For James “Red” Morris, one of the lowest points in his life ultimately led him to Northeast Tech’s Afton Campus and, eventually, to one of his greatest successes.

“I was married for 14 years and I was going through a divorce. I was so distraught,” he said. “When that happened, I decided to go to Northeast Tech and it was the saving grace that kept me from spiraling out of control, even though my life had spiraled out of control.”

While starting over at 37 was daunting, Red took a leap of faith, focused on himself, and enrolled in NT’s Culinary Arts program in 2014. 

“My passion had always been cooking because my mom, she’s from Mississippi, the Delta. So cooking has always been an intricate part of our life, but it was just one facet of cooking. It was just soul food,” he said. “While in the Culinary program, I figured out that I really wanted to know everything there is to know about meat.”

The knowledge he gained would lead Red to the creation of his own food truck business, Red’s House BBQ.

“When I finished the program, I was like, ‘Let’s go,’” he said. “I literally started with a smoker tent, then a Coca-Cola trailer, and then we moved from the Coca-Cola trailer to our 20-foot trailer, from the 20-foot trailer to where we are now.”

Since November 2025, Red’s House BBQ has called the Ketchum Eats Food Park in Ketchum, Okla., its permanent home, while still offering catering services in several states.

The move has allowed Red’s to grow, using eight smokers to sell 15 briskets, 25 pork butts and upwards of 50 racks of ribs to customers from Thursday through Sunday in a given week. He also offers smoked chicken, smoked sausage and hot links, as well as favorites including loaded mac and cheese and baked beans.

“My motto is, ‘When I smoke, it ain’t no joke!’ I’m addicted to smoking meats,” Red said with a laugh. 

He is also happily remarried, and his wife, Sarah, helps manage their business. 

“To have the one that you love with you, doing what you love, that is priceless,” he said. “I think that resonates into the food, because it’s a labor of love. We put everything into what we do and we love what we do.” 

Red is now looking ahead to future possibilities, including getting his signature Red Bud’s BBQ Sauce into stores.

“It’s named in honor of our friend Buddy. When he passed, his wife actually gave me the recipe for it on a piece of notebook paper. He wanted us to have it,” Red said. “We have little labels now to eventually start selling it. We’ll give it to the production people and let them kind of see where that goes. So stay tuned!”

Throughout the process, Red continues to utilize NT’s offerings.

“Once you graduate, it doesn’t mean you’re done,” he said. “I wanted to learn bookkeeping and Tech has an evening class to learn how to do all this business stuff. It just shows that Tech can keep you moving forward, to make sure that you are a success, and that's exactly what I’ve done. Red’s House BBQ would not exist without Tech.”

Red's House BBQ is located at 496 E. Ketchum Ave. in Ketchum. For more information, diners can visit the Red's House BBQ Facebook page.