Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Crystal Fairley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Crystal, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, one thing many business owners consider is donating a percentage of sales or profits to an organization or cause. We’d love to hear your thoughts and the story behind how and why you chose the cause or organization you donate to.
For every bottle of Code Red Hot Sauce sold we donate $1 to the Firefighters foundation of our city. We also donate 5% of all of our products to Children’s Outreach Ministry at Hilltop Tabernacle, who’s mission is to provide a safe place to develop spiritually and educationally.
Crystal, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
In 2010, I grew my first chili pepper plant called a Black Cobra. It was fun learning how to grow a beautiful plant and cultivate it. In the fall of 2013, I made a hot sauce that I named Sweet Heat from a mixture of my 2013 harvest. It was an instant hit. Early in 2014, I was at a point in my life where I felt I wanted to do something more with my life. My #1 passion is helping children and seeing them become strong Christian citizens. Knowing this, I prayed and asked God to give me a passion for something that I could use to help my church’s Children’s ministry. Little did I know that peppers would be the route.
In March of 2015, an opportunity presented itself to where my wife and I had an opportunity to open our own small shop at Pangaea Outpost in Pacific Beach. After much prayer and consultation with our Pastor and business advisers we decided to open on Memorial Day weekend. We named the store Uncle Keith’s because of the strong ties that I have with many children in my church. My best friends daughter said I am like an Uncle to many of the kids, so why not name the company that. I liked it and it stuck (thank you Melanie C.)
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
Upon deciding to start our business, our initial capital came from bootstrapping using our own funds. We did not anticipate the business would be so successful and that we would expand into other areas. Our business was meant to be a type of hobby business with an effort to raise funds for a bus for our church’s children’s ministry.
In retrospect I think we should have considered seeking other means of funding.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
The story of Uncle Keith’s trademark is one that comes to mind when thinking about resilience. One of the requirements for Amazons brand registry is that we needed to have our brand trademarked. During the process of obtaining our trademark it was opposed by a much larger brand. A brand that had a lot more financial influence than our small business. We thank God that in the end of the process we were able to keep our trademark.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.unclekeiths.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unclekeithsgourmetfoods/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Unclekeithsgourmetfoods
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/unclekeithsgourmetfoods
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncleKeithsGF
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIsfmvKR55NpPnTgKOTtqTg
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/uncle-keiths-gourmet-foods-san-diego