October 20, 2020 • 30 mins
My next guest, Pitmaster Rodney Scott, has been cooking whole-hog barbecue over wood coals since the age of 11. Rodney is featured in Netflix’s acclaimed “Chef’s Table” series, and it is barbecue-themed this season. In 2019, Rodney Scott opened his second location in Birmingham, AL, bringing whole-hog, South Carolina-style barbecue, and his famous vinegar-based “Rodney’s Sauce” to another part of the South. Rodney Scott’s BBQ pit-cooks ribs, chicken, and turkey and offers classic side dishes such as collard greens, coleslaw, and “Ella’s banana pudding,” honoring Rodney’s mother. In 2021, another outpost of Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ is set to open in the historic West End of Atlanta, GA, with another in Birmingham, AL. It is due to open later that year. He is all about the Whole Hog BBQ. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Rodney Scott.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to money making Conversations. I'm your host, Rashan McDonald.
I guess, I guess we all have to have different
definitions of success we do. For some it's a post
sizeable paycheck. Mine is helping people wake up and inspiring
them to accomplish their goals and live their very best life.
These are my passion. That's what I'm going to do
for you. I want you to stop tripping over small
challenges and prepare to rise above the bigger obstacles that
(00:22):
life will present to you. My next guest, pit Master
Rodney Scott, has been cooking whole hog barbecue over with
cold since the age of eleven. Rodney is featuring the
Netflix acclaimed Chef Table series. It is barbecue theme this season.
In twin and nineteen, Rodney Scott opened his second location
in Birmingham, Alabama, The Ham. That's right, The Ham, bringing
a whole hog South Carolina style barbecue and his fame
(00:45):
famous vinegar based Rodney sauce to another part of the South.
Rodney Scott's Barbecue, Pitts, rib cooks, ribs, chicken, turkey, and
other classics like colle Grees, cod slaw Ella's Banana putting
honor Rodney his mother. In one another outpost of Rodney Scott,
Whole Hall Barbecue is set the opening historic West End
(01:06):
of Atlanta, Georgia. You know, I can't wait. That's why
I'm based with another in Birmingham Hes going back to
the Ham he just loved. The Ham is due to
open later that year. He is all about the Whole
Hall Barbecue. Please working the money making conversations, my man,
Rodney Scott, Hello, Hello, than to say about you, brother,
(01:26):
lots to say about you, man and my son. So
you know, I'm a fan of just food. I'm a foodie.
I'm blessed to become proclaimed that's an award winning baker.
So and every time I look at food or desserts,
especially cooking. And I'm born and raised in Houston, Texas.
So i know Bobby Que Bobby jar in fact, my nephew.
(01:50):
He has a He has an award winning barbecue stand
in Houston, Texas. He cooks for the for the Houston
Texas on the weekend. He wanted the top box in
the Houston, Texas. So so you know, when when it
comes to Bible, he makes his own sausage and everything.
So so he's a military veteran from the Army, So
I'm so proud of what he's a competent. In fact,
he called me like a few minutes before this interview started,
(02:11):
and I felt that it was it was it was ironic.
He called me right before I was about to start
this interview with you. So I saw the the Netflix
special that's where That's why I became in love with
the brand of Rodney Scott. So what is the brand
of Roddney Scott before we get started from your point
of view? Uh, first of all, hello to everybody out there.
(02:33):
Every day is a good day, regardless of where you are. Um,
you know the Riding Scott brand it started. It's basically
whole hog cooking, which is over hot coals and and
it's where we burned our wood down. We turned in
the hot coals. We take the hot coals and put
it under the hog and we cook it for anywhere
from eight to twelve hours, usually around twelve hours. And uh,
(02:55):
it's it's the whole brand is about bringing people together,
the inspiring people, you know, through food and music. I'm
a music clever. I gotta admit, love me some music. Now,
with that being said, when I when I watched these
different barbecue shows, you know, it seems like you guys
don't do much to the meat for to be great,
(03:16):
you know, because I was looking about the house man
barbecue seems so complicated at my house. But when I
watch your TV, Rodney, just put that child, Just put
put the rub on it, put the vendegle on it. Uh,
smoke it, and you're done. And then everybody and then
it just falls apart. Maybe because I'm not doing the
eight to twelve hours sessions. I'm trying to cook mine
in two hours, is what's causing the difficult problems. Obviously
(03:41):
create a little problem on the side of the proteins.
Depending on the side, you definitely want to cook it
a little while. Um, you know you run the different things, uh,
the way that we do it at home. We we
do sprinkle our rub on and and and put put
our ribs on for example, but you know we don't
go as hot and we're trying not to go as fast.
About three and a half four hours on those ribs
just an example. You know, some of the mistakes that
(04:03):
people tend to make when when they sometimes are cooking,
you know at home, but then talk to me. Talk
to me right there, you're talking to me. Come on,
you can personalize and this is your problem. So so
here's what you do. You have fun with you keep
that confidence that you start out with, and you have
fun with it. You know, don't be afraid to make
that mistake. So don't don't rush it. Enjoy it. Smell
(04:24):
of flowers while you're moving along, you know, don't have
a drink or to enjoy yourself while you're doing it.
That'll make it a lot easier than having a pressure
on what it's gonna taste like when it's done. Now,
this isn't a big difference because I'm just Uh, let's
talk about the Netflix series. What I saw you on? Now,
how did that happen? And how were you chosen? Wow?
(04:46):
You know, I think we're chosen by word of mouth. Um.
One of one of my co workers that was with
us the day that I met the guys, I was exhausted.
I was out in California cooking. I was exhausted, didn't
really remember a lot. And uh, we spoke to some
guys and you know, I'm my usual self talking and
and later on she mentioned to me, she said, you
(05:07):
know that those guys are connected with Netflix. I'm like,
oh wow, man, I'm excited to hear that. And uh,
I think it was word of mouth that said that
I was easy to work with and they wanted to
do something. I'm like, really sure, And before you know what,
I got the call Netflix was coming in and like, yeah,
(05:27):
how long did they follow you? How long? What was
the time when it was several days a day, a
couple of weeks to do that whole special, put it
all together that they could gather, to shoot the content
and the back story, to pull that pull that episode off,
To pull that episode off, it took us a total
of two weeks. Um. It was two weeks hard work.
(05:48):
It was a lot of fun. Oh man, those guys
were so much fun to work with. Um. It was
interesting to tell the story of barbecue, something that's so
important to the South. It was it felt good for
me to be able to tell that story through chef's
table and and to let the world see that barbecue
is is something more than just thinks some people do
in their backyard, you know, to be to be on
(06:10):
the same level it's fine dining, to be mentioned on
that same level, man, that is huge, huge, and it
felt good taping with these guys to tell that story
what you're doing the world and not. And I can
tell it's one thing about me I would like I
said earlier. I'm born and raised in Houston, Texas, where
you know, I grew up in a black neighborhood. So
barbecue is kind of like a writer passage, you know, barbecue.
