Sometimes when you are looking for an opportunity, it is just under your nose.
Take the barbecue, for example. Everyone talks about the love of Texas for this dish, and many can cite the names of places where you will find some of the best breasts and sausages in the world. After all, this is the zero point of good things.
But the quality of this meat can sometimes hide which makes the Texan barbecue so special.
Enter Javier Sánchez from Smithville. As a young man, Sanchez was looking for a career and success. Before, it was a little embarrassed to tell people what he was doing in life: working with his father, selling firewood. But a change of perspective led Sanchez to discover the secret of the success he aspired.
Daniel VaughnEditor -in -chief of Barbecue at Texas Monthly, has joined Standard with history. Listen to the interview above or read the transcription below.
This transcription has been modified for more clarity:
Texas Standard: So tell us a bit about Javier Sanchez and his quest for success. He was looking for a career in a very busy field and someone said to him: “Hey, guy. Think about what you do.
Daniel Vaughn: I mean, I think he was really looking for a career in something other than following his father’s footsteps as a firewood seller. He did not consider this work as important. He was really embarrassed until he really saw what his fuel did for a barbecue in Texas.
Standard Texas: So, what he was doing so far was shipping firewood to some of these barbecues, I suppose. But what he did not achieve is that some of these places were among the best barbecue icons in the country.
Vaughn: Yeah, well, I mean, the way his father directed the company essentially consisted of cutting the firewood and giving it to the people who sold it directly to the barbecues. What Javier said was, “Why wouldn’t I see if I can find some of these customers by myself?”
And it was then that he convinced Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue to start buying his wood, which led to Terry Blacks and Louie Mueller, 2m Smokehouse in San Antonio, Truth Barbeque in Houston… I want say, celebrities here.
Standard Texas: I mean, these are real celebrities.
Vaughn: I mean, he is the wood supplier of real stars. Three of the four barbecue restaurants in Texas Michelin stars Use Chief Firewood: Interstellar BBQ, Leroy and Lewis, and La Barbecue there in Austin.
Standard Texas: But it seems that he has also accelerated things a little. I mean, in a way he saw some potential here by having his own brand as a supplier of the stars, if you want.
Vaughn: Yes, he completely reshaped the business. It was just word of mouth.
And a few years ago, he realized that he had to really capitalize on the relations he had and on the names he provided and, you know, launched a YouTube channel highlighting these different restaurants, I obtained a real logo and a website Put together … Really, I completely changed the look of Chief Firewood. And in doing so, I really put it in the foreground.
Texas Standard: Chief Firewood is the name of the company. He invented this brand, this logo, this YouTube channel and everything, as well as a kind of online identity. But I am curious, there must be something good with this wood. What does he use?
Vaughn: Well, he uses well -dried oak wood. And so he gets most post oaks there, in the region, he says, within a radius of about 40 miles from Smithville.
And, you know, he season very well, which means that he lets him dry to a point where it is perfect for burning – perfect for burning in the combustion chamber of a quirky smoker. And so, you know, the fact that he really takes care to have the patience to make sure that this wood is perfect for burning before it is sent to the customer …
And then its delivery system is also really unique. He is not content to transport him by truck by large heap. It builds these cages which each contain half a quarter of wood and it simply deposits the cages-those which are full-and collects those empty and brings them back to fill them at the headquarters of the firewood.
Standard Texas: You know, help me, because I remember reading somewhere, perhaps ten years ago, that there was a very big decline in post-sucking trees in Texas.
Vaughn: Yeah, I mean, the post-chêne oak has really suffered from drought in Texas. And in doing so, you know, the root system of these trees would decline to the point where you would have these dead trees on foot. So they were-the trees themselves-were dead. The root system was dying, but they were still standing.
And now, for at least ten years, it’s really what Chief Firewood was going there and harvested-these dead trees on foot. Their population begins to decline. There are therefore still a lot of land to be cleared, by many promoters of the region, as well as by breeders and farmers. And it is there that they now obtain most of their supply.
Standard Texas: It looks like there is a lesson somewhere here because, you know, he didn’t want to do this to start – he didn’t want to be known as a cedar rib or something like that. But then he had the success and the ability to work with his family, thus creating his own business. What is the moral of this story, in your opinion?
Vaughn: Well, I think that morality is that, you know, he took time away from the family business, but it was this time that made him realize the potential of it. And, you know, how hard his father had worked to develop the company as it had been.
And I think that this free time allowed him to have a certain perspective and to really see this potential.