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Key Takeaways Spending years on the road between Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Memphis gave Newman a broad view of barbecue before he ever opened a restaurant.
Having tasted enough barbecue across regions, he decided to act.
As his business scaled, Newman learned that growth only means something if each new location can live up to the name on the door.
Will Newman did not dream of opening a barbecue restaurant.
When the idea first crossed his mind, he was in law school, following a path that felt practical and well-defined. His academic track pointed somewhere very different. “I have a history degree from the University of Tennessee, and then I have a law degree from Alabama,” Newman explains, a trajectory that leaned toward stability, not smokers and brisket.
During law school, Newman lived in Birmingham, Alabama, while commuting to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. It was a practical decision that kept him on the road and eating barbecue in different places.
Over time, that exposure added up. “I was surrounded by great barbecue,” Newman says. Tuscaloosa was home to the original Dreamland Bar-B-Que. Birmingham was where he lived. Memphis, where he was born, remained a reference point.
Related: After She Had to Shut Down Her Restaurant, She Sold 50,000 Pizzas in 6 Weeks — Then Signed a $20 Million Deal With Target
The moment that shifted everything came while Newman was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing.
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