Brisket So Good Even Tokyo Took A Detour

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Welcome to the 266 Express.
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I'm John Knoblett here with my co-host Donna Green.
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Donna, who do we have with us today?
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Today we're excited to welcome someone who has uh become a true staple in Sanger and a name synonymous with the Incredible Barbecue.
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We have Leonard Dodson, and reluctantly we have Stephanie that's here, you know, although she doesn't want to be named, but we'll name her anyway.
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But uh they're the owners of Pepperbelly Barbecue.
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Yay! Yay!
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Leonard, glad you're here.
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Thank you.
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Stephanie, good to see you again.
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Thank you, sir.
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It's been hours.
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Minutes.
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So, Leonard, I will tell you, we were talking around the office the other day.
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We were going through the podcast stuff, and I told Don, I said, hey, we need more people.
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We need to decide what this year is going to look like because 2025 was the first year.
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I thought it was a good year.
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And so we started talking about businesses that that are staples.
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And we started talking about downtown and businesses that are, you know, kind of synonymous with downtown.
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And your name was the first one to come up when we were talking about what businesses have been able to survive a very volatile downtown singer over the years.
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And your yours was top of our list, so we're glad you're here.
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Thank you.
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Yes, ma'am.
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Okay.
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So for for listeners out there who who don't know you yet, which I can't imagine that there are any, but tell us who is Leonard Dotson and how did Pepperbelly Barbecue come to life?
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What in 2014, December 2014?
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Yes, yeah, it seems like about that time.
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Uh I don't know.
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I'm the father of five.
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Uh used to what brought me to Sanger is uh worked and lived on a ranch here across town.
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It was called uh Hidden Falls Ranch back in the day.
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I'm not sure what it's called now.
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But when that folded, uh trying to find a job at 50 years old isn't very easy.
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So I talked my wife into letting me buy this old trailer sitting in somebody's field, and I built it myself, talked her into letting me try to sell barbecue, and that was 11, 12 years ago.
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So that's a long time.
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That's a long time.
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Yes, yeah, it was a dream.
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I didn't know it was.
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I hoped that it did, but I didn't know it would last this long.
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Well, I mean, I've I've had a few meals there.
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I can see why it's lasting that long.
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For sure.
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For sure.
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For sure.
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Well, you've been part of Sanger for a long time.
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I mean, not just uh even before Pepper Belly.
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Um, but what do you think has helped Pepperbelly really become one of the longest running and most successful food establishments in town?
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Ooh, that's a good question.
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Uh I don't know, sir.
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For me, I I think I get this from my mother, and it's just trying to have a big heart.
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Uh try to help everybody that I can within means.
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Uh that's why me and Mama do so much for the schools.
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Uh I just feel like when you help not expecting anything in return in the long run, it's gonna come back, come back on you one way or another.
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And that's just what I was taught when I was little.
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And that's what I try to teach all my kids and grandkids.
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Some of them take it, some of them don't.
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So this isn't one of our scheduled questions, but so where do you get your where did you get your recipes?
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Where did those come from?
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Is this trial and error, or is it something that mommy handed it down, grandma, or no ma'am, you're you're right.
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Just when I was like 13, 14, 15, I worked at a used car auction, and every so often they would do what they called a big sale, it was free barbecue dinner, and feed all the dealers so they bring all their cars.
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That's when I started cooking barbecue.
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And I do not do it the same way today as I did then.
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But it it is, it's all just trying to trying to flavor and it didn't like it or you didn't like it, and then the same with cooking temps and times and all that.
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It's just I've been cooking on the smoker, yeah, 30 some odd years or more.
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So it's just even today, there's different times where I'm like, ooh, I just learned something new.
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And I've been doing it forever, and that just it blows my mind still.
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Anyone can cook barbecue.
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It it's that's what makes it what it is.
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There's no right or wrong way of doing it.
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Well, no, I don't know.
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I've had some barbecue that you ever have a brisket, you have to you need like a bone going on it.
