Automotive professional turned Grill Guy

• Posted on 24 January 2023
• By Skyler Spartan
• 0

How I went from automotive to BBQ

Having been into cars my whole life I never really figured I'd be doing something that wasn't car related, but here I am.
"But how'd that happen?" you might ask...

I always found myself attracted to things with wheels from a young age. In fact, I remember playing with my little Matchbox cars at my grandma's house as a young child. I was always able to entertain myself for hours with them. I was stoked when I was old enough to get a car of my own to toy around with. It just seemed to be destiny for me. I started by messing with my mom's car when I was 12, so I'm sure she was happy for me to tinker on my own car when I turned 15 and to leave her stuff alone! She never understood my fascination but realized that there were far worse things that I could be sinking my time and money into, so she accepted it.

My business partner, Charlie, has been a long time friend. We met in Kindergarten and became good friends by the time we were in 6th grade. In high school we used to run around like hooligans in our Mustangs, as teenagers do. In college we starting having cookouts with friends and just enjoyed having a generally good time with BBQ. I never really thought much of it, but I started grilling on a little tailgater sized Weber kettle when I was 12, so it was kind of became second nature to me.

I've always been something of an entrepreneur, starting car clubs, heading up car meets and other organized events throughout the years and I always thought I would enjoy owning my own business.

They say that if you do what you love then you'll never work a day in your life. I chased that dream.

After making a career for myself in automotive I quickly learned that as a technician I wasn't going to want to touch my own cars in my personal time and that sucked the joy out of it for me. I pivoted into other aspects of the industry and that carried my through until 2020 when I finally decided I needed something less stressful and slower paced so that I could keep my sanity.

I worked a traveling job for a while after leaving the security of my 9-5 in automotive which took me all over the USA and it was really neat to get to see all of those different places in such a short period of time, and it has also inspired me to do more traveling as well, only I want to take my bride with me for my future travels!

Ultimately, Charlie and I decided that we enjoyed the idea of being able to create a store with a laid back atmosphere where we could just talk BBQ with people and enjoy getting to know our customers while serving the community. At the time of our Grand Opening in September of 2021, Republic was the fastest growing town in Southwest Missouri, so it seemed like the perfect place to start. We plan to grow our business with RepMo as it expands, and with a little luck and a bunch of hard work we hope to earn your outdoor cooking business along the way. :)