 and I've kind of, you know, every master's week I've been catering.  Oh man, since 2016, you every master's week I'm super, super busy. um But  the wedding requests  have started to come in  more and more heavily last year and I turned down a lot of business um and again, back to full circle event.  I have a servant's heart, m You know, I don't feel like

38:32
I was able to serve anybody at Rec Tech any longer, or  serve the customers of Rec Tech any longer. So it's time for me to help other people make memories.  Being part  of,  for example, just being part of somebody's wedding.  I'm only gonna be married once. If my wife leaves me, I'm not getting married again. Sorry, ladies. um

38:59
That's an event in somebody's life that  I want to make sure that they remember that.  Yeah, that's the goal for somebody to be like, you know what, we had the best food at my wedding. I remember that food.  I remember my first dance, but man, that beef tenderloin was amazing.  We need to call Jody up right now. um

39:23
It's like instead of saving the top of the cake, then we save it like the tri-tip. Right. Put it in the freezer and eat it on the anniversary. That's my goal now. Rob, you just gave me that idea. That is my goal now. want, you know, no, freeze this. And then a year, thaw it out and try it again. Especially that brisket. But no, it's time to serve. It's time to serve. You know, like I said, I was missing signs from the good Lord up above, you know, and it's time to get closer to him. It's time to help the kids.

39:53
I grew up in church  every Sunday, every Wednesday.  It didn't matter if you were sick. It didn't matter if you didn't want to go.  You woke up, you slapped on a pair of khakis, and you went to church.  And it's time to raise my kids like that.  And  I want to be more involved with my church. um And I want to grow with my church family. And I want  that for my boys and my son.

40:20
And my wife didn't grow up in a church, you know, she's learning a lot, you know, about the teachings of Jesus and it's kind of a cool thing, you know, we've been married, oh crap, since 2011, what is that, we'll be 15 years this year, okay? But it's a really cool thing to see her eyes open, you know, and she...

40:49
see her aha moments,  you know, to where like, you know, because the Bible is a big teaching book. It's, not, you shouldn't take it very literal,  but you know, it's a big teaching thing and to see her, you know,  grow in Christ and grow  and, you know,  learn different things and, you know, to learn about, you know, Jesus's life and stuff.  you know, that's a cool thing for us to actually talk about, you know, because we know everything about each other,  you know, so.

41:17
It's a cool thing to, know, because, you know, she'll ask a lot of questions and ah I'm not very good at answering questions from her. But like when we talk about the Bible and Jesus and church and, you know, uh it's a cool humbling thing,  excuse me, to be able to talk with her about it  and grow with her and grow our relationship. you know,  it's time to work on all those things and it's time to...

41:43
grow that catering company. Like you said earlier, I've kind of got a little bit of fame on social media. Folks listening out there, follow me at bbqdadjody, barbecue dadjody.  But it's time to grow that uh side of me, that side of my business,  my brand,  my presence.  I've got a lot  of  just meeting people from traveling and  these barbecue events. And I know a lot of  higher level influencers.

42:11
And they have a lot of confidence  in me and my abilities to grow that brand and to actually make money to pay bills You know, I make a little bit of money. I'm not gonna lie to you  You know Facebook will send me like a hundred dollar check here and there right?  But  I Definitely see that as something that I can grow. Well, no,  I know that that's something that I can grow I have the  utmost confidence in myself  to where like, you know I'm gonna we're gonna be able to pay bills to that here soon.  You know once I you know

42:41
put pen to pad and hit the grindstone really, really hard with it. Make a lot of content, help a lot of other brands out. I know that that's gonna be a great source of revenue for me and my family. Hopefully it'll just pay for Disney World every year. That's my goal. I don't wanna be a millionaire. But Bill's paid in the trip to Disney. Right, dude. And I get to hang out with my kids? That's ultimate goal. And I get to take my wife out once a month.

43:10
That's the ultimate goal. don't want to become a millionaire. I think that's where people get  really messed up  and they feel like they failed  when they set that bar super, super high. um But I know I can get to where I want to be  and to be able to hang out with the kids until they leave, until they don't want to hang out with me anymore. And then I could pick up  the next chapter and do something else. There's plenty of work in this town to do.

43:39
ah You know, but let's  help the two bros catering. know, the two bros, ah it's not me and my brother.  The two bros catering is named after my two kids, the two brothers, John, Dylan and Max. ah That's where we got that name from and I want to grow that. You know, we do a really good  charcuterie and grazing boards. That's where I kind of  found my little niche ah is I can make a hell of a charcuterie board, man.

44:08
I can make a killer grazing board. And those things are super trendy right now. A lot of folks request them, you know, and we're not the cheapest in town, but we are the best in town by far and away. We are the gold standard when it comes to those things. know, I, you know, celebrity clients and, um, uh, higher profile people, you know, all reach out to me and, know, I'm the guy that does that for them here. Burke, right? Sure. Shout out.

