From the Kitchen Table: The Duffys - The McLemores: Building A Company With Family & Faith

Episode Date: November 24, 2022

On this episode, Sean and Rachel sit down with the former CEO of Masterbuilt Manufacturing John McLemore to discuss the founding of the company by his father in 1973 and how the business has evolved over the years.   Later, along with his wife Tonya and their son John Jr., they share the story of how John met Tonya, and the faith that holds the family together.  And for a Thanksgiving treat they give tips on how to cook the perfect turkey.   Follow Sean and Rachel on Twitter: @SeanDuffyWI & @RCamposDuffy   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Mejuri. From November 25th to December 2nd, get 25% off everything on orders over $150 in Mejuri's biggest sale ever. From bold hoops to minimalist stacks, Mejuri has something for everyone. Mejuri makes handcrafted fine jewelry for every day made with responsibly sourced materials.

So you can look and feel good about gifting and wearing them. Shop your wishlist 25% off at Mijeri.com today. Hey, everybody. Welcome to From the Kitchen Table. I am Sean Duffy, along with my co-host for the podcast, my partner in life, and my wife, Rachel Campos Duffy. Sean, it's so great to be back at our kitchen table, and literally, this is like a Thanksgiving table. It is. It's a Thanksgiving table, and we thought, who do we want to have as we all are thinking about the holidays, thinking about Thanksgiving, and our families, and food.

What name comes to mind to you, Sean? The McLemores. The McLemores. And today we have John and John. It is family and food is the McLemores. That is their title. Yeah, that is. It could just be like their middle names.

That's our motto. Yes, it's your motto. So John and John, but also we're so lucky to have with us Tanya, John. Hello. Beautiful wife, Tanya. You don't call her Tanya. You call her Mama Mac. Mama Mac.

I love it. What I've just learned in the first 30 seconds of this podcast is I don't matter. Yes, you do. You're the candy. I'm the candy. I'll tell you that. That's why Mama Mac says that, I guess. Yeah, I'm sure she does.

She calls me Daddy. Daddy. Well, actually, let's start there, because one of the things, we talk a lot about the Macklemore's and food and Masterbuilt and all the food they make for our show that makes everybody want to go and buy all the Masterbuilt products and start cooking with their families. But there is a story behind this family. And we're going to talk about the company a little bit. Maybe we start there.

But I really want to make sure we leave time, John, for the love story. Because I do know the love story. And it's really, really cute. So we'll get to that. But one other thing. I care about the love story. I care about the company. But i also want to talk about turkey yeah we are going to talk about the best way to do your thanksgiving turkey we talked about a little bit on the show this past weekend but

we're gonna we'll start with the company okay so uh masterbuilt um and it is a really good love story not only with masterbuilt but as t Tanya comes into the picture as we started our company. But I'll never forget, I'm eight years old. I'm in the backyard. And my dad, Dawson McLemore, who founded Masterbuilt, is playing with some steel as I walk home from the third grade. And Masterbuilt was actually started in our backyard.

In like 1973. Which was a started in our backyard. In like 1973. 1973. Which was a good year. 1973, yes. That's when America still felt like America. Yes, and we were just having fun in our backyard. And my dad, who had always been my hero, but this was like kind of a unique special day because I see him bending steel with his bare hands.

So I'm thinking, you know, this guy really is Superman. So Masterbuilt was started, and he built a fern stand for my mother. He built fish cookers for himself. So the products that we actually came out with were products that we used ourselves. So this was not a business. This is like I see a need in my house, and I'm creative to make, and I'm creative, and I'm going to make. That's how the best ideas start. He worked at Goodyear Tire Rubber.

He had a full-time job. They had a family of five and a little extra income making these. He realized he could bend this metal and do these household products that other people could use, too. So he started a little side gig. It did. And that side hustle gig was called M&M Welding, which was just for Macklemore. Macklemore Welding is kind of a little hobby. Well, as the company started, we got out of the backyard, rented our first building.

Can I stop you there? Where did you start selling these? He's like, I made one for myself. People kind of like, I could do this. Like Neighbors? He's selling it to friends? Did he go to the Neighbors or did he go to the local hardware store? Where did he go in 1973 or 4 to sell the stuff? He put them in the back of his car as the salesman for Goodyear and Rubber

and would sell in the state of Georgia and Alabama and go to nurseries and little mom and pop stores. As he was doing his regular good year job. Yeah. And he sold $500 worth of these things like in the first week. And they were like $10 a piece. He sold 50. And he comes back and he's like, how in the world am I going to build, you know, 50 of

these things? I got four sons. Yeah. Oh, wait. I've got four sons. Oh, wait. I've got four free labor sons. We all pitched in and literally put a shed over the back of our house. You're like a little kid helping to put this stuff together. I was eight years old, and I worked for free for the first three years. Then I demanded a raise and got a dollar a week.

The second raise that I asked for, my dad told me to turn around and bend over. I'll give you a raise. You ate three meals a day and you have a warm bed to sleep in. My favorite part of the story is who was the first employee? Oh, my mother. And why was she the first employee? My mom? Because she was R&D.

Oh, because she knew what needed to be done. She knew what needed to be done, but she would also get in the backyard at eye level, and we would take these fern stands that basically held your plants to water them, and you could bring them inside out of the weather. And she would sit in the backyard, and we would stand on the back porch and level them so she would say yep a little bit to the left so she was quality control she was r and d she was craft services she's making meals for the workers yep and the family and and as we talk about the masterbuilt story for so many years there's really where the love story begins, because my mom was the matriarch of our family.

And about 12 years ago, we lost my mom. And Tanya takes over that position within our family. So it's 1973 when we started. We get out of the backyard from 78 to like 84. My dad retires. But back up real quick on where we went from Eminem Welding to Master Build. My dad retires. But back up real quick on where we went from Eminem Welding

to Master Build. That's an important story. That is an important story. So glad you said that, John. So as we grew the company, Eminem Welding is kind of a backyard welding shop name.

