From the Barracks to the BBQ: A Veteran’s Path to Flavorful Entrepreneurship

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Veterans Business Radio. Brought to you by ATL vets, providing the tools and support that help veteran owned businesses thrive. For more information, go to ATL vets. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Veterans Business Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today’s episode of Veterans Business Radio is brought to you by ATL vets, inspiring veterans to build their foundation of success to and empowering them to become the backbone of society after the inform. For more information go to ATL vets. Today on the show we have Jason Murff who is with Grill Your Ass Off. Welcome.

Jason Murff: Hey, thanks for having me on.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Grill Your Ass Off. How you serving, folks?

Jason Murff: Uh, yeah. So grow your ass off. Wasn’t ever anything that I planned on doing. But after being medically separated from the military and, you know, losing that passion and drive and having to make a hard career adjustment, it ended up blossoming into something that has greatly benefited me. And now, uh, is serving others. And this was something to wear whenever I was medically separated from the military. I ended up trying to go down the college route, and I started going to school to actually become a commercial airline pilot, and found out going from the infantry into flying a school bus in the sky was pretty boring and started mixing, uh, seasonings inside the garage. And next thing you know, were taking off. I’m dropping out of college and jumping in two feet with Grill Your Ass Off. Really? The the mission and the purpose with that was humor, because humor got got us through our darkest times of service and food. Food always brought us all together, which gives you our mission statement, which is continued camaraderie through good ass food.

Lee Kantor: So were you always kind of somebody who grilled or dabbled in the kitchen, at least.

Jason Murff: Just here and there? Um, you know, my family, we have a line of entrepreneurs in our family, and most of the time it was just making a quick snack meal or eating out because there wasn’t enough time to, you know, really cook at home. So I wasn’t ever a chef, didn’t go to culinary school or anything like that beforehand. I was a mechanic. I owned firework businesses and served inside the military. So, you know, owning a gourmet barbecue pro, um, business was not not on the roadmap.

Lee Kantor: But you were in Texas, so there’s a lot of barbecue and grilling happening.

Jason Murff: 100%, you know, being stationed in Washington, D.C. you really learn quickly coming from Texas, that there’s a severe lack of flavor up north.

Lee Kantor: And then what got you, like, how’d you kind of come up with that first rendition of a rub?

Jason Murff: So a lot of those first, the original four seasonings, which is our chicken, steak, pork and our Cajun seasoning came from really what I loved utilizing and kind of mixing together with multiple different seasonings growing up my whole entire life and then being stationed in D.C.. Friends and family would send up different seasonings up to me. And so with them sending that up my way. We actually had, you know, multiple different ideas of doing stuff and kind of looking at it and trying to replicate my own, but there was never any thought process or idea of like, hey, let me go start a seasoning company.

Lee Kantor: Right? But at some point, that thought did enter your brain.

Jason Murff: Yeah. And that was whenever I was going to college, so I was flying. I had just gotten my private pilot’s license. I was getting ready to start my instrument rating. And, uh, I was actually back home in Houston, um, and I was staying at my parents house for the weekend because I was doing a motocross race while I was in town. And, um, I was, you know, sitting down and having a drink with my dad. And we started going over, uh, you know, joking back and forth about different ideas. And he’s actually the one that came up with the name Grill Your Ass Off. And I kind of laughed at it and was like, yeah, well, I don’t know how well that name would do. Um, sat on it for just a little while, and then after, uh, having a few drinks, uh, one night I paid a guy 15 bucks on fiber and, uh, Venezuela to draw me a donkey on a grill, grilling its ass off, and that, uh, that pretty much sparked it from there forward. And, you know, the original ideas of the names of the products were calling the guys who I served with what most were still in to figure out, you know, like, what do we call our pork seasoning, what’s called infidel? What do we call ma deuce or steak seasoning. Let’s call it Mall Deuce, because it’s got the heaviest granulatus out of all of the original seasonings.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re going to do your first seasoning, like, was it just throwing things together, or did you have in your head like, okay, this is what I like. And let me see if I can replicate that in kind of a unique way. Like like what was kind of the. At some point you’re throwing spices together and, and tasting us. So what was that kind of experimentation like?

Jason Murff: Uh, a lot of it was just kind of going back on, you know, growing up, what did my dad always use that I liked? What did I start to use once I started doing more of the cooking that I liked, and then just kind of road mapping all of that together and then doing R&D. Like what? It’s so good in Montreal. Steak seasoning. How can I make that better? Um, and just picking apart what are the main winners from these, you know, very successful Seasonings. And then how can we make a spin on it to make it? And what my opinion is better.