(06:33):
When you're good barbecue, you really are the king of
the neighborhood, you king of the family. You know, you
you you have a certain honor. You know. You know
he can cook because everybody can. I cook barbecue because
they you know. So tell me this, Rodney, what what
makes a good because you kind of talk about a
little bit earlier, what makes a good barbecue person? And
(06:54):
what makes a person like me who shouldn't be even
near barbecue because I'm impatient. I wanted I want to
I want to took it like a burger. You know,
I want my ribs done like a burger. Yeah, I
know that impatience. So what what what makes a good
barbecue person is? First of all, like I said, have
fun with and try to enjoy it, you know, trying
not to carry any pressures going in and you definitely
(07:15):
want to make sure that your timing is right. You
gotta have some patience when you're doing it as well. Um,
when you tend to rush it, it's gonna either be
undercooked or it's gonna just be tough and you won't
enjoy it. So you want to you want to have
some patience and have some fun and and and make
sure you got a flavor that fits your palette that
you really really like and just show it. Man, just
take your time and do it, because you know you're
(07:37):
in the story. You're going and you've got the little cold,
a little black holes you can get and then I
see the wool, you know, talking about the hickory and
and a different different flavors that come if you want
to smoke it. Because I got it all. I got
the egg. You know I got that because my dad
when he was growing up, he get the barrel and
cut it out and then cut in half. You know
that was my dad. Then you know I'm fast. I
(07:57):
got a little money, so I got the egg and
all that. So I got the two the bibe que.
I just don't have the patience the biby que and
so so does it make a different big difference, Like
when I watched watching your TV. It's just it's just
so dramatic that you know, you're in this room with
all these pits and all these hogs. How many? How
many others can I call them ovens? Uh? What do
(08:19):
you call those things that you cook? The whole hogs?
And what do they call? I call them pits? You know,
some people call them smokers. You know, everybody has a
different terminology. But I call them pits. And uh. In
in our in our Charleston restaurant, we have five of
them that we use, and and five of them and
how much does how many hogs go on each pit?
(08:42):
And and uh, two hogs can fit in our Charleston
restaurant right now on each pit? And in our Birmingham
restaurants are our pits are not quite as big as
two hogs. So you can get about a hog, maybe
a hog in a half if you're lucky, on the
ones in Birmingham, and we have four down there. So
how many pounds are we looking at a hog? D
(09:05):
hundred seventy pounds average? Every now and again we may
get something around two pounds, you know. Yeah, that's a
lot of protein cooking at once, so we gotta have
patients and enjoy the ride. That's where the music comes in.
Absolutely and tell you so that our country I would
My dad man used to take me the country and
we you know, shoot a hall, you know, and we
(09:26):
come back and you know, we bring it back with
hog head cheese. We got the children's you know, we
got the ham. You know that hog when he can't
we pig feet. We did everything on that hall right
at that hallome that that hog didn't walk out that house.
You know what I'm saying. He walked in my house.
He was the knuckles were gone, the tails were gone,
the feet, the ham. Like I said, the chidlings. And
(09:50):
if anybody who's ever done chidlings at their house know
what I'm talking about. That house ain't nothing right to
go into Okay, it's not right, okay, because you gotta
go in there and clean out them in testas and
I'm intestines for great for real as they say, Hey,
come on, my man, right there, do you do your
chi list with white white rice? What do you eat?
(10:12):
Your doing the hot sauce? Oh man? We had the
lady that used to make it for us, Miss Margaret.
She used to throw down and presh chip links with
a little bit of gravy and onions and hot So
manro down, my good. See that's that's that's the country talk.
See Rody and I. If you're not ready for this,
I'm sorry you tune in on money make conversation. We
(10:35):
went deep on this because see when he didn't blink
what I said, we're cleaning the hogs in the bath tub.
He didn't blink, say because you know exactly that the intestines.
He knew exactly what I'm talking about. That's what you
gotta do. You just can't eat dirty intestines. You know
you can't do that thatwise you gonna get you ship.
You had to clean them. You clean them real good.
But then he turned around and said that's good eating.
(10:55):
So that's good and good eating. Right now, here's a
deal about this man. You know, you know you're the
first black chef to win the James Beard Award for
Best Chef in the Southeast and only the second barbecue
pit master to any chef a war from the foundation.
And that's what you were talking about earlier when you're
(11:15):
saying that, you know, the elevation of barbecue to that
as a fine dyning couisine. It's what you're talking about
as far as the pride factor. So let's talk about
the whole James Beard and how that works and how
you brought into the opportunity to to win Best Chef Southeast.
(11:36):
Well Man that the James Beard Award is prestigious award.
I mean for years, and the first time I went,
I was I went as a guest, and uh, I
thought it was the most amazing thing to see so
many people around food, and and when I came back
home to the country, the next thing that I thought
about was I would love to get up there one day.
But me being in a rural area at the time,
(11:58):
the only thought I had was, I'm gonna create a
mental James Beard Award. If I get a guest that
comes two and three times, that will be my pretend
walk across that stage. So it was always a dream
like that, you know, for me. And then it got
to the point where we opened the restaurant here in
Charleston in in two thousand and seventeen, and and and
then the next thing you know, we had a nomination
(12:19):
and I'm like, wow, how do you get nominated? Well,
to get nominated somebody has to mention it, and and
it goes before a committee of people that you don't know,
and you don't know who's watching you. So from the
first nomination, I felt not only proud, but I felt
the the obligation to deliver great food, to deliver consistent
(12:40):
food across the board every day until this announcement comes.
Then we made the finals, and I'm like, wow, we're
we're up here walking with us, walking with the big folks,
you know, to do the thing on the higher. Let's
dress up soon. So now it's time to go to
Chicago for the finals. And and you gotta get your touch, Cedo,
(13:01):
you gotta get yourself together. And you know, I was, man,
I was just happy to go and to hear your
name called with all of these great, great, great chefs
throughout the country, you know, and to be in a
rare group of one of the few minorities that's been
announced that year. It felt so amazing, Man, it was surreal.
(13:22):
I still can't believe it. And that was two thousand
and eighteen. That's yeah, I'll never forget man, May two
thousand and eighteen, and uh, I remember when they called
our category and they called my name. I didn't hear it.
