We were lucky to catch up with Tim Boudreaux recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tim, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

What does it take to be successful in your business? A lot of hard work and tenacity.

You must be organized.
You must be detailed.
You must analyze your competition.
Understand the risks and rewards of your work.
Be Creative in what you do.
Stay Focused.
Prepare to make sacrifices
Provide great service and product to your customers.
Be consistent.

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?

I have been a chef for almost 30 years. I completed an apprenticeship at MGM studios in Culver City, California. I believe today it’s the Sony building. I worked for one of the PBS specials “Great Chefs of the West” with Chef Werner Albrecht. I learned the food industry from the ground up working for companies such The Wrigley mansion, The Phoenician Resort, The Arizona Biltmore, my own catering business for many years and was the Corporate Executive Chef for BlueCross/BlueShield of Arizona. I also completed an apprentice with the American Culinary Federation. Later I would attend Le Cordon Bleu in Scottsdale, Arizona. I have always been amazed with the many different spices from around the world and their unique flavor profiles. After moving to Phoenix, Arizona I became infatuated with the many chilies, spices and flavors from the region. When my wife Daphne and I started this business three years ago we wanted to be unique in respect to using ingredients indigenous to Arizona, Mexico and Latin America. But even more than that we wanted our spices to be chili based. We use Pasilla, Ancho, Mulato, Habanero, Scorpion, Reaper, Smoked Serrano, Chili de Arbol, Aji Panca and Aji Amarillo chilies in our rubs just to name a few. We also make a very unique BBQ Sauce made from Mexican Ale, Orange, Tamarind, Prickly Pear, Agave and much more. What I believe sets apart is all of our products are gluten free, lower sodium and MSG free. We also have a few vegan options. We just launched a new product line of artisan chips and chicharrons made from our spices that are also gluten free. We are very proud to have been recently nominated in the top ten companies for best local products for “Best in the Valley” with Phoenix magazine. We also cater and offer culinary classes through our website. Our company is a southwestern company that is constantly evolving with an awesome client base at all of our weekly farmers markets.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

We manufacture all of our products. We take pride in being a small batch handcrafted company. We mix our spice, bag it, label by hand and seal the bags by hand. Our BBQ Sauce is also handcrafted. We fill the bottles, label them, seal them all by hand. I must admit that it is a lot of work but the pride and enjoyment of knowing you have crafted your product from start to finish is an amazing feeling and our customers love it. We walked through many ups and downs trying to figure out which labels, bottles and bags to use but after three years have perfected the process.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We are constantly making our presence known on social media. It is a very difficult process but the best advice I can give is don’t give up. Be on social media daily interacting with other people and their business posts. Post, post, post and post again. Post relevant info about your business with photos and videos. Comment on other businesses posts. Slowly build a network of followers and you follow others. Find influencers in your niche and get involved with them.

Contact Info:

• Website: timoteospiceco.com
• Instagram: @timoteospice
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flavorama
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-boudreaux-675550194/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/co_timoteo

Image Credits
I have the rights to photos