44:37
The Machine. Y'all watch his new show Free Burt on Netflix. yeah, no, I actually got to cook with Burt at the Coca-Cola 600 last year, the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Burt has a huge partnership with NASCAR and they asked him to come and just kind of throw a little party and make the fans happy. So last year at the Coca-Cola 600, Burt gave us the challenge, me and my buddy Dave Williamson, who's also another

45:07
a famed comedian. um He asked if we could make a thousand biscuit briskets.  So  when he said that I was like, thousand? Man, a thousand biscuits can be really tough, dude. I can make a thousand portions of brisket.  But a thousand biscuits, so  it was like maybe a month and a half before the Charlotte.

45:32
for the Coca-Cola 600 and man I was at the house learning how to make biscuits. And now you know we've got it down to a science to make I can make a thousand biscuits within 24 hours. And you know we were able to do that. We served over a thousand people these biscuits with briskets on the inside of them some of the best brisket meat that I've ever made. know there was something about the North Carolina Airman whether it was the altitude.

46:01
or the temperature  outside  or hell, whatever was in the oxygen. um Some of the best meat came off of that racetrack that day.  But yeah,  I've had a lot of crazy, awesome experiences from a lot of the crazy, awesome clients that I've been able to  get and grow  through Masters Week 2. A lot of folks come into town  for the big golf tournament  and have been...

46:29
blessed to be put in front of and introduced to  a lot of upper-escalant folks.  And when I do a job, I try to get a call back.  I try to do a really good job. I try to be personable. I try to make a lasting impact.  And I've been fortunate enough  to get calls back uh and  to do a lot of work.  So it's time to grow that side of Jodi. Those two avenues are what I'm really going to concentrate on in 2026.

46:59
the Two Bros Catering and then the Barbecue Dad brand.  I've got a couple other things up my sleeve, you know. um I found myself loving kitchen gadgets  and  loving  meeting a need with just one little product, you know, being very  niche about it.  you know, there may be, you know, a kitchen gadget uh thing up my sleeve. I don't know, but anytime my wife and I go on vacation anywhere, we find these

47:29
We kitchen stores and we go and we spend a couple hours in there like, oh, what is that? Look at this cheese cutter, holy crap. Look at this butter cutter. Oh my god, these charcuterie knives. I've got to have all of them. We find ourselves in their stores and that's just like something that fulfills us now. So that might be another thing up my sleeve for Augusta. We'll see, we'll see. I'm gonna say this.

47:57
I love seeing you getting excited about it,  about the possibilities. Yeah, no.  And  I'm gonna  say something, and I'm gonna  ask you a question here. One of the things about having a servant's heart is to not forget to serve yourself. Yeah. And I see what the  light in your eyes,  you're excited about serving others, but that's also gonna be serving you. Yeah, yeah. My son Jacob has a servant's heart.

48:26
And it's so hard to see him get stepped on by people because he wants to do so much for others  that he forgets about himself.  so don't ever forget while you're serving others, you got to serve yourself too. Yeah. Yeah. No,  uh,  I got a phone call from a really good friend, uh, Casey Bard out of, uh, out of New York state.  Uh, he started his own,  um,  seasoning company a long time ago, tactic calories. If you guys want to look it up.

48:54
But uh he called me uh two weeks ago  and Casey's got stage four cancer.  he's not letting it beat him.  This guy still rides his bike every day,  probably 10 miles. uh He straps on tights. He's a big dude too.  He straps on these tights and he hits  the trails with his bike and ah he's living a really good life. But he called me and he put a lot of things into perspective, ah

49:23
And he said that exact thing uh in a nutshell. I've known him a while, and uh he said that exact same thing. He's like, man, you haven't really been serving yourself,  What have you been doing for you?  And he put a lot of things into perspective, being a dad and having stage four cancer and  not caring about  what other people think.  He says he doesn't even follow oh

49:52
laws anymore.  You know, like he doesn't care because you know, he's fighting this battle.  And, um you know, he's like, I don't care about laws. I don't care about what people think about me.  You know, I only care about my family, what my wife's doing, how she's gonna, you know, if I pass, how she's gonna keep going. um And,  you know, we had a, man, we had a super deep conversation. And I hadn't taught to Casey in probably two years.

50:19
Like on the phone, you know, I, we text each other and when we, when, when like we're top of mind, but, um, but he called me, uh, last Monday and just put a lot of things into perspective. And that was one of them, man, is, know, you, you gotta serve yourself in order, you know, in order to be able to serve others. Can't pour from an empty cup. Woo. Woo. That's a, that's so true. And, know, he also, you know,

50:47
I hadn't forgotten, it's always been in my mind, but you know,  I'm a rock star.  I really am, like I am  good in front of the camera.  I can tell a story. I've done well for myself  and I need to look back and I need to appreciate that  and I need to  go back and  see what I've done wrong  and fix that. oh

51:16
for the future to get better at what I want to do.  you know, that was,  can't pour from an empty cup,  You ain't lying, brother. You really can't because  you're not, you're, you might think you're doing good  at being a servant, but you know, you could be so much better when your cup is full.  You really, really can. So that's it. I'm glad you said that.  And I'll say this when you start looking back.