And everybody on my road had to tell me to
get up. You know, my wife's my my my business partner,
(13:42):
my brother, Nick, Paul and Nicholas, all these guys they
always travel with me. These that's my family. And they
had to tell me get up, man, get up, you
want and you want what what? So that walked to
the stage was one of the most longest walks I've
ever taken. It was I was. It was unbelievable. I
was like, oh, please, don't wake up before you get
(14:04):
to the stage, because I thought I was dreaming. But man,
to to get up there and and to have that
metal put around your neck to be mentioned with, like
I said, some of the best chefs in the in
the United States, in the world. Just to be mentioned
on that level, man, was unbelievable. Well, first of all,
you look good and look good and tucked. Man, you
look at you dressed up nice man from that apron
(14:25):
and that T shirt. You look good. Billy read up
where they look at it just really good. Well, you
know that. The thing about I've been fortunate Rodney didn't
live in Houston, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago,
Chicago is a food lover's town. It is that city
right there is you walk in that city if you
(14:47):
want to get a good meal, I don't care if barbecue,
Mexican food, Italian food, of course, Pizza that's what it's
known for. Hot dog, that's what it's doing for. But
that's a food lover's town. And to the honor and
a food lover's town is even even more great and
they give win a award like that. So what did
that winning that award do for your brand? Though? Man?
(15:07):
Winning that award in ten got my brand not only
more recognition, but it brought us a lot more opportunity
to to to go and spread our love all over
the place. You know, we traveled throughout the United States
doing different events because people heard of us through the award.
We got a chance to let people see whole Hog cooking.
Even down in Houston, you know, we we we could
remember cooking and using a couple of halls and one
(15:30):
guy came up and asked me, was it dear because
they were so used to be but you know, yeah,
so just the Beard Award got us recognized to the
point where we were able to do our thing in
different parts of the United States and be recognized and
people knew what to expect and to be so respected
through our food when it's barbecue. You know, a lot
(15:52):
of people look at barbecue as a simple backyard thing.
But man, the Beard Award changed that whole outlook for
us because struck a lot of people's curiosity to say,
this is Beard Award winning barbecue. I have to go
and taste it. My man, I'm gonna tell you something.
You know. Uh, Now, how did the you know, were
the middle of the pandemic and COVID nateen and over
(16:13):
the divertly affect African American but more importantly, the country
shut down for almost two months and nobody saw that coming.
So how did it effect how you are doing business today?
And what's the recovery process for you in the future.
First of all, you know, the pandemic is it was
pretty pretty scary, man, it still is. And and the
(16:34):
first thing we did was we we tried to protect
our staff, our families, um and and we we we
started to communicate every day my PRG Restaurant Group. We
communicated every day on the phone with all the CDC
rules and everything that we can do. To adjust how
do we keep the public fed without putting them at risk.
And we we kept in communication following CDC rules. We
(16:57):
we created sanitation lists and rules. We held all of
our managers and everything obligated to making sure sanitation is
done hourly throughout the restaurant. And we we we had
a drive through at our Charleston restaurants, so when dining
rooms got shut down, we were able to serve food
through our din through our drive through to still feed
(17:18):
people that were still able to come out. And then
and the frontline workers and emergency workers that were out there,
they were still able to eat. So not only that
barbecue travels well, so you get us, you get an
opportunity to reheat a little bit without destroying the quality
of the food. So that helped a lot of families
and and and first responders. You know, we offered discounts
(17:42):
to to them so they can feed their families. Our
staff members that we weren't able to keep on staff,
we offered them a couple of hours a day to
come get food. So we just continue to work. We
we we we thought about our staff. We weren't out
to make money. We're out to just maintain the best
we can to protect our people. Well, and I'm so happy, tore.
(18:06):
I just wanted you to share that story because that's
part of you know, when you're entrepreneur, a lot of
people forget that you're human being too, and then you
have people who count on you, and then when they're
in the moment of distress, you know you're or stress,
you have to be there for them and then but
not leave them out there. And also your community, like
you said, all for discounts and things like that, and
(18:26):
but that's what that's what heard a lot of black businesses.
And you know, because you're the lead entrepreneur in this business,
we were not set up for the technology. We are
not generally set up for the drive throughs. And so
when the pandemic hit, it really affected UH minority businesses
overall because they were not They did such business, you know,
dying in business, that's how they made their money. Wasn't
(18:47):
ready for the curved side. I wasn't ready for those
elements of of change. But the thing that really affects
me is that when I saw your special on Netflix,
it was so human. Now we saw how the James
Beard affected your business. That that Netflix series the chef
table had to be on fire for your brand. Now
(19:08):
I'm tasting man. When you when you when you did
that story about you know, you were celebrating, uh, your
high school graduation, and that girl came over you said,
I don't know why you celebrating. All you're gonna do
is go down the street and chop a hall for
a living. And then your dad woke you up at midnight.
He told me. Right after that, I walked away from
(19:29):
her over to him and he said, you gotta be
at the pit that left it. And I'm like, what,
so you know it? It's all very very true, and
it was. It was it was. It was heartbreaking to
a teenager coming out of high school. You know what,
I can't have fun tonight. But you know, I never
(19:51):
I never forgot the moment I can take you to
the very spot. I stood what that girl said, what
she said to me, and I never let that escape
my mind because I knew that I'm on State A
and I'm gonna prove her wrong, right and and and
every day, not one day goes by, but I not
think back to that moment when she said, I don't
know why you ain't going nowhere and I'm like, it's
(20:11):
gonna go right on down the street and chop up
me for a living. That's all. You an't gonna be
at the meat chopper, That's all she was saying. And
then but when when you but but that was one
of the moments. That was several moments, and that when
you was out there with your son. It was just
several great emotional moments. When I because you know, because
they give you an option. You know what happens is
on Netflix, they do a trailer and I'm sitting up
(20:33):
there with my wife and because another person that told
me about the Chef Tables, you gotta watch Chef that
was really good. That's okay, cool. So the trailer came on.
I watched. Now they went through everybody and I went
riding this God, I said, man, I kinda this looks pretty.
So you was the first one I watched, and I
was like, my mouth was dropped. My mouth dropped. I went, wow, Wow,
(20:55):
I love this dude. I love him. He's he's on.
You know. It was just it was just your story
was compelling, your family aspect, your relationship with your dad,
your mom coming up, you know, getting news story in
no words, you didn't. This is what I like about you, right,
You didn't ask for any of this, but when the
opportunity presented itself, you went forward. Man. You were not
(21:17):
intimidated by opportunity. And a lot of people are like that.
And that's why I always tell people on this this show,
because the fact that a lot of you have to
walk through a lot of unknown to be successful. When
I say that, I mean they're no guarantees. And your
story is walking through a lot of unknowns to be
where we are today talking about your success. Correct, correct, correct, correct.
(21:38):
You know, a closed doll don't get fed. I'm some
of the find of that all the time, tell Nick
that all the time. A closed mouth don't get fed.
If you don't open up your mouth and say what
you want, that opportunity is not gonna be there for you.
You know, you're just gonna let it pass you by
if you don't, if you're not gonna you're not willing
to step out on faith and do your thing and
stay stay consistent and persistent. You know you can. It
(22:02):
can clip right by past you. And I refused to
let anything to slip past me. And you don't. Now
he's about to comment because I wanted to get the
comment on people's reaction to this chef table specialtis Arn
on Netflix after they saw it. What has been the reaction?
