Meet Irma and Hank Hollis | Owners of Southern N Smoked

We had the good fortune of connecting with Irma and Hank Hollis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Irma and Hank, how do you think about risk?
Risk has been a large part of our success because we believe the higher the risk the, the higher the reward. After spending so much time trying to just make it in life it just wasn’t enough for us. We knew we needed to make a move so we took the risk of betting on ourselves. We knew we had a product that would sell, that was proven by the responses we got for the food at our house warming. Our friends, family, and acquaintances kept telling us we have to sell our food. from that point we came up with a plan to move forward. We started selling a few dinners and realized there is a market in Baltimore for southern BBQ. It’s something that was missing and now we get to fill that gap not only on the food truck but in our very 1st food stall in Cross Street Market ( Baltimore, MD). As we keep growing and taking these risk to take another step toward the next big thing in our business It’s been a pleasure getting to serve more and more customers everyday, but it’s been the greatest gift to ourselves learning that we can really accomplish a lot more than we thought. As the owner of this business it has pushed us to keep learning, keep applying the knowledge, and keep being bold in our steps and their timing.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Southern N Smoked is a BBQ food truck that specializes in southern BBQ. Here in Maryland, we stand out because of our flavors and our attention to detail brings a different style of BBQ. Here in Baltimore pit beef is the standard of BBQ. For us we needed to bring a piece of Florida to Baltimore. We have our own flavors but have also found a way to bring flavors of Florida and Baltimore together with our B-More Smoked Wings. They are Smoked wings that are deep fried naked and topped with our specially made sauce as well as Old Bay. Here in Baltimore the Chicken Box consists of fried chicken wings and fries is a staple on menus all over Maryland. We put our own spin on it by adding smoky flavors to the chicken box.

It isn’t easy breaking into the food industry, especially when you’re bringing something different to the table. We had to do a lot of food testing and tweaking of recipes. One big change was in MD there are many people who don’t eat pork, so we had to switch to smoked turkey in our collard greens. It’s been a constant learning process. We came into this business not knowing much about the food industry, and have learned how to navigate it so that we could set up a food truck and now a food stall. If there was one thing I’d want the world to know is that this is a labor of love. We genuinely love cooking and serving folks our food. We have shared our love through food for a while and now we get to do it on a bigger scale.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The first stop in Baltimore would have to be Cross Street Market for some Drunk Chicken from Southern N Smoked. Nothing says welcome to the city like a good meal. Cross street market is conveniently located by both the Ravens and Oriole stadiums. If they are here for a week, they would definitely be here for either a Ravens or Orioles game. Baltimore loves both of their staple sports franchises, and it’s exciting to be in the stadium when the team is playing. The Inner harbor would be a stop for the views, the iconic Baltimore skyline is worth the trip. Baltimore is also filled with so much history, and culture that I’d be remiss to not check out a few of their museums. The rest of the time in town can be spent touring the different parks around the city. Along the way enjoy the many art murals in Graffiti Alley, pop up markets, or live music sessions that puts the Charm in Charm City.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There have been a lot of participants along the SNS journey. Our first shout goes to God who has ordered our steps. We’d also like to shout out our children Selena, Xavier and Jaylon Hollis who have taken an active roll in helping with the business. They have helped with everything from food prep to providing marketing ideas. We really wouldn’t be able to do this without them or the village of friends and family that provide support. Jevon Peterson and Jayda Edmonds who provided countless hours of man power, leads and passion for helping to get the business moving.

We also would like to thank all of our first. Our first social media follower, our first customer, all those who provided us with information and introductions resulting in locations for our food truck to work, our customer who placed the first catering order or any other first . All of our first have been a learning experience for us and we thank anyone who as given us a chance to show our appreciate them through food.

Website: https://www.southern-n-smoked.com

Instagram: @southern_n_smoked

Facebook: Southern N Smoked

Image Credits
The pictures with the truck goes to: Donnel and Lynelle Williams from Fridaynightdiningthosewilliams