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So I've had lots of uh Leonard's barbecue, and it's it's some good stuff.
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Yeah, I mean it's award-winning barbecue, right?
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Brisket, ribs, chicken sausage, everything.
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Um, so you you're trial and error, you just get better with time.
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Uh how do you decide what makes the cut on the menu, you know, and and what's been on the menu the longest?
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Like what what are what are pepperbelly classics?
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Oh, probably I started with the basics: brisket, sliced and chopped, uh, the pulled pork, chicken and sausage, ribs.
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Here lately I've added like a jalapeno cheese sausage.
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Uh I finally came across uh good real turkey breast meat, and it's excellent.
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So just through times, I try different things here and there.
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Uh do the little stuffed jalapenos, which I know a lot of people know what those are.
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I sell a bunch.
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Every now and then I try little different things.
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Lollipop drumsticks is what they're called, but it's just a basically it's just a chicken leg with wrapped in bacon.
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But you can wrap anything in bacon, make it taste better.
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Anything in bacon is good, hmm?
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Did you bring samples?
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No, ma'am.
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So um well, you've said that you don't even consider this a job.
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So they say you do something you love, you never work a day in your life, right?
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But when did you realize that this was more than just work for you?
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Oh, to be honest with you, it's only happened about three times.
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And every one of those days was the day before Thanksgiving.
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And you can ask my daughter because she's usually the one helping me.
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It just gets hectic.
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I mean, I've I'm pushing out 80 some odd turkeys, not counting the briskets and ribs, and all this all comes in one day.
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This year we added tamales to it, 165 dozen tamales.
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Brisket tamales?
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We can do briskets.
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Yeah, yeah.
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We have we have before, and they went well.
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I bet.
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But other than that, it doesn't.
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It it just I go to so-called work and I just play with the fires and cook the meat and talk to people and bull crap around.
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Well, yeah, I mean, it it may not seem like work, but we all know it is a serious business, and there's a lot of work that goes into it.
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What do you what do you think is some of the hardest stuff that that uh people don't really see when you're running running a business out of a food trailer?
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Oh, I guess for me, would one of it is the heat.
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You don't really realize how hot it's gonna be in the summer until you get inside a food trailer.
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And the second one is probably trying to keep the food cost down.
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Everybody asks me a lot, why don't I just get Benny Keith or Cisco to drop off an 18-wheeler full of meat to me?
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But I go and usually Mondays and Thursdays, and I drive all over Denton finding the best-looking meat and the cheapest meat I can do that's still high quality enough to keep the prices down.
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I just I don't know how to say it.
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Uh if they come in a case, you don't get to see what the rib looks like till you open the box.
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So if I go pick them out myself, then I know what I'm getting.
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And like I said, it's all about trying to keep the price down.
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Because I'm, you know, today's hard.
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Everything's high.
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Brisket and stuff has fluctuated.
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Their pricing has fluctuated a lot.
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Right now, we're lucky if we pay$4.59 a pound for brisket.
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Yeah.
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And then that's the big thing is people don't understand the time he puts in it.
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Yeah.
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He they don't realize that he's up there sometimes at three o'clock in the morning getting brisket's ready, getting all that stuff because it takes a minute to cook.
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It's not like you just put it in your oven and 45 minutes later, wah boom, it's there.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Brisket takes a minute.
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Longer it takes, the better it is.
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And you're right.
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You know, I uh I want name businesses, but you know, when I was on the other side of the red there, you know, I knew plenty of businesses that that's what they did.
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You know, they they get those big Cisco runs and you know, and it you know, not always good.
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Yeah, consistency is big.
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And so that I mean that's a lot of love in a craft when you're going out and you're and you're hand picking all that stuff and putting all that time in.
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That says a lot about the quality of uh of the product you put out, which is a reflection of of you as an individual, right?
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Probably why it lasted so long.
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I think probably that's impressive.
