FOCUSSPOTLIGHT few women in this industry in the entire state, I could not do without my Diamond R brothers and sisters at my Plant City location. I cover Hillsborough and several surrounding counties, consulting for crops ranging from strawberries and citrus to pasture and some lawn care. When I worked at ProSource in 2003, I quickly took to their Ag Sales Rep of 40 years, Jimmy Cross. Although he was many years my elder, he and his wife became some of the best friends Iâve ever had and still have. From Jimmy, I learned everything and owe my foot in the door to him. He couldnât have been prouder of me then and to this day for my achievements. Although retired from the Ag business when I started with Diamond R, Jimmy was instrumental in my establishing the business Iâve maintained for 10 years. I will always be thankful for him. What I love most about my work life are the people Iâm blessed to be able to work with. I have forged way more than customer and co-worker relationships through the Diamond R work family I love. Working here has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. Focus: Youâve experienced some tough times, right? One of the hardest things was being a single mother with two boys. I didnât receive welfare or child support and worked three jobs at one point in my lifeâalways waiting tables at night after the fulltime job and taking odd jobs on the weekends at English Nursery or wherever I could make a little extra
money. My family was as supportive as possible then, but it was hard. I learned to swallow my pride and be humble. Iâve been that mom standing in line for a food box from church at Thanksgiving, and one who went to bed hungry so my boys didnât. They never knew and you wouldâve thought we were rich by the looks of those boys, because I made sure they had the best of everything within my power. Yet, I know those very circumstances are what made me who I am. I canât even begin to tell you the countless random acts of kindness and angels sent to lift me out of the mud. Those unforgettable people may never know their impact on my life. Although I can never repay them, I work every single day to pay it forward. Focus: How do you spend spare time? Like my grandmother Peggy, Iâm a gatherer. She always gathered us and it was wonderful. During together time with family and friends, we love to cook, play in the yard, watch movies, and make things. I LOVE entertaining and crafting, to be artistic and creative; sharing it all with my husband and kids. Thereâs not much âjust-for-me time,â but I love music, nature, massages, pedicures, crafting and baking. I also like Facebook 90% of the time. Ha-Ha! Focus: How did Hardwood BBQ begin and become so involved in fundraising? The Hardwood BBQ and catering life is the hobby we love. We both
Spouses, soul mates and best friends forever - Dustin and Layla Drawdy.
love food, cooking, and entertaining. We started with competitive BBQ at PigJam in Plant City. Iâm not much of a competitor but it has certainly taught me to enjoy it a little more. Once I saw we could make money selling BBQ at events, it just all fell into placeâour love for cooking and my love for giving and helping. I told Dustin the only way he could have such an expensive hobby was if we made enough to reimburse the expense and then gave the remainder to charity. We have made so many amazing connections through our BBQ adventures. It has allowed us to help people in need, which makes every single ounce of hard work worth it. We have a wonderful group of friends who come together for the greater good and it feels so great to serve others. Weâre excited to have won the PigJam Plant City Cup for the past three years and just won first place with a dessert and a perfect Kansas City Barbeque Society score of 180.
driving me. I donât believe terrible things in life are in Godâs plan. I believe the devil is a destroyer and Godâs plan is to get you through that destruction. Somehow, someway, He will take you straight through the middle of itânot over it, not around it, but straight through. To some it seems impossible to do all I try to do, but I donât even have a choice. I have no control over it; itâs what God made me for. I feel like He uses me, sometimes like a chess piece or a toolâleads me, pushes me, shows me where He wants me and what He wants me to do. Sometimes I kick and scream, but I always follow His lead. I ask Him to tell me how He wants me to help, and I obey. Itâs that simple. I mess up every single day, but He still loves me with more love than Iâve ever felt worthy of receiving. My cup truly runneth over. The feeling I have when Iâve obediently touched someoneâs life with the love of God, itâs higher than any high you could ever dream of.
Focus: What makes you so obviously unashamed of your strong faith? My relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is so amazing I cannot even explain it to you. Since the day I was saved at Family Worship Center in Lakeland in 1996, life has never been the same. Itâs had tremendous ups and horrific downs. But I know God was always with me, no matter what, pushing me and
Focus: Letâs close with something most donât know about you. âWell, I can singâlike really good, LOL. Iâve always had a secret desire to be a singer, to sing in public. I just havenât had the guts to do it yet. I also donât accept compliments very well...strange, but true...I just donât like too much of that and boy has Focus Magazine blown that out, LOL!â
To date, the Drawdys and their Hardwood BBQ team have cooked 20 competitions/fundraisers, each of which benefit charities with entry fees, and some with designated proceeds. A few include: ⢠PigJam 2014: Proceeds to Hope Hope Childrenâs Home ⢠PigFest 2015: Proceeds to Florida Baptist Childrenâs Home (when they met 16-year-old brain cancer survivor and entrepreneur, Nathan Dodds; see Focus Plant City, November 2015, pages 32-33 at www.focusplantcity.com/focusplant-city-14-11/) ⢠Oct 2015: Crushing Brain Cancer for Nathan Dodds ⢠PigJam 2015: Proceeds to Michelle Dearhart (cancer survivor at this point) ⢠December 2015: Cooked for the poor/homeless at the Planteen ⢠PigFest 2016: Proceeds to Michelle Dearhart again ⢠Feb 2016: Sweet Heart Gala (for children with cancer); cooked, donated & served âpoppersâ ⢠March 2016: March of Dimes Walk, Wesley Chapel- cooked for Kiolbassa Sausage Company ⢠April 2016: Feeding America event with Kiolbassa Sausage ⢠Sept 2016: Hosted âGoing Gray for The Gude Familyâ fundraiser ⢠PigJam 2016: Proceeds to A Kidâs Place childrenâs home Upcoming competitions, January 2017: ⢠Pigz in ZâHills BBQ & Blues Fest (1-21-17) ⢠Lakeland PigFest (1-27/28-17)
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