Today we’d like to introduce you to Les Rhodes.
Hi Les, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
It all started selling barbecue at my boys flag football games. The boys would play and there was no food there so I started cooking to provide food for our boys who had games at different times so we would be there all day. I popped up a canopy with some drinks, chips and barbecuing food. Then people started asking us if we were selling food so we started selling $12 sandwiches. We had no idea what we were doing, had no idea we had to have papers or anything through the city but we were bringing home money. Things I’m all very aware of on now that we’ve grown so much!
We started the business in 2019 and got the license and certs and then in 2020 we got a website and started doing things online like brisket, sausage, pulled pork, pork chops, chicken, merch. The holidays we would get a few sales here and there but it really was just a side hustle. My wife and I were still working our full time jobs, me at Rio Tinto and my wife was a full time nurse in Salt Lake City. We did caterings and a lot of pop ups at events at festivals, rodeos and outside breweries. It was a real hustle.
What really blew everything out of the water was during NBA All Start weekend when I was able to rub shoulders with these calebrtities while I was working as a security guard and I had printed a bunch of LES BBQ business cards and started handing them out to everyone there.
A month afterwards I was strolling through Sam’s Club with my wife picking up some meat and I had seen some oxtails and wondered what it would look like being smoked. I went back to Sam’s the next day and picked up about 3 packs of oxtails. My wife had worked through the night that night so when I started smoking them my wife was asleep. When I finished smoking them she was just getting up and I rushed her out of the bed to come take this video of these candy red oxtails on the smoker and that video went viral. I put oxtails online and it was over from there. Every platform exploded, our sales exploded and all the numbers kept climbing. I remembered celebrating 100,000 followers then we got to 200K then 300K and we just continued marketing them. This is really how the Oxtail King was born.
The history and the culture behind oxtails goes all the way back to slavery. No one had ever seen smoked oxtails and that’s why this item caught the attention of so many people in the South and all across the country. We were getting orders from everywhere.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
While I was working full time my days off were spent barbecueing and catering for other people. I would have to switch my days off and such to accomodate these catering gigs. When the catering jobs continued to pick up and the events I was popping up at I decided to quit my job at Rio Tinto (June 2022).
I can remember when my boys and I would go play catch, I would attend all of their games and when business started picking up it took up all of my time. I’ve missed a lot of time with my boys and my wife. A lot of my time was spent cooking and with the smokers and I’m grateful to finally be getting back to a point where I can have time with them again.
It definitely has not been a smooth road and the struggles along the way is learning how to run a business and being a new entrapeanuer. Growing pains would be scaling the company from the house into an actual commissary kitchen and taking one operation to multiple; catering, restaurant, e-commerce and events.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Having the eye to sell food. To be able to look at a plate and know what it should look like that would entice people to buy it. Creating content that captures attention and really keeping people engaged. Ensuring you always stay effective at inspiring and leading people.
I’m most known for being a hard worker and that’s what I’m proud of is to have a great work ethic and to be able to make anything happen.
What sets me apart – being a true part of the culture that I come from. You can’t buy culture, you got to have it. In Cuero, Texas everybody loves to eat and everybody has a taste for good flavor. Rain, sleet or snow, the pit gonna go.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My family, my wife Chanel & boys (4 sons) for always being there for me. For helping me out, participating and helping, supporting and believing in me. Everything I did they were there by my side helping. My wife would work all night as a nurse, come home and help sell plates with me while I cooked she would handle the orders and money.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lewsbbq.com
- Instagram: @lesbbqutah & @lesbbqsandwiches
- Facebook: Les Rhodes Jr
- Youtube: Les BBQ