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So you alluded to this earlier, but Pepperbelly is not just about food.
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You also you give back a lot to the schools and the sports programs.
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I know you do a lot with the Education Foundation every year, and I mean your billboards are everywhere around the schools.
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So why is supporting the kids in the community so important to you?
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Oh, I don't know.
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I guess as far as the kids, not every child is fortunate enough to I don't know how else to say, come from a family that has a lot of means.
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So I was one of those when I was younger.
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So like I said, uh every kid needs help sometimes.
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If if they're popular, not popular, if they're big, small, if they're athletic or not, any any any child always needs help, in my opinion.
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I don't I don't know how else to explain it after the other than that.
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The community gives to us.
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Yes, yeah, they give us more than we give to them.
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We're very, very blessed in this town.
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And because of that, I always feel like I need to, like I said before, pass it forward, pass it forward, pass it forward.
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Because in the long run, it's it comes back to us.
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You know, you you give them a little brisket at the basketball game for a Thursday night, and then Saturday you have a family coming in from Springfield saying they drove all the way back to Sanger just to get more barbecue.
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That kind of stuff, you know, hits you in the heart.
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And all because I was trying to just help the kiddos raise a little money.
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For instance, this year we we got to team up with the cross country group, and because of us sharing some of the concession football concession stand that we help with, the cross country got to ride on a charter bus all the way to Austin and back.
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And if if I felt like if we didn't come up with that plan, they would have been riding the the yellow bus all the way down there and back.
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That's uh that's nice.
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Now, I I this hot news here.
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I'm supposed to ask you about Tokyo.
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Well, oh yeah, these two guys came in one day and I noticed the license plate.
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It said California, but I knew they didn't think they were from California.
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Long story short, I just asked them, where are you from?
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And the one guy, the younger guy, told me they flew in from Tokyo to Houston, got in a rental car, and was going to drive to Oklahoma City to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball game.
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The dad didn't speak any English.
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So I asked them, what made y'all stop here?
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And they said once they got closer to Dallas, they punched in best barbecue spots around, and I was on the top of the list, so they decided to stop.
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So yeah, that was that was a pretty neat deal.
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I made them take a picture with me, of course.
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Pepper believes made it all the way to Tokyo.
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That's amazing.
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Sangers on the map in Tokyo.
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All right.
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So you uh you did uh, I mean, you you're right.
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You you said early that everything comes full circle, and it sounds like it does.
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Um, and I agree with that philosophy too.
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And and I really do.
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I believe my my grandma was the same way, right?
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You get you get uh you get what you put out there, good or bad, you know.
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So try to put out as much good in the world as you can.
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So it's evolved through the years, Singer.
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You know, I've only been here a little while in the scheme of things, and things have changed tremendously.
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You've been around a long time as the downtown and the city itself has really evolved.
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What's it been like growing growing your business alongside the city?
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Um uh both pepperbelly and the city just hitting even now these new these new things that we probably didn't anticipate we'd see for 30 years.
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What's that like?
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Oh, I think it's great in the long run for everybody.
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Uh just me being honest, I don't like it to grow too big.
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But of course, that's coming.
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Nobody, nobody can stop that.
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Uh just for the small business guy, you know, food industry, it it does make you a little nervous when the Watta burger's coming and and all the big name brand places are coming.
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Uh this might not be a true, but it's my philosophy.
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As of right now, there's 26 places you can choose from to go eat lunch in Sanger today.
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And when you're all fighting for the same thousand people that go out to eat lunch every day, the the people that live here in Sanger that work here in Sanger go home.
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So once you start adding these other five and ten and more big established places, it just feels like the small guy is gonna be, you're gonna have to be on your game to compete for your share of the customers.
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So that's where you know, always trying to put the best product out there you can is is where it's gonna make the difference, in my opinion.
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Just try to always keep it the same.
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Yeah.
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That's 100%.
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And that's a real that's a real thing that we don't always talk about.
