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He arrived at the University of South Alabama without a dream of his own. Unsure of what he wanted to do with his life, he graduated with only one hint of his future direction \u2014 his love of cooking.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even realize I liked to cook, but by the time I graduated college, I was a pretty good cook,\u201d Chism said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking for direction, he silenced the outside voices and paid attention to his own.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll I knew was what I didn\u2019t want to do,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was a big list of things. Then one day, I asked, \u2018What really lights you up?\u2019 I saw I had a short list: dancing, cooking, and the beach. I love to two-step, but I had to do something for a living, so I decided to move to the beach and try my hand at cooking.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ingredients in Chism\u2019s recipe for success began In Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I got settled in and started going to church there, I knew I was where I was supposed to be. Soon, I started cooking and knew I was on the right track. I never regretted my journey from that point on,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n His next-door neighbor there, Jim Norton, introduced him to barbecue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe taught me how to barbecue, and as we got into it, I wanted my own cooker. We went to a scrap yard and got all the pieces \u2014 an old propane tank and wheels off a lawn mower \u2014 for 11 cents a pound. I\u2019d work 12 hours a day in the restaurant and come home and fire that thing up. I\u2019d spend all day with three chickens and a stack of wood,\u201d Chism said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As his culinary skills grew, so did his fascination with barbecue and its history, ultimately leading to the creation of his own seasoning, now available in over 8,000 stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow the video as Bad Byron\u2019s Butt Rub weaves its way around the country and the world through barbecue cook-off championships. The cook-off trail often led through Franklin, Lincoln, and Moore Counties, and Chism needed a home base for his equipment. Finding the perfect spot in the Mulberry community in Lincoln County, the Butt Ranch Barbecue Theme Park became his second home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLincoln County is always fresh. I\u2019m here three or four weeks at a time, and then I choose to go to the office [in Florida],\u201d Chism said. \u201cMy mother lives in Mobile, Alabama, and I spend some time with her, then I just like to circle back here. I\u2019m refreshed, renewed, and recharged, and I never really get bogged down here. I keep rebooting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chism knew when he got to Lincoln County that he wanted a new dog after losing his dog of 17 years, Jake. At the Fayetteville-Lincoln County Animal Shelter, Chism met Sadie, who was about to be put down. The shelter workers were heartbroken at the thought and thrilled when Chism took her home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said, \u201cThey all loved her and didn’t want to see her get put down, so I saved her. She’s been such an incredible dog, and\u00a0I always felt like the animal shelter gave me such a great thing. I learned enough to know their biggest challenge is funding, so I started raising money through Brisket & Bluegrass, and it’s been a good relationship. We got dogs adopted to different places and raised some good money for them. It feels good. It’s such a great setting [here] with the great outdoors, food, music, and a good cause.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next Brisket & Bluegrass is September 23 at Chism\u2019s Butt Ranch Barbecue Theme Park. The annual event is the perfect blend of everything important in Chism\u2019s life.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, Chism will be inducted into the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame\u00ae. According to americanroyal.com, the ceremony will honor three individuals who, by extraordinary achievement and service, have made outstanding and significant contributions to barbecue. Induction into the Barbecue Hall of Fame is barbecue\u2019s top honor and recognizes the substantial influence on the advancement of barbecue.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n While it appears to be the pinnacle of Chism\u2019s success, he knows there will always be more to the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s never where you’re going; it’s the journey because there’s no one place where you just arrive. It’s a false, imaginative place,\u201d he said. \u201cI was truly lost trying to find what I was supposed to be doing, and it was very uncomfortable. When I stopped listening to everybody’s advice and started following my heart and trusting God, the ship started sailing in the right direction. And I think that’s probably the most important thing to think about.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n But where does he go from here? <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor the future, I see no big changes, just more of the same. I’m where I want to be, and I think I’ll just continue along the path,\u201d said Chism. GN <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CHECK YOUR pantry\u2019s seasonings, and you may very well find a bottle with a perky, pantless pig smiling back at you. The journey of Bad Byron\u2019s Butt Rub to a place at your table is seasoned with seeking, stretching, and serendipity.\u00a0 Dictionary.com defines serendipity as an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. Byron Chism\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":18593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/byron-chisom-4-1024x683.jpg\")
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