And my dad's like, you know, we need a brand if we're going to grow a company. And he's driving home one afternoon and says he never forgets kind of having this conversation with God about how he's going to grow this company. He said, look, I'm the builder.

You're the master. You will help me build this company. I will name the company after you, which is where the name Master Built came from. I love that. That is Master Built. That is master built. That is master built. You're the master. We are all master built, right?

We're all master built. And, you know, that love story has to do with not just Tanya and I, but the love of God within our company. Because without him, we would have never survived so many of the storms that we went through. And in 1998. Can I ask you this? When did your dad ever quit Goodyear and go I can do this full time this is my deal

when he was coming up with the brand name he was making a decision to actually quit his job and go full time with five kids in this little small house that's not nerve wracking that was around the 78-ish.

Yeah, about 70, yeah, 78, I think. Yeah, so we're still, like, not in a great economy either. No, no. It was always really a challenge. And for him, he was like, look, if I'm going to do this, I know I can't do it alone. So if we're going to have, you know, God on our side to get us through everything, he's like, you know, God will never give you more than you can handle as long as you've got God on your side.

That's right. Is his story. That's right. So the love story there within the walls of Masterville, Tanya and I, we've been married for 33 years. We've known each other for 35 years. 34. 34? 33, 34. Who's 34? 33, 34.

Who's gone? Golly, it is 34, isn't it? It is. I'm glad I'm across the table. 36 years we've known each other. So I'm out of high school in 1983. I become the CEO and president of this really small family. At that time

18. So the real truth, he's the baby of all five kids, but the other kids didn't want that leadership role. They were far smarter than I was. I'll tell you another hand of God on this story is family businesses are very challenging. I'll say this. I worked

with my dad for over 10 years, and we're blessed. We're blessed. You're blessed to have a great relationship. You're very blessed, aren't you, son? I worked for my dad for 10 years. Aren't you, son? I heard that, Tanya. The hand of God, though, was that there was never really a discussion.

It was just it naturally happened. And that's just God putting the four sons in the right places at the time. Well, and John's sister worked there for a while too. His mom, everybody worked there. And nobody else really wanted that leadership role. But if you know anything about birth order, sometimes the baby, he's the baby of five, sometimes that baby can act as a firstborn. I wasn't the best choice. I was the only. So let's talk about family businesses it's interesting

because I think that's what people really are fascinated this is a highly successful business but it's family members working together I hear you John too when you say it's been good but what kind of challenges have you faced because you are related

and you can speak on your relationship with Pawpaw. But the way I view it is kind of like God's authority over us is I view challenging father-son business relationships. I think a lot of that weight comes from obviously the father has to have good leadership and whatnot. But my generation struggles with respect on authority. Yeah. And I think I was taught, you know, I was blessed to have good teachers. But I always feel like the pressure really resides on the younger, the son, to respect their authority.

So I never took it upon myself to think I should have this. I deserve this. I have to speak up my mind or whatever in a meeting. He's my authority, and not only my authority, but I mean, my boss. So I had respect in that kind of basic sense. But I always viewed it as it really falls on me to respect him as my authority, no different than if I had a boss. So, John, when you hear Elon Musk telling his workers that they actually need to come to the office and they say no, what do you think about that? My bold, honest idea is if you choose to work at a place and they require you to do a certain

thing, you can choose to not work there or just come into your job. I mean, to me, it's black and white. It's pretty simple. If you're ready to work, you should work. I think people make life harder than it needs to be. Yeah. And if you look at the age group that's probably working at Twitter, and I don't know the stats on what that is. There are a lot of Gen Z-ish and late millennials. Yeah. So I would say that we have, as a society, the generation doesn't want to work like they used to.

And I think we need to get back to just really having the desire to work. So to your question about a family business, where a lot of families make a mistake is just because your family does not mean that you are qualified and talented to do the job. is just because your family does not mean that you are qualified and talented to do the job. You should never expect a family member to work outside of their means. And you should never have a family make the same amount of money no matter what it is they do. If you are the president and CEO of a company and you're a family member, you should make the salary of a president and CEO. If you are driving a forklift, if you are in sales, if you're in marketing, you should pay what the position in the marketplace pays. It's different for family members that are owners.

There's a difference in paying a dividend to a family member than there is paying a salary. Got it. Do not mix those two. Meaning you can all share in the dividend as a family if you're equal owners, but you don't share in your salaries of the job that you do for the company. And our two girls don't work at Masterville, so

they don't receive a salary. That's right. But you're saying there are families. I don't have a family business. I've never had that in the family, saying there are families. I don't have a family business. I've never had that in the family. So there are families that have businesses, and they're paying people who aren't really doing much. I've got a good example. I've got a good friend of mine that I go to guys' night dinner with, and he's got a family business from where we're from. And there's eight of his generation in now the third generation of family business.

And there's animosity. Yes. There's imbalances in terms of he's like, there's two of us that really put in a lot of the work and we are good at our jobs. The other make the same amount and they don't. So it puts a create resentment. Absolutely. So there's a challenge there.

And, you know, I was fortunate. Resentments. Absolutely. So there's a challenge there. And, you know, I was fortunate. So Uncle Don was 50-50 owners for 15 years with you, and they have three boys. And it just kind of unfolded this way, but I was the only third generation to choose to work for the business. And they all pursued much more smarter careers.

