Oct 11, 2023
Finding that secret sauce can lead to success, but it’s not always easy to find. In this episode of the Class E Podcast, we talked with Chris Sexton, founder of the barbecue catering company, Sexton’s Smoke-N-Grill. From learning countless lessons in the Greenville Starts program to dealing with personal health concerns, Sexton discusses the future of his company, how he has become more appreciative of his skills, and the importance of keeping priorities straight as an entrepreneur.
Guest: Chris Sexton
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sextonsmokingrill
Host: Mary Sturgill
Producer: Isabella Martinez '24
TRANSCRIPT:
MARY: Hi there, everyone. Welcome to this episode of the Class E Podcast. You know, this is the podcast that is brought to you through a partnership between the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Communication Studies Department here at Furman University.
Today's episode is part of the everyday entrepreneur series in which we talk to entrepreneurs who have graduated from our GVL Starts program. And the reason that we're doing that is we want you to hear their stories and be inspired by them wherever they are in the process of their venture. So today we have a very special guest, Chris Sexton, who is the owner of Sexton Smoke-N-Grill, and a new venture that he's calling Mr. Sauce It Up. Chris, welcome to the show.
CHRIS: Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me.
MARY: Chris, I'm so happy that you were able to join us today because one - I'm gonna look right into the camera for the YouTube people - Chris’ food is amazing. Now when I was in, you know, I was a broadcaster for 20 years, and when I was in Texas, the broadcasters and you know different people in the community, they call us celebrities or whatever, but we had to judge barbecue competitions. So I've judged many a barbecue competition in my life. And Chris' is by far the best of any that I have done and it all boils down to the sauce, which I imagine is where the Mr. Sauce It Up came from.
CHRIS: That is exactly where Mr. Sauce came from. I've created a new sauce using fruit, alcohol, and just a wide imagination to come up with different sauces. We've got about 10 to 15 sauces that we do.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: All incorporating fruits and alcohol like I said. Like you can take Hennessy bourbon…
MARY: Don’t give your whole secret away.
CHRIS: No, everything’s not coming, but we’ve got great stuff coming.
MARY: We don't want people to copy it. And you will want to once you taste this, you'll want to try to redo this at home. Tell us about how you got started with this. Because you’re in finance.
CHRIS: I’m in finance. So to be honest with you, from working in finance, I've always had a passion for cooking. I started cooking when I was like 14 years old working at a little restaurant in Greer with legendary Peggy Davis. She owns Peggy’s Diner in Greer. Started working with her, handing out trays… and I kind of fell in love with that whole environment of cooking, creating. Did that all the way through high school… worked at McDonald's. But the sauce and the cooking came from truly talking on the phone with a guy from Mississippi on the phone about a car deal.
MARY: Oh, wow.
CHRIS: And he asked me what I was doing for Thanksgiving. I told him I was going to try fried turkey. He said you need to smoke it.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: And that day, I smoked a duck, a turkey and a…a duck, a turkey, and a Boston butt.
MARY: Wow.
CHRIS: And they all came out great.
MARY: Yeah. On your first time.
CHRIS: On my first time, it came out great. Not perfect, but great.
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: But it was addictive. It was like it was something that…it’s what I needed at that point in time to slow me down and give me some perspective.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: And from there it's just kind of bloomed and grown from there.
MARY: Yeah. What inspired you? Was it just the conversation with him or have you always… I mean, you've kind of always been a little a foodie.
CHRIS: A foodie.
MARY: I mean, I consider you a foodie.
CHRIS: So what really inspired me is the process.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: I fell in love with it. And I'm a person that loves serving people. So getting to feed people, seeing smiles on their face, people honestly patting your back saying this is the best barbecue I’ve ever had.
MARY: And there are some smiles when they eat your stuff.
CHRIS: And it’s encouraging. So the sauce idea actually came… I made a dish, not gonna say what dish it is, and my mom tried it and when she got done, she says “man, this would be good on some chicken wings.”
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: And so me being who I am, it took me like three years… I sat there and thought about it and one day while I was at work, all my great ideas come on the clock… So I was sitting there one day and I'm like bingo. I figured out how to do it, I tried it, and I kind of took it off from there.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: And that's… the biggest thing about my barbecue is it's different.
MARY: Yeah. It totally is.