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Whenever, you know, we we do all the planning and we do all the meetings and we do all those things, but but you're right, market the market share changes, but the market shares don't often change.
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So a well-established business can remain well-established for a long time.
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Uh, but when corporate entities start dropping, it does create new challenges, you know, and uh and people um the winter storm was the one we were talking about, you know, a lot of people uh remember the corporate entities, the the Mc McDonald's and the Jack in the Boxes and the Taco Bells, and we're glad to have them and we want them to do well, but a lot of times they forget the the hometown business.
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Um and it is it is a small business that usually suffers because they you don't have the backing of some of these larger businesses.
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So you got to close for three days for weather, it hurts.
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It's a big, big chunk chunk of uh of your business, whereas they're you know, they they're able to float a little bit more.
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So um, so yeah, I I would encourage anybody that listens to to remember that uh when we tout shopping shopping local, that's a lot of what we're doing, you know.
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Take take care of the people that take care of you.
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So this is uh very important because we have uh lots of city events and then uh other things, but uh Leonard does catering.
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And um we actually he actually catered my daughter's wedding.
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So I mean it's a good one, this is a good catering.
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So um tell us how that side of the business differs from serving out of the trailer, and then what do you enjoy most about it?
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And I I know Stephanie gets to help on that catering stuff.
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I've seen her a couple times, so gets to help.
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You're welcome.
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Yeah, you're welcome.
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Gotcha.
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Yeah, I don't I don't know.
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As far as the cooking side is, it it's nothing changes.
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Everything's the same.
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I cook it all, I do everything.
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Uh I don't know how you call it, homemade, I guess is a good word for it.
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It's just in bigger quantities.
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Uh and yes, when we do caterings, it's a it's a family event.
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Usually Stephanie, my kids, my grandkids, some somewhere of the family is going to be there helping, and they've they've always been ready to help.
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And I kind of like it because saying you're doing 200 plates at uh$20 a plate at the window, but you're doing all 200 of them at one time.
00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:56.799
Well, that's a that's a pretty good feeling.
00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:01.440
For sure, right?
00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:05.279
So tell us a little bit about your favorite items on the menu.
00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:07.599
I mean, uh is it is it like kids?
00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:13.200
Do you just love them all equally, or do you have you have a special, do you have a special item that you like?
00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:14.640
Oh, I don't know.
00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:16.480
I enjoy cooking all of it.
00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:19.839
Uh the brisket just gives you a good feeling.
00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:26.720
Some of the younger age people don't seem to think that the smoke ring has anything to do with it.
00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:32.079
I don't know if it adds any flavor or not, because I've never ate one that didn't have a smoke ring.
00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:39.039
So as far I just think all of me and my customers alone eat with their eyes, too.
00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:46.559
So just with that nice looking smoke ring, if it tastes different or not, it it just looks better, makes it look more appealing.
00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:54.160
Uh when I used to do cook-offs a lot, I I made more money on the chicken than I did on anything else.
00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:54.640
Yeah.
00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:56.880
The ribs are fun to cook.
00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:02.319
To be very, very honest with you, me and my neither one don't eat barbecue very much.
00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:05.359
It's in your pores, you don't want to do this.
00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:13.119
I get a bite and taste it and make sure everything's on point, and and usually that's the end of it.
00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:18.000
Well, after all these years, I can imagine that you might be a little burnt out.
00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.319
Yeah, the same with the jalapeno peppers.
00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:22.559
People ask me all the time, what do they taste like?
00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:24.720
And I honestly couldn't tell you.
00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:26.079
I've never eaten one.
00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:29.200
Well, they do he does the great big baked potatoes, too.
00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:32.319
Yeah, when I can find them, yeah, great big old potatoes.
00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:34.079
Those are good.
00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:36.079
So you don't just have to get brisket.
00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:39.039
I might have eaten there a couple times.
00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:40.799
I'm getting hungry right now.
00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:41.440
I know, right?
00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:42.079
Yeah.
