Arnie “ArnieTex” Segovia doesn’t think of himself as an influencer. But over 900,000 people follow his channel on YouTube, looking to learn everything from how to cook fajitas, brisket and salsa, to how to make the perfect Spanish rice.
In the latest episode of the Tacos of Texas podcast, the 62-year-old South Texas native sat down with host Mando Rayo to talk about his journey from barbecuing at work, to making cooking videos that get millions of views.
“I used to run a car dealership,” said Segovia. ”We had three lots at one time, and so I had 12 salespeople. And we all like to drink, barbecue and go hunt and go fish. For like seven, eight years … we barbecued at work six days a week.”
Segovia would also cook 20 briskets on the weekends for friends and clients.
Then one day, when he was on vacation in Austin, he picked up a national barbecue magazine. “I saw they had a contest,” said Segovia. “And I told my wife, 'Hey, look, there's other crazy people like me.'”
Segovia started entering barbecue contests and cooking more. A few years later he opened his own restaurant. “[I] absolutely loved the restaurant business,” he said. But after the economic crash of 2008, he had to close it.
In 2011, he started to cook competitively again. It was a slow start at first, but after turning to YouTube and the internet for tips, he started to find his groove. “And then in 2013, we won 50% of the cook-offs that we entered,” Segovia said.
In 2016, he started teaching sold-out in-person classes all over Texas. And in 2019, his son Dan, who has a background in video and photography, suggested he start online classes.
After the pandemic hit and he could no longer teach in person, Segovia didn't know what to do next. Once again, his son Dan had an idea. “He's like, ‘Dad, you've always wanted to do barbecue spices. Why don't you start making something?’ So we created our WOW! seasoning,” said Segovia. “We very timidly ordered a whole pallet and thought, if we can sell it in 90 days, we'll be doing okay.”
The seasoning sold out in four days.
Segovia started the cooking videos as a way to sell his spices and rubs. He did quite a few videos about barbecue, but would also do videos about tacos and salsas. It turned out the videos that focused on Mexican food got the most views.
“Our carne asada, taco videos [and] salsa videos, they perform ten times better than our barbecue videos. And so we just thought, 'Well, if that's what folks want to look at, that's what we'll do, right?'” Segovia said.
Now, Segovia has over 900,000 followers on YouTube, over 800,000 followers on TikTok and over 600,000 on Instagram.
Making the cooking videos is a family affair. “My wife is my culinary assistant,” said Segovia. “Sophie our daughter lives in Chicago … She does all the editing. Danny puts the final touches on it, then I'll review it and then Danny does the uploading. And he's our CTO, CFO, and he does all the background and he's also I.T. expert”
And making “ArnieTex” happen is a full-time job. “We literally work seven days a week,” Segovia said. “So if we're not cooking and grilling, we're cleaning the pit or we're trying to tweak recipes or test recipes or answer emails and answer questions in the comments.”
Segovia sees himself more as a content creator, than an influencer. “I'm doing my best to create good content that I hope people will enjoy and that I hope is educational and a little bit entertaining … so if that influences them to cook then okay, I’ll take it.”
You can hear the full interview with Arnie “Arnie Tex” Segovia on the latest episode of the Tacos of Texas podcast.
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