CHRIS: And I refuse to do what everybody else does. And my goal with my business is to create a new space in a traditional market.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: When you go to restaurants and you go places… that's the other thing that inspired me…I’m tired of eating vinegar based, tomato based, mustard based barbecue sauces. You know, I want something different and so that's what we've done.
MARY: So you have…how many sauces did you say now?
CHRIS: Got around 10 or 15 sauces.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: The newest…the newest sauce that I'm working on would be a Carolina white sauce. Carolina is known for that fruit flavor for peaches and things of that nature.
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: So imagine taking your traditional yum yum sauce mixed in with a little bit of fruit.
MARY: Oh yeah.
CHRIS: And we're working on that and actually combining the smoked brisket and pulled pork with fried rice with that yum yum sauce.
MARY: Oh my gosh. My mouth is watering.
CHRIS: So, yeah. Look for us on Tik Tok soon.
MARY: Yeah, there you go. When we were in the… we were in Greenville Starts cohort together, and the first time I tasted Chris's sauce, I was like, “Chris, you need to call this the best damn sauce ever.”
CHRIS: That is actually the slogan. “The best damn sauce you’ve ever had.”
MARY: Yeah. Yeah. I love it.
CHRIS: I tell people… I'm trying to be humble, but when you have something that's different, you have to let people know.
MARY: Exactly.
CHRIS: And this is when you taste it, it just… it kind of shocks you because you're not… you’re thinking barbecue sauce.
MARY: Totally.
CHRIS: But it kind of just catches you… you're like what is this?
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: And it just kind of sucks you in.
MARY: Well, and I think you just said it correct. You're taking a space that is so kind of entrenched in kind of the flavors that are there. And you're creating something new with the idea of barbecue. And I love that. Can you talk us through the process of creating this business because I guess you started with the smoking first and then the sauces and then where are you… how, you know…do you have a website? Do you have a restaurant? How are you coming together?
CHRIS: What we're doing now is… So this is how I initially started out. I was at my desk at Ford one day having a conversation with someone that asked me about catering.
MARY:Yeah.
CHRIS: So I hopped online, in between calls, looking at what I had to do to get started so I went online, I got my EIN…and kind of got in touch with state and got everything going.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: That was in 2016. So for the last three years off and on, I've done a lot of catering. A lot of on site. My biggest thing is on site grilling.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: I put on quite a show when I grill.
MARY: I mean you can tell with his personality. You're the entertainment and the food.
CHRIS: So yeah, if you’re looking for an entertainer and a grill master, I’m your guy. So we… that's my big thing is I travel, I take my grill, I like to set up shop.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: And I also work with… I've been working… I had been working before I took my current job with the church during the Wednesday night Bible studies. I'm big on… like I said my dad is a Baptist preacher.
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: So we grew up in the country and all I know is fellowship and eating. I've probably eaten in every county in the state.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: Every, every type of food you can have, but those experiences is what inspired me. But long story short, the business idea and the model came from just three years of having to stop and go because working back and forth, and now learning how to balance time, family, and everything. The Mr. Sauce It Up will give me the opportunity to kind of work and service people and enjoy it and also make my first big shine through Mr. Sauce It Up.
MARY: Yeah. So I want to talk a little bit about… because entrepreneurial, you know, ventures are, it's a journey, right? And I know we all have setbacks, and I know that you've had some setbacks, including a health setback for a while that kind of made everything go on pause. So how are you doing now? And let's talk about the setbacks and how you overcame them.
CHRIS: Oh, wow. So it’s crazy the night that we had our finale. Our, you know, our big pitch.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: I found out I had a nodule on my thyroid that they had to go in and remove. They thought it was small, but it ended up being like the size of a baseball.
MARY: Wow.
CHRIS: So it sat on my chest and it kind of impacted me. Dealing with things like that… it impacts…your thyroid is your gas and keeps you going.
MARY: Yeah, yeah.
CHRIS: So for like the last three years, I've ran on nothing but adrenaline and you didn't know it. So it's taken me a little… little bit of time to adjust to being normal and not having that excess energy and just you know being actually knowing what it feels like to be tired and having to take a nap.
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: So for the last six, you know, part of that I ran on you know pretty much adrenaline because the thyroid and I were back balanced. Kind of and it… but it gave me an opportunity to really sit back and refocus and re- kind of gave me a bigger hunger for what I want to do. I've looked at food trucks, and things like that, but a crazy and a funny fact about me is I've had 22 wrecks in my lifetime.