They all got accepted to UGA, and I was like, I'll stay in local college and, you know, work for the business. But they, they were, they were, they were, their career paths were different by choice. We joke because they're the smarter side of the family. They had the brains. Can I, can I back up one second? So obviously Masterbuilt has been a very successful business. It starts in a garage in 73. You know, your dad goes full-time in 78-ish. You go through the 80s, which I imagine were pretty tough. But eventually this becomes a really profitable company where a family that can feed its five kids or five boys all of a sudden becomes something far different

where you're like, listen, we're doing actually really, really, we are living the American dream. Yes. When did that happen? Was that the 7-in-1 or was that the Friar? So different products kind of put us on the map. And I would say in 98, when my dad fully retired, he semi-retired in 84. My brother and I became owners, my other two brothers.

And we go through this process for about 14 years where a couple of brothers, my older brothers, decided to get out and do their own thing. Don and I became 50-50 partners in 1998. So they had no share in the business. They had share in the business, but we just bought their shares out when we were a really small backyard business.

A smart business decision. So our growth started when Don and I, in 1998, and I'll just tell you. Don's your brother. Don's my next to the oldest brother. Or I'm the youngest, and he's next in line. So we're starting this business together in 1998, and we did several things. Number one, we decided as 50-50 Partners to tithe off the net profit of our company. And we did until the day we sold.

Every single year, whatever the profit of our company was, we tithed to our local church. He got 50% to his church. We got 50% to ours. We also started a Bible study that we did every single week that today, John and I still do every week, Tuesday at 8, 10, we have a prayer party. For the family or for the employees? It's a company-wide. Everyone's invited. It's a closed Facebook group now because once COVID hit,

we weren't in the office. So Dad, for 15 to 20 years, had a— and you can tell a story of why you did a monthly Bible study. When I came on board, we had this thing at our church called Pastors Prayer Partners. And it's just, it's nothing special. It's just a group of people that, you know, you go to the leaders. And you pray for the leadership. Pray for your pastors.

That's so cool. It's just a commitment. Hey, I choose to pray for my pastor. And I was like, man, what a cool idea. Could we do something like that where, if you could imagine, and coming from a Christian perspective, pastors take so many hits. Yeah, they do. Right? CEOs do

too, especially when you're a Christian CEO, like the, what's the retail store? Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby. I can't imagine. Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A. There's a lot of Christian. I can't imagine what type of hits, not just politically, but faith, you know, in this day and age. And I just, it kind of hit me. I was like, man, what hits, not just politically, but faith in this day and age.

And it kind of hit me. I was like, man, what if we could do voluntarily, if you choose to come. It was before work hours. And we started with like two or three of us. It grew at times. We'd have 25 or 30 people show up. And we'd have a couple of us who were comfortable praying out loud. And if you chose to pray, we'd come up with topics.

Dad's dealing with the flu. Let's just pray for strength. or we're going into a line review or whatever the topic is or the thing we needed. So that was a Tuesday morning. And since COVID, we've carried that over to every Tuesday morning. We have a Facebook group that we do. And so the Facebook group is called the Charcoal Connection. And it's based off the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac when he was given, he was willing to sacrifice literally his son. And they did a burnt offering, and it says that the smell of the charcoal was pleasing to God. And then he decided, obviously, not to have Isaac. So charcoal connection is a great little

biblical way to just give some time to the Lord and lift our business and our employees and any prayer needs that they might have that they're willing to share and just lift it up. I love that. And so you say in 1998, you decide you and your brother, you're going to tithe. Yeah. And did something change in the business as you made the decision as well? Unbelievable change. If you believe in tithing, you would never not tithe. Once you understand the biblical principle of it and the blessings that come from it, I would not tithe. Now, we'll have more of this conversation after this. This episode is brought to you by Mejuri. From November 25th to December 2nd, get 25% off everything on orders over $150 in Missouri's biggest sale ever.

From bold hoops to minimalist stacks, Missouri has something for everyone. Missouri makes handcrafted fine jewelry for every day made with responsibly sourced materials. So you can look and feel good about gifting and wearing them. Shop your wishlist 25% off at Missouri.com today. Can I tell you something, Ty? It's so interesting you say that. Shop your wish list 25% off at Mijeri.com today. God. So many people say, I can't afford to have a kid. Every time we've had a kid... I think I said that with every kid I had. We would make more money. I don't know what happened, but it's like the Lord provides. But again, this is sort of this idea. Give it unto

God and it will come back. You don't do it for that reason, but it's just funny how it works. I want you to understand the principle of it. That's right. At the time, we were probably 35 employees. And we ended up later in life... And we still manufactured in Columbus. We still manufactured 35 employees. And we ended up later in life. And we still manufactured in Columbus.

We still manufactured in Columbus. So we make this run from 98 to 2012 when Don, my brother partner for 50-50 at that time, decides to move on as well. And in 2016, we ended up selling to private equity. So there's been this journey of where we've taken the company. But we went from 35 employees in three states in the United States to 250 employees worldwide. Wow. With a brand that is just right now. John and I are the spokespersons, the family, the founding family.

Brand ambassadors. Brand ambassadors for Bastroville still today because we love doing it. Although we are not financially attached to the company anymore, we're still involved with it. We still want the employees and the company to grow. We're now owned by a publicly traded company called Middleby. They have a lot of different brands. So the journey for us has been quite amazing. But one thing John's not going to say is everything rises and falls on leadership.

And John was a true visionary and very bold and willing to try some new products, go into some new areas, do new relationships. And so he really did. He was so responsible for taking it to the next level. Tanya, I'm watching you talk about John and I'm seeing it in your eyes. Tell me how you and John met. A blind date and we were set up by our parents. Right.

But get into detail. Because there's a bikini involved. My dad traded a cow for Tanya. There's a bikini involved. Oh, Lord, I couldn't wear a bikini in the hall. Oh, Lord. I couldn't wear a bikini now, but back in the day. There was a bikini. There was a bikini.

