Lawhorn’s Signature Seasonings is a very young company, but right from the start they have practiced the principles that the CEO, Tim Lawhorn learned growing up in the Hotel and restaurant business. Giving your best efforts to your customers and giving back to your community have been hallmarks of the company from the very beginning.
During the three year hyper-growth of this small-town seasoning blend from a local favorite to the verge of becoming a national phenomenon, Tim Lawhorn has never lost sight of their vision that included helping others by way of his success. Many times Lawhorn’s has given when there was nothing to give because it was the right thing to do for them.
Organizations like Feeding Tampa Bay, Rock for Hunger, local Future Farmers of America chapters, March of Dimes, and many local charities, ministries, and civic groups have benefited from donations of products, time and dollars. As a former executive chef and restaurant owner, Lawhorn, CEO of Lawhorn’s Signature Seasonings is always in demand for his cooking and culinary skills, which he now donates to many worthy causes on a regular basis.
We would like to highlight two recent events that Lawhorn’s company sponsored. He rolled up his sleeves and racked up some flyer miles to personally participate in both events on-site. They raised a combined amount that was close to $50,000 dollars for deserving charities. Tim managed to handle both events on consecutive weekends in August, one in Little Rock, Arkansas and the next in Nashville, Tennessee. From Managing the menu and cooking for over 300 at a charity auction for a ministry, to cooking samples for thousands and judging a cooking competition at a huge outdoors expo, Tim was on the move in August! Did we mention that he ran the family business at home in Florida at the same time? The coolest thing is that he just enjoys it all so much. He’s the kind of guy that just loves giving to others, especially to causes that benefit those that are less fortunate in life.
Tim Lawhorn with 2011 Arkansas Outdoors Expo Promoters, Kevin Grass and Matt Livingston
This saga started when Tim got a call in late July from Kevin Grass, one of the promoters of the Arkansas Outdoors Expo asking if he would like to take part as a contestant in their “Arkansas Great Steak Cook-Off competition. When Tim heard that the event was to benefit the Arkansas Children’s Hospital, he did one better than compete – he offered to sponsor the entire contest, putting up $1000 in prize money! Lawhorn’s promoted the event on their blog and social media outlets to help publicize the event. Part of the agreement was that Tim would also serve as one of three celebrity judges and serve steak samples from his booth throughout the event.
Tim flew into Little Rock on Thursday, August 18th, 2011 to help set up and prepare to cook samples for thousands, and get ready for his sponsorship and judging roll in the “Great Steak Cook Off” at the Arkansas Outdoors Expo. The two-day weekend event filled the 40,000 sq. ft. Conway Expo Center with vendors and included tons of great activities for outdoor enthusiasts like the “Ultimate Air Dogs”, Wild Game Exhibits, Competition 3D Bow Shoot, Duck Calling Contest, plus seminars and visits from the Outdoor Channel TV Hosts.
Arriving at the center late Thursday afternoon, Tim was there just in time to help the two young promoters of this first ever event set up the convention center floor. They set up booth spaces inside and Tim scoped out his cooking area from which he would deliver steak samples to the attendees beginning early Saturday morning. Logistics were a bit mixed up and it seemed that there might not be any meat coming to cook in the Lawhorn’s Signature Seasonings the next morning, so Tim made a road trip to the nearest Kroger store to stock his coolers full of Porterhouse Steaks, Center Cut Pork Chops, Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts and lots of Fresh Veggies for Kabobs. Sort of a last minute, unplanned donation – but when all the proceeds were going to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital it really didn’t matter a bit.
Saturday morning kicked off early with reporters from Little Rock’s KATV and KTHV morning TV shows doing live broadcasts. Tim was scheduled for live air time at 7am and again at 8am!
That meant that the chopping and food prep had begun much earlier and the grills were hot and ready to sizzle when the cameras started rolling. The interviews went great and the reporters were enthusiastic about trying out the food with the seasoning. Tim is no stranger to being in front of the TV cameras, having recently completed 9 cooking spots that appear on The Pursuit Channel.
Once the on-air segments were done the guests and vendors were all beginning to swing into high gear for day one of the Outdoors Expo. The Lawhorn’s booth put out a variety of samples all day seasoned to perfection with Lawhorn’s Signature Seasonings and the crowd loved it. So many attendees bought bottles to bring home or send to friends Tim was sold out of all 12 cases of product that he had on hand for the event before the end of the day on Saturday.
Lawhorn’s Signature Seasonings was the sole sponsor of the “Great Steak Cook Off” on Saturday that pitted several top grill-master teams against each other to see who could cook the best steak and bring home bragging rights and $500 for the 1st place finish! Every contestant was given the same cut of meat, a juicy porterhouse steak. The entrants could use their individual skills, marinades and seasonings to cook their cut to perfection for the judging at 5 pm on Saturday.
The "Lonesome Losers" Took Away the Top Prize.
The winners were chosen based on a blind sampling format, where the judges could not know which team belonged with which steak, so there was no chance of any favoritism. Flavor, tenderness, appearance and texture was the judging criteria used. The three judges sampled a couple bites from each entry and the scores were tallied to determine the winners. Top prize took home $500 dollars for their team, second place paid $300, and third place took home $200!
