We recently connected with Mark Petersen and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mark thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

My belief of success is being happy with what you are doing, not how much money you are making. The normal answer is hard work and more hard work to be successful, but it is more than that. Success is connecting with your clients and helping them find a flavorful sauce or seasoning that will enhance their meals and put a smile on their faces when using any Facepunch Foods products.

I spend time at different markets and events connecting with spicy food fans and have been able to convert those scared of hot sauces into die hard fans! Having people try and buy on the spot is so much fun to me. The connection continues after the transaction too. That hot sauce bottle hangs out on their tables and every time it is used, I imagine that they are recalling our encounter at the market and hope it brings a smile to their faces. That is success…making people smile and their meals so much better with my flavorful sauces.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Mark Petersen and I am the maker/owner/Chief Flavor Officer of Facepunch Foods. I started making sauces with my Uncle Chris and Uncle Tim back in 2001. They both showed me how to make the sauces, grow the peppers in the garden, and try to develop a great flavorful sauce. I would make sauces every fall with Chris and sometimes Tim, and keep some for personal use and give out the rest to friends and family. After a few years of doing this and positive feedback from friends, I started to think about making this into a business. I jumped into the search engines and researched how to start a food business, made many calls and e-mails connecting with state agriculture reps, licensing questions, searching for shared kitchens, and sourcing larger amounts of peppers. It took a bit of time and sifting to really get a plan together and make it into something real. In 2016, I really put the plan into action and did some test runs, developed a couple sauce recipes, and tested them in Shamrock’s in St Paul, MN to see if this could really work. The response was overwhelmingly awesome, and I went into overdrive to get the company going. Only problem is, I didn’t have a name yet! Social media to the rescue!!! I had 4 names to choose from, made a poll on Facebook, and bam, Facepunch Foods was born.

Fast forward a year, and I developed a new and unique recipe never been made in the hot sauce world…Hot Banana Pepper hot sauce. Yep, a tangy and quick burst of heat, a liquid banana pepper sauce that goes so good on everything. This sauce is featured in YouBetcha Box here in Minnesota and is found at some local small grocery, hardware, and meat markets around Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio.

My aim at Facepunch Foods is to make mild to wild hot sauces that can be used on a daily basis. I also make amazing dry seasonings and added a line of snacks made with them too. I have won a few awards with the 6 Pepper Seasoning, hot banana pepper, and Sweet n Spicy peanuts in the last 2 years. This is awesome to get some accolades for all the hard work I have done over the last 7 years as I developed and launched the company and products. It took a lot of help from my wife, son, friends, family, coworkers and the whole hot sauce community to get where I’m at now. I learned a great quote from Gary Vaynerchuk awhile back… 1>0. That’s it! Getting just one person to try my products, buy them, follow me on social channels, or even just connecting with them at markets is better than zero. That has stuck with me. He also said don’t do it for the money, do it for the freedom, the quality of life/lifestyle, and do it if it makes you happy. Love that concept, it gives me a great mindset to accomplish my short and long term goals with this company. My goal is to Facepunch your mouth with flavors. To make your meals more tasty, spicy, and flavorful without melting your face.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

I produce hot sauces not only for my own brand, but use those same sauces to private label with some other businesses too. A local St Paul, MN barber shop called the Barber Mug, reached out about putting their faces on my labels. It was a fun idea that grew into a great client since late-2019! A barber shop selling sauces I make is so fun and drives me to do more. So I did! I have connected with a few restaurants in the Twin Cities metro area and produce some specialty sauces based on my base sauce recipes. It also helped me branch out into making a line of snacks to be placed in distillery and brewery locations. I have recently branched out into wholesale bulk seasoning production for restaurants and have a 2 location powerhouse burger joint as a client! They own The Nook and Shamrock’s in St Paul, MN and our a well-known burger spot. They also have amazing wings and I make their proprietary seasoning now. This gives me multiple revenue streams to help keep my company liquid.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Yep, and it was a spiritual one too. Back around 2010-11, I was struggling spiritually, emotionally, and just felt empty. I sat in traffic on my way home from work all pissed off and just stewing about some past deaths in the family, hating my job and social standing, and I was totally disconnected from God and church. I lost it that day and told God to eff off. It really felt like a low point in my life. I was just feeling worthless and like I would never accomplish the success I had always dreamed of as I grew up. Amazingly, that was a good turning point for me because I felt more of a draw to God as time past from that evening in traffic. A few years later I felt a push to make my own path, my own business, and get back into a life with God. It seems weird to share this but I am not ashamed to do it. Some may get turned off from this but I hope it really gives someone the confidence to not be afraid to share pieces of what makes you whole. This instance in traffic set in motion a continuous change in my life to make a better path for myself, my family, and my soul. The success I have found by finding myself, God, and an amazing community around me has released that empty feeling I had years ago. I feel blessed to be able to make a flavorful food products that allow me to connect with amazing people all over the USA.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Facepunchfoods.com
• Instagram: @facepunchfoods
• Facebook: @facepunchfoods
• Linkedin: @facepunchfoods
• Twitter: @FacepunchMark
• Youtube: @facepunchfoods
• Other: TikTok- @facepunchfoods

Image Credits
@mancinischarhouse The Barber Mug