00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:49.200
So, Leonard, what advice would you give somebody who's dreaming about starting a food trailer or a small restaurant or even a small business?
00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:51.839
I mean, it's kind of it all goes hand in hand, right?
00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:53.200
It's a small town business.
00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:56.240
Yeah, I mean anybody can stumble into something, right?
00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:59.440
But it takes a lot of work to get moving, right?
00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:06.880
So yeah, I don't that's kind of a hard question because everybody's outlook is different.
00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:13.839
For one, starting a food trailer, just because you know how to cook good doesn't mean that the food trailer is going to work.
00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:20.880
If if honestly, back to the heat, if you can't handle it being hot, there's no sense in trying to do a food trailer.
00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:28.319
My little trailer's 14 foot, it's got three air conditioners in it, and it's still almost 100 degrees in the summertime.
00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:29.839
Yeah, we measured it one time.
00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:32.319
It was 92 in there with all three ACs going.
00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:33.039
Yeah.
00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:34.720
I bet you were dying.
00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:36.000
I left.
00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:37.599
I left.
00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:38.799
Stephen don't like it hot.
00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:39.440
I do not.
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:43.519
All I can say on that is is like back to that.
00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:53.200
I didn't start thinking about doing the barbecue business until the the ranch we worked on folded under.
00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:55.680
But it it is nervous.
00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:58.160
It's always nervous taking the first step.
00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:04.960
But if that if it's really your dream and really your passion, just don't stop.
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:08.079
Just keep keep plugging away, plugging away.
00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:11.759
You're gonna find a route eventually if you don't quit.
00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:14.559
That's all I can think on that.
00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:16.640
Keep at it.
00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:31.039
So um again, you you you you uh we've talked a little bit about the community support uh that you provided over the years, and and what are some other other things that you've uh done for the community as far as your community supports, not just the schools, right?
00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:39.599
Um I know in fact uh we had a fundraiser not too long ago for one of our um officers that came out and helped help with that.
00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:41.680
Uh tremendous benefit.
00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:44.480
Uh you guys are kind of everywhere.
00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:48.960
Yeah, like I said before, we just try to help where we can help.
00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:57.519
It it may not always be in dollars, but if it's got anything concerning food, we're always there to help.
00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:58.480
Uh-huh.
00:21:58.880 --> 00:21:59.519
Uh yeah.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.839
We've done little benefits like that.
00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:15.680
Of course, like you mentioned, the education foundation, uh, just the schools in general, almost every athletic department there we've we've touched before, if not still doing it.
00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:28.640
Uh I know just certain people, certain special customers when they come in and and they have an ill in the family or death, sort of to say.
00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:36.000
Uh I'm always there ready to help, you know, make sure they at least got one good meal through that time.
00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:42.640
I mean, we can't feed them every day, but at least once, at least they know other people are thinking about them.
00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:50.160
And and just me and mama trying to be ourselves, I think, is what's helped us be here this long.
00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:54.000
Yeah, Stephanie, he's showing a really soft side of you that I wasn't sure was there.
00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:56.160
I don't let that side out of us too.
00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:58.559
He's telling on you.
00:22:58.640 --> 00:22:59.200
I love it.
00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:00.319
I love it.
00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:05.680
So um, and well, I mean, Pepperbelly's got some pretty big news coming up, you know.
00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:08.640
You want to share with people what that news is?
00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:12.079
Yeah, I hear uh I don't know when.
00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:18.000
I'm I'm keeping in my mind like May or June, but it may be before.
00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:24.079
But yeah, we're gonna be moving into behind uh Uptown Rail Brewery.
00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:28.480
Uh there's two grain silos back behind there.
00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:35.599
One of them is the outside beer area bar, whatever you want to call it.
00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:41.920
And the next silo would be transformed into the my little trailer, the inside little kitchen area.
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:43.279
Beer and barbecue.
00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:48.480
They have gotten their permit, so construction has started.
00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:50.400
I saw that there's a door in there, yeah.