I remember this story. Can I tell the story? Yes, please tell the real story. That's why we're here. I think I need to tell this story. I think he was FaceTiming me off the back of your pontoon one day, and you were in a bikini in the water. So I didn't know where the bikini was. The key word, Tanya, said bikini in the water. The key word, Tanya, is bikini in the water.

So our parents did end up meeting. We had a condo down in Panama City. Tanya and her parents were renting that. So you were how old, Tanya? We were 21. Yep, 21. So Tanya's there at the condo when my parents drive through to get some scuba diving equipment that was in the condo.

And they're just passing through. We were from the same town, but my parents and his parents did not actually know each other. We just rented their townhouse. But mom knew of John McLemore and was told to stay away from him. We were the same age, but different high schools. You had heard about him. He was a little party boy, and I was a very good, timid. Goody two-shoes.

Goody two-shoes girl. She still is. I knew of him, but he would never have known me. We were not remotely in the same circles. Okay. So as God, we all know, has a plan. So as God, we all know, has a plan. Two weeks prior to my mother physically meeting Tanya, my parents meeting Tanya at this condo on their way to the Florida Keys in Panama City,

I had told my mom, I was like, look, I'm really kind of tired of what I'm doing. I want to kind of settle down. I want to try to find a church. And, you know, I'm really tired of what I'm doing. I want to try to find a church. And, you know, I like I'm really tired of what I'm doing. And I would like to meet a girl. Perfect world that none of my friends know. I don't trust any of my friends with who they've dated.

So my mom meets Tanya. She just bebops out as they're loading this equipment going down to the Florida Keys. And they strike up a conversation, my mom and her mom start matchmaking about, oh, well, I've got a 21-year-old son, and Tanya's 21. And Meemaw looks at me and she says, if I had my son call you, would you go out with him? I mean, what am I going to say?

They're both standing there, so I'm like, oh, yes, ma'am, of course. Have you lost your mind? But I'm thinking he will never, I mean, I knew of him. He just wasn't going to. And you knew that she was talking about John McElmore, the one you would never associate with, right? Well, yeah. And I was like, I'm not his type. But sure.

Earlier in my life, in her life, we probably were not a match. But now that I'm trying to settle down, trying to find this peace with God and become the Christian that I needed to be, I needed to meet someone like Tanya. So don't forget the bikini and why that's important. Because my mom and Tanya's mom, Shirley, are having this conversation about matchmaking. My dad's not said a word. He has met Tonya and sees her, doesn't say anything. So my parents load up the diving equipment.

They drive to the Florida Keys. And Don and I fly to the Florida Keys and meet my parents, and we go lobstering. We've been there for the whole day, and we're out on the boat cruising out to go to this lobster hole. And my mom, out of nowhere, just says, oh, John, I met a girl that you need to meet. And I'm thinking, what? She's like, oh, yeah, she's got just the cutest personality. She is just awesome. Well, cutest personality.

By my mom, I'm thinking, you know. And my dad, imagine he's driving the boat. He's hearing the conversation between me and my mom. And he's a hard-nosed Navy guy. Yeah. And my mom's all excited. And you're thinking personality, she has a great personality, means she's probably not that cute is what you're thinking. 100%.

So my dad. We've been 21 before. And we're still men. And so my dad's driving the boat. He's hearing the conversation with me and my mom. And I'm like being nice to my mom. I was like, sure. You know, like Tanya was agreeing with them.

I was like, sure, mom. Yeah, whatever. That's great. Thank you. Well, she goes to another part of the boat and my dad looks at me and he says uh hey sport uh this girl your mom's talking about i said yeah he's like i saw her i think you need to call her i was like done i'm like hey mom did you get any information on this girl what's her name i don't care about her personality. It's not TV or bikini.

So Tanya was super cute and did have the personality, did have the spiritual background, the Christian values that I was looking for. So I get home. I do call her. She accepts. She comes over to my house. I feed her steak and lobster for the first date. I mean, you know. Can't beat that.

Can't beat that. And we have a really good time. I load her in my car, take her home. Had a Corvette. She didn't even know. It was older. So, I mean. And didn't care.

I'm not a car person either. I'm not either. It doesn't impress me. I don't know anything about cars. I got it. So, we get to her house. And I'm like wanting to talk about the second date. I'm obviously wanting to kiss this girl before I leave her. And she leans into the back of the car and is like, hey, I need to—not that we were in the backseat of the car.

No, no. The front side of the car. In the front seat of the car. And she's like, hey, I just need to let you know. I'm a Christian girl. I don't drink. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't do all these things.

And I just need you to be okay with it. And if you're not, then we can't go out again. Because you knew his reputation. Yeah. She like laid it down. So I was like, this is going to be a challenge. And I'm all about a challenge. So there you go.

Do you want to go out again? Yes. Which means, all right. And he was such a gentleman and really, he was wonderful. Which is exactly what I was looking for. And if it had been a month earlier, it would have been a turnoff. But that was such a turnoff for me. You were at the right moment in your life.

Right moment, right time. That's exactly what I was looking for. I love that story. So we date for a good six or eight weeks. And Tanya breaks up with me. Well, I was going off to school. I was going off to Auburn. I had been at our local college.

I was transferring. I met him that summer. I was moving. And he fell so hard so fast. That it scared you. It scared me. And I was like, I don't know. Because he had a career. He had a house. He fell so hard so fast. That it scared you? It scared me. And I was like, I don't know.

Because he had a career. He had a house. You weren't 100% like, is he in church because of me? He instantly started coming to church with me. He jumped into it. He found God. He really did. But I wasn't sure. I failed me some Jesus.

I wasn't sure. And if you know about being unequally yoked, I was scared. So I broke up with him. He did find another church that he started going to. And I find out through his family that he's going to be baptized. And they were like, hey, I know y'all aren't together, but they just said, if you're coming home this weekend, John's getting baptized this Sunday night. So I was like, oh, my gosh.

