DC-area man’s journey from ‘grill guy’ to smokin’ barbecue business owner – WTOP News

Courtesy George Loving

Courtesy George Loving

Courtesy George Loving

Courtesy George Loving

A D.C.-area man spent decades working on print solutions centered in office environments. Now, he’s smokin’ with a full-service catering company focused on barbecue.

George Loving had no idea his career would take such a tasty turn from office solutions to running a D.C.-based business that blossomed from his passion for barbecue.

In the days before founding Smoke Datt Barbecue, Loving told WTOP he was “the grill guy” who cooked for tailgates at his son’s football games.

“I would grill hot dogs, hamburgers, things of that nature for our family. Then it started to grow from there.”

Loving said he wanted bigger tailgates when his son went to college at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and decided, “I’m really gonna get me a real smoker made.”

After that, Loving said someone suggested he go into business for himself and he ran with it. Friends, family and referrals were among his first clients — and business kept growing.

“So, I looked online, and I ordered a custom-made barbecue trailer mount unit,” said Loving.

Enter the coronavirus pandemic: Loving said he was furloughed from his full-time job and then was able to return to that job, thanks to government help for businesses during the pandemic.

“From that point forward, I kind of saw the writing on the wall. Like wow, something like this could really impact this industry I’ve been in for 22 years. Maybe I need to start exploring other things,” Loving said.

When his son graduated from the Naval Academy in 2021, “I submitted my resignation letter and ever since then, I’ve been doing this full time.”

Eventually, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adjusted its coronavirus guidelines, and when those changes put the green light on outdoor gatherings, Loving said “we were uniquely positioned at that point, because all of the equipment and all of our experience was associated with outdoor events. We started tailgating, and you tailgate outside.”

Loving said business kept flowing and the company grew “by leaps and bounds” in 2023, noting that his process of career reinvention has been a joyful one.

“Just imagine, when you recreate yourself, now you’re going to 15 to 20 parties a week and everyone loves to see you when you pull up,” he laughed.

But a health scare prompted him to change the flavor of his work-life balance.

“Some nights, I literally stayed in our shop cooking, smoking barbecue all night long. … I ran myself down,” Loving said.

“I was feeling some pain, refused to take off and go, until it got to the point I could barely walk. … I went to the doctor, and they rushed me to the hospital.”

Loving said he was hospitalized for eight days.

His lesson from that experience? “You gotta take care of yourself,” he said.

“No amount of money in the world is worth you just working so hard you’re tearing yourself down.”

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