Out of this world the reaction, let me tell you
(22:23):
the It released at three am Eastern Standard Time on
September second, for thirty I think I had messages on
my phone. I had messages from Australia. I had messages
from uh Russia, ru Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and and
and everything on Instagram. The message requests, they've they've been
(22:47):
out of this world. And by the way, I'm not
ignoring the request. I'm trying to get to him. I'm
I'm trying, but it's been out of this world. Sales
at the restaurant line out the door. People have been
pushing so much love. They have been grown men and
women approached me with tears in their eyes and told
my story. You told my story. We're going to do
(23:09):
the same thing. Uh. Weird, weird calls at times, and
you don't know me, but I got your number from
such and such and I They would say the first name,
but they would just say how much the story touched
their lives. It's it's been unbelievable all the way around,
you know, business wise, personal wise, and and it inspired
(23:30):
so many people to come out and say that they're
having tough relationships with their families and they want to
do something about it. So it's it's been, it's been
over over the top, man, It's been absolutely great. I'm
enjoying every second of being able to see somebody and
say that you helped me, you change my life. I'm
gonna tell you, man, my father was a truck driver,
(23:52):
kind of like your father. You know, this way it's
gonna be. This is why I've been, This is the
way we've been doing. This way it's gonna be, and
this is where it's gonna be after I lead this
because that's where he sat the rules in place, and
so I just I'm gonna tell you, man, I I
watching the show and this just speaking honest. Is that? Uh?
I just Rodney Scott brand I fell in love with
(24:14):
the family man. I fell in love with the son.
I fell in love with the entrepreneur. I fell in
the the I don't give up spirit. I'm not afraid
to try something new. I'm not afraid to travel, I'm
not afraid to understand that God has something in store
for me, and when it comes to me, I'm gonna
(24:34):
be waiting and I'm gonna put the work in to
make sure it happens. That's what people saw in that story, man.
And it's just one of the great, great, um individual
moments of watching something on television. You're going, this is
great storytelling because they told your story right now, They
really did. Yeah, that that story of my life, man,
And and I just hope that everybody that watches it
(24:57):
learn from it and stay inspired by it. You know,
don't feel don't feel down because things are not happening
to you the way that you wanted to. You know,
your turns coming. Just sit tight now my turn is
coming because you're supposed to be coming to Atlanta here
with some Bob my brother tell us about the expansion
talk and uh, how's everything going down in the ham
and uh? And why is there a desire to expand
(25:18):
the brand? Man? The desire to expand the brands? In
the childhood dream? Um, I heard I heard T. D.
Jake say the Colonel have chicken and he got so
blessed and it spread all over the world. And I said,
we got hugs, and uh, the brand Man was was
the personal dream and uh Me and Nick we we
talked a lot about expansion and he asked me and
(25:40):
I told him, and Atlanta was one of the stops.
And I'm excited to come to Atlanta. I remember reading
about Atlanta in the eighties and the Everny magazine that
the city was growing so fast, and I was like, wow, man, Atlanta,
where is that? You know? And finally got an opportunity
to be a part of it. And I'm excited about Atlanta.
Birmingham as well. We're coming into Birmingham expanding that the
(26:02):
That place is just one of the most beautiful cities
I've ever seen. It's it's a city, but it feels
like a small town. You know, you still receive a
lot of love. You can feel a love in that area.
And and and I just I drive to Birmingham all
the time and not just for work, and I just
loved the area. Well, I gotta get you more, Bore
(26:22):
Ricky smile that Rickie spoiling country there Birmingham. That's big. Hey,
I gotta put him on the radio show. But we
get Spiler man, he probably don't know you in the hand.
I gotta I gotta hook this up, man, because my
own thing that is that is as a brand and
watching you grow as a as a business year James
Beard Award winner. You know your your barbecues outstanding. You're
(26:43):
expanding that. Tell us a little bit about your partner.
You mentioned his name several times, because he was really
key until you becoming a brand that you are today.
And how did that relationship come about? That relationship relationship
with my partner, my brother came about in two thousand
h I think it was ten nine or ten. We
met and uh, we're introduced by mutual friends and and
(27:05):
we we did an event together called the Smoke Dimmer
here in Charleston for Charleston Line and Food. And that
night we talked and I said, this dude's really funny man,
you know the great conversation. Seems to be a smart businessman.
And we just we we formed a relationship from the
first night that I did this event up until current day.
(27:25):
You know you're talking about this is my best man
at at my wedding. You know, this is the guy
if I need to talk to somebody, I can call
him up. And he mentioned these opportunities to me and
I'm like, Yeah, you know, dude, I know you. I've
seen your hard work, I've seen your efforts, I've seen
your success. And yeah, I guide me, show me, tell
(27:47):
me what you know, and I'll tell you what I know.
And together, man, we we we learned from each other constantly.
We listened to each other constantly. He shows me things,
I showed him things, and we're constantly talking and communicating.
He's been a very very big part on me opening
the first Rodney Scott here in Charleston, right right right
down the street. Well, you know, my whole thing is that, Um,
(28:10):
you're a pitt Master, You're keen pitt Master. If you
haven't seen the special on Netflix, it's called The Chef's Table. Um,
they have a trailer. They have a number of other
really good episodes, But I'm only here to talk about
Rodney Scott. That's the episode to change my my take
on what it means to Bobbecue. And I know a
lot of great bobbyca my boy Kevin Blood, so he's
(28:30):
my boy out of l A Lesse. Bobby got my
nephew down in Houston, Texas. He's a bad Bobbecue. But Rodney,
this guy, Neither one of them are James Beer an
award winning pit Masters. Okay, congratulations brother, and uh, you
know when you come to Atlanta, you know we're gonna
keep this relationship going and all that and everything. But again,
I just wanted to bring you on my show, My
(28:52):
Money Making Conversation, tell your story. We're gonna promote this
a lot and get the word out. Do you have
do you do you ship your meat or do you
shipping your food or it's everything just at the stores.
We're not shipping right now everything that the stores. We're
shipping our retail products were Um, we're shipping our sauces,
our T shirts, has our rubs, we're shipping those right now.
(29:14):
And uh, we're we have a book coming out spring one, Um,
Rodney Scott's World of Barbecue. Every Day is a good day.
Uh that's do. You can pre order that on Amazon
and uh we we we were excited to share what
we got with the world. Right now you have to
come and see us. But hey, we're working on you're
trying to put one in your back. When you know
(29:34):
you and your Australia man a Russian, they won't want
something besides a little T shirt there by, friend, But again, beget.
You always got me excited about that sauce because you
know your boy don't know nothing about no boques. So
at least I can start with that sauce and get
and that rub that you're selling down there and get
that right on my meat and we can get rollers
and dude, at least get that egg working right and
(29:55):
then then take my time. Take my time, Take my time. Yeah,
take your time on that egg. Take time track to
talk about halfway and get that baby at about two hundred.