51:44
Don't just look back at things that need to change. Look back at how far you've come.  One of the things that motivates me a lot is,  and you see it in memes and things like that, is  to be grateful and thank God for dealing with the problems I have to deal with now  that were just dreams that I prayed for years ago. To be where I am now.

52:11
and have to deal with this stuff. Well, that's what I prayed for. Yeah. Yeah. Remember when we prayed for these things, these problems that we have now. Exactly. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. that's, you know, that's another, you know, teaching, you know,  it's crazy when you go to church and you feel like  that sermon is about you and what you went through that week, right? I feel like every week I go to church,  no matter if I visit a different church  or if it's my church,  that preacher is always preaching to me. um But

52:40
But yeah, no, you gotta  be thankful. You gotta be grateful. um I don't know how I changed or did this, but man, I wake up and I say thank you.  And it's not  me trying to be cool  or it's like not me trying to like force it,  but it just happens. Like my eyes open and I'm like, thank you, thank you. I can get to do this again. And then I rush up and make sure the kids are awake.

53:10
you know, make sure my wife's good. And then, you know, I say thank you again. And, you know, these past couple of weeks, you know, after putting in my resignation and having a little bit of time for myself this these couple of weeks, you know, I've really appreciated the meditation, the quiet time. I used to have that, you know, hunting and fishing, you know, but I was so busy. you know, I didn't.

53:39
I was pouring  from an empty cup, man. wasn't  doing those things and recharging the battery. I was just going, going, going, going, going,  and giving it all to everybody  instead of giving it back to myself.  I  don't find myself trying to be thankful. I'm just thankful  and  very grateful and blessed. ah I'm better than...

54:08
The Lord is treating me better than he should.  He treats us better than any of us deserve. Right. It's the craziest thing. Jody, what's bringing you joy right now?

54:25
What is bringing me joy right now, Rob,  is  being on the same team as my wife. uh Seeing  what goals that she wants  to achieve  and,  you know, just talking with her and trying to help her achieve those goals too.  Rowing in the same direction at home.  You know, not finding myself uh being envious.

54:53
or jealous  of the work life that she has or, you know,  knowing that we're both on the same team and we're rowing in the same direction  and we're trying to raise these two bad kids  that we have now.  I'm joking, I say that all the time as a joke, but my kids are awesome. uh But yeah, no, just the, you know, that's bringing me joy right now and also,

55:23
Trying to figure out what's next. I mean, I got an idea, Edit out these sniffles from my nose is starting to run. But I know how I could put food on the table and all of that good stuff. But the wonderment of what could be next is really getting me up. And second to that is just growing closer with God, man.

55:55
that switch has been turned on. I don't know if it's life events or if it's circumstances, but just feeling his presence and him.

56:15
being  just  so awesome and  drawing me closer to him. uh I feel it every day,  I feel that warmth.  I pray for it.  I didn't want to do this  on your podcast, but ah I feel it every day.  I see his work in my life. I see his work in my kids,  in my wife.

56:44
Um,  you know, Helene,  uh, destroyed my mother-in-law's house.  I absolutely destroyed it.  But you know, know what that did? That moved her into my house. You know, it was all I love. I'm going to  bawl my eyes out when she moves.

57:06
But like I said, I lost my mom.  And then, you know, he moved.  He knew I needed something. And he moved my mother-in-law into my house. Yeah.  By a hurricane.  Destroyed her house, right? Like, it's just  realizing he's there always. He's always been there. And he's going to take care of us just as long as we  believe in him and...

57:37
That's  ultimately what brings me joy every day is knowing that he's got me. He's got me. Like I'm not worried about,  you know, so  yeah.

57:53
This is the second segment of the show.  This is the segment where we do talk a little bit more about your mental health journey  because I believe the more we talk about it, the less scary it feels for other people too to know that folks  all over are going through the same type of stuff.  So for you,  how do you keep the darkness at bay? Well,  it started in December by giving up drugs and alcohol. oh

58:22
You know, I did like my devil's lettuce growing up, you know. pins and vapes have become really, really popular now. But the substances, man, I didn't really realize how really they do affect you. was a coping mechanism for me. And I felt like...

58:51
It wasn't hard  once I made the decision. I wasn't addicted.  It wasn't like a chemical imbalance or anything like that to where I had to have it. But once I gave it up, all the right things just started to happen.  It may be cliche to say, but I  guess you could say I'm sober, living a sober lifestyle, not on purpose or anything.

59:19
you know, deciding to be healthier. think that was the main thing. know, and I wouldn't do, you know, I wouldn't do, smoke weed like during the day with the kids or anything like that. was more like when everybody went to bed, you know, would, you know, you know, would have, I would every once in a while, you know, smoke or, you know, drink some beers after work or whatever.