MARY: 22 wrecks?
CHRIS: 22 automobile accidents.
MARY: Oh my goodness, Chris.
CHRIS: So me driving a food truck probably nobody around here wants.
MARY: They don’t mix.
CHRIS: That’s not a good mix so I'm in the process of trying to find a building either…. I would prefer Greenville, but the Spartanburg area is also something I'm open to… to certainly barbecue out of. But until then, I'm gonna let myself and also cakes and sweet potato pies…
MARY: Yeah. Oh my god. Sweet potato pies.
CHRIS: …kind of feed my business and my picture while I kind of work my nine to five and do your day in and day out thing.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: The struggle. You know, being an entrepreneur… it takes a… you got to have a little bit of crazy in you to be an entrepreneur. But the biggest thing you have to have to be an entrepreneur is being resilient.
MARY: Yes.
CHRIS: You never know what obstacles are gonna come your way. I never expected and never thought I was sick
MARY: Right. You had no idea.
CHRIS: I had no idea. You know, and even through it, you got to, you know, one of the mottos I live off of is fake it till you make it.
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: You got to go into every day, no matter what's going on, with a smile on your face, press through. And you kind of put it behind you and live in that moment because you never know life can be taken from you at any given moment. So you got to enjoy it no matter what's going on. And that's what's kind of helped me evolve and get to the point that I'm at now. And for me, I've learned you know, when things are going… when things are going at their best is when things…your biggest hurdles are going to come.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: For me, I spent all last year partnering with people and creating a lot of partnerships I kind of had to give up. So to kind of reinvent myself and roll back out and rebrand as Mr. Sauce It Up, it’s going to be really exciting and I think it's the right way and path to go. The biggest thing I can tell other entrepreneurs is don't be stubborn.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: For a whole course, through Greenville Starts, everybody told me, “it’s the sauce, it’s the sauce, it’s the sauce.”
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: And I love cooking. I love grilling.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: And a couple of weeks ago… I'd say a couple of months ago, it finally dawned on me “Hey, you've got a product that nobody else can do.”
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: This is your…this is your headline and this is your angle. I'll still grill and barbecue and do barbecue and whatnot. But…I have a gift that I gotta give the world.
MARY: Right. That's your foot in the door - think the barbecue, but the sauce is so scalable. I mean it gives me goosebumps just thinking about where you could go and seeing this on grocery store shelves. I mean it really does.
CHRIS: That’s my ultimate goal. My ultimate goal is to…
MARY: I mean I literally just got goosebumps.
CHRIS: We've got here in Greenville…we've got we've got the Duke’s manufacturing. I want to have something similar to that here just pumping out sauce so hopefully when you’re getting you know your Chick fil A… go to McDonald's get a sauce packet, and you’ll see my pretty face on it.
MARY: I love it. I love it. And you said some really good things about there in that comment about being resilient and not being stubborn. And I think being willing to go with the flow because I know you were in talks about a space right when you got sick. And so every… I mean literally everything went on hold.
CHRIS: So with the space…this is another thing that when in the restaurant business, it's a risky business…
MARY: It is.
CHRIS: For me, the biggest thing is finding people that want to invest and that will roll the dice on a restaurant.
MARY: And that's true for all restaurant owners.
CHRIS: That’s been the biggest challenge, but the buildings I looked at have been highly competitive.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: I looked at a property in Duncan… was looking at property in Duncan and somebody came in at the last minute and outbid me by like 30 grand.
MARY: Right. Wow.
CHRIS: And being in finance and being the underwriter you… the risk… I'm very careful if that’s the risk I take and I evaluate it making sure I’m making solid decisions.
MARY: And you understand that risk.
CHRIS: Yeah, because being in business for yourself, is a risk alone.
MARY: Absolutely.
CHRIS: You don’t want your business upside down and trying to make back money that you may not be able to get back. That’s not a wise move so we kind of backed off a bit. And it's been a blessing because like I said had I got into it then, gotten sick, we would have been in a worse situation. So thankfully, we got into a position where we're able to press pause and my true belief is that when my opportunity and my time is there, it's gonna happen but until then we're just gonna keep doing what we have to do.