Being a native Floridian, Tim knows all about hot summer days – but nothing could have prepared him for the record breaking weather that everyone endured that weekend in Arkansas. Real temperatures soared to 109 with heat index temps hitting an amazing 129 by mid-day. Combine that with standing over a hot grill cooking steak all day and we are talking about some sweat equity in this donation!
Both Jimmy Sites and Jimmy Houston are Huge Fans of Lawhorn's Signature Seasonings
The next week was spent recovering a bit and taking care of the seasoning business at Lawhorn’s home base in Haines City, Florida. But come Friday, Tim was flying out to Nashville on his next mission. Actually this time it was to benefit a real-life mission, the “2011 Spiritual Outdoor Adventures Evening of Excellence.” This annual event is spearheaded by Jimmy Sites, creator of SOA TV show on the Pursuit Channel and nationally known outdoorsman and inspirational speaker. The proceeds of the dinner and auction all go to support distribution of “Heart of the Outdoor” Bibles and other Men’s Ministry Resources. Jimmy Sites’ ministry has given away over one million copies of his “outdoorsman bibles”! Tim is happy to donate his time and product to such a great cause. Jimmy tapped into Tim’s executive chef experience by asking him to handle the menu and cooking for the event that attracts many of Jimmy’s local Nashville area friends, major donors and sponsors of his television show along with VIP’s from Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. The keynote speaker was one of the world’s most famous outdoorsmen and devout believers , Jimmy Houston. His TV shows – “Jimmy Houston Outdoors” and “Jimmy Houston Adventures” have been entertaining viewers for over 30 years!
Arriving in Tennessee on Friday afternoon Tim kicked into high gear right away visiting the event location and kitchen to make sure the game plan was all in place for Saturday’s event. Tables were set up and preparations were made Friday night for the charity dinner and auction. One challenge was that the kitchen at the event location was not adequate to do the cooking, so all the cooking was to be done a short distance away at another church’s kitchen.
Greg Gough's Five Star Retreat is Always an Amazing Experience.
Friday night, Tim was put up at the outstanding Five Star Retreat in Lyles, TN. This exclusive camp is just amazing – from the beautiful 8500 sq. ft. lodge to the spacious cabins and beautiful surroundings a visit there is always an experience to remember.
Event supporters and sponsors at Greg Gough's Five Star Retreat.
The resorts owner, Greg Gough joined all the other invited supporters that night at the lodge for a cook- out followed by some great fellowship and camaraderie among the participants, ranch owners, sponsors, donors and friends of the ministry.
Early Saturday morning meal preparations began by loading up all the foodstuffs and supplies in cars and heading off to the main cooking location. 
Thankfully, Tim was assisted by Barbara Harpera local friend of the Sites Ministry most of the day as he prepared the spread for over three hundred guests that would begin arriving at 5 pm that evening. The menu included some Southern favorites like BBQ Pulled Pork, Pole Beans with Smoked Ham and Onions, Cornbread Soufflé, with Chiles with Onions and Cheddar Cheese, with a House Salad and Gourmet Cheesecake for dessert. Suffice it to say that Tim and Barbara did not spend much time sitting down from morning until night on that Saturday.
Everything turned out great, the meal was transported to the warming ovens in time and the serving staff was ready to roll right at dinner time. There were tons of silent and live auction items up for bid including lots of outdoors equipment, hunting trips and fishing trips.
The crowd was very enthusiastic and supportive. They loved the meal, speakers, entertainment and auction events. Jimmy Houston, the keynote speaker provided a great message of inspiration filled with serious notes, humor and faith wrapped around a fishing story of course! All toll, the night brought in over $30,000 for the charity.
On a funny note, Jimmy Sites introduced Tim and thanked him for all the work done preparing the menu and meal then proceeded to tell a story about Tim from this spring. Tim was coming along on a Spring Gobbler hunt with his son Evan and Jimmy as their personal guide. The cameras caught Tim at a moment that brought the house down with laughter.
All Tim can say about it is don’t EVER fall asleep in a turkey blind hunting with Jimmy Sites!
Bass Pro Shop's Troy Andrews is One of Our New Fans.
Tim also was happy to contribute a bottle of Lawhorn’s Signature Seasonings to every guests’ “goodie bag” and several large bottles that were given away as door prizes. He has already heard back from many of the new Lawhorn’s fans raving about how they loved this magical new seasoning.
Tim’s only request to them is to make sure their local grocers know that fans are out there wanting Lawhorn’s Signature Seasonings in their stores by bringing the empty bottle to their local grocery store manager and letting them know what an amazing product Lawhorn’s is.
It is refreshing to experience a company with a culture of giving like the one that Tim Lawhorn is building with his seasoning business. The way he explains it, you can really never give too much because things always come back full circle and end up to be a greater blessing to the giver. That is a philosophy worth pursuing in today’s world for sure.
With $1000 in prize money and state champion bragging rights on the line, they’ll need to bring their “A” game to win over his classically-trained chef’s palate!