59:48
You know, I found that I just,  it wasn't allowing me to be, you know, not present, but it wasn't allowing me to  excel.  Right? Like I'm,  I was doing great.  Like I said, if I look back and I'm like, holy crap, I can't believe I've, you know,  done all of these amazing things and accomplished the accomplishments that I have.  Um,  but man, what  if like I wasn't.

01:00:17
like drinking and you know, had a straight head on my shoulders  the whole  time.  Not that  anything bad happened or anything like that, but like what if man?  know, uh I may be in a better situation right now, but again, I'm not gonna look back um and feel bad about it. uh But no, I'm excited  to be super clear headed.

01:00:46
It really, you know, there I did have like a brain fog for sure for a while um But no  definitely was keeping me out of that dark spaces  is  Not,  know putting the substances down right  and um you know getting closer,  know  closer with the Lord and uh Being more present with the family  and you know being appreciative being thankful uh

01:01:16
I talked to my good buddy Nick Bloom today and he was late for our meeting because he got a flat tire and he just replaced all of his tires two weeks ago. He just got brand new tires, right? And he came into his office and he was like, thank you so much for waiting for me for 15 minutes, tires and all of that good stuff. And I'm like, man, it is what it is. Life comes at you.

01:01:43
And he was like, yeah, but you know what?  Some people could let that ruin their day, their week, and their month, right? I'm so grateful that I have a truck that I get to put tires on.  You know, I get to fix this tire.  know,  when I leave work today, I get to go pick the kids up.  You know, so  it's  all about perspective.  You know, instead of that being a bad thing,  you know, it's...

01:02:13
It actually, uh for me,  it threw me 15 minutes off. But you know what?  That 15 minutes  off put me in a better position for my day.  You know, uh for him,  know,  hopefully it put him into a better position for his day as well. Like we had a shorter meeting because he was, you know, it was 15 minutes less.

01:02:41
You know, it's all about perspective. Yeah, that that have to get mindset switch is huge. No, it's huge. Absolutely. Because instead of I have to go pick up the kids or I have to go buy groceries or I have no I get to go pick up the kids. I get to go make this call. I get to have a meeting with Jody. I get to host this podcast with Jody. You know, instead of I have to it's a big

01:03:07
Positive change in your day. Yes to change that word from have to get yes. Yeah, you're not  yeah, that is a  That is such a true statement and  if  it takes a little while. Oh, yeah, it doesn't come natural It does not come natural. No, no, no, we want we want to be super pessimistic, know, we want to blame um We want to think  the negative things and the bad things, you know, but  Again, you know if you're thankful grateful and appreciative

01:03:37
you know,  those things don't matter. Like you're gonna have a good day every day.  know, so I don't know if it was that switch,  you know,  finally uh after doom scrolling and seeing all of the positive stuff on Facebook and Instagram and TikTok  of,  you know,  like, you know, all the memes that you were talking about earlier. I don't know if it  was that, you know, my subconscious finally picked all of that stuff up or.

01:04:06
You  know, but it's just realizing the blessings in your life um and  that some of the things that you think are negative or bad, having that mindset of, those weren't bad. Those actually set  in motion something else that was positive. know, so um yeah, I'm so glad that  I've been able to like work  on myself or with myself or

01:04:35
and in my head, in my own head, right? Because that is a personal battle that we are all going to face. We're all going to have to come to grips with. If you want a more positive outlook on life is that you've just got to of suck it up and realize that you are blessed. You've got a home. You've got a roof over your head. You've got a job.

01:05:03
You've got a family, all of that good stuff. Like I said, my buddy Casey, he's got stage four cancer. I'm healthy, for the most part. I think I am. need to go to the doctor right now because I'm a hypochondriac. Get a baseline. Yeah. But I could have stage four cancer and be worried about the next day.

01:05:32
I'm happy, I'm healthy, the kids tell me that they love me every day. And my wife smiles at me and she's still attracted to me. She might think I, my breath stinks or I got a booger on my nose. But she loves you enough to tell you those things too. hey, could you brush your teeth? By the way, you might want to wipe that. are you smelling my jacket? Just to make sure you don't have BO. Don't you want me to tell you that we had this conversation today?

01:06:01
Don't you want me to tell  you that you have Bo and I'm like, you know  Yeah, but no I would rather you think  that I don't have Bo  and I would rather you think  that I'm not disgusting ah You know and then she comes back was I don't think you're disgusting, you know I lay in bed with you every night, you know If I thought you were disgusting I wouldn't you know, we wouldn't you know be in the same bed or all of this good stuff And I'm just like God I wish I didn't have boogers on my nose all the time to where you had to tell me uh

01:06:30
Or you think I have BO or all that good stuff, but no. She gets to tell me those things, I get to hear those things from my wife. you go. She could not be here, and I would have BO and boogers in my nose all the time. And nobody would want to be around me. No, I'm just joking. But yeah, yeah. That mindset, man, for the folks out there listening that are struggling or...

01:07:00
or dealing with some things.  You know, just  take a deep breath, you know,  and  you know, it might be hard to think about those things,  but you you have blessings.  You know, you're not,  you know,  we just got back from Atlanta and I  saw this lady uh with her son on the, you know, on the side of the road with a homeless sign, anything that can help.