MARY: One hundred percent. One hundred percent. So what's been the most rewarding thing about starting this venture for you?
CHRIS: Networking and meeting new people.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: And to be honest with you, the other thing people don't know about me is I’m kind of shy.
MARY: I don’t believe that for a minute. Because the first night we were in Greenville Starts together, I mean, we clicked, obviously but…but yeah, no. But you, probably like me, I have to overcome it when I'm with people. Once I get there, I'm fine.
CHRIS: So I guess you can say my shyness comes out different. When I get nervous and get shy, it's like lights on, like camera on, game on, let's go. So you never really know it. So I embrace it. And being able to… this has taught me how to fight through that and how it really… I guess having a good time meeting new people and the biggest thing I think I'd say is just learn. Being an entrepreneur has taught me so much and it has stretched my limits. And so when I was younger, I was a hothead.
MARY: I believe that.
CHRIS: Something happened… something happened and I'm, you know, fired up.
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: So for instance, a couple of weeks ago, my first time back out and I go to leave and my grill catches a flat tire.
MARY: Oh, no. Yeah.
CHRIS: And the old me would have been saying Sunday School words and throwing stuff and all upset. We just pressed pause and regrouped and it has made me grow and develop patience. And understand that some things you cannot control. If you can't control it, you just move on.
MARY: I would think that this entrepreneurial process that you're on, and that health scare, that major health scare, probably both had something to do with that kind of, okay, it does no good to get upset about this stuff, just deal with it one thing at a time.
CHRIS: Well there's another factor in there also. I’ve got a grandson now.
MARY: Oh yes, that's true. Happy Grandfather.
CHRIS: So, being a grand dad, it kind of…I would say the moment I took my daughter to the hospital.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: Got the call. I had to take her to the hospital. That's when life changed.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: We just kind of… I don't know it’s something about having a grandchild that you can give back to them.
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: It kind of changes you. At the same time, it just shows your new appreciation for life. So all of that within the three month period, it really has slowed me down… made me appreciate life even more. But at the same time, it's made me a fighter. It's really made me a fighter and made me...
MARY: Yeah, because you want to be around for him.
CHRIS: Yeah, to be honest with you, this whole get up, I've thought about for the last four years.
MARY: Yeah, this is what it's gonna look like.
CHRIS: Yeah. And going through that experience gave me the courage to kind of step out of the shell and put it out there and move forward because what's the worst thing that can happen? Somebody will laugh at you?
MARY: Right. Exactly.
CHRIS: You know at the end of the day, this is who I am.
MARY: And who cares? If they’re laughing at you, they’re looking at you?
CHRIS: They’re looking at you. They’re going to remember.
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: This is who I am. A little country guy from South Carolina just trying to sell some good barbecue and sauce.
MARY: Yeah, I love it. Chris, I love it. So we were, like I said we were in the Greenville cohort, Greenville starts cohort together, and for those of you may not know that's like an eight week program where the participants could expose everything from, you know, fundraising, capital to legal issues and things that of course, you're not an expert in everything, right? And so we learned so much to marketing. I mean, you name it, we touched on it in that class. What were some of the takeaways from that that you are implementing now? Almost a year later.
CHRIS: Want to hear a good story?
MARY: Yeah always.
CHRIS: It kind of goes with the question you asked me previously about my experience.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: Do you remember the night that we wrote the breakup letter?
MARY: Yes. We had to write a breakup letter to our business. And you know, you're the second person to bring this up in these conversations, but his breakup letter was amazing. But go ahead.
CHRIS: I lived my breakup letter this year. And that night, the night that we had read that letter out loud and share that experience…
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: I lived it this year. And going through it and living it and seeing your dreams kind of, let's just say be taken away.
MARY: Yeah, yeah.
