April 27, 2011 was an important date for T.J. Allen and Caitlin Glosson.

“Caitlin and I lived in Forest Lake in Tuscaloosa and that’s directly where the tornado came through,” T.J. says. “My house was destroyed, the house we were in was destroyed; the whole neighborhood was wiped out. It was a devastating experience.”

Countless lives were lost, but T.J.’s and Caitlin’s were saved that day.

“After being so close to death, it changed our lives,” T.J. says. We changed everything we were doing.”

The couple moved to Birmingham, where T.J. is originally from. Caitlin continued nursing school and T.J. pursed physical therapy.

T.J. says due to the couple’s post-traumatic stress disorder, anytime a storm would hit the Birmingham area they would think it was another tornado.

In 2012, Caitlin and T.J. moved to Gulf Shores, Caitlin’s hometown. A friend of T.J.’s father owned the current location of Hog Wild and closed the doors in October 2013.

He offered the restaurant to the couple, and Hog Wild Beach & BBQ opened their doors in December 2013.

“We both had barbecue experience and decided to try it,” T.J. says. “It’s taken a lot of hard work. We’ve changed everything about the restaurant. All the recipes are our own, and we changed the inside and outside.”

Caitlin and T.J. essentially ran the business themselves for the first year and just started hiring employees to help.

This year, the Alabama Department of Tourism sent a writer to numerous barbecue joints to taste some of the best barbecue in Alabama and record it all in a book, “Alabama Barbecue: Delicious Road Trips.” Hog Wild was chosen among 30 other Alabama restaurants to be interviewed.

“Weeks later, a film company got in touch with us about an Alabama barbeque documentary,” T.J. says. “It’s been dubbed ‘the year of barbecue in Alabama.’”

After filming for four hours in Hog Wild, the couple received a phone call. Along with three other barbecue restaurants, — Jim ‘N Nick’s, Archibald’s BBQ and Big Bob Gibson BBQ — Caitlin and T.J. have been invited as pitmasters to represent Alabama at the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival.

Caitlin and T.J.’s story is unique for many reasons. Not only the way they came to Gulf Shores and opened up a barbecue restaurant, but also the barbecue experience of these two at such a young age.

“All of these places have been around for 50 years or better, recipes passed down from generations, and here’s Caitlin and me, newcomers, just over one year,” T.J. says, laughing. “Getting invited to do something like this is pretty special.”

What started as a tragedy has turned into a blessing. After experiencing a tornado, T.J. and Caitlin wanted to change their lives — to do something that means something, not just to make a living. Something that’s rewarding.

“It’s so rewarding when people come in here and love our food, the atmosphere, talking to us,” T.J. says.

So what’s the secret behind the art of barbecue, you ask?

“Practice, trial and error, research, getting creative, improvising, sacrifice and commitment,” T.J. says. “Until we got it right.”