01:07:27
Give anything that you know, it helps um and  that kid was probably max's age. He was probably six.  you know, we're we're not in that situation um By the grace of God, you know, we're not in that situation  and you know, that's a blessing Because we could be easily could be you know uh there  are  Homeless folks  everywhere just because they lost their job  at the wrong time

01:07:58
They weren't maybe able to make that rent or house payment because they lost that job. They could have had family members die at the same time.  All of those bad things happen,  and it could all happen to us. um And we could be put in that situation at any point in time. Really and truly, if you really think about it,  the market  could crash, and  we lose all of our investments or  lose all of our retirement. Shout out  2008. um

01:08:28
But we wake up, we get to live another day, and  if you start that day, man, with a thank you  to whomever  your God is, it definitely  starts  this chain reaction in your subconsciousness  that  it's all gonna be okay. Just start that positivity train for the day.  Yep. I get another chance to try and figure this day out. Right.

01:08:58
And you're right that that happened to me January 31st of 2024. I lost the job that I'd had for almost 10 years. was three years shy of working 10 years at Apple and I lost job and I've got to figure out what I'm going to do. What am I going to do? Yeah. You know, I ain't gonna lie. I mean, I took, I took a day or two to

01:09:24
to mourn the loss of something I've been doing for that long. I wasn't looking to be gone, but that was a decision that had to be made. Having the discussion with Val and figuring it out, she's like, you should do what you are passionate about. You should do what you're good at. And that was the day that I started into voiceover full-time, to be in a full-time voice actor and figuring out.

01:09:49
It's like, get to figure this out now, to be an entrepreneur, to have my own business and to  try and make connections, to try and do what needs to be done so that the bills can be paid, so that we can have the things,  just to keep the power on. And that was a challenge, right? Oh, it's still a challenge. It is a challenge every day that I get to  sit in front of this computer, sit in this room  and figure out how this needs to happen.

01:10:19
But I did not see that blessing on the 31st of January of 2024. At that time, my mother also was ill and she had stuff. And I was able to be present with her for a year and a half. Look at that. That's awesome. You wouldn't have been able to do that with your job, man. No, I couldn't have taken that much time off. As many doctor's appointments that she had, as many things that she had coming up.

01:10:49
and to be able to be her caretaker, you know, up until I lost her last June, you know, and it was,

01:11:03
It wasn't until then that I realized, you know, I couldn't have done this otherwise. If I'd been stuck in a,  you know, a nine to five  job every day, I couldn't have taken off to take her to a doctor or take her to the emergency room or take whatever needed to be done  to put in an order for  Walmart, get stuff delivered to her, you know, get her groceries or whatever.  I could not have done that otherwise. So yeah. You're a good son. Well.

01:11:32
I appreciate that. Yeah. I appreciate that. Uh, but, but that's the thing is sometimes you don't see that, that blessing until you're further down the road. And it's written on the wall. Yeah. It really is. And if you, but that's the thing is if you look for the negative, that's what you're going to see, you know, you don't start seeing a bunch of red F one fifties until you decide you want to buy a red F one 50. Right. And then you see them everywhere. Right. Right. Right. So

01:12:01
you see what you look for. if you start looking for the positive,  instead of looking for the negative, it will start showing up for you. Yeah, it really does. um What is it called? uh

01:12:16
When you speak it into existence, that's a real thing. We as human beings, we don't realize this, but we are super, super powerful. What does it say? Thoughts become things? Make sure they're good thoughts. Right, absolutely. We are controlled by our mind a lot of the times, but...

01:12:46
No, you can control your mind. you can, uh you really can. Like speak it into existence.  You know what I'm saying? Like  tell yourself in the mirror every day that you love yourself.  If you do that every day,  six months  from that day, I'm telling you, you're gonna  be in love with yourself.  You are gonna appreciate yourself. um Gosh, I think it was, uh what's the chick with the

01:13:16
white wig that covers her eyes. See ya? Yeah, see ya. She does a lot of mirror work. I've listened to a couple of podcasts and things that she has been on. And she's really big into that. Look yourself in the eye every day. If you want to become a doctor, tell yourself, we're going to become a doctor and we're going to make it happen. We're going to become a doctor. We're going to make it happen. I'm telling you, man, your subconscious,

01:13:46
You rewire your brain, rewire yourself and you speak it into existence. It's not like an affirmation. I kind of want to think of that word, but you speak it into existence, And it really, I'm really big. Like when you said, you speak positivity, positive things are going to happen. That's a real thing. We all as humans have superpowers and we can control.

01:14:16
our brain and  make all of that stuff happen for real. We just got to suck it up sometimes.  Like you said, you spent a couple of days mourning that job,  but you sucked it up  and you figured it out  and it's challenging. Life is going to be challenging. Nobody said it's going be easy. If it were easy, you wouldn't learn any lessons  and you wouldn't  be able to appreciate.