It's like, for real? So my mom and I go, and we sit on the back row of this other church. And it was really special and really sweet. So then they see that I'm there. He calls me. He's like, thanks for coming. And I'm like, I think I messed up. This would be where the begging and the groveling comes in.

And then the rest is history. And the rest is history. And it is such a beautiful history because it's a business, but it's a family. And it's really started on this rock of faith. Wait right there. We're going to have more of that conversation next. So I first came to Edward Jones with a great deal of trepidation when I first met with my advisor.

And I really was feeling vulnerable about what I would have to share. I was, of course, pleasantly surprised to find that there was absolutely no judgment and a lot of support. And when it was time to get serious, he really took my hand and helped me to do that. Edward Jones, we do money differently. Visit edwardjones.ca slash different. You know, we can't leave you guys without talking about Thanksgiving because... Can I tell a story? So you come on Fox and Friends quite a bit. And it's like, I am hearing about some master built for the first time

because I'm not a big griller. I'm not a big cooker, you know. And Rachel comes home with a deep fryer. Yeah. Right. I was just filling in on Thanksgiving. I wasn't the host yet of the show, but I had a good connection with John.

I'm one of the few hosts at Fox that actually loves to cook. And he appreciates that. Absolutely. And she brings home the deep fryer and said, I had some deep fried turkey and it was delicious. We have to deep fry our turkey. And I'm like, I don't. By the way, she cooks.

She's like, you're going to deep fry the turkey. And I'm like, I have no idea. Yeah, that's scaring me. I forget what the problem was, but I was having a problem doing something. And she's like, just call John McLemore. He's the CEO of master builder. Just call him.

And I'm like, I'm not going to, it was, it was Thanksgiving day. I think. And I'm like, I'm not going to call this guy on Thanksgiving. And it's like,

he's not gonna take my phone call. He told me I could, if I had any trouble. And she's like, he is the nicest guy. He'll take your phone call. He'll help you out. And I resisted probably three times. And she's like, he is the nicest guy. He'll take your phone call. He'll help you out. And I resisted probably three times.

And you're like, call him. And so I called you and I left a message. And you called me back five minutes later on Thanksgiving and walked me through whatever my problem was. And I'm like, this is the nicest guy to call me to make my Thanksgiving turkey work. It was a simple solution that you had for me. It was just me being dumb. You're like, well, okay, this is really stupid.

But here's what happened, John. You created a monster because then we got the smoker and like, Sean's calling you all the time now. The last time we talked, I was on my pontoon boat. You were on your pontoon boat. You were like, I'm f***ed up. He's calling me. Now what does he need?

Now I got him programmed in so I can really ignore him. Never. Yeah, but you introduced him to how to make. We didn't know how to make ribs. You've changed ribs in our family. Like, we make ribs the Macklemore style. And I'm telling you what, it's actually kind of changed. Like, I can do things now, and it actually is fun, and I enjoy it.

And so I'm thinking about my Thanksgiving turkeys. I bought two of them this year. And I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to get a – you sent me – I had the medium-sized fryer. Yep. And you sent me a big fryer. The XL. So I'll get the XL fryer. So I'm going to put one turkey in the XL fryer, which, by the way, I'm not a big fan of turkey.

It's dry. But this is not. It's not like that. See, I think we should smoke one and fry one. So I think I'm going to deep fry, and then I'm going to smoke one. That's right. That's the way to do it. We'll use the cock method that we did today.

We could do that. We could do that. He basically breaks the fat bone. Rachel's giving you guys like, uh, you should make it easy. You could just brine it whole and do it whole. Yeah, I could brine it whole and do it whole. We got a brine kit here we'll send you home with. I was surprised at how,

I smoked mine last year and I think I had to call you because I was having, again, this is me being dumb and I'm a total newbie. Now Sean calls every Thanksgiving John getting a call from Sean. I can't total newbie. Now Sean calls every Thanksgiving, John, getting a call from Sean. I can't wait until Thursday. I said it's Thanksgiving with the macaroons.

They're like, did you miss me? I'm here. You can't get away from me. Part of the family now. I was surprised at how moist the smoked turkey was. It was really, really good. But if I had to rate them, I think the deep fried is a little bit better. But I haven't had a better turkey.

If I had to rate them, I think the deep fried is a little bit better, but I haven't had a better turkey. In all my 50, 30 years of cooking my own turkey, that was as good as the smoked turkey. That's awesome. John, when I think about, I mean, I just, I think, okay, Thanksgiving, what would Thanksgiving at the McLemore's be like? You want me to tell you? I do. I want to know what Thanksgiving at the McLemore's is like.

Everybody stays out of dad's way. He throws a towel over his shoulder and he cooks. That is his passion. No one to tell you? I do. I want to know what Thanksgiving at the Macklemore's is like. Everybody stays out of Dad's way. He throws a towel over his shoulder and he cooks. That is his passion. No one's helping you? Well, he does the meat. Okay, you do the meat. We all do the meat. I was like, what?

I do the corn, the potatoes. No wonder you married this man. I do the green beans, the mashed potatoes. I do the bread. I do everything inside. I make the bed before I go downstairs to cook. I wash the cars, then start cooking. Then Tanya gets up, has a cup of coffee.

I will say it's a blessing to be a part of the McElmore family, especially our specific sort of nucleus, because our house is a lot of times a place to come. Right, so all your brothers and sisters and their families are all, so this is a giant affair. How many people are there? Well, this year we're looking at maybe 30, which is actually a smaller group. We've lost some family members in the past few years.

And then we were saying earlier, like, his brothers. Are moved. Their children are married. So they kind of have other obligations. Yeah, they're kind of split now. But 30 is still a big deal. It is. So he's doing the meat.

