This Wichita chef is already an Internet star. Now he has merch.

Chef Tom Jackson of All Things Barbecue has just launched his own brand, complete with merch. It’s called Well Done. Courtesy Tom Jackson Chef Tom Jackson of All Things Barbecue has built a global online following with the cooking videos he stars in for the Wichita store.

Now, Jackson is doing what any famous online influencer in his situation would do: He’s building a brand. Jackson, whose YouTube series “The Sauce” has made him a global social media star (he’s huge in Australia), has just launched his own brand — and his own merch. He’s chosen the name Well Done and has recently launched a website from which he’s selling hats he designed himself.

The hats all feature the name Well Done, which Jackson chose because of its clever double entendre. Chef Tom Jackson is the chef at All Things Barbecue, 818 W. Douglas.

Denise Neil The Wichita Eagle “I thought it was funny to name a cooking-related brand ‘Well Done’ when that’s not how I would cook a steak typically,” he said. “But also, pretty much with anything in your life, whether it’s your cooking, your relationships, or your job or whatever your craft is, do it well and do it with some intentionality.

I think that that’s just probably the best way to operate. Get things done well.” Jackson said that his employer, All Things Barbecue owner Don Cary , supports his side project, which eventually will also include the addition of Jackson’s own seasonings and sauces. Those should be added in the next six months or so, he predicted.

“Don wants the best for me, and we’ve had conversations about that,” Jackson said. “This allows me to express myself creatively and make some money on the side." Locally, Jackson is also known for leading classes at All Things Barbecue, the Delano store specializing in smokers, grills and outdoor living accessories that Yoder Smokers founder Don Cary opened in 2013.

Jackson has been with the business since 2014. A Wichita native, Jackson once played guitar in a rock band called North of Okay, touring with the group off and on for about three years. Later, he enrolled in the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland, where he specialized in baking and pastry.

After graduation, he got a job at Portland’s Ken’s Artisan Bakery, which was owned and run by James Beard Award-winning chef Ken Forkish. But he and his wife decided they wanted to return to Kansas, and he was connected with the Cary family, who needed someone to spearhead their cooking classes.

After two years on the job, Jackson and Don Cary’s son, Justin — a film school graduate who’d worked all over the country as a director of photography — approached Jackson about making cooking videos. Their series, “The Sauce,” which they’ve been making for more than a decade, grew to be so popular that Jackson is often recognized in public, and cross-country travelers will make it a point to swing through Wichita on their travels just to get a picture with Chef Tom.

Jackson said that his desire to start his own brand and sell his own merchandise probably dates back to his days touring with his band. “That was kind of what got us from one truck stop to the next — the money from merch,” he said. “I’ve always been really into designing that kind of stuff.

Right now, that’s where it’s starting. I’m thinking, ‘Let’s just get some personality into the community, not just what you get to see in a video.’ So merch was an easy place to start.” He’s starting with hats, he said, because he’s known for wearing a different hat every time he makes a video.

For his own merch, he’s designed several different logos, including one featuring a meat cleaver with a Kansas-shaped blade. Another has a skeleton head wearing a cowboy hat and chewing on a straw of wheat. It reads, “No Sleep till Brisket.” Chef Tom Jackson has designed all the logos for his Well Done brand himself.

Courtesy Tom Jackson Jackson said that making his own seasonings seemed like an obvious way to extend his reach. For years, he’s been creating seasonings for one of the brands that sells at All Things Barbecue. “Six or eight of them that are on the shelf right now, I actually developed, but for another company,” he said.

“So I’m just doing that for myself.” Well Done hats are for sale at cheftomjackson.com , and that’s also where Jackson’s rubs, seasonings and sauces will be when he gets them developed. Denise Neil has covered restaurants and entertainment since 1997. Her Dining with Denise Facebook page is the go-to place for diners to get information about local restaurants.

She’s a regular judge at local food competitions and speaks to groups all over Wichita about dining.