Sloan Rinaldi's journey from a career in construction to becoming a fourth-generation pitmaster is more than a personal reinvention; it signals how barbecue culture is evolving into a global business and media phenomenon. Rinaldi, founder of Texas Q, a Houston-based barbecue brand, shared her story on The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie and recorded live at the San Antonio Home & Garden Show. Her family has been in barbecue since 1909, when they opened a shop in Crockett, Texas, but Rinaldi didn't cook her first brisket until after she left construction at age 50.
Her pivot began with a sliced brisket sandwich at Killen's Barbecue that changed her mind about a cuisine she'd never much cared for. She commissioned her own smoker from East Texas Smoker Company, taught herself fire management from scratch, and entered her first competition at Bands, Brews and Barbecue, benefiting the Ronald McDonald House. She went on to finish 14th out of 250 teams at a Texas State Championship. That trajectory led to a statewide deal with H-E-B for her original Texas Q sauce, which she later pulled from shelves to reformulate without high fructose corn syrup—a move that underscores a growing consumer demand for cleaner ingredients in barbecue products.
Rinaldi's philosophy about barbecue's unifying power is the driving force behind her next project: From Texas With Love: United We BBQ, a nine-episode series filming across eight countries and three continents, including Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Argentina, and Japan. The series examines live-fire cooking traditions from Ibérico hogs to Japanese wagyu to Argentine gaucho asado. Each episode ends with a Texas barbecue collaboration, and the final episode brings every featured cook to Houston for a cook-off. This international focus matters because it positions Texas barbecue not just as regional cuisine but as a global culinary ambassador, capable of bridging cultures.
Her international reach is already tangible. She recently hosted two Taiwan-based venture capitalists on a private Texas Q barbecue crawl in Houston. They flew 15 hours and fasted for a full day beforehand to prepare. The itinerary included one of only three Michelin-starred barbecue restaurants in the world, plus two Top 15 stops, one of them Top 10. By the end of the day, the conversation had moved from barbecue to business. Rinaldi shares which cities are now in play in the full episode. For those interested in learning more about the show, there is an Email Contact available for media inquiries.
Back home, Rinaldi is also filming Grillz on Grills, a new Houston culture series with Bun B, Slim Thug, Trae tha Truth, and Paul Wall. It digs into the city's food, music, and custom-grillz scene, which Rinaldi says has gone global. She and her co-host get their own custom grillz built during the series. This project further illustrates how barbecue is intersecting with other cultural expressions, from hip-hop to fashion, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs.
The implications of Rinaldi's work extend beyond her own brand. Her story highlights the potential for late-career pivots, the growing international appetite for authentic American barbecue, and the way media can amplify niche culinary traditions into mainstream global conversations. As barbecue continues to gain prestige—evidenced by Michelin recognition—figures like Rinaldi are shaping how the world perceives Texas culture. Her journey from jobsite to pitmaster is not just a personal triumph; it's a case study in how food, media, and entrepreneurship can combine to create cultural and economic impact.
