Mary Smith building Tipsy Roo’s Barbecue Sauce in West Virginia

In this episode of the Kanawha Valley Hustlers podcast I talk with Mary Smith, owner of Tipsy Roo’s Barbecue Sauce. She tells me how their sauces stand out by incorporating alcohol, with flavors like B.U.I Bourbon, Plastered Peach, and Brew Berry. Mary shares that the recipes started during her time at Fort Campbell with her husband, making sauce for cookouts, and when they returned to West Virginia friends kept asking for jars until they launched the business in 2020. Now, five years later, Tipsy Roo’s is part of the Taste of Appalachia, an event on September 18th that offers gift boxes filled with Appalachian products. She explains that these boxes give people a way to support local businesses instead of buying generic gifts, and her sauces are included in many of them. When I ask what advice she would give her past self, Mary says to do uncomfortable things and not stay in the comfort zone because growth requires work and risk. She closes by sharing where to find her sauces online and through the event, and I wrap up by reminding listeners to hustle hard, hustle smart, and hustle with a smile.