Calling Waco Home

After graduating from Baylor in the early 2010s, Rachel and Luke Whyte looked around at the pre-RGIII, pre-“Fixer Upper,” pre-downtown renaissance Waco landscape with a lot of questions of, “What’s next?” and not many answers.

Certainly, neither would have guessed that a decade later, they would start a company that would take more than 120,000 people on a three-hour bus tour of Waco.

Like many Baylor alumni, the Whytes’ story starts early on in their respective Baylor careers, with Luke, B.A. ’10, joining the Kappa Sigma fraternity and Rachel, B.A. ’11, rushing the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. 

“We had a ton of mutual friends, but for whatever reason had never met until our sophomore year,” Rachel said. “It started as just friends for six weeks before we were dating. In college years, six weeks is like an eternity. At this age, it’s not, but it felt like we were friends for a long time.”

After going their separate ways post-graduation, a literal “come-to-Jesus” moment on a mountain in Alaska led Luke to reevaluate his priorities.

“I had graduated in three and a half years — that was the deal with my parents — and I went straight into an agribusiness job in a corporate setting in Denver and honestly just hated the cubicle life,” Luke said. “I was sitting there looking at the mountains every day and felt like I needed to go figure out what I really wanted to do with life.”

A resignation letter and a one-way ticket to Alaska later, Luke found himself hitchhiking around the countryside and eventually stuck on a cliff face in the mountains outside Seward.

“My climbing partner and I tried to summit a peak and ended up stranded,” Luke said. “In that moment, I realized, ‘Hey, if any of these handholds fall, my life is done.’ It became crystal clear that if I was able to continue living, I was going to commit to live my life to glorify God, to move back to Waco and to pursue Rachel. ‘Lord, if you get me off this mountain, that’s what I’m going to do.’”

Thankfully, a safe and successful descent and return to Waco followed, with the Whytes reuniting in a church discipleship program and marrying in 2012.

Still, the question, “What’s next?” was left with no clear answer.

Rachel took her extensive Baylor network and keen eye for details to start a wedding photography business — the first entrepreneurial jump for the Whyte family. 

Luke, a native of Denver, came back from a trip home with a hot idea to start a biscuit-style sandwich food truck, which would have doubled Waco’s food truck population at the time. 

“We had maybe one food truck in town — Sergio’s taco truck,” Rachel said. “That was our first business idea. Fortunately, we decided not to, because food service is tough. So much has changed.”

Still torn between moving on after Baylor or trying to make Waco home, the reputation of “sticking around” Waco loomed large.

“I had no desire to stay in Waco,” Luke said. “Waco was very much the place where if you’re still there after graduation, the next question would be, ‘Why?’ That was the reputation at the time.”

After a conversation with a mentor and friend, Luke took a challenge from that friend to heart: “If you ever want to make a real impact, you need to commit at least five years to wherever you are.”

Luke entered young adult and college ministry, a calling he held for seven years, while Rachel continued to see her photography pursuits grow. 

“The next five years we’re just going to give to Waco,” Luke said. Living out the Jeremiah 29:7 verse that became the mantra of their family, Luke and Rachel began to pray for Waco and the community they found themselves in, knowing that “if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

Fast forward to 2014 and Waco was having a moment.

The Whytes had developed friendships with a previously little-known family that had started a home renovation company. That humble startup became an international sensation when HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” hit the airwaves and fellow Baylor alums Chip, B.B.A. ’98, and Joanna, B.A. ’01, Gaines became DIY superstars.

Rachel was one of Magnolia’s early employees, working as the company’s photographer in the early seasons of the show. 

An opportunity to have their own home featured on the show was too good to pass up, with the Whytes featured on season three, episode 10 — New Nest for a Growing Family. 

A growing trend of “slow rollers” passing their Waco home — a near-endless line of tourists and interested fans of the show driving by for photos — gave Luke and Rachel an idea.

“We sat down one day and just thought, ‘Man, there are thousands of people coming to Waco on a weekly basis. What if we started a tour company?’” That conversation detailed by Luke led to Waco Tours, the first tour company devoted to showing visitors around Waco.

“Neither of us had experience in the tour business,” Luke said. “Neither of us had started businesses, other than photography. Within six weeks, we’d bought a website, bought a van and were hosting our first guests on the tour.”

Joining the Whytes in the Waco Tours venture were David and Rachel Ridley — coincidentally, David’s own “Fixer Upper” episode aired the following week after the Whytes’.

What started with guests almost exclusively sourced through social media in the tens and hundreds in 2016 quickly ballooned into the hundreds of thousands. One van turned into two, three, four and beyond, and Waco Tours rapidly became a fixture on Waco’s streets, growing from two employees to over 50 in less than two years.

After seeing success with Waco Tours, the Whytes began looking for another venture. Through Rachel’s work as a wedding photographer, she recognized a need for a wedding venue designed from her unique perspective.

“I think we should design one that photographers would love,” Rachel said. “Aesthetically pleasing from a photography standpoint.”

The Whytes invited Benjamin, B.B.A. ’10, and Skylar, B.S. ’11, Worley, as well as Nathan, B.B.A. ’10, and Alison, B.A. ’11, Sloan as partners, and went in together to buy 100 acres in nearby Lorena, Texas, to build a 6,500-square-foot wedding venue called Old Bethany. The all-white interior in the 35-foot white barn features large windows and natural lighting — favorites for wedding photographers — and similarly saw rapid success, becoming the top-rated wedding venue in McLennan County.

As the Whytes continued to see their business ventures blossoming, Luke felt his time in college ministry ending and had his eyes set on his next work — custom home building.

Whyte Oak Homes has grown to be Luke’s day-to-day job, with projects ranging from 1,900-square-foot homes on up to large ranch projects exceeding $3 million.

Like their previous entrepreneurial start-ups, the Whytes leaned heavily on their friends, family, church and Baylor community as early adopter clients, including Drew, M.T.S. ’11, and Paige Greenway as the company’s first home build and a recent project with long-time friends Forrest, B.B.A. ’17, and Grace, B.A. ’19, Frank to build the Franks’ home in Waco in the midst of Forrest’s ascent as a premier Christian recording artist and producer. 

“They were looking at Austin,” Luke said about the Franks. “They could go to Los Angeles or Florida. But ultimately for them, the Lord was encouraging them to stay here. They look back on that as the best decision because it’s raising a family for a low cost of living, still plenty to do, the community aspect, the beauty of the lakes and rivers and Cameron Park — Waco is a hidden gem.”

Today, the Whytes employ several Baylor graduates and interns across their businesses — forgiving an aside that their construction project managers are Aggies — and have recently begun a partnership with Baylor to offer a unique opportunity for prospective students and families visiting Baylor’s campus and the Waco community. 

Families in town for campus tours are encouraged to add a trip with Waco Tours to add depth to first impressions of their potential home. 

“Waco Tours is offering prospective students and their families a unique opportunity to truly experience the heart of Waco,” said Ross VanDyke, B.A. ’03, Baylor’s associate vice president of enrollment management, marketing and recruitment. “It’s not just about seeing the sights — it’s about feeling the spirit of the city and understanding why this community means so much to those who call it home — which could be theirs for the next four years!”

Luke added, “It’s an honor to be invited to the table by Baylor to serve as ambassadors to help represent Waco.”