our eyes and ears out looking for potential everywhere. The Bootlikker brand is only one growing branch of Ter- ebinth Tree. Can you get back to its roots and please explain how this parent company came to be? TW: Well, the terebinth tree is found in Syria and Israel. When I left the family business in ’99 I left everything I had been around day-to-day all my life. You could say it was a bit of a spiritual journey. I remember at the time reading the story of Abraham in the Bible and he was told to leave his father’s house. When Abraham leaves, he comes to a terebinth tree where he camps the first night. It’s a stopping place on your way to the promise land, a place in between where you are and where you’re going. That’s where the icon comes from. If you look at my logo it’s a man who is partially turning into a tree. Now, with my last name being Wood it all came full circle in my mind. The way his arms are stretched out also suggests the letter T. That’s my parent company; my overall umbrella company. Regardless of what brand we might be working on it’s under the Terebinth Tree name. So, you conceptualized and designed the logo yourself, Tommy? TW: I did. I went to college to study Design. After sitting behind the desk at the family rental store I realized that’s not what I’m meant for. While I was doing the regular 7:30 to 5:30 thing, I was also doing independent design work for people on the side – but my day job didn’t allow me to do it to the capacity I wanted. My time at school was interesting because I grew up on the East Coast during a time when being an artist gave you two options: You could either be a starving artist or a commercial artist like a graphic designer. What was really interesting about the time that I as in school was that it was really in a transitional period; we were still learning old school printing methods while everything was moving toward total computer interfaces like Photoshop and Illustrator. I was on that bridge of change that took us to computers. “The simplest version of anything is usually the purest. It makes people look at it and wonder if there’s something deeper the very first glance.” But I do it all. There are times when I hire outside contrac- tors to work with me on projects. I have team of trusted guys who I prefer to work with – when they’re available. Last spring, we did a political ad, for example, and I don’t have all the gear or staff needed to do the entire production myself. I wrote the video, I directed the video, and I edited it; I hired people to help me shoot it and light it. Do you find that being a Renaissance man, as it were,
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at the 2018 International Flavor Awards must have been a real moment of confirmation for the Bootlikker name for you, Tommy. TW: Well, we stand out for a few reasons in the hot sauce world. We are not like the ghost pepper, reaper sauce types you’ll meet at festivals who are trying to hurt you. Our sauce has lots of flavour and heat because we want to appeal to everyone. We want people to look at us more as a label trying to become the Heinz of hot sauce. Someone told me that Bootlikker ‘tastes like what Tabasco is trying to do.’ I really believe it in as a versatile sauce and it’s being recog- nized more and more that way. What’s the game plan for Bootlikker looking ahead to 2019 – and beyond? TW: We get asked that a lot these days. We have a whiskey version in the works pending approvals. We also have jerky coming out this year, which is delicious, that’s flavoured with our original hot sauce. It’s got a sweet, brown sugar beginning and it has that traditional jerky quality to it. While we love selling the hot sauce, hot sauce can sit on some- body’s table or in their pantry for a year, but the jerky might be gone in an hour. There is a potential for turnover there, so we’re really excited about that product. Long term, Bootlikker has its own LLC and will continue to develop. We’re looking into a Bootlikker brand salt and several other products. Being in the food business, we have
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2018
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