Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alrington McNichol. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alrington, appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

FYAHOUSE is trademarked and the company is registered as an LLC. How the name came to be – the family originated from Waterhouse, which is a district within Kingston, Jamaica. It is a notable area and a vibrant community that has played a significant role in Jamaican popular culture. Stephen McNichol, my brother, owned a jerk shack and perfected his homemade JERK seasoning & marinade. JERK is synonymous with “spicy” and is typically made with scotch bonnet pepper, making the sauce fire-hot to taste. So, “FYA” is patois for “fire” and the name is a culmination of “fire” from the sauce and where it originated in Waterhouse, hence FYAHOUSE (fire-house).

Alrington, 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?

How I got into the food/retail industry is an interesting tale and one you’ll find interesting (https://youtu.be/WgRUvAPdCQM). Born and raised in the heart of Jamaica, my brother Stephen McNichol built a name for himself with his legendary jerk shack, where the aroma of smoky pimento and fiery Scotch bonnet peppers drew crowds from near and far. A true master of the grill, Stephen didn’t just cook – he crafted an experience, perfecting a homemade jerk seasoning and marinade that set his food apart from all others.

For years, his secret blend of spices became the soul of his business, making his jerk chicken and pork so irresistible that people traveled across the island just for a taste. But when tragedy struck and Stephen lost his leg, the demanding labor of running the shack became impossible, forcing him to close its doors.
The family and I, visiting from America for a reunion, realized his struggle and decided to come together and help. Led by me, the family first focused on helping Stephen adjust to life with his disability. But after months of therapy, it became clear that returning to the physical grind of a jerk shack wasn’t an option.

Still, I believed there had to be a way forward. Skeptical at first, I took a few bottles of Stephen’s jerk sauce seasoning back to America and conducted three rounds of tastings. The reaction was overwhelming – people were blown away! What I once thought was “just another jerk sauce” turned out to be extraordinary, infused with not just one, but five secret ingredients that made it unlike anything on the market.

Determined to honor Stephen’s legacy and talent, I’m spearheading the launch of FYAHOUSE, a brand committed to bringing Stephen’s Premium Jerk Seasoning & Marinade to the market. More than just a product, FYAHOUSE is a testament to resilience, familyhood, and the power of preserving tradition.

I’m confident without a doubt that FYAHOUSE Premium Seasoning & Marinade brand will outshine every other product in its category. “I have never had negative feedback or response from anyone regarding the taste”. With all the bumps in the road, I’m even more determined and motivated to see this through with the hope of leaving a legacy. What began in a small Jamaican jerk shack is now destined to ignite taste buds worldwide. With every bottle of FYAHOUSE Premium Seasoning & Marinade, you’re not just tasting a recipe – you’re experiencing a story of passion, perseverance, and pure FYA.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

Selling FYAHOUSE Jerk Premium Seasoning & Marinade directly on our website gives us much more control, but it also comes with tradeoffs compared to selling on Amazon and the like. One of the major benefits is that it gives us higher profit margins and full control over branding & customer experience – no Amazon referral or fulfillment fees, we can tell the FYAHOUSE story authentically to emphasize culture, quality, and passion. Of course, a major tradeoff is Amazon is the go-to for millions of shoppers; so, giving up a major search and discovery engine is a negative, not to mention No Prime Shipping or Built-in Trust. We decided to start on our website and once we have brand equity and fulfillment dialed in, then expand to Amazon as a secondary channel. This will give us scale without giving up control too early.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When you think of someone who happens to be a software engineer, you probably picture lines of code, not lines of sauce bottles on a production table. But that’s exactly where my journey of FYAHOUSE Jerk Premium Seasoning & Marinade began — not in a commercial kitchen, but in front of a computer screen.

With a deep passion to help my brother through hard times, I committed myself to take his creation of his homemade Jerk sauce to the market. The only problem? I knew absolutely nothing about the food business. No culinary school. No food science degree. No idea what a co-packer was. Just a passion and the determination to do it and do it right.

I bootstrapped the business from day one — every label design, every jar, every test batch paid for out of pocket. I dove into a completely new world, one full of regulations, food safety requirements, and acronyms I’d never heard of before. One of the first major hurdles? The Department of Agriculture (DOA). Learning how to navigate DOA’s strict food safety regulations felt like decoding a programing language. Every step forward revealed another hidden layer of compliance — acidification rules, pH levels, nutritional labeling, facility inspections. It was like debugging a program, except the bug could get someone sick if you missed a step. The stakes were high.

There were moments I wanted to throw in the towel. Rejected batches, delays, missing paperwork — every win was hard-earned. But I moved like the turtle in the old fable — slow, steady, and unshakeable. With every obstacle came a lesson. I learned how to work with food scientists, schedule lab tests, and build relationships with state inspectors. I studied small-batch production like it was code architecture. I asked questions, made mistakes, and kept going.

FYAHOUSE isn’t just a seasoning — it’s the result of resilience, grit, and a relentless pursuit of quality. It’s about holding onto a vision even when the path is unclear, and proving that with enough persistence, you can break into an industry you once knew nothing about. Today, every jar of FYAHOUSE Jerk Seasoning says that story. It carries the spirit of tradition, the fire of the Caribbean, and the tenacity of someone who refused to quit.

From code to kitchen, FYAHOUSE is proof that if you move with purpose — even slowly — you can break through anything in your way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fyahouse.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fyahousellc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fyahouse
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Fyahousellc
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fyahousellc

Image Credits

ANDREA LUCIA PHOTOGRAPHY