There you go. I love talking to an expert. Rodday.
Thank you for calling Money Making Conversations. I appreciate hope
you enjoy the interview. Man, it's also talking to all mine,
all right, Thank you, Thank you, my brother. If you
want to hear more money Making Conversation interviews, please go
(30:17):
to money Making Conversation dot com. I'm with Sean McDonald.
I'm your host,
Welcome to money making Conversations. I'm your host, Rashan McDonald.
I guess, I guess we all have to have different
definitions of success we do. For some it's a post
sizeable paycheck. Mine is helping people wake up and inspiring
them to accomplish their goals and live their very best life.
These are my passion. That's what I'm going to do
for you. I want you to stop tripping over small
challenges and prepare to rise above the bigger obstacles that
(00:22):
life will present to you. My next guest, pit Master
Rodney Scott, has been cooking whole hog barbecue over with
cold since the age of eleven. Rodney is featuring the
Netflix acclaimed Chef Table series. It is barbecue theme this season.
In twin and nineteen, Rodney Scott opened his second location
in Birmingham, Alabama, The Ham. That's right, The Ham, bringing
a whole hog South Carolina style barbecue and his fame
(00:45):
famous vinegar based Rodney sauce to another part of the South.
Rodney Scott's Barbecue, Pitts, rib cooks, ribs, chicken, turkey, and
other classics like colle Grees, cod slaw Ella's Banana putting
honor Rodney his mother. In one another outpost of Rodney Scott,
Whole Hall Barbecue is set the opening historic West End
(01:06):
of Atlanta, Georgia. You know, I can't wait. That's why
I'm based with another in Birmingham Hes going back to
the Ham he just loved. The Ham is due to
open later that year. He is all about the Whole
Hall Barbecue. Please working the money making conversations, my man,
Rodney Scott, Hello, Hello, than to say about you, brother,
(01:26):
lots to say about you, man and my son. So
you know, I'm a fan of just food. I'm a foodie.
I'm blessed to become proclaimed that's an award winning baker.
So and every time I look at food or desserts,
especially cooking. And I'm born and raised in Houston, Texas.
So i know Bobby Que Bobby jar in fact, my nephew.
(01:50):
He has a He has an award winning barbecue stand
in Houston, Texas. He cooks for the for the Houston
Texas on the weekend. He wanted the top box in
the Houston, Texas. So so you know, when when it
comes to Bible, he makes his own sausage and everything.
So so he's a military veteran from the Army, So
I'm so proud of what he's a competent. In fact,
he called me like a few minutes before this interview started,
(02:11):
and I felt that it was it was it was ironic.
He called me right before I was about to start
this interview with you. So I saw the the Netflix
special that's where That's why I became in love with
the brand of Rodney Scott. So what is the brand
of Roddney Scott before we get started from your point
of view? Uh, first of all, hello to everybody out there.
(02:33):
Every day is a good day, regardless of where you are. Um,
you know the Riding Scott brand it started. It's basically
whole hog cooking, which is over hot coals and and
it's where we burned our wood down. We turned in
the hot coals. We take the hot coals and put
it under the hog and we cook it for anywhere
from eight to twelve hours, usually around twelve hours. And uh,
(02:55):
it's it's the whole brand is about bringing people together,
the inspiring people, you know, through food and music. I'm
a music clever. I gotta admit, love me some music. Now,
with that being said, when I when I watched these
different barbecue shows, you know, it seems like you guys
don't do much to the meat for to be great,
(03:16):
you know, because I was looking about the house man
barbecue seems so complicated at my house. But when I
watch your TV, Rodney, just put that child, Just put
put the rub on it, put the vendegle on it. Uh,
smoke it, and you're done. And then everybody and then
it just falls apart. Maybe because I'm not doing the
eight to twelve hours sessions. I'm trying to cook mine
in two hours, is what's causing the difficult problems. Obviously
(03:41):
create a little problem on the side of the proteins.
Depending on the side, you definitely want to cook it
a little while. Um, you know you run the different things, uh,
the way that we do it at home. We we
do sprinkle our rub on and and and put put
our ribs on for example, but you know we don't
go as hot and we're trying not to go as fast.
About three and a half four hours on those ribs
just an example. You know, some of the mistakes that
(04:03):
people tend to make when when they sometimes are cooking,
you know at home, but then talk to me. Talk
to me right there, you're talking to me. Come on,
you can personalize and this is your problem. So so
here's what you do. You have fun with you keep
that confidence that you start out with, and you have
fun with it. You know, don't be afraid to make
that mistake. So don't don't rush it. Enjoy it. Smell
(04:24):
of flowers while you're moving along, you know, don't have
a drink or to enjoy yourself while you're doing it.
That'll make it a lot easier than having a pressure
on what it's gonna taste like when it's done. Now,
this isn't a big difference because I'm just Uh, let's
talk about the Netflix series. What I saw you on? Now,
how did that happen? And how were you chosen? Wow?
(04:46):
You know, I think we're chosen by word of mouth. Um.
One of one of my co workers that was with
us the day that I met the guys, I was exhausted.
I was out in California cooking. I was exhausted, didn't
really remember a lot. And uh, we spoke to some
guys and you know, I'm my usual self talking and
and later on she mentioned to me, she said, you
(05:07):
know that those guys are connected with Netflix. I'm like,
oh wow, man, I'm excited to hear that. And uh,
I think it was word of mouth that said that
I was easy to work with and they wanted to
do something. I'm like, really sure, And before you know what,
I got the call Netflix was coming in and like, yeah,
(05:27):
how long did they follow you? How long? What was
the time when it was several days a day, a
couple of weeks to do that whole special, put it
all together that they could gather, to shoot the content
and the back story, to pull that pull that episode off,
To pull that episode off, it took us a total
of two weeks. Um. It was two weeks hard work.
(05:48):
It was a lot of fun. Oh man, those guys
were so much fun to work with. Um. It was
interesting to tell the story of barbecue, something that's so
important to the South. It was it felt good for
me to be able to tell that story through chef's
table and and to let the world see that barbecue
is is something more than just thinks some people do
in their backyard, you know, to be to be on
(06:10):
the same level it's fine dining, to be mentioned on
that same level, man, that is huge, huge, and it
felt good taping with these guys to tell that story
what you're doing the world and not. And I can
tell it's one thing about me I would like I
said earlier. I'm born and raised in Houston, Texas, where
you know, I grew up in a black neighborhood. So
barbecue is kind of like a writer passage, you know, barbecue.