01:14:45
ah As much yeah, you know if everything is just given to you, you know, you're not you know You're not you're not as good  of a human being  you haven't been put through the ringer, you know um But  you haven't fallen down to learn to get back up, right?  it's just to pick to grow that strength of being able to Stumble and fall and get back up and to learn that confidence and to learn that no I can do this  if it happens again

01:15:14
You know,  but that challenge, you know, we all,  we all need  that in our lives. We don't need to be, you know,  babied and like handed everything in life, know, uh fed  silver spoon or whatnot.  You know,  we, need to be challenged, you know, and that's where we're going to get fulfillment, you know, is learning, uh learning that inner strength.

01:15:44
All right, Jody, this third segment of the show now it's time for the  Fast Five. The Fast Five is time now for the Fast Five. Fast Five, sorry. All right, so these are five questions.  Yeah, five questions,  random,  no real purpose or thought behind the questions, but for you, just first thing comes to the top of your mind, no wrong answers. this. like this. All right, you ready? Of course. Question number one.

01:16:15
What's the most sentimental souvenir you have brought back with you from a trip?

01:16:24
Okay, the first year we went to Disney World um We  we spent a lot of time looking for a Christmas ornament hmm  Both for us  as well as a friend that wanted a specific Disney ornament that we had to get  But  we came back with  an amazing  Disney World ornament  that  was actually broken by my son a year later

01:16:54
but we still have the broken ornament. ah But that probably ah is on up there as one of the most sentimental ah things that we've brought back from a trip just because we still have a broken ornament at the house that doesn't get put up. That's just in a curio cabinet that lives there.  Just broken. It's just broken. Yeah. What was the  ornament?  It was a glass.  You know how the Mickey figure, you you've got the two ears and the...

01:17:23
So it was a uh 3D glass  Mickey head with no nose or anything, just like the three circles. And then it had the Magic Kingdom on the inside and it said Walt Disney World on it.  And now we've got this jagged,  dangerous  glass  thing living at my house just because I don't want to throw it away. This also goes to like  all the coffee cups that my kids have ever given me that get broken. I still got them. I'm not throwing those things away ever.

01:17:50
They  are like trophies for me up in my office. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. I love that. Question number two.  You're a grill man. Okay. Burger or hot dog? Oh, burger all day. Yeah. Burger all day. Now a lot of folks mess up  by continuing to go up, you know,  of the burger because you can only fit so much in your mouth, right?  Yeah. So

01:18:19
I will, if you're going to make a good burger, you can't make it too tall. Okay. Because, uh, you know, you to only opens, Right. Right. Right. You're not a boa constrictor or whatever. You don't have, you can't unhinge it and keep going. Now I love a good glizzy.  Um, I'm a, I'm a glizzy gobbler at heart.  Um,  but,  uh, yeah, man, I love a good hamburger and a cheeseburger is my son Max's  favorite food.  He loves cheeseburgers. What's your go to  burger?

01:18:49
Topping wise. Pepper jelly. What? Pepper jelly and cream cheese. On a burger. On a burger. just it. My adventure with this started at the Laughing Skull bar in Atlanta. Up there in Five Points. That's right. They have a burger there that's just a regular cheeseburger with bacon, but they put pepper jelly on one bun and they put cream cheese on the other bun.

01:19:16
And I'm telling you, the sweet and savoriness of that just gets me going, man. And right now, Ironwood Tavern has a jalapeno pepper jelly burger with cream cheese, and it's off the chain. But no, so like, everybody, every time I tell somebody that, you know, they I can get it. They are blown. They're like, no way. Like that's your favorite burger topping. I mean, bacon, of course. But you throw that.

01:19:43
uh Kind of a spicy pepper jelly and cream cheese on it.  Telling you son with the the greasiness of the burger and the cheese and the bacon Yeah, it just works for me. Okay. I like that. I like that. Yeah, there is a You know this place here in town Reinhardt's. Yes  their burger. Okay  I'm pretty sure they make those burger buns. I say I think they make their own buns there right, but if you go to go to Reinhardt's  Give them to put the R &R spread

01:20:12
instead of cheese  on your burger. If you've not had it yet.  It's a cream cheese based spread oh that they put on like their French dip or whatever it is. So it's not normally on the burger.  maybe you just have to ask for a side of it, smear it on yourself. That is one of my favorite burgers. If I go to Reinhardt's and I get a burger, I'm gonna be putting that R &R spread on there. It is so good. Not a lot of people  even know how good their burger is.

01:20:39
is at Reinhardt's because, of course you go to Reinhardt's to get seafood. Right, get Spice Bowl. Spice Bowl shrimp.  But  Rob and Esha, uh my wife actually worked  at Reinhardt's for eight years.  Wow. She opened the one on Bel Air Road in Clemme County. Wow. And worked there. And if you go there,  look for my name on the wall.  I did not write it on the wall. My wife  has plastered.

