We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sophia Wang Choe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sophia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

So my husband and I moved out to the burbs about 5 years ago. I grew up in Koreatown, LA, a food capital. Once we moved I realized just how good LA food really is. There wasn’t anything really worth paying for in our new neighborhood. Growing up in LA, one of my go to favorites are of course, tacos. The closest flavor of home I could get out here was King taco. A good salsa/hot sauce can make or break your meal. But to get that meal it was at least 45mins with the drive and wait. I realized we could grab decent tacos nearby and just needed their sauce to get my fix. So I thought, why not just make it myself. And that’s how it got started… my inspiration and ode to King taco, Queen cali.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My career started with my love for food at an early age. My dad was a big restaurateur in our city, so I grew up in the industry. I attended culinary school straight out of high school and in the past 15 years I’ve worked my way through hotels and restaurants, owned a couple restaurants in my mid twenties, was a private personal chef, worked a corporate chef gig, and had highs and lows through it all. Made plenty of mistakes, but no regrets and tried to learn from every experience. I’m excited to start my next journey as a small business owner, which also gives me the time to be a stay at home mom, that’s vital to me. I’m most proud of my ability to adjust to what life throws at me, although not always the most graceful, I try my best and thank God for opening new doors along the way. I’m hoping people will be able to taste my passion and love for all things food through my sauce. Breaking bread with others is still my favorite past time and hopefully my sauce can enhance that experience. I hope this new venture can add a lil spice and flavor to everyone’s life.

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

When I started this hot sauce adventure it was pre-baby. I had been a few months into the R&D, and then I got pregnant and my taste buds changed. I had to hit pause on the project. Then of course, once baby gets here, you barely have time to sleep let alone make or think about hot sauce. Once my baby, got a bit older (he’s two now), I was able to put some of my focus back into my sauce. It took me over 2 years just to get the recipe down.

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

For now, as a very new small business owner, I do everything. Took me months to get all my permits and licenses to be able to make and distribute the sauce myself. From sanitizing/labeling bottles, to making the sauce, filling the bottles, sealing them, packing the orders and then shipping them out, my husband will do the drop offs for me and any other random things I might need. He is also my official taste tester haha. I am currently looking for a co-packer to expand my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.queencalisauce.co
• Instagram: @queencali.redsauce
• Facebook: Www.facebook.com/queencalisauce