(06:33):
When you're good barbecue, you really are the king of
the neighborhood, you king of the family. You know, you
you you have a certain honor. You know. You know
he can cook because everybody can. I cook barbecue because
they you know. So tell me this, Rodney, what what
makes a good because you kind of talk about a
little bit earlier, what makes a good barbecue person? And
(06:54):
what makes a person like me who shouldn't be even
near barbecue because I'm impatient. I wanted I want to
I want to took it like a burger. You know,
I want my ribs done like a burger. Yeah, I
know that impatience. So what what what makes a good
barbecue person is? First of all, like I said, have
fun with and try to enjoy it, you know, trying
not to carry any pressures going in and you definitely
(07:15):
want to make sure that your timing is right. You
gotta have some patience when you're doing it as well. Um,
when you tend to rush it, it's gonna either be
undercooked or it's gonna just be tough and you won't
enjoy it. So you want to you want to have
some patience and have some fun and and and make
sure you got a flavor that fits your palette that
you really really like and just show it. Man, just
take your time and do it, because you know you're
(07:37):
in the story. You're going and you've got the little cold,
a little black holes you can get and then I
see the wool, you know, talking about the hickory and
and a different different flavors that come if you want
to smoke it. Because I got it all. I got
the egg. You know I got that because my dad
when he was growing up, he get the barrel and
cut it out and then cut in half. You know
that was my dad. Then you know I'm fast. I
(07:57):
got a little money, so I got the egg and
all that. So I got the two the bibe que.
I just don't have the patience the biby que and
so so does it make a different big difference, Like
when I watched watching your TV. It's just it's just
so dramatic that you know, you're in this room with
all these pits and all these hogs. How many? How
many others can I call them ovens? Uh? What do
(08:19):
you call those things that you cook? The whole hogs?
And what do they call? I call them pits? You know,
some people call them smokers. You know, everybody has a
different terminology. But I call them pits. And uh. In
in our in our Charleston restaurant, we have five of
them that we use, and and five of them and
how much does how many hogs go on each pit?
(08:42):
And and uh, two hogs can fit in our Charleston
restaurant right now on each pit? And in our Birmingham
restaurants are our pits are not quite as big as
two hogs. So you can get about a hog, maybe
a hog in a half if you're lucky, on the
ones in Birmingham, and we have four down there. So
how many pounds are we looking at a hog? D
(09:05):
hundred seventy pounds average? Every now and again we may
get something around two pounds, you know. Yeah, that's a
lot of protein cooking at once, so we gotta have
patients and enjoy the ride. That's where the music comes in.
Absolutely and tell you so that our country I would
My dad man used to take me the country and
we you know, shoot a hall, you know, and we
(09:26):
come back and you know, we bring it back with
hog head cheese. We got the children's you know, we
got the ham. You know that hog when he can't
we pig feet. We did everything on that hall right
at that hallome that that hog didn't walk out that house.
You know what I'm saying. He walked in my house.
He was the knuckles were gone, the tails were gone,
the feet, the ham. Like I said, the chidlings. And
(09:50):
if anybody who's ever done chidlings at their house know
what I'm talking about. That house ain't nothing right to
go into Okay, it's not right, okay, because you gotta
go in there and clean out them in testas and
I'm intestines for great for real as they say, Hey,
come on, my man, right there, do you do your
chi list with white white rice? What do you eat?
(10:12):
Your doing the hot sauce? Oh man? We had the
lady that used to make it for us, Miss Margaret.
She used to throw down and presh chip links with
a little bit of gravy and onions and hot So
manro down, my good. See that's that's that's the country talk.
See Rody and I. If you're not ready for this,
I'm sorry you tune in on money make conversation. We
(10:35):
went deep on this because see when he didn't blink
what I said, we're cleaning the hogs in the bath tub.
He didn't blink, say because you know exactly that the intestines.
He knew exactly what I'm talking about. That's what you
gotta do. You just can't eat dirty intestines. You know
you can't do that thatwise you gonna get you ship.
You had to clean them. You clean them real good.
But then he turned around and said that's good eating.
(10:55):
So that's good and good eating. Right now, here's a
deal about this man. You know, you know you're the
first black chef to win the James Beard Award for
Best Chef in the Southeast and only the second barbecue
pit master to any chef a war from the foundation.
And that's what you were talking about earlier when you're
(11:15):
saying that, you know, the elevation of barbecue to that
as a fine dyning couisine. It's what you're talking about
as far as the pride factor. So let's talk about
the whole James Beard and how that works and how
you brought into the opportunity to to win Best Chef Southeast.
(11:36):
Well Man that the James Beard Award is prestigious award.
I mean for years, and the first time I went,
I was I went as a guest, and uh, I
thought it was the most amazing thing to see so
many people around food, and and when I came back
home to the country, the next thing that I thought
about was I would love to get up there one day.
But me being in a rural area at the time,
(11:58):
the only thought I had was, I'm gonna create a
mental James Beard Award. If I get a guest that
comes two and three times, that will be my pretend
walk across that stage. So it was always a dream
like that, you know, for me. And then it got
to the point where we opened the restaurant here in
Charleston in in two thousand and seventeen, and and and
then the next thing you know, we had a nomination
(12:19):
and I'm like, wow, how do you get nominated? Well,
to get nominated somebody has to mention it, and and
it goes before a committee of people that you don't know,
and you don't know who's watching you. So from the
first nomination, I felt not only proud, but I felt
the the obligation to deliver great food, to deliver consistent
(12:40):
food across the board every day until this announcement comes.
Then we made the finals, and I'm like, wow, we're
we're up here walking with us, walking with the big folks,
you know, to do the thing on the higher. Let's
dress up soon. So now it's time to go to
Chicago for the finals. And and you gotta get your touch, Cedo,
(13:01):
you gotta get yourself together. And you know, I was, man,
I was just happy to go and to hear your
name called with all of these great, great, great chefs
throughout the country, you know, and to be in a
rare group of one of the few minorities that's been
announced that year. It felt so amazing, Man, it was surreal.
(13:22):
I still can't believe it. And that was two thousand
and eighteen. That's yeah, I'll never forget man, May two
thousand and eighteen, and uh, I remember when they called
our category and they called my name. I didn't hear it.
And everybody on my road had to tell me to
get up. You know, my wife's my my my business partner,
(13:42):
my brother, Nick, Paul and Nicholas, all these guys they
always travel with me. These that's my family. And they
had to tell me get up, man, get up, you
want and you want what what? So that walked to
the stage was one of the most longest walks I've
ever taken. It was I was. It was unbelievable. I
was like, oh, please, don't wake up before you get
(14:04):
to the stage, because I thought I was dreaming. But man,
to to get up there and and to have that
metal put around your neck to be mentioned with, like
I said, some of the best chefs in the in
the United States, in the world. Just to be mentioned
on that level, man, was unbelievable. Well, first of all,
you look good and look good and tucked. Man, you
look at you dressed up nice man from that apron
(14:25):
and that T shirt. You look good. Billy read up
where they look at it just really good. Well, you
know that. The thing about I've been fortunate Rodney didn't
live in Houston, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago,
Chicago is a food lover's town. It is that city
right there is you walk in that city if you
(14:47):
want to get a good meal, I don't care if barbecue,
Mexican food, Italian food, of course, Pizza that's what it's
known for. Hot dog, that's what it's doing for. But
that's a food lover's town. And to the honor and
a food lover's town is even even more great and
they give win a award like that. So what did
that winning that award do for your brand? Though? Man?