01:21:04
Becky and Jodi and all of this other lovey-dovey stuff all over the walls up there. And I can't tell you how many times I get like phone calls or text messages or Instagram DMs of people saying, are you on the wall at this seafood restaurant  off of Belly Road? And I'm like, yep, yep, that's me. says  Becky and Jodi, doesn't it? And they were like, yeah, it does. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, my wife worked there for eight years. And I went there,  man.

01:21:31
every day for lunch for probably two or three years just to go see her.  When I first started in radio, this is when I was in high school at  WRXR down in 13th floor Lamar building.  When it used to be down there, we had Barney Bucks. That's when it was on the original location and we had the little purple gift cards. That was one of my first radio freebies was the- That was Barney Bucks. Went there with Barney Bucks to  get some food at Reinhardt's on Washington road.  Thing about-

01:22:00
the one on Bel Air that surprised me.  As soon as it opened, it had just as much stuff on the walls as the one on Washington Road did. It was amazing. It was like it's brand new, but it looked like it'd been there for four years. That's wild. That's wild. I love that. All right, question number three.

01:22:18
If you could learn any language fluently, what would it be? Mandarin. Mandarin, because my mother-in-law speaks Mandarin. Oh, wow. She is Chinese. She's Taiwanese, excuse me, Mary. But she speaks fluent Mandarin, and I would love to be able to communicate with her and not let my wife or my sister-in-laws know that we're talking about.

01:22:46
I would love to be able to like speak behind their backs, right in front of their faces. ah I know a little bit, ah but no, uh definitely Mandarin without a doubt.  And then Spanish is second to that just because it's just such,  it's so highly needed  around here, especially. Yeah. I love that. I love that. Question number four. oh

01:23:10
What was the last book you read?

01:23:16
Um,  it was a,  I don't know the name of it, but it was written by Truett Cathy,  the,  um, the originator of Chick-fil-A and

01:23:32
think it was titled, You Only Get One Chance At A First Impression. I think. But that is ultimately what I learned from it, was that you only, in life, you only get one chance at a first impression. So always be ready. Always be prepared. Always be on your toes. Always look your best. Because you never know.

01:24:01
who you run into at the grocery store or who  you see  out and about  that could start  an  amazing relationship and then start  something amazing in your life.  But yeah, shout out to it, Kathy. Rest in peace. um I got to meet him. actually worked for Chick-fil-A  for three years.  I was um a manager at the one in the Augusta Mall um during high school.

01:24:31
And I got to meet Mr. Truett Cathy, amazing human being. But that is one thing that I learned from him that I have taken all of my life and that I want to teach my kids is that you only have one chance at a first impression. You can make up for it, but how awesome would it be to have a good first impression with everybody and everything, right? I love that. love that. And question number five.

01:25:02
What is your theme song and why?

01:25:09
So  you're asking me at a different time in my life.  It would probably be different every five years, but right now it's no fear. ah

01:25:25
I listen, my son introduced this song to me.  He listened to it  at,  um,

01:25:33
Because when we go to church,  he goes to kids church  and we go to adult church  and the kids all meet. he  introduced this song to us  because we always, right when we get the truck, we ask them what they talk about. And we  tell them what we talked about and how it relates to our life.  And  he heard this song  once.

01:25:58
And he knew all the words. He could sing it. He said, I heard this new song called No Fear. And I'm gonna, I want to tell the folks who sings it, because I want them to look it up. But No Fear. But he was able to sing all of the, all of, it's John Reddick right now is who is the version that I like. I'm sure that there's a lot of different versions out there. But Mr. John Reddick sings No Fear.

01:26:28
um You know, and it  talks about,  you know...

01:26:35
how the power of God  and believing in Him  and  you  should have no fear  about life because  He  rose up from the grave.  He showed us that you can beat death.  You shouldn't have any fear if you believe in Him. ah You're not going to have any fear because there's nothing to fear.

01:27:04
because he's always got you. Right? So right now in my season of life, it is No Fear by Mr. John Reddick. And I encourage you to listen to this song because it's such a good song. It's such a good reminder. I shared it on my Facebook page the other day. And I don't know if it would, if I would have told you this, you know, a couple, two or three weeks ago that that was my theme song, but it is definitely my theme song.

01:27:33
because that's how I'm living right now,  I'm not worried about the future.  I know it's going to be amazing.  can't wait to look. I've been telling a lot of friends have been reaching out and ah in quotations, chicken up on me uh after my big move. um But I can't wait  for December to look back  at 2026 and be like, you know what?  We did it.

01:28:01
You know,  you know, look how far we've come,  you know, or, but, you know, it's, ah but I know,  you know, I know God's got me and I know that, you know, I've, I've given up  my life. I've, you know, I'm  fully committed, um you know, to not serving the flesh, to not,  you know, trying to do what I want to do anymore.  You know, I've given that all up, you know, I'm,

01:28:32
I've fully given it up to him. He's walking for me. He's talking for me. He's putting the people in my life that I need to.  And  I see the signs every day. I got done ah with the meeting with my good buddy Nick Bloom  and No Fear was on the radio right when I cranked up my truck. that was  right before I went to my next meeting to where I had no fear during that meeting  and  everything happened the way it was supposed to.

