Les Rhodes is the founder of LES BBQ and an entrepreneur known nationwide as the “Oxtail King.” Born and raised in Cuero, Texas, Rhodes brings authentic Southern barbecue tradition to Utah — and has turned a side hustle at his sons’ flag football games into a multichannel brand with reach across the country.
What started as a canopy, a smoker and $12 sandwiches in a parking lot became a fully licensed business in 2019 and an ecommerce operation in 2020. The turning point came when a video of Rhodes’ smoked oxtails went viral, drawing hundreds of thousands of followers and orders from coast to coast. In June 2022, he left his corporate role at Rio Tinto to bet on himself full time. Today, LES BBQ spans a restaurant in Draper, a commissary kitchen, nationwide ecommerce, catering, and a steady lineup of festivals, rodeos and live events.
Alongside his wife, Chanel, and their four sons, Rhodes has built LES BBQ entirely from the ground up — every plate, every platform, every milestone earned by hand. His story is one of grit, culture and the kind of work ethic that turns a hunch at Sam’s Club into a national movement.
GROW TRACK: Breakout 2 | 11:30 a.m.
How Les Rhodes Turned a Side Hustle Into a Multichannel Brand
From a parking-lot smoker at his sons’ flag football games to a nationwide barbecue brand, Rhodes shares the story of building LES BBQ from a side hustle to a scaled business. In this session, the “Oxtail King” breaks down the moments that changed everything — the viral video, the leap from corporate to founder and the lessons learned scaling across restaurant, ecommerce, catering and events. Attendees will leave with a real-world playbook on betting on yourself, building from culture and turning passion into a multichannel business.