Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Lane.
Hi Jake, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I initially started cooking for my close family after coming home for good after ending my college baseball career. My brother ended up pushing me to take it a little more seriously by giving me an opportunity to cook for his customer appreciation event for his own business last Valentine’s Day (it was about 70 people). I immediately knew that I loved every second of that format of cooking. So the next month, I threw my first bbq pop up and sold out immediately. Since then, I’ve thrown about 15 pop ups and they’re only getting better and better.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Honestly, it’s been the smoothest road possible. I can’t say that there aren’t any slip ups like forgetting my oil one day or getting rained on and having fire going out on my smoker… but as a whole I don’t have much to complain about at all. I prayed to God to get me to where I’m at today, he showed up for me every time and I’m thankful.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
So, I’m the sole owner of Jake’s Cookout, which is a pop-up food shop that also does catering and private dinners. I specialize in Texas Style BBQ and authentic but rather casual Mexican Cuisine. I think the main thing that sets Jake’s Cookout apart from other businesses is the creativity within the dishes. I really try to focus on fusing bbq with other cultural influences while really paying respect to whoever’s homeland (dish) that I’m deciding to mesh my bbq with. Along with that, I feel like I’ve always loved art and food is how I express my creativity, so something I also try to make sure to do is pay respect to outside hobbies im interested in by sharing local creators/artists/athletes content and being on my pages. Like local music artists, skateboarders, chefs, DJ’s etc. The pop ups I do right now are 100% food based, but I’ve recently started collaborating with Rider’s On the Storm tattoo shop by popping up at their shop/art gallery. They offer me a place to share the love of food with others while also serving as a really cool venue that appreciates art as a whole. What I’m doing with them, I’d love to be able to do with more local businesses and people, whether that be DJ’s, musicians, skateboarders, tattoo artists or any one who has really cool art to share with the city. I’m very proud of being able to clearly express who I am through my business.
How do you think about happiness?
What makes me happy is serving other people, seeing people happy and simply creating. These are the three concepts that I feel that we are put on this planet to do as human beings, and I’m just so thankful that God has allowed me to do them through Jake’s Cookout.
Contact Info:
- Email: Jakesbbq713@gmail.com
- Instagram: @JakesCookout
- TikTok: @JakesCookout