00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:53.119
Uh serving window already, so they're moving along.
00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:54.079
It won't be June.
00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:54.799
It won't be June.
00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:55.359
Yeah.
00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:56.640
He's setting expectations.
00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:01.440
That's a great, I mean, I'm excited for a lot of reasons.
00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:10.960
Uh one, I can walk down to the brewery, get barbecue in the future, and then just take a nap on the park bench on the way back to the office.
00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:11.759
There you go.
00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:14.000
Todd and Vanessa have been amazing.
00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:18.640
Yeah, and that I mean they they it's uh like-mindedness, right?
00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:21.200
I mean, they've they've been very community oriented as well.
00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:26.640
Wow, I mean it seems like that's gonna be a fantastic, uh, fantastic partnership.
00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:27.680
That's exciting.
00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:29.279
Well, that venue just keeps growing.
00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:32.559
They just uh I think Todd would take up all of downtown if we let him in.
00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:34.000
Yeah, yeah.
00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:36.079
Um that's a big passion of his.
00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:37.200
So um I'm glad to see.
00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:39.839
I think that's that's gonna be a great, a great, great thing.
00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:41.599
Yeah, it's I'm ready.
00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:44.640
It's I'm a little nervous, but super excited.
00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:47.599
So so we used, I mean, so I don't know what your normal hours are.
00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:48.640
What are your normal hours?
00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:51.279
You serve through lunch, do you serve through dinner?
00:24:51.759 --> 00:25:01.680
Normally I try to open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, open at 10, try to stay till 5, 6, 7 o'clock, but it usually don't last that long.
00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:03.440
I'll sell out beforehand.
00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:12.960
When we do move over here, I am going to try to stay open through the week some and also pick a day to stay open till 8 or 9 o'clock.
00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:29.599
But I really feel that it might end up veering towards opening Thursday, Friday, Saturday, so I can be the day and the night to handle all the crowd that's hopefully going to be there.
00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:32.880
And then you'll have to think about like the songwriter festival.
00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:36.480
You know, we always do a piece of that there, and that brings a huge crowd.
00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:37.759
So you're gonna have to make extra barbecue.
00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:39.440
Yeah, there's a lot of yes, yeah.
00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:41.200
That that's the whole trick of it.
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:44.240
Yeah, is seeing if we can well I hope you run out every day.
00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:44.880
Yeah, yeah.
00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:46.160
That's my prayer for you.
00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:48.000
You can't keep up with it.
00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:49.680
That's that's a good problem to have.
00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:52.319
You're doing your part.
00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:53.839
I mean, it's good stuff.
00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:54.240
For sure.
00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:55.519
It is good stuff.
00:25:55.759 --> 00:26:01.279
So what do you what do you think out of the uh I mean, you know, uh it's been a long time, you know.
00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:05.039
Um so from 2014 to 2026 now.
00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:12.799
What what what are you most proud of as it goes uh goes uh to Pepper Belly and the business you built?
00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:19.599
Yeah, I I don't really know on that one.
00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:26.880
I guess I mean just proud that I can still keep getting up every day and and going to so-called work.
00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:27.759
Yeah.
00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:31.920
Uh yeah, I don't I don't really know.
00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:35.039
I guess maybe one back to that again.
00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:45.839
One of the proudest moments for me, and I I think I speak for mama too, was was just the thought of being a help being able to help all those cross-country kids this year.
00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:52.160
I know we've helped with everything in the past, but that one for now is the one that sticks out the most.
00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:54.880
Just I guess because it's the most recent.
00:26:56.559 --> 00:26:57.519
We just go.
00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:00.960
I remember when the the girls made their state run.
00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:05.200
How many miles did we put going across state watching softball games?
00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:05.680
Oh, yeah.
00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:07.680
Softball, we do follow them regularly.
00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:10.079
Softball's a real, yeah.
00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:11.839
You guys are at all the sports.
00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:12.559
We try.