Lee Kantor: And then at some point you’re like having to measure stuff and write it down like I need, you know, some pepper, I need some paprika. Like, I need an exact amount. Right? Like you’re in order to replicate this and have the same flavor each time for sure.

Jason Murff: And that’s what, thankfully, you know, coming straight out of the gate, we went and worked with the facility that, um, I had a mutual friend that I didn’t know at the time until we got into talking about it that was actually using to bottle some of his seasonings on the side. So I actually went directly to a facility right out of the gate and had their help bottling and kind of finishing off the flavors, because I’m sure, as you know, once you get inside a business, there’s a whole lot of tools out there that you have no idea exist until you’re in the business. And it’s the same thing with the seasonings. There’s a lot of seasonings and different methods of doing things that you have no idea exist until you’re in it.

Lee Kantor: And so how was that learning curve? Was that something you were like, oh, this is so cool. Like, now it’s, you know, my like there’s so many options, so much opportunity here. Was it kind of overwhelming where like, oh my God, there’s like a million moving parts.

Jason Murff: Um, no, I mean, a lot of it was just like, it’s so cool. And that’s one of the things I love about being an entrepreneur is like, you know, you have those, uh, you have a lot of bad days, but on your good days, you’re doing stuff that you you don’t know how to do. And if you can self educate and have that hunger and have that drive of learning something new, it’s it’s a blast because you’re learning a whole entire new subject that people spend, you know, four years going to college for. And you got, you know, a couple days or a week to be able to try and figure it out to get it going. So it’s always a challenge and a objective to be able to overcome, which makes it a blast for me.

Lee Kantor: Was was coming up with seasonings. Is that a different skill than coming up with like condiments or sauces of salsas that are more kind of liquidy like, is it different but similar? Like, what’s the process like in that it’s different?

Jason Murff: Um, but similar, um, you know, some of the things that, um, you know, a lot of people who make hot sauces at home or certain liquid products will use it from, you know, for instance, our hot sauce, we actually get all of the peppers, um, and flavoring for it, dehydrated and actually ground. So whenever we’re going to create it, we’re rehydrating all of those peppers so we can control the heat level and have it the same across the board. And like that was something I never had any idea. Um, that was the thing, you know, I was fermenting different peppers and trying all sorts of stuff at the house and creating like these amazing hot sauces. But whenever it came to doing like a production run, um, I had no idea until we started working with the correct people to help us, you know, formulate it and get it. Get the product where we wanted it to be.

Lee Kantor: So that’s one of those things where you don’t know what you don’t know until you’re actually in it.

Jason Murff: Yep, 100%. And then, you know, the the other fun side comes with, you know, being away, not working with the government or working for the government anymore, and then finding out some other three letter agencies or four letter agencies that, uh, you got to start working with again.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And that has its own kind of rules and fun and games with that.

Jason Murff: Oh, yeah. You think the, uh, the hurry up and wait and all the, uh, the fun stuff we got out of, you know, serving in the military was gone until you started doing dealing with them.

Lee Kantor: Now, how did the jerky come about?

Jason Murff: The jerky. So whenever we actually launched our jerky. Um, the place that I found to make the jerky for us because I didn’t want to go through standing up a entire facility that was a USDA approved and inspected facility. Um, I actually had reached out to jerky that I received in a care package, and it was some of the best jerky that I had had, and it was just a small mom and pop style business and said, I said, you know, hey, guys, like, I’m looking to do my own line of jerky, you know, kind of. What are your thoughts? Um, and they basically just responded back and said, no, we’re not interested. And, you know, that was super early days. And then, um, I had a few more conversations with them. They still weren’t interested. And then, um, once we started really taking off online, I just sent them a screenshot of our previous month in online sales, and I said, hey, I’m reaching out one more time to try and do business with you. And they called me shortly after receiving that email. Um, and that was one to where we jumped on the phone. We went over recipes. We went over different. You know, this is what we’re looking for in flavor, uh, profiles ideas. And they were help us to they helped us, uh, tremendously on being able to pull off those flavors and activate it, and have a killer line of beef jerky.

Lee Kantor: So when they saw that you were legit and thriving and you didn’t need them that much anymore, then all of a sudden it changed.

Jason Murff: Exactly. And, you know, sometimes that’s the way it is. Like, people don’t want to, you know, hey, we’re good. We don’t need any extra business. But, you know, if you can push them over the edge, give them a little nudge and say, like, hey, we’re not we’re not doing okay. We’re doing really good. Um, you know, you can become one of their biggest vendors very quickly.