(15:07):
Winning that award in ten got my brand not only
more recognition, but it brought us a lot more opportunity
to to to go and spread our love all over
the place. You know, we traveled throughout the United States
doing different events because people heard of us through the award.
We got a chance to let people see whole Hog cooking.
Even down in Houston, you know, we we we could
remember cooking and using a couple of halls and one
(15:30):
guy came up and asked me, was it dear because
they were so used to be but you know, yeah,
so just the Beard Award got us recognized to the
point where we were able to do our thing in
different parts of the United States and be recognized and
people knew what to expect and to be so respected
through our food when it's barbecue. You know, a lot
(15:52):
of people look at barbecue as a simple backyard thing.
But man, the Beard Award changed that whole outlook for
us because struck a lot of people's curiosity to say,
this is Beard Award winning barbecue. I have to go
and taste it. My man, I'm gonna tell you something.
You know. Uh, Now, how did the you know, were
the middle of the pandemic and COVID nateen and over
(16:13):
the divertly affect African American but more importantly, the country
shut down for almost two months and nobody saw that coming.
So how did it effect how you are doing business today?
And what's the recovery process for you in the future.
First of all, you know, the pandemic is it was
pretty pretty scary, man, it still is. And and the
(16:34):
first thing we did was we we tried to protect
our staff, our families, um and and we we we
started to communicate every day my PRG Restaurant Group. We
communicated every day on the phone with all the CDC
rules and everything that we can do. To adjust how
do we keep the public fed without putting them at risk.
And we we kept in communication following CDC rules. We
(16:57):
we created sanitation lists and rules. We held all of
our managers and everything obligated to making sure sanitation is
done hourly throughout the restaurant. And we we we had
a drive through at our Charleston restaurants, so when dining
rooms got shut down, we were able to serve food
through our din through our drive through to still feed
(17:18):
people that were still able to come out. And then
and the frontline workers and emergency workers that were out there,
they were still able to eat. So not only that
barbecue travels well, so you get us, you get an
opportunity to reheat a little bit without destroying the quality
of the food. So that helped a lot of families
and and and first responders. You know, we offered discounts
(17:42):
to to them so they can feed their families. Our
staff members that we weren't able to keep on staff,
we offered them a couple of hours a day to
come get food. So we just continue to work. We
we we we thought about our staff. We weren't out
to make money. We're out to just maintain the best
we can to protect our people. Well, and I'm so happy, tore.
(18:06):
I just wanted you to share that story because that's
part of you know, when you're entrepreneur, a lot of
people forget that you're human being too, and then you
have people who count on you, and then when they're
in the moment of distress, you know you're or stress,
you have to be there for them and then but
not leave them out there. And also your community, like
you said, all for discounts and things like that, and
(18:26):
but that's what that's what heard a lot of black businesses.
And you know, because you're the lead entrepreneur in this business,
we were not set up for the technology. We are
not generally set up for the drive throughs. And so
when the pandemic hit, it really affected UH minority businesses
overall because they were not They did such business, you know,
dying in business, that's how they made their money. Wasn't
(18:47):
ready for the curved side. I wasn't ready for those
elements of of change. But the thing that really affects
me is that when I saw your special on Netflix,
it was so human. Now we saw how the James
Beard affected your business. That that Netflix series the chef
table had to be on fire for your brand. Now
(19:08):
I'm tasting man. When you when you when you did
that story about you know, you were celebrating, uh, your
high school graduation, and that girl came over you said,
I don't know why you celebrating. All you're gonna do
is go down the street and chop a hall for
a living. And then your dad woke you up at midnight.
He told me. Right after that, I walked away from
(19:29):
her over to him and he said, you gotta be
at the pit that left it. And I'm like, what,
so you know it? It's all very very true, and
it was. It was it was. It was heartbreaking to
a teenager coming out of high school. You know what,
I can't have fun tonight. But you know, I never
(19:51):
I never forgot the moment I can take you to
the very spot. I stood what that girl said, what
she said to me, and I never let that escape
my mind because I knew that I'm on State A
and I'm gonna prove her wrong, right and and and
every day, not one day goes by, but I not
think back to that moment when she said, I don't
know why you ain't going nowhere and I'm like, it's
(20:11):
gonna go right on down the street and chop up
me for a living. That's all. You an't gonna be
at the meat chopper, That's all she was saying. And
then but when when you but but that was one
of the moments. That was several moments, and that when
you was out there with your son. It was just
several great emotional moments. When I because you know, because
they give you an option. You know what happens is
on Netflix, they do a trailer and I'm sitting up
(20:33):
there with my wife and because another person that told
me about the Chef Tables, you gotta watch Chef that
was really good. That's okay, cool. So the trailer came on.
I watched. Now they went through everybody and I went
riding this God, I said, man, I kinda this looks pretty.
So you was the first one I watched, and I
was like, my mouth was dropped. My mouth dropped. I went, wow, Wow,
(20:55):
I love this dude. I love him. He's he's on.
You know. It was just it was just your story
was compelling, your family aspect, your relationship with your dad,
your mom coming up, you know, getting news story in
no words, you didn't. This is what I like about you, right,
You didn't ask for any of this, but when the
opportunity presented itself, you went forward. Man. You were not
(21:17):
intimidated by opportunity. And a lot of people are like that.
And that's why I always tell people on this this show,
because the fact that a lot of you have to
walk through a lot of unknown to be successful. When
I say that, I mean they're no guarantees. And your
story is walking through a lot of unknowns to be
where we are today talking about your success. Correct, correct, correct, correct.
(21:38):
You know, a closed doll don't get fed. I'm some
of the find of that all the time, tell Nick
that all the time. A closed mouth don't get fed.
If you don't open up your mouth and say what
you want, that opportunity is not gonna be there for you.
You know, you're just gonna let it pass you by
if you don't, if you're not gonna you're not willing
to step out on faith and do your thing and
stay stay consistent and persistent. You know you can. It
(22:02):
can clip right by past you. And I refused to
let anything to slip past me. And you don't. Now
he's about to comment because I wanted to get the
comment on people's reaction to this chef table specialtis Arn
on Netflix after they saw it. What has been the reaction?