00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:13.440
We do like it.
00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:14.559
Yeah, we do like it.
00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:16.480
We watch the baseball, the softball.
00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:20.000
We support the cross country, but we had kids in all of those sports.
00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:22.960
So we just enjoy watching it.
00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:26.799
It's softball season now, too, right?
00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:27.440
Yes, it is.
00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:28.079
Yeah, yeah.
00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:29.680
We pick on this.
00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:33.200
Next first, the next game is Monday.
00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:33.920
We'll be out.
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:38.240
They giggle at us because we don't go sit in the bleachers, we sit in the outfield.
00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:44.160
So Leonard backs his truck up to the back fence, and then they just see our heads over the back fence.
00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:46.240
That's where they watch it, so they giggle at us.
00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:47.519
That is funny.
00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:48.240
That is funny.
00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:51.119
Well, Leonard, outside the trailer, where can we find you?
00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:55.680
Or are people able to contact you via via Facebook, phone number?
00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:56.720
What have we got?
00:27:56.960 --> 00:27:58.799
Yeah, Facebook and phone number.
00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:04.720
I'm not too good on that email, TikToks, and all that stuff.
00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:08.960
So yeah, just call me or text a message.
00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:11.440
What number would that be?
00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:12.319
Oh, sorry.
00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:17.519
Uh 940-390-5271.
00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:23.440
And we'll include a link in the posting for your Facebook site so people can place an order with you there or get in touch with you.
00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:26.000
And we can give out Stephanie's cell phone number anytime you want.
00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:29.039
I wanted to see, I wanted to see that logo too.
00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:29.359
Yeah.
00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:31.279
That is a sweet logo.
00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:35.039
Pepper belly is the logo that catches my eye every time I see it.
00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:35.519
Yep.
00:28:35.599 --> 00:28:35.759
Yeah.
00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:43.440
I know he gives me props, but when people do text me about his order, I try to direct him to him because I will mess it up.
00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:44.559
That is a true statement.
00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:47.359
I mean, I work, I work with her and she was like, here's Leonard's number.
00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:50.799
Yeah, take Leonard's number because I don't want to mess anything up on your catering.
00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:58.240
Well, I've been paying a lot of attention uh to the to the spot over there in 455 because you know we've been doing a little work with Text Dot.
00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:05.279
And at times, you know, during this construction process, I haven't been able to get a lot done, but I noticed you got a lot done.
00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:10.799
There was a lot of signage moved, a lot of a lot of a lot of driveway access.
00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:12.400
I was I was jealous.
00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:16.880
There was a little bit of um discussions had.
00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:19.359
The construction was very difficult on us.
00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:19.759
Yeah.
00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:24.559
Um, and we let Techdot know that it was difficult on us.
00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:29.039
So lo and behold, they were nice enough to put a sign up that said pepperbelly next left.
00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:30.240
There you go.
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:32.880
And and here, you can actually drive into it and you can get in there.
00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:33.440
You can get in.
00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:37.279
So for the time being, they can still find you on the east side of the tracks there on 454.
00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:39.039
Still the same spot.
00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:44.960
And then uh depending on uh what Stephanie tells you, it sounds like you'll be very soon to downtown.
00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:46.880
That's exciting.
00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:47.680
We're excited.
00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:48.319
Yeah, yeah.
00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:49.279
I'm excited.
00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:50.000
I am too.
00:29:50.160 --> 00:29:51.039
It's gonna be great.
00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:53.920
So well, any further words of wisdom?
00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:56.079
Well, I came thinking.
00:29:57.920 --> 00:29:59.440
We really thank you for being here.
00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:00.240
This is awesome.
00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:01.440
Thank you all for having me.
00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:01.759
Yeah.
00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:04.400
Well, you've been listening to 266 Express.
00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:05.519
I'm John Knoblett.
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:06.559
I'm Donna Green.
00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:10.720
Thank you for listening in to what's going on in our small little North Texas town.