Lee Kantor: Now, what was it like to go from kind of online to to try to get into stores? Because that seems like a different animal too.

Jason Murff: So that was actually, uh, it was reverse whenever I first launched it. Um, you know, coming from my family having a, a hardware store and knowing a handful of people with hardware stores, um, just from growing up in that industry, I was like, okay, cool. Like, you know, selling it to stores is going to be super easy. And once you run out of that, you know, close family, friends, Rolodex for me, um, I realized really quick that people don’t care that you started your own line and they have no idea who you are and that they don’t want to carry your product. So it was a lot of, uh, just getting rejected all the time and then realizing, like, hey, let’s establish a brand and have that brand recognition. So whenever I do come back to them, we’re going to blow them out of the water. And so a lot of it I kind of stepped away from the B2B side. And then I started going B2C online. And a lot of that was just social media, um, just going crazy on social media, not even running paid ads, just posting fun and engaging content that people will love.

Lee Kantor: And was it were you getting a lot of military folks as first customers, or was it kind of just free for all?

Jason Murff: Um, it was a free for all at first. And then we started really getting in a groove with the military demographic, the first responder demographic. And then that’s whenever we started, um, you know, we went out on limb, um, didn’t have a bunch of cash flow coming in at the time, and, uh, I, I remember it to this day, you know, uh, my dad, who’s a very successful entrepreneur, um, I sat down and talked with him, and I was like, hey, I got a little bit of money saved up. I think I’m gonna drop it into sponsoring a podcast. They have a crazy good customer base of listeners, and it’s. I have a good feeling it’s my direct, you know, uh, my direct audience. And he told me that he would not do that and that that was not a smart idea. And I went against his will and, um, the initial investment in sponsoring it for that month, we made back in two hours. Um, and that was whenever I was like, oh, crap. Like, there’s some power behind these podcasts, like, let’s go. So, um, that was one of the big, big kick offs because they actually launched the episode, uh, about 12 hours before they had initially told me so. I remember just sitting there and then all of a sudden I had, you know, Shopify hooked up on my phone and I had the notifications on for sales, and my phone just started vibrating like crazy. And I’m like, what the heck is happening right now?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. When you stumble onto the right channel, it’s amazing what can happen.

Jason Murff: Oh for sure. You know, and, um, you know, uh, about three, I think three years ago now is whenever we had our first opportunity for major earned media and we got on Fox News, and, um, you start coming across things like that, and it’s it’s insane the amount of power that some of these platforms have.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And it’s one of those things where, again, you don’t know until you, you do it and then it becomes obvious, you know, which are the, the right places for you to be.

Jason Murff: Yes, 100%. And that’s what makes it fun to it’s it’s the trial and error. And then once you do find what works. And then starting to scale that and just seeing everything, all the pieces fall into place until you have that wrench thrown in it, and then you get to have fun being an entrepreneur.

Lee Kantor: It’s not for the faint of heart.

Jason Murff: No.

Lee Kantor: Now, any advice for other veterans out there that are thinking, you know, aspiring entrepreneurs like you, you know, the day before you became, you know, and threw your hat over the fence and said, I’m in. Well, you know, any advice for other people who are contemplating this? But, you know, feeling a little unsure, um, you know, some of your do’s and don’ts maybe, or what it was like to, to just say, okay, you know, screw it. I’m going to go for it.

Jason Murff: Um, I mean, I think a lot of it is, uh, patience is golden. Um, a lot of us want to chase that shiny object. And I know a lot of people jump into entrepreneurship because they think that they’re gonna quit working for the man. They’re going to be able to take vacations whenever they want, work anywhere in the world that they want. Um, and they go over that. They chase that shiny object when in all reality, you’re becoming your own boss. And unfortunately, uh, that boss is going to be working 24 over seven. Um, so I would say, you know, have patience with it. Uh, anything that’s worthwhile, um, that’s going to be around for a while. It’s it’s going to take time to grow. Um, don’t expect things overnight. Um, and just like in the military, you know, we had some days that, you know, you take it meal by meal. Just saying, you know, if I can make it to breakfast, I’m good, and then I can make it to lunch, and then I can make it to dinner on those just bad, bad days. Um, you can do the same thing here. And the entrepreneur space. Um, and, I mean, I think that’s the best thing that I got for him. Um, and other than that is, uh,, you know, one thing that you can’t automate is community. And if you’re if you’re going to grow, you have to have a community behind you. And along with that, a team behind you. And I always try to remind people, don’t forget about the amazing leadership you had, but also don’t forget about the horrible leadership you had and don’t replicate that.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, and when people say they want to be an entrepreneur because they’re tired of working for the man, the the first thing they have to understand is that every one of your customers is the man. Like, you’re now working for each one of those customers. So the man never goes away.