Are you doing the pies? Yes, we do the sides. We divvy up. Our girls bring stuff. My girlfriend's bringing something this year. What's she bringing? I don't know. She's bringing dessert.

She's bringing dessert. What do you make, John? We usually help him clean. John's like, my girlfriend is dessert. I bet there's a lot of football going on. There's a lot of catching up. It sounds like an awesome affair. So can I ask you a question? We've invited other people to come on

over for this Thanksgiving, so we could have a big Thanksgiving dinner. Well, I told my producer that any intern or young staffer who didn't have a family to go home to if they're working, they'd come to our house. A lot of young people are here and they're not going home. It's expensive. I mean, flights are outrageous right to. If they're working, they'd come to our house. Because a lot of young people are here and they're not going home.

It's expensive. I mean, flights are outrageous right now. And so we said, listen, if you want to come on over, you need a place to go and you want to celebrate. Are you making them bring something? Or you're providing them? I don't know. Because I don't know how many people are coming in.

No, I don't know. We'll take care. They're in some little apartment here. Yeah, they've got tiny little apartments. So do you do a buffet style? Yeah, we do. You can't sit down 30 people at a time. We don't sit down as much.

We don't eat until mom explains the process. No, we have to do the seal. It's a funny thing because my older sister's now got two kids and she's hosted a couple of events. And you can tell she's nervous too. And she's like, because everybody's waiting. We can't eat until Brooke tells us what's the process, where are the forks, where are the plates.

Yeah. And mom's tradition is give us a rundown of what we would be eating today, mom. Yeah, say, okay, so we've got everything set up right here. And, yeah, you just work your way around. And then you've got to get your drinks, get your drink station, your dessert. So organized. I love it. Yeah.

It's pretty awesome. And it's a buffet style. And mom and dad have a really cool place because we have actually a studio kitchen that we do a lot of our videos out of that was built back in the Mashable days. So it's a high ceiling studio kitchen that's built for production style broadcast. And we use it personally because it's just such a large room and we have these big doors that open. And it opens to an outdoor fireplace area. So it's just a mix and mingle yeah everybody's sitting so as you're you're never alone when you're cooking people are around you and everyone's yeah and it's in georgia so i mean it's going to be somewhere

between 25 to 74 we're not sure how it's going to be um but it is a family affair we've had as many as 60 yeah there and now it's probably going to be closer to 30, because like Tanya said, we've had some move, and we have some family members that aren't with us anymore. I actually will be in Florida this year. For Thanksgiving? For the roads. So me and my girlfriend are going down and spending time with her family.

She has family in Florida. And then we're driving back Thanksgiving Day and spending dinner with my dad. Oh, great. That's great. It'll be one of the first years that I'm like, I have to sacrifice and go somewhere else. Yeah, I know. I bet it's hard. Are you going to show up just in time to eat and not help?

Yeah, exactly. It's Madison's fault. So it's food. I mean, you're in a business that's around food and around family. And, you know, I just think it's such a beautiful story. It is. And I will tell you, for our family, and we mentioned our entire family, so Brooke is our oldest daughter and her husband, Brian, and our two grandkids, Whit and Walt,

they're going to be obviously always with us for Thanksgiving. And they'll do lunch with their family and then dinner with us. Bailey is our youngest daughter. She's the baker and probably the best cook within our family. Really? She's a school teacher now. Bailey is just the sweetest soul. It's just natural for her.

It's very natural for her. She knows ingredients. She knows what goes with what. She's super smart. She's not scared to experiment. No. Yeah. She knows what goes with what.

She's super smart. She's not scared to experiment. No. Yeah. And for our story overall, family is critical. John, you know, being my son and working with me for 16 years, even though we have sold our business, we're still involved with it. We're still working closer post-master build as the brand ambassadors. We make the same amount of money now. John actually makes as much money

as I do now. We're the Macklemore boys and we've actually really never had a conversation. He actually makes more than I do because he does a few more beers than I do. We just split everything down the middle. Money's never... Our family's been very blessed. Never let money be an issue for us.

Did you have any ownership in master bill when it was sold because then that might not matter so much i personally had bought in when we sold in 2016 they gave us an opportunity if you wanted to buy in so i did buy it a little bit but it's you're like you're selling overseas where is this is is the growower or the smoker? Where are the friars? Where is it other than America? What's the country that sells the most outside of America? We do a ton of business in Europe. Australia is really, really doing well.

That makes sense. They sell. Really doing well. We do a lot in Canada. Mexico, surprisingly, does. Yep. They do really well because Mexico, they love charcoal grills. They love to grill.

What is the best seller? Is it the smoker? The Gravity Series grill smoker by far is the best product that Masterbuilt has come out with in our history. I wanted to kind of mention this because one thing that Masterbuilt, I don't think kind of gets credit for in our story is

since the 7-in-1 grill to the indoor fryer to the electric vertical smokers to now the Gravity Series, if you look at those products, there really wasn't that product at the time we came out with them. So we prided ourselves on not being a me-too. We wanted to try to – so we had a conversation internally before we came up with the Gravity Series the pellet phenomenon was huge right? And we didn't want to come out with just another grill, just because whoever, whatever retailer wanted us to, we tried to come up with something

different. There had never been a digitally controlled charcoal grill and smoker it never existed. And that's where the Gravity Series came out, or came from was us just trying to do something different, trying to innovate in that space. And it's revolutionized that category. Yeah, it really has. So there's a lot of people out there who have a dream of starting a business. I know you guys have to go here soon, but I want to get that in there. What is your advice for that person who's listening, who's like, I've always dreamed

of having this family business, and I'm not sure if I should strike out, you know, the economy's not great right now, John. What's your advice as a successful entrepreneur? If possible, do something that you're passionate about, that you love doing, and you're not only doing it for the money, it's easier to be successful because you just want to do it even through. I mean, my worst day at Masterbuilt was better than the best day without Masterbuilt in my career. I mean, I really do mean that. And I think you need to surround yourself with phenomenal people. Don't try to be the smartest person in the room.

