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

Jace, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I was living in Washington state at the time, dealing with a failing lawn care business, and battling a deep depression caused by the medication I was on for a misdiagnosed case of epilepsy. I was so incredibly depressed I couldn’t really leave the house, but I had the support of all my family and friends back in Omaha, NE keeping me going. I was talking to my roommate about needing to move back to Omaha and said to him “I wish I could just smoke meat all day for work, I love doing it so much it’d be so much fun for me” to which he replied, “so why don’t you when you move back?”

That was when I had a revelation, I had been working on bbq rubs and sauces over the past 10 years as a hobby so I already had a product I could sell. But with all the help and kind words from my friends and family back home I knew I wanted to do something that gave back to my Omaha community. I decided then and there that I would give back by helping bring attention to local nonprofits and donate 15% of my profits to them as well. I put every last dollar I had in to this business, and my community showed up for me.

Now I have a business with products people love, and get to do what I love while giving back. Working with nonprofits has been great and I love every minute of it. Right now it’s more of a side gig as I only just started in April if this year, but I’m hoping it grows more and more so I can help nonprofits even more, with plans to open my own bbq restaurant in the future that helps feed the homeless. I love what I do!

Jace, 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?

I provide bbq rubs and sauces that provide more than what other companies do. Fresh ingredients and no added preservatives, all of my products are made with freshness in mind using ingredients i’ve hand selected over the years. I also give my customers more for their money, with an average rub from my competitors being about 4.5oz, I give my customers a whole cup (roughly 8 oz) for just a few dollars more.
I created all 5 of my signature rubs and sauces on my own over the course of 10 years of experimentation and people really seem to love them. Some even saying they’re the best they’ve ever had. I also have about 20 more ready to go that I’ll be releasing over the next few years. I also offer cooking tutorials on my youtube channel so people can see and learn exactly how I use my products and what I do to get my meat to come out perfect every time.

I got into this industry because I just love smoking meat and creating my own flavor combinations, but what really makes me love what I do is being able to help local nonprofits grow and gain attention. I don’t do this for the money, I do this because I’m passionate about helping my community and this is a fun way for me to do it. It’s become a passion project of mine that I’m hoping will grow to a point that I can do it full time, allowing me to help more and more nonprofits and provide free food to those in need. I love Omaha, NE so much and I just want to do everything I can to help those in need here.

If I were to say one thing directly to people who haven’t heard about me and what i’m doing, it would be that Black Raven Pit & Purpose isn’t just a bbq rub and sauce company. It’s a movement dedicated to helping my community thrive and providing food to those in need. When I open my bbq restaurant one day I want to hire individuals who struggle to find work due to their disabilities and work with more nonprofits to get food into the hands of those that need it. But for now, I do everything myself out of my home to allow me to donate more money to nonprofits to help them in their missions by keeping costs down and providing top quality products people love.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My audience is small, but growing every day. Tik tok has been especially helpful for my audience growth nationally and Facebook has been a close second growing my local fan base. I even have followers come to my local farmers market specifically to see me and help support the cause which honestly is the most surprising thing for me. I’ve never wanted to be famous, but having people seek me out to buy my products and talk to me directly and hear my story has been so heart warming. It means so much to me when that happens that I just get so thrilled to see them and talk for a few minutes. They in turn tell me how they found out about me and how much they love what I’m doing which cements the idea that I was meant to do this.

I post every day across tik tok, Facebook, and Instagram and post a weekly cooking video on YouTube every Friday that not only breaks down my process, but gives me a chance to talk about the nonprofit of the week in greater detail. All of my social media pages are @blackravenpitandpurpose.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Back in November of 2024 I sold my house to move to Washington state to start a landscaping business with a buddy of mine. Due to an unfortunate medical misdiagnosis and my roommate being unable to really help with bills or equipment costs I was going broke. After about 4 months I had about $12,000 left to my name and decided to move back to Omaha, NE to start fresh. I took every penny I had and used it to invest in this business, buying ingredients, packaging equipment, catering equipment, and what I needed to have a stand at farmers markets wasn’t cheap but I knew this was the move I wanted to make.
Luckily my parents have been gracious enough to let me rent some space in their basement while I get back on my feet, but my business hasn’t gotten to the point where i’m making enough profit to move out on my own so I also work a full time day job helping people with insurance claims for their roofs after hail storms at a company called Turtle Roofing. Because of this I am working constantly, but I know one day I’ll be able to shift 100% of my focus to Black Raven Pit & Purpose. Just being patient with it and working as hard as I can to make it happen.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @blackravenpitandpurpose
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/blackravenpitandpurpose
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jace-howell-b7a2592b4?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
• Youtube: @blackravenpitandpurpose
• Other: https://linktr.ee/blackravenpitandpurpose

Image Credits

Ashleigh Deglopper

Instagram.com/ashleigh.deglopper