Meet Jill Thomas | Owner of Wheels Up Sauce LLC

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jill Thomas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jill, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My husband and I talked about starting our own business many years, but we had two young kids and it just never seemed to be the right time so it got put on the back burner. We both had other careers and just couldn’t find the time to spend on the business. Unfortunately, my husband passed unexpectedly in 2020 and I decided I needed to be home with my two kids. So I made the decision to go forward with our business and it has been an amazing experience.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We make and distribute a tangy and spicy bbq sauce. This is a ketchup based only sauce with a bold flavor of garlic and onion. Our sauce can be used on everything from wings to seafood, meatloaf to ribs and of course BBQ. I think this sets us apart from a lot of BBQ sauces that use vinegar. Wheels Up BBQ Sauce was first introduced in 2021 when we started going out to local markets on weekends. It was a lot of fun to see people’s reactions to the sauce. I was also working at a restaurant at the time and had been there for many years, so I would bring in samples for my regular customers and staff to try. The response was overwhelming in a good way. Being now a single mom of two children, (my husband Jason passed away in 2020), working part time and trying to get our business going was quite challenging. Luckily I had already had a great recipe, labels, bottles, and an awesome name. My husband received his private pilot license a few years before he passed and he was so proud of himself. So of course we had to call the sauce Wheels Up. I took my time introducing the sauce around because I found out it took a lot more than weekend markets. It took advertising ( Facebook/Instagram/website) time and of course money. I was wondering how I could make this all come together but with the help of family and friends it did!
The restaurant that I worked at decided that our sauce should be on the menu and that opened up many doors for us. We went to more and more markets and had a great response to the sauce. We got to meet people from shops and other restaurants that loved it so much that they wanted us in there establishments as well.
I left my job in 2023 to handle the business full time which was very scary but I can proudly say that at the end of 2023 we are now in 4 restaurants, 8 stores and 1 bbq catering company. We have big plans for 2024 with the introduction of 2 new variants of our sauce. We are excited about where this family business will take us. Nationwide? Probably not, but we would love to see ourselves grow enough that everyone local knows our name.
My husband left our children a great legacy and that is the main reason for continuing to build our business. I believe in this great sauce and Believe that we will keep growing with the help and support of others.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There is so much going on in this area that it is hard to see everything and there are a lot of things I haven’t seen yet either 😁 A have a few places that I do love and would definitely take a friend from out of town to. A few places at the top of my list to dine would be Glenwood grill. Awesome food and people. I also really enjoy neuse river brewery. They have a wonderful menu and of course craft beer.
One of the greatest hidden treasures is High park bar and grill. Great place to meet friends and watch football plus it’s the place I worked at for 22 years. Like family!
As far as things to see the north Carolina art museum is great and has walking trails,
NCSU football games, Got to be NC festival is one of my favorites, Raven rock state Park and the best is The Cape fear river adventures in Lillington. You can canoe, tube, paddle board and stay the night clamping. Anywhere at our NC beaches is a great time

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to thank my husband Jason who made the business possible. His amazing BBQ sauce recipe, his beautiful labels and a creative name was almost all his doing. His legacy will live on through our business.

Also all of our friends and family who have supported us and the stores and restaurants that gave us a chance.

Website: Gooseacat.com

Instagram: wheelsup_bbqsauce

Facebook: Wheels Up BBQ Sauce