We were lucky to catch up with Aaron Huentelman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Aaron thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

The story of Go Big or Go BBQ comes from my mom, but also involves my papa, and Zoolander if you can believe that.

When we signed up for our first bbq competition in 2014, it felt more as a joke and just something to do. We signed up under the team name “really really ridiculously good looking”. But between signing up in late spring and actually competing in the fall, I found that I really enjoyed barbecue and wanted to take the competition more seriously. My mom and I were bouncing ideas off of eachother, and my papa always being the “go big or go home” kind of large personality and someone that’s shaped who I am today. And by large personality and doing things big, i mean he would paint rocks gold for us to go on gold hunts for our summer camps, theres stories of him taking out a loan for a family members party. He had made his garage into a haunted house in the 70s. He was truly one of a kind and always went big! So my mom said well “go big or go bbq” and it stuck! And with my papa passing in 2007, and my mom passing away in 2019, it’s a name that will stick with us forever. At my last competition, my son and daughter were chanting “go big or go bbq” when we won the grand championship and it’s truly our namesake and a motto per say I live by!

Aaron, 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 got my start in the restaurant industry as a bus boy in 2005 and have worked about every position you can think of within that industry. I graduated with a certificate in culinary arts in 2012 and an associates degree in restaurant management. Through all of that, I actually moved away from restaurants in 2014 to a customer service position but coincidently that led me into competition barbecue since i had weekends off. Which is where our Go Big or Go BBQ sauce and rub where developed and grew a following.

In 2019 we got our products bottled, and in 2021 I went back into the food service industry and sell our award winning barbecue through Mister Brisket in Cleveland.

I’m most proud of the awards we continue to win with our products, involving my 5 year old twins and wife where I can in this journey and continuing to grow the business even with the craziness that the pandemic brought into our lives.

What you’re getting when you either buy our sauce and rubs or our barbecue is a passion to provide not only the best products but a dream to create a lasting legacy for our family to share for generations to come.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

What really comes to mind here is our first big sale of our sauce and rub to a subscription service. We were essentially the middle man with the subscription service being the end user and our copacker shipping the product sight unseen by us to them. There were some unfortunate mistakes made with labels and missing freshness seals that could’ve made the deal we had go south, but with communication with both parties and not letting our standards drop, the issues were remedied and the customer was happy in the end. What it taught me though was that even in our unique industry, our vision and standards come first and it helped us move to a new copacker that has helped us take our products to the next level.

Have you ever had to pivot?

A huge pivot in my career (and life) was jumping back into the food service industry in 2021 and leaving the comfort of a 9-5, weekends and holidays off to better align with my current career path and dreams of creating a Go Big or Go BBQ empire. It’s been a sacrifice for my family and has at times been rocky but overall has been the right decision. I always want my kids to know that with hard work and dedication you can do anything. The first step to following your dreams is to wake up!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.gobigorgobbq.com
• Instagram: Gobigorgobbq
• Facebook: Www.facebook.com/gobigorgobbq
• Twitter: Gobigorgobbq1
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC3AB_fPa1b023MKv4hTHDgg
• Other: You can purchase our barbecue as well at Www.misterbrisket.com