Jason Murff: Oh, yeah. And you’re thinking, you know, you’re going to have all this time off and everything like that. And, uh, one thing that, um, people forget is reps make the talent, and talent doesn’t make the reps.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And there’s no shortcut.

Jason Murff: No. Not whatsoever.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. They’re all looking for that. Oh, I just do this one thing, and then I sit back and the cash flows in. It’s just I it just doesn’t work that way.

Jason Murff: Now I’m still waiting on that. Yeah. If you find that, please let me know.

Lee Kantor: So you mentioned the importance of community. How did you start knowing that? Hey, I’m going to be able to build a community around this brand.

Jason Murff: Uh, really, you know, uh, in the early days, identifying our why. And then as soon as you identify your why, you can very easily target who is your core customer. And thankfully for veterans and first responders and people who just love America and love cooking, that’s a very easy, um, you know, audience to gain into once you earn that recognition of having a quality product. And so as soon as we identified that, we started building groups around that. So, um, and then building the products around those groups. So if you look at our labeling, it’s to tie in and attract veterans, first responders, people who love humor because, you know, we have Madu Steak seasoning. Anyone who served in the military knows what an M2 Browning 50 cals nickname is. And that’s the madhouse. Um, you look at our hot sauce, fire chief. Hot sauce. So you’re instant, you know, you’re going to get recognition with the firefighters out there. And then we have other products like our donkey balls, which are green olive with the habanero stuffed inside of it. So ironically enough, that’s our best selling product inside of hallmark stores. So you can buy grandma birthday card in a jarred donkey ball.

Jason Murff: So, um, and and again, like, the biggest thing for us is just, uh, the goal with it, whenever deep down inside my head was, you know, we had guys that, um, we had one, uh, soldier who, uh, you know, attempted suicide. Um, we had guys that did attempt suicide. I’ve had friends since getting out attempt suicide. And my thing was, if I can just get one person to pick up the bottle, get a laughter, brighten their day. Um, that could save their life. Um. Or, you know, if they can pick up the phone and be like, oh, man. You remember whenever we were downrange and this happened, let me call, you know, Lee, real quick and and see what he’s doing. You know, you could be on that edge and that one phone call or. Hey, buddy, come over. I just got this new gunpowder seasoning. We’re gonna cook some steaks tonight. Like, that was really the goal behind it. And as soon as we started doing that, it’s just like the community came around it. And it was very, very easy to build that.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And food is a great place to build community around. I mean, everybody’s got to eat. So I mean, and and by leaning into it with that, uh, the specificity of the language of the people you’re trying to attract and talking to them in words that only they understand. It just bonds people closer together. I mean, you’re not trying to be something for everyone. You’re something for a certain group of people, and they appreciate it because they want to feel special, because they are special.

Jason Murff: 100%. And you know, with that, at the same time, you also have to be careful not to make the product too much dedicated just for them, because then you start confusing the civilians that really have no idea. Um, and we found that out the hard way because they used to have nomenclature on every single bottle that, uh, ended up getting us in some trouble on certain places that we had to remove a little bit later on down as we continued to grow.

Lee Kantor: But, uh, it sounds like things are going well for. Grow your ass off.

Jason Murff: Yes. Um, you know, we’re getting close to hitting 1400 retail locations across all 50 states, including some international, that carry the product. Um, you know, we’re we’re getting closer and closer to having 300,000 direct to consumer orders with us. Um, we have an amazing team of veterans, first responders, military spouses, um, civilian, um, on our team. And I couldn’t be more happy, uh, to have built the organization, the team and our customers that we consider family that we have.

Lee Kantor: Well, congratulations on all the momentum. Uh, for folks who want to learn more, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Jason Murff: Uh, websites, grill your ass, Ofcom. All the social media is going to be at Grill Your Ass Off. Um, and check out everything there. I mean, we have awesome products. We got awesome recipes on the website. We got a store locator on the website. So if you want to shop local, um, if you want to support the, uh, you know, the giant if we are on Amazon, um, and yeah, no thank you. Thank you again for having us on here. And, um. Yeah. No, it’s been it’s been awesome. Thank you.

Lee Kantor: Well, Jason, thank you so much for sharing your story, doing such important work. And we appreciate you.

Jason Murff: Awesome. Thank you.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Veterans Business Radio.