CHRIS: It makes you appreciate your gifts and it makes you appreciate what you did. So, without Greenville Starts, I probably wouldn't have pushed through this year. I probably would have gave up and just gone back to working the nine to five and just you know enjoy life but my experience with Greenville Starts and having to, you know, go through a made breakup with something that you love and then having to go through it actually, it kind of gave you…I can go back and I can remember some of the speeches that the speakers gave. I will say it gave me motivation and courage and more than anything else it taught me that I'm not a know it all. I've worked in the banking industry for years as a banker and on the other side of the fence, telling people no to loans and being actually on the opposite end of it - trying to be approved, trying to get all your documents together gives you a whole new appreciation for what people on the other side go through. We've been on both sides. I have an appreciation for both now. But I will say that Greenville Starts… it gave me the courage to bounce back and gave me that fight and it prepared me for the hurdles that were ahead. So if anybody in Greenville County has a business idea and they feel like they can make it, but their confidence is an issue, I would definitely recommend Greenville Starts. We have the all-American, the GOAT, the great, the best hair, Brian Davis. He just…has a way of inspiring…inspiring you. Like just…any of our cohorts, I think about you guys and where you're at and I see your successes and it motivates you. You see other people being successful and that pushes you on.
MARY: One hundred percent. Which is the whole reason we do this podcast is to share your all’s stories with the public so that we can encourage other people to go ahead and follow their dreams and create their ventures, you know, and I mean, you talk about Greenville Starts being an inspiration, you're an inspiration to, I know our entire cohort.
CHRIS: I appreciate it. I appreciate it. I think, you know, God puts you in a certain place at a certain time. And I think I feel like that was a perfect time because like going into it, I'll be honest with you toward the end of class I kind of felt like something was off. It drained me. It drained me. It put me… I don't like talking about this aspect of it, but it impacted my mental health.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: It gave me some anxiety and put me in a depressive state and it you know, that's not me.
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: One hundred miles per hour, 100 days a week.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: So at the end of the class, it was like okay, what we got going on? And you guys really pushed us through. It's like a family. It's not just like a class. It's not just like a group of people. It feels like family and a cheerleader group.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: I've coached football, played football. I love sports and I love that team aspect. And that's what it felt like. Each week it wasn't a competition against each other. It was a way that we can push each other…push each other to make each other better. It's been a year and a half now. And when you can go back and recall specific conversations and specifics in a needed time, that's when you know it had an impact on you. That's what Greenville Starts said to me.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: It put a lot of information in this encyclopedia up here.
MARY: Yeah. I love that. I love that. What advice do you have to other entrepreneurs that you… either from Greenville Starts or just your personal experience?
CHRIS: I’m going to steal one from Ted Lasso.
MARY: Okay.
CHRIS: The great Ted Lasso. You got to believe. And what he also says…that's number one is believe.You got to believe in yourself. You got to believe in the process and you got to trust, you know, that the good Lord put you in a position he gave you whatever gifts that you have for a reason. And you have to follow the plan in your process. When things get hard, you got to go harder.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: And when things get easy, you got to kind of scratch your head and say, why is that so easy and know that something's coming.
MARY: Right. Be prepared.
CHRIS: Be prepared because something’s around the corner. The other thing is, I'm a Florida State fan. And the reason I'm a Florida State fan is because of…He talked about a lot about what you do when people aren't watching.
MARY: Yes.
CHRIS: And as an entrepreneur… it’s what you're doing behind the scenes and when people aren't watching is what's going to make you successful. You know, the… you know, I cook a brisket 26 hours for it to be gone in 30 minutes.
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: So it’s what I do behind the scenes and the effort and what people don't see is what makes you a great entrepreneur and a great… and great at what you do. And the last is something I learned from a guy named Tom Leopard back in 2012. Your priorities. As an entrepreneur, you have to have your priorities in order. It’s got to be your faith, your family, and your fortune. If those three get out of whack at any point in time, it's time to step back, reevaluate, and bring them back in line and then things will start flowing so greatly. So always remember your faith, your family, and then you're fortune and as long as those three are aligned, you can always be successful and bounce back.
MARY: I love that. The three F's.
CHRIS: The three F’s.
MARY: I love it. So you brought some… before we let you go, you brought some goodies for us. So, boy, I wish people…I wish we had smellivision because that cake smells so good. Oh my gosh. So Chris, what do we have here? This is one of the cakes that you do.
CHRIS: This is my spin on a…You lived in Kentucky?
MARY: I did not live in Kentucky.
CHRIS: I don’t know why I thought you lived in Kentucky. So, this is my take on a Kentucky butter cake.
MARY: Okay.
CHRIS: So I call it a Carolina butter cake.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: It's a pound cake with some secret flavors.
MARY: Okay.
CHRIS: As all things as Mr. Sauce It Up does, we also do cake glazes.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: So this has a pineapple. No, I'm sorry…a peach mango rum glaze to it.
