We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tom Wyler. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tom below.
Tom, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
My BBQ journey started 10 years ago when my wife gifted me my first smoker. I was 35 at the time, and either you get really into history, or smoking meats. I chose smoking meats. I started out on an electric box smoker, nothing fancy, then I graduated to a cheap offset smoker. That is where I really learned the craft. When we had our second child, my wife asked if there was a smoker that would allow me to set it and forget it. At the time I did not want to go to a pellet smoker, so I transitioned into a gravity fed charcoal system.
Then in January of 2023, after working in marketing most of my career, I took the leap and started Wyler BBQ. My first location was at the Joliet Slammers minor league baseball club. I spent 51 games learning a business I had no prior knowledge of. It was amazing and quite a ride.
Now, I have a brick and mortar in Channahon, IL. I also do catering.
Tom, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My BBQ journey started 10 years ago when my wife gifted me my first smoker. I was 35 at the time, and either you get really into history, or smoking meats. I chose smoking meats. I started out on an electric box smoker, nothing fancy, then I graduated to a cheap offset smoker. That is where I really learned the craft. When we had our second child, my wife asked if there was a smoker that would allow me to set it and forget it. At the time I did not want to go to a pellet smoker, so I transitioned into a gravity fed charcoal system.
Then in January of 2023, after working in marketing most of my career, I took the leap and started Wyler BBQ. My first location was at the Joliet Slammers minor league baseball club. I spent 51 games learning a business I had no prior knowledge of. It was amazing and quite a ride.
Now, I have a brick and mortar in Channahon, IL. I also do catering.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The 2023 Joliet Slammers baseball season. Specifically the six game stretches. Being a new business owner, I did not have a commercial kitchen to cook out of, or to house my supplies, or to house my smokers.
Joel Sigel, the Slammers Food and Beverage Director, gave me fridge space in their main commissary kitchen, and they allowed me to have my smokers on site right outside my concession stand to cook.
This ties into resilience because I had to get to the ballpark at 1:00 am to start the cooking process on brisket and pork butt, so it was done by 5:30 when the gates opened.
When it came to 6 game stretches (consecutive games in a row), would be getting to the ballpark at 1:00 am and then leaving at 10 pm after cleanup.
Those long homestands really built my mental and physical toughness to be able to stay on my feet and moving on the equivalent of 2 to 3 hours sleep per night.
I did it. I pushed past my comfort zone and boundaries and accomplished it successfully.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I simply shared my journey and my experiences and really documented it. People got to go along for the ride. I was just being me and sharing my experiences from the heart. That is what people gravitate toward. Real people and real stories.
Contact Info:
- Website: Wylerbbq.com
- Instagram: Https://instagram.com/wylerbbq
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/wylerbbq