01:29:02
Yeah. And  I went  to  Belk. No, I went to Coles, not Belk. I wanted to go to Belk, but I chose  to go to Coles  after that 15 minute push  from Nick Bloom.  And the 15 minute push put me a shorter time in my next meeting.  And then I ran into  a really good pastor friend of mine in Coles  that I needed to see. Yeah.

01:29:31
And you know, I had no fear because it was supposed to happen. was supposed to  run into him and  touch tips of our phones and exchange  phone numbers  and,  um, and everything just happens, happens for a reason, man.  Like I don't have a fear. know whatever I'm supposed to do, it's, it's going to happen. So yeah, no fear.  it. I love it. Well, that's our fast five.

01:29:58
Woo. And that's the show. That's the fast five. That's it, Jody. Thank you so much for being here, buddy. Thank you. Thank you, Big Rob. I know it's, uh, gosh, it's been what, like you've been  trying to get me to come on for like a year or so. Maybe I feel like.  Happen when it needed to happen. Right? You know, happen when it needed to happen. Right? Yeah.  Uh,  I'm actually going to go get the kids now. Awesome. Because I get to go get the kids now. Absolutely. You know.

01:30:23
If folks want to keep in touch with you and keep up with your journey and everything you got going on, what's the best way they can do that? Right. You guys can follow me and all social media at bbqdadjody or at two bros catering  on Facebook and Instagram. That's  two T W O bros  catering. Uh, you can also email me,  uh, bbqdadjody at gmail.com.  Um, I'm open book.  Uh, I don't mind talking.

01:31:01
for If I could help you in some way, man, I want to. So please reach out to me. But make sure you follow me on social media. There you go. BbqDadJody. If he's watching your videos, watch them all the way through, y'all. No kidding. Don't stop. If you stop in middle of it, that makes me look bad.

01:31:20
And that's technically negative in the social media world. So make sure you watch the video all the way through. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Well, Joey and I... And hey, Rob, make sure they follow you, right? Yeah. Yep. Yep. They're trying to. They're trying to. And I appreciate it. I appreciate everyone that does.

01:31:36
But, Jodie, thank you again for being here, man. I love you and I love everything you got coming for you. And I'm excited about what this year has in store for you as well. Yeah. If there's anything I can do for you, you gotta do is reach out, buddy. Hey, I'm probably gonna need a nice voice actor. You will? You know what I'm saying? I'm here. Me and microphone. We're here. Yeah. Now, but thank you for welcoming into your beautiful home and for having me on again, continuing to, hey, Jodie, come on. Fill out that form I you so we can get you on the show. the DT's possible. No, no. That's amazing.

01:32:06
That actually helped me. um Because of that,  I made a uh Google form  for my catering business to help with the back and forth  that I've been having. uh Because again, if somebody calls me or texts me, hey, are you available for my wedding? It's normally just like, yes.  And then they hit me back, well, what kind of food do you have? And then it starts this back and forth. So  because of  that form that you made, I made a form.

01:32:36
to hopefully make it easier for folks to kind of give me an idea of what they want. That way I can come back,  you know, and reduce the back and forth, you know, that is uh when you're trying to plan, you know, an amazing event for somebody and that you want to get it right,  you know, hopefully prevent a lot of that back and forth and just like nailing it down a little bit quicker. Well, Well, I hope that works out for you. And  here's a word for you. I don't know if it's a real thing or if I just made this up. Copyright Rob,  barbecueterie boards. Oh, just saying.

01:33:06
I like that. I'm just saying.  Hey, no, I'm  with you saying that I'm actually gonna invent the uh CVD  charcuterie board.  So  my wife and I just recently got back from Atlanta,  America's Mart,  you know, and that's like a buyer's market for a lot of different brands, a lot of different things.  we've...

01:33:29
There are a lot of CBD things out there, right?  And a lot of those things can all go together on a cutting board.  And like,  you could take it to a party  and  it's legal  and you can have your little party right there. So I think  that's gonna be one of the offerings  from Two Bros is gonna be like a CBD charcuterie board because you they've got the gummies, they've got the lollipops,  they've got, uh I'm telling you, they've got the infused

01:33:59
I mean, they've got a lot of, they've got the spreads. So, you know, my wife and I were like, I said it out loud and she looked at me and she was like, oh my God, that can totally be a thing. And people would want to bring that to a party, you know? So we're, you know, we're, we're in the middle of trying to invent the, or package the CBD charcuterie board. Well, you heard it here first. That's right. Chewing the fat with Big Robb. That's right. That's right. Thank

01:34:29
you again buddy. No thank you. I really do appreciate it. You've been a blessing.  Thank you.  Absolutely.  And if you would like to support this podcast I certainly would appreciate it if you buy me a coffee at ChewingTheFatBR.com but until next time  I look forward to the chance we have to sit a spell and chew the fat.