We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alex Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alex , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

It all started with one plant, one plant that produced way more peppers than expected. So I started making hot sauces and working with different flavors, until I landed on the one that would eventually become Six String Sting. People started trying and were loving it. So I took it to the next level and started professionally bottling it and started selling it in stores. That one plant started it all, all things spicy and hot sauce related became a passion of mine, striving to create high quality hot sauces that provided plenty of heat without compromising on flavor.

Alex , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got into crafting hot sauces after growing my first Carolina Reaper plant, I had a freezer full of peppers and nothing to do with them. I strived to create quality hot sauces that provided plenty of heat without compromising on flavor. Shredder Sauce creates quality small batch hot sauces, the two current flavors are Six String Sting and Acoustic. Six String Sting being a hot sauce that provides “A mouth shredding experience!” with Carolina Reapers and Trinidad scorpions. Acoustic is a newer flavor that provides a mild, smoky heat with jalapenos as the base. These hot sauces use the highest quality of ingredients and provide pepper-forward flavors.

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

I had a major pivot in my life after being diagnosed with a chronic illness, I had just graduated high school and was getting ready for my first year of college. I had to put a hold on everything and take care of my health first, once I got my health together I was able to visit my hot sauce business again. I had to put a hold on the business and was unable to do anything for it cooking, events, social media, everything.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been doing a combination of vendor events, trade shows, and collaborations. Trade shows and vendor events allow me to meet potential customers in person and create relationships. Collaborations allow me to get in front of another business’s/influencers audience, this especially helps when I don’t have as strong a social media presence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shreddersauce.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shreddersauce_llc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Shredder-Sauce-100057361002941/

Image Credits

CORE photography
Marilyn Diaz