Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Phil Breeden. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Phil thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later

I spent 25 years working in electrical distribution starting when I was a young 19 year old pup. I wish I had started my business much earlier in my working career. I started competing in competition BBQ in 2015 while I still had my “day job”. The first few years I competed about a dozen times a year with great success but still viewed BBQ as a hobby. In 2018 I unexpectidly started competing every weekend…it just kinda happened. The next thing I know I look up and it’s been 37 straight weekends competing. Wow! This is when things got serious. I had developed what is now our Fowl Play chicken injection and been using it on the competition trail for a couple years when I thought to myself…”I should figure out how to sell this”. That epiphany started the wheels of motion in which LC BBQ was born. We released Fowl Play to the market in July of 2018 and almost 6 years later we have 12 products on the market and ship daily all over the United States and to several other countries. In April of 2021 we came to a fork in the road and decided that fulltime BBQ was the path for us. We’re very proud to make a living doing something we are truly passionate about and although we wouldn’t change it…I do wish I’d have started this BBQ journey much earlier in my working career.

Phil, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Phil Breeden and I’m the owner and founder of LC BBQ out of Bandera, TX. I began competiting in BBQ competitions in January of 2015. My first contest was a 19 team contest in Silsbee, TX and I can honestly say that it changed the course of my life. We had 3 categories that we competed in at that contest…chicken, ribs, and brisket. They called the top 3 winners in each category at awards and we anxitously awaited to hear our name. 3rd, 2nd , 1st chicken…nothing. 3rs, 2nd, 1st ribs…nothing. 3rd, 2nd brisket…nothing…but 1st place brisket ended up being me. I’m not sure if I would have competed in another competition had I not heard my name called…but that 1st brisket set the hook and I was both feet in! The first 3 years I competed I cooked about a dozen events per year with great success. In 2018 I started cooking every weekend and ended up doing 50 contests in 2018. This is where the focus got serious and the makings of a seasoning company began. I had developed a chicken injection over the first several years of competing and in spring of 2018 I had the idea to start selling it, although I didn’t have a clue where to begin. I talked to some friends that had products in the barbecue world and they were very helpful pointing me into the right direction. It took several months to come together but I was able to launch our first product “Fowl Play” which is our competition chicken injection in July of 2018. With much success in the marketplace with Fowl Play, my natural instincts were to start developing more products and I immediately went to work. I’ve vetted all of our products on the BBQ competition trail prior to their release with the thought “If I can’t win with them, why should I expect someone else to win with them”. Once our products have proven themselves in competitions are they then ready to be released and available to the BBQ world.
Fast forward to now and we have 12 products on the market, have competed in over 340 BBQ competitions and have 83 combined grand championships and reserve grand championships. We ship our seasonings and injections daily all over the United States as well as abroad on the occasion. We continue to challenge ourselves as a barbecue competitor as well as a focusing on building LC BBQ into a full line barbecue company with premium products that can be trusted at the largest and most prestigious competitions as well as at anyones backyard bbq.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Our success in competition barbecue laid the foundation to building our reputation within the competition bbq world. With great success comes the desire from others to be as successful as well. That being said, I feel like what has really solidified our reputation is simply being genuine. I approach each competition and opportunity with the attitude of “just be myself” and to not try to be what I think others might want me to be like. I’ve been on the receiving end of great help and advice many times on this journey and I’m always looking for ways to help others that are just starting out in their journey and looking for direction.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Our past 9+ years in competition barbecue have evolved from hobby, to part time side hustle, to full time side hustle along with a career, to where we are now almost 3 years into a full time career in competition bbq. As with so many others in life…it wasn’t planned, it just evolved. I think one of the keys to our success of LC BBQ is patience. I’ve always taken much more time than was probably needed to develop and test products before their launch into the marketplace. One reason it takes so long is that I’ve always had the internal desire to never have a product that was a “dud” which is one of my biggest fears in business. My business goal is to develop and launch premium products that can be trusted within the bbq community. One of the things I’m most thankful for in the fact that my side hustle became a career is the time I get to spend with my family. I’m fortunate to be able to work from home during the weekdays and I’ve had the priviledge to bring my kids to school every morning for the past 3 years. I’m out of town on nearly every weekend so their is a trade off, but I have the most supportive family in the world. My wife Carmen is an accomplished pitmaster as well and she won 1st place world champion open at the 2022 Jack Daniels World Invititional! My son Reid is also a 2 time world champion at the tender age of 10! Our twin daughters are now 18 but also had much success in the early years at kids q’s and are very involved and supportive of LC BBQ. It makes me very proud to have our entire family involved in our business and none of this would have been possible without them and their support and involvement!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lcbbqshop.com
• Instagram: Phillip Breeden
• Facebook: Phillip Breeden (personal) LC BBQ (business)
• Youtube: lcbbqshop

Image Credits
The RSP (Rolling Smoke Productions) was taken by Marc Suarez. The World Champion photo was taken by Bill Purvis with Chicken Fried BBQ. All the rest provided were taken by the fam.