We were very blessed, and I had a team of people around us, and we shared not only with Tithe, but we shared in bonus to every employee that was with us at Masterbuilt. When we sold in 2016, we had 138 employees, and we shared 138 bonuses. When we sold again in December of last year, those that were still with us, you know, that were the original Masterbuilt teams, we shared with our success again with them. John, too, you know, being with us, he and I have been working now for 16 years. That's been phenomenal. Our two girls are phenomenal.

But I will tell you, if you don't have a good spouse to help you in your career, it doesn't matter if you are a Fox News host or a congressman. Your spouse is critical. And I will tell you, through my career, and I've now been in it now for 50 years, I have, I hope, influenced a lot of people. I've had a lot of people influence me. Tanya has touched more people than I've ever touched. She is more relational. She holds our family.

She is the matriarch of our family now. That's why we have Thanksgiving at our house. If we have any function at all, it's going to end up being at our house. It's because of her. And the success that I have had at Masterbuilt is because I did have the love of my life help me through all of those things. And Tanya, it was never about the money for her, because I'll never forget having conversations when we were working, you know, 70, 80, 90 hours a week trying to get through a particular crisis or trying to grow the company. trying to get through a particular crisis or trying to grow the company, she sat me down and said, look, if you're having to do this because you have to survive a critical time in the company, that's fine. But if you're doing it for us to have a nicer car or buy a place in the Bahamas,

I don't want it. Right. Which we don't have a place in the Bahamas. Which we don't have. Sean will often say not have a place in the Bahamas. Just to be clear about it. You know, Sean and a place in the book you know Sean and I often talk about there's a lot of time that people spend

working on their careers Sean what do you think is the most important decision anyone ever can make in their life we agree on this it's who you pick as your spouse it's the most important decision you will ever make in your life I've read studies on this but to have two people doing two different careers, oftentimes they're not as successful as if they kind of will choose one of the spouse's careers.

And again, I would not have been a congressman, but for Rachel, I mean, she's smarter than I am. She was visionary in what we did, how we did it. We worked as a team. By the way, that felt like a family business. The campaign, all of it. Because there was no one else but us, right? And I think that's really important, the support. And even now, I'm very supportive of Rachel.

We moved out here for this part of our life. That can't be seasonal. That doesn't have to be the traditional wife stays at home and supports the husband doing off and making the money. That can be seasonal. Congress and then you're now hosting. He left. He never wanted to leave Wisconsin. He loves Wisconsin.

But when I got this job and we realized it wasn't going to work for the family, he said, we got to move. I was the one who said, we're going to move to New Jersey. He is the one that made that decision. She's like, I'll go back and forth. You can stay in Wisconsin. I'm like, listen, we did that for 10 years in Congress. We're not going to do that anymore. We're going to stay together.

We'll move to New Jersey. By the way, New Jersey has been way better than I thought it would be, but it's not Wisconsin. But can I tell you, and you guys got to run in a second, but to have a business or a career where you make people's lives better, you think about products that go, you know what? People love to do this. They love to cook. They love to. Brings people together. Yeah.

And I'm going to make a product where obviously we make money as a family, but I'm going to make their lives and their experiences better with their family. What a real blessing that you provide. And as people are pulling out, whether it's their Masterbuilt or any other grill or smoker over this Thanksgiving, to go, I'm going to make it easier and better and tastier, which makes just the experience, obviously it's people, but it's also the food is a big part of what we do. I'll tell you one thing that I love.

You make Fox and Friends better. I'm going to tell you guys, when we know the Macklemore boys are coming, it's not just that we're going to eat well. We don't order out that day. But you guys bring a love to what you do that we love. It's a four-hour show. That's what I was just about to say. And we just love having you. It's the one thing you can't fake.

And it starts with Dad. Because the joke I was making about to say. And we just love having you. It's the one thing you can't fake, and it starts with Dad. The joke I was making earlier is Dad's got a towel over his shoulder. That's what we get at home. What you guys see on camera is what we see at home in private. So what you can't fake is passion. That is one thing. It's contagious.

It brings happiness. Happiness can be addicting. It's a good addiction. It costs nothing to smile. That's right. I promised you I wouldn't let you go until you talked about this charity that you do that means so much to you. Thank you so much. So Tanya and I are involved in our hometown with a charity called Micah's Promise.

And we have a really good friend. Her name is Bobby, who is heading it up in our area. And it is to help sex trafficked young women. So important. Phenomenal, phenomenal charity. Atlanta, Georgia is the number one hub in the world. Isn't that funny? You think it would be like Thailand or something? It's because it's an airport. It's an airport. There's so much traffic coming in and out. So we've partnered with this organization in Columbus, and we just need to get you to Columbus, Georgia.

We're going to do that. M-I-C-A-H. M-I-C-A-H. Micah's Promise. Helping. So I just interviewed a Navy SEAL guy who works with other special forces people helping to rescue girls that are being sexually trafficked. Children, little children, because of our open southern border. And I'm sure there's been an increase in all kinds of stuff going on. So once they get out of the traffic and they need support, is this what Micah's Promise? Yes.

This home will help them with therapy, education, just separation from their... Once they get out of the traffic and they need support, is this what Mike is talking about? Yes. This is this home. So it's like therapy. Yes. Therapy, education, just separation from their John or whatever they are. Have you guys met some of the people that have gone through this system? No. Not in this local area. They try to keep it. It's a secret location. They're trying to really help these girls make that break.