Out of this world the reaction, let me tell you
(22:23):
the It released at three am Eastern Standard Time on
September second, for thirty I think I had messages on
my phone. I had messages from Australia. I had messages
from uh Russia, ru Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and and
and everything on Instagram. The message requests, they've they've been
(22:47):
out of this world. And by the way, I'm not
ignoring the request. I'm trying to get to him. I'm
I'm trying, but it's been out of this world. Sales
at the restaurant line out the door. People have been
pushing so much love. They have been grown men and
women approached me with tears in their eyes and told
my story. You told my story. We're going to do
(23:09):
the same thing. Uh. Weird, weird calls at times, and
you don't know me, but I got your number from
such and such and I They would say the first name,
but they would just say how much the story touched
their lives. It's it's been unbelievable all the way around,
you know, business wise, personal wise, and and it inspired
(23:30):
so many people to come out and say that they're
having tough relationships with their families and they want to
do something about it. So it's it's been, it's been
over over the top, man, It's been absolutely great. I'm
enjoying every second of being able to see somebody and
say that you helped me, you change my life. I'm
gonna tell you, man, my father was a truck driver,
(23:52):
kind of like your father. You know, this way it's
gonna be. This is why I've been, This is the
way we've been doing. This way it's gonna be, and
this is where it's gonna be after I lead this
because that's where he sat the rules in place, and
so I just I'm gonna tell you, man, I I
watching the show and this just speaking honest. Is that? Uh?
I just Rodney Scott brand I fell in love with
(24:14):
the family man. I fell in love with the son.
I fell in love with the entrepreneur. I fell in
the the I don't give up spirit. I'm not afraid
to try something new. I'm not afraid to travel, I'm
not afraid to understand that God has something in store
for me, and when it comes to me, I'm gonna
(24:34):
be waiting and I'm gonna put the work in to
make sure it happens. That's what people saw in that story, man.
And it's just one of the great, great, um individual
moments of watching something on television. You're going, this is
great storytelling because they told your story right now, They
really did. Yeah, that that story of my life, man,
And and I just hope that everybody that watches it
(24:57):
learn from it and stay inspired by it. You know,
don't feel don't feel down because things are not happening
to you the way that you wanted to. You know,
your turns coming. Just sit tight now my turn is
coming because you're supposed to be coming to Atlanta here
with some Bob my brother tell us about the expansion
talk and uh, how's everything going down in the ham
and uh? And why is there a desire to expand
(25:18):
the brand? Man? The desire to expand the brands? In
the childhood dream? Um, I heard I heard T. D.
Jake say the Colonel have chicken and he got so
blessed and it spread all over the world. And I said,
we got hugs, and uh, the brand Man was was
the personal dream and uh Me and Nick we we
talked a lot about expansion and he asked me and
(25:40):
I told him, and Atlanta was one of the stops.
And I'm excited to come to Atlanta. I remember reading
about Atlanta in the eighties and the Everny magazine that
the city was growing so fast, and I was like, wow, man, Atlanta,
where is that? You know? And finally got an opportunity
to be a part of it. And I'm excited about Atlanta.
Birmingham as well. We're coming into Birmingham expanding that the
(26:02):
That place is just one of the most beautiful cities
I've ever seen. It's it's a city, but it feels
like a small town. You know, you still receive a
lot of love. You can feel a love in that area.
And and and I just I drive to Birmingham all
the time and not just for work, and I just
loved the area. Well, I gotta get you more, Bore
(26:22):
Ricky smile that Rickie spoiling country there Birmingham. That's big. Hey,
I gotta put him on the radio show. But we
get Spiler man, he probably don't know you in the hand.
I gotta I gotta hook this up, man, because my
own thing that is that is as a brand and
watching you grow as a as a business year James
Beard Award winner. You know your your barbecues outstanding. You're
(26:43):
expanding that. Tell us a little bit about your partner.
You mentioned his name several times, because he was really
key until you becoming a brand that you are today.
And how did that relationship come about? That relationship relationship
with my partner, my brother came about in two thousand
h I think it was ten nine or ten. We
met and uh, we're introduced by mutual friends and and
(27:05):
we we did an event together called the Smoke Dimmer
here in Charleston for Charleston Line and Food. And that
night we talked and I said, this dude's really funny man,
you know the great conversation. Seems to be a smart businessman.
And we just we we formed a relationship from the
first night that I did this event up until current day.
(27:25):
You know you're talking about this is my best man
at at my wedding. You know, this is the guy
if I need to talk to somebody, I can call
him up. And he mentioned these opportunities to me and
I'm like, Yeah, you know, dude, I know you. I've
seen your hard work, I've seen your efforts, I've seen
your success. And yeah, I guide me, show me, tell
(27:47):
me what you know, and I'll tell you what I know.
And together, man, we we we learned from each other constantly.
We listened to each other constantly. He shows me things,
I showed him things, and we're constantly talking and communicating.
He's been a very very big part on me opening
the first Rodney Scott here in Charleston, right right right
down the street. Well, you know, my whole thing is that, Um,
(28:10):
you're a pitt Master, You're keen pitt Master. If you
haven't seen the special on Netflix, it's called The Chef's Table. Um,
they have a trailer. They have a number of other
really good episodes, But I'm only here to talk about
Rodney Scott. That's the episode to change my my take
on what it means to Bobbecue. And I know a
lot of great bobbyca my boy Kevin Blood, so he's
(28:30):
my boy out of l A Lesse. Bobby got my
nephew down in Houston, Texas. He's a bad Bobbecue. But Rodney,
this guy, Neither one of them are James Beer an
award winning pit Masters. Okay, congratulations brother, and uh, you
know when you come to Atlanta, you know we're gonna
keep this relationship going and all that and everything. But again,
I just wanted to bring you on my show, My
(28:52):
Money Making Conversation, tell your story. We're gonna promote this
a lot and get the word out. Do you have
do you do you ship your meat or do you
shipping your food or it's everything just at the stores.
We're not shipping right now everything that the stores. We're
shipping our retail products were Um, we're shipping our sauces,
our T shirts, has our rubs, we're shipping those right now.
(29:14):
And uh, we're we have a book coming out spring one, Um,
Rodney Scott's World of Barbecue. Every Day is a good day.
Uh that's do. You can pre order that on Amazon
and uh we we we were excited to share what
we got with the world. Right now you have to
come and see us. But hey, we're working on you're
trying to put one in your back. When you know
(29:34):
you and your Australia man a Russian, they won't want
something besides a little T shirt there by, friend, But again, beget.
You always got me excited about that sauce because you
know your boy don't know nothing about no boques. So
at least I can start with that sauce and get
and that rub that you're selling down there and get
that right on my meat and we can get rollers
and dude, at least get that egg working right and
(29:55):
then then take my time. Take my time, Take my time. Yeah,
take your time on that egg. Take time track to
talk about halfway and get that baby at about two hundred.
There you go. I love talking to an expert. Rodday.
Thank you for calling Money Making Conversations. I appreciate hope
you enjoy the interview. Man, it's also talking to all mine,
all right, Thank you, Thank you, my brother. If you
want to hear more money Making Conversation interviews, please go
(30:17):
to money Making Conversation dot com. I'm with Sean McDonald.
I'm your host,
Host
Rushion McDonald
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