The demand was there, and Olson just had to get things going. With friends helping him along the way, he began his hot sauce revolution in SoCal. “He (Travis) likes spicy food too, and he’s been a big part in helping with the label and look. There’s a big artist’s community here, and that played well into what I was trying to do,” said Olson. It was Olson’s love of gardening and growing chilis that pushed him into dabbling into hot sauce. Whether he was living and teaching English in Argentina, backpacking in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, he made sure to bring the best of his experiences home. “We launched three years ago, and these tastes and ideas definitely developed through my travels. I just got to know and understand a wide variety of produce and peppers, and had things that come from regions and lands we don’t get supplies from,” said Olson. “When I started really cooking, I got into the spicy stuff, and it might have been because traveling raised my tolerance for hot food. I went from the Siracha to hotter stuff, and I got really cooking and enjoying it.” He quickly became the family cook, and found sat- isfaction in pleasing the taste buds of others. His palate and his taste profile kept growing, and that slow, gradual process allowed him to incorporate the things he picked up from other parts of the world.
much about cooking, and I began experiment- ing in SoCal,” said Olson. “I started taking some recycled bottles to people at work (he was an employee of Avila’s El Ranchito). I got amazing feedback.” “I started to realize what people really liked, and I was hearing from people that they wanted to try a wide variety of sauces with different consistencies and heat levels.” “When I moved home, I had learned so much about cooking, and I began experimenting in SoCal.”
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • MARCH 2019
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