But one thing that Dad has been instrumental in is, because we have a farm and we have farm equipment, is Dad has been very helpful to the Micah's Promise organization about, didn't y'all help them build a tennis court? Oh, yeah. We had some really good friends that were in the same industry that helped build a tennis court for free. For the millions for free. For the, for the, it was just, it was local business owners that all pitched in their various, you know,

skill sets to help build in, build. And, you know, organizations like that, they don't have the funds to do stuff. and Tanya and I, yeah,

Tanya and I have donated, you know, not just our, our money, but some of our time with it. And we can get y'all some more information too, as to exactly how people can go to help this. Do you have the website that people can go to help this. Do you have the website

that people can go to? Do you have that? So Tanya can pull that up. I wonder as in your community the different churches and pastors must have tried to compete for the McLemores and their tithing. The McLemores at my church.

I'm glad you brought up tithing because it's biblical. It is. And it's powerful. It is. And I will glad you brought up tithing because it's biblical. It is. And it's powerful. It is. And I will tell you what's been so awesome is the number of people that we had within our company that got these paychecks and bonuses also tithed at their local churches. And also a lot of them went to Cascade Hills in our hometown.

It's the same church that we go to. And also a lot of them went to Cascade Hills in our hometown. It's the same church that we go to. So the fact that they were able to give was phenomenal, too. So it is one of the most powerful things you can do. And I will tell you, I'm scared not to tithe because I don't ever want to get to a point that I go to ask God for help. And he's like, well, look, if you're not there for me, how do you expect me to be there for you? Financially and spiritually. And it is the best thing you can do for your business, your family, et cetera.

I remember you telling a story, Dad, about early on in your kind of CEO ship about feeling guilty about not being involved in church enough or whatever. Because you were a CEO of a business and traveling. And I forgot who it was that told you this. And he was like, that is your mission field. Yeah. Masterbuilt. AC. Your employees.

AC Levi. AC Levi. Your Masterbuilt, your employees, the Walmart buyers, everybody. The Bible study that you do. That is your mission field. And the love that you bring. Listen, this is a broken city. Yep.

New York City is a broken city. It is a large part of a faithless city. One of the great things when we bring you guys out, we bring gospel singers out to sing. I know. You saw that we brought them out and they sang a song about Jesus right here in the middle of Midtown Manhattan. But you bring that love. You bring that Christian spirit. You bring that.

People are watching our show and they see that you're a family. But, you know, people are watching our show and they see that you're a family. And that witness to what life is really about and that joyfulness that you always bring to the show, it's touching. The friendships that we are all building with each other is the real deal. You guys are the real deal. Well, I love you guys. I would say, and Tanya's hopefully going to have this too. But it's micahspromise.org. .org.

Micahspromise.org. So if you are inclined to help the very many sex-trafficked victims in this country, and as I said, the problem's getting worse because of our southern border and the cartels. No. Those poor children and girls are repeat customers for them. It's sad. It's a really sad situation. So thank you for what you're doing for that as well.

You are welcome. Go ahead. Well, before we close this out, y'all have been very gracious to us. I'm going to return that graciousness because we do a lot of this in a lot of different places. And all of the people at Fox have been amazing. But I will say that the relationship that we had with you, Rachel, has been pretty special over the years. Thank you. It got even better when you introduced us to Sean. You're not mad that I gave him your phone number?

Hold on. No. Because it sounds speedy. I have a congressman's phone number. And I will tell you, because we have a lot of people say, man, y'all, it's crazy what y'all do. They know people that we do a lot of stuff with. They're like, you're friends with X, Y, Z. It's like, guys, here's to understand. We're acquaintances with a lot of the people that you see out there. Not naming any names, but some really big celebrities that we've been in contact with. But we are truly friends with y'all.

I have a text relationship with John. The Duffys love you. Once in a while, I was like, if I do a hit and I don't get a text from John, I'm like, it wasn't probably very good.

But I do a good one, but he'll send me a picture and I'm like, good job. I'm like, I agree. That's awesome. Even when they're not here,

we're in contact with them all the time. I love it. So listen, I want to thank you all for joining us. I know you had to run to the airport and taking time when they're not here we're in contact with them all the time I love it so listen I want to thank you all for joining us I know you had to run to the airport

and taking time after Fox and Friends this morning we wish you all a happy Thanksgiving to all the family and friends to all of you

I hope that this podcast inspires other families to get together food brings people together it brings people together to thank our God what a beautiful holiday we have as Americans to say we're going to take one day together to thank our God. What a beautiful holiday we have as Americans to say,

we're going to take one day just to thank our Lord for all the blessings in our lives. And the McLemores are making Thanksgiving great again. McLemores are making America great again. Come on, Dadgum, that's good. Making Thanksgiving great again. Yeah, Dadgum, that's good. We'll take that one. Dadgum, that's good.

And thank this guy, too, Chris Patchen. Hey, Chris. Media mule, baby. Media mule in the corner. You know, and as we go into this one, I appreciate that we're giving thanks to God. But I also, you know, am grateful that we're celebrating Thanksgiving because there's some people in this country that want to stomp on it, that want to eradicate it. They tried to cancel it during COVID.

I think leaning into it, leaning into our families, our faith, our country and the patriotism. We just got back from the Patriot Awards. I am more inspired now than I probably was before the start of this week. It started well

and it's ending well with you all. John 1, John 2, and Mama Mac. All the nicknames. All the nicknames. We appreciate you joining us at our kitchen table. Very grateful. Thank you, guys.

Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving to everybody. And if you like our podcast, you can rate, review, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We would appreciate that. And so this

is coming out. And again, this is Happy Thanksgiving because tomorrow when this comes out. All right. Bye, everybody. Join us around the kitchen table next time. Bye. Listen ad-free with a Fox News Podcast Plus subscription. And Amazon Prime members can listen to the show ad-free on the Amazon Music app.