MARY: Yeah. Oh my goodness. This is going to be so good.
CHRIS: Mixed in butter. Something I came up with. I am the king of taking a recipe and turning it into my own.
MARY: Right.
CHRIS: So, that's what I do the best. I don't… You know, if I go out to eat I'm probably going to take two… two combos, two meals and turn it into one.
MARY: And put them together.
CHRIS: So this is kind of what I’ve done with this and created my own flavor, but I feel pretty confident, I’m willing to bet you a $1 to your paycheck that you’ve never had a flavor like this.
MARY: All right, let's see it.
CHRIS: Let's see. Let me pull out my Dexter knife.
MARY: He’s going to pull out his Dexter knife. Oh yeah, that’s a Dexter knife. All right. All right. All right, let's cut into this sucker. So remind me again what the glaze is?
CHRIS: This is a peach mango with a hint of rum.
MARY: Okay.
CHRIS: And some other stuff that I can't really share with you at the time. I'll share with you at the time.
MARY: Right let's go. Cheers.
CHRIS: Cheers.
MARY: Oh my gosh.
CHRIS: Mmm. Mama where you at? Come on over here, get smacked.
MARY: That is so good. Did you say mama come on over here, get smacked?
CHRIS: Come on over. Come on over.
MARY: Oh yeah. So, we’re going to have to change that phrase, well or add to it…the best damn sauce…the best damn glaze…because this is good stuff.
CHRIS: Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
MARY: Oh my goodness. Alright. So again, we'll have the links to how you get in touch with Chris wherever we're posting this podcast, both on YouTube and all of our podcast channels. Just look under the copy, the body copy. And you'll see that there because you… if you are having an event, you want to hire Chris to cater that event. Again, it’s the entertainment and food. You can't beat that.
CHRIS: Let me tell you.
MARY: Yeah.
CHRIS: I didn’t mean to interrupt, but this cake is good.
MARY: It does taste good.
CHRIS: It tastes good. I’m a pound cake foodie and I think I've found something here.
MARY: I think you have too.
CHRIS: Not to brag, but yeah.
MARY: I think…I can’t put it down. I got to finish eating so I can say the rest of the show so I can close the show out. Oh my gosh. So good. Alright. How do people get in touch with you if they want to get some sauce or they want you to cater an event?
CHRIS: Cater an event. You can find me on Facebook - Chris Sexton or Sexton’s Smoke-N- Grill. Also on Instagram, it’s Chris Sexton or Sexton’s Smoke-N-Grill. Email me at sextonssmokengrill@gmail.com. www.sextonssmokengrill.com. And that's just Sexton’s, Smoke, the letter “n”, grill.com. Or you can call me 864-680-4629. We got the sauces.
MARY: Alright, Chris, thank you so much.
CHRIS: Thank you. Anytime. Anytime.
MARY: So remember, if someone you know is an entrepreneur or has an idea, Greenville Starts is a great place for them to get started or if they're somewhere in the process along the way and they just need that little extra “umph” to learn things that they don't necessarily know, then that's a great place. So, in order to get into the next cohort, all you have to do is Google Greenville Starts and Furman and it should be the very first link that pops up and get yourself on that list.
The other thing I wanted to remind everybody of is that we have the Paladin Pitch competition, which if you are a Furman student, you can win $10,000 for your venture. That's coming up in April, but you have to participate in some pitch competitions before that. So, contact the Hill Institute, get your pitch to them and start working and then from all those pitches throughout the year, they'll choose the finalists to pitch in April. So be thinking about that, be brainstorming. If you want to do something, now is the time to do it.
So, that does it for this episode of the Class E Podcast. I'm your host Mary Sturgilll. Remember this podcast is brought to you through a partnership between the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Communication Studies Department here at Furman University. It is produced by student producers, Kayla Patterson and Eliza Polich, a true example of the Furman Advantage. And remember, you can get this podcast two ways now - you can listen to it wherever you listen to your podcast, we also have a YouTube channel where you can watch it and you can see this beautiful cake that we just ate and see us eating it. And we also.. follow us on Tik Tok if you're on Tik Tok because we just started a brand new Tik Tok channel and you'll see a lot of the outtakes and a lot of cool stuff on behind the scenes stuff on that Tik Tok channel. Until next time everybody, dream big.