Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Isaac Buchanan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Isaac, appreciate you joining us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?
Hero is a very strong word and I’d like to use that title lightly. There are 2 impactful people in my life that I admire and have to give this label to, first, my son Devin and the second is my good friend Dan B. Devin was our first born and like all babies, he didn’t come with a set of instructions. There were some rocky times but his love never weakened, now as he is approaching his teen years, he has taken on new challenges (like going to a new school in the middle of the year) with courage and optimism that would make any parent overflow with pride. Devin is only 12 but he has taught me more than many adults and I look forward to having his input and advice as he and this business grows.
next up is my buddy Dan. Dan started his business journey over 10 years ago and like all businesses his journey was filled with highs and lows, not to mention many learning lessons. But the question is what would put him in a spotlight for me and how has he influenced my journey! knowledge & hardwork!
I did not go to business school and felt that owning a business was a long shot, but as our Hawt Product line began to grow in popularity, I began to reach out to Dan about making the big step toward creating a business. But what is important is the reason that I choose him to talk with. Im fortunate to have a circle of friends that are all business owners and each put in long hours and have made sacrifices but to me I saw the sweat equity that Dan was putting in. As we began to talk he was providing me with information about entrepreneur groups to join, books to read and most importantly, is this a hobby or a business. Even making sure that as revenue began to grow, that I reinvested back into the business and not into a shiny car or flashy jewelry. when I think of some one that continues to move forward and focuses on family and proper business decisions, it’s my buddy Dan. It’s tough to condense down what he’s done over the years but his success is definitely repeatable and I feel that with all the support we have going, it’s just a matter of time before people know who Uncle IceBergs is.
Isaac, 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?
It might be easy to list the questions and answers out one by one. hopefully I don’t get too off track.
Uncle Icebergs was born back in 2009 as a hobby since we were preparing for our first child, eating health(ier) came with challenges and I decided that if I couldn’t find it, then I’ll make it. that is when our pickle line was born!
Our Hawt sauces began years and years ago during my time in professional kitchens. we would spend countless hours prepping and preparing vegetables and proteins to serve in high-end establishments and most times we got to eat what we prepared, but I would cook the same way at home and there was nothing that in-between the basic Tobasco and the nuclear one-drop type of stuff. so I. made my own and began to perfect it over the years. the first sauce I made was the Poppin Pineapple, now we have 3 unique sauces that go with just about any meal you can create.
once I left the hospitality industry, I still continued to make the sauce(s) and pickles, and right around 2010 I found myself working in the tech industry. since it was fast paced many lunches were eaten at our desks and it was only a matter of time until someone asked what I was sprinkling on my food! Boom, business idea. I began to sell small amounts of the Poppin pineapple which sparked the entrepreneur in me and started to build a small business. many don’t know this but Uncle Icebergs was one of the first companies to participate in the Great Park’s Farmer’s Market in Irvine!
fast forward to today, and we still adhere to the strict methods and techniques that helped me graduate with honors from one of the top culinary schools in the country. these methods are applied to our sauce and pickle line, separating us from most other companies on the market. it’s not just the labor that sets us apart, it’s the love. our pickle process is taken from the traditional methods of pickling and mixed with some modernization so each jar is appealing visually and the taste is uniform. just about everything at Uncle IceBergs is made by hand! this brings me to the specialty sauces. our Chimichurri has been one of the most popular products and usually flys off the shelves when we broadcast a fresh batch. again it’s the process of how we make this sauce, it starts by cleaning the parsley by hand and the picking of leaves. very labor intensive but you see and taste the love that goes into each jar. so, most know that we specialize in spicy foods products but we’ve also launched a line of non-spicy or Not Hawt! we feel that our products can and should be enjoyed by all. if you like it Hawt then you’ll find something tasty and if heat isn’t your friend, then we have Not Hawt!
I feel that we have something special which is why we just also launched our pickle classes. mostly done in person, it’s about a 60-90 minute class and ‘students’ will learn about the pickling process origin, cutting techniques, label design and leave with a jar of their very own pickles or pickled vegetables.
Im learning a lot through starting this business and there have been ups and downs but we made it through a pandemic and are working toward a new facility that will allow us to move production up and service a larger area. we have many plans for upcoming year and expect to see our Hawt Products line grow to include Hawt and Not unique items that will keep folks coming back time and time again. plus this year we were able to hire a marketing company to help us with our online presence, ProjectSocial is helping us grow and reach the audience that is interested in what we offer. I’m proud that we made it to this point as a business, we have vendors that provide us with services that keep us afloat and our products looking great.
At this time I have to thank my wife and 3 boys! without their love and 1,000% support, none of this would be a possibility. now they are able to have some roles in this business and it truly is a family affair.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
this is a good question and there were many good ones to choose from, id like to mix this one with another question that asked about funding! Uncle IceBergs is not the first business I’ve started or been a part of! each other business that I’ve been a part of it’s been about the person that controlled the majority of the initial investment. not a good/great model for multiple reasons. so, this brings me to these questions. where did we secure our initial funding? Uncle Icebergs is a self funded business! it’s taken some time but by my family making certain sacrifices and me pushing had at my 9-5, we’ve been able to get the seed money necessary to start building up from the level where we currently sit! This has required me/us to focus on our finances and bookkeeping and we have a vested interest because who wants to keep throwing money into something that doesn’t provide a return?
The second part of this question is about books and other resources that have significantly impacted our thinking and philosophy? I’d like to start this off by saying that I’m extremely thankful to be where we have made it to with our business venture, and having this opportunity to share our story is also very humbling. that said, we are always in learning mode. I/we surround ourselves with those who strive to do more and make a positive impact. many of our pier group are business owners and over the years we’ve been able to have numerous conversations with them in different settings about growth and stability and family because it’s also about the balance.
A person that I met this year and he and I sort of gravitated towards each other is my friend David Meltzer. David teaches entrepreneurship and coaches business owners of all different revenue sizes. but I would say what was most impactful are these lessons that I practice every day: Believe in yourself and be truthful. Make the time for your family. Get help when or where you can or join an entrepreneur group. and this question, What sacrifices are you willing to make in order to grow?
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I believe we have a story around this question. The Uncle Icebergs brand started back in 2010, selling our goods mostly by word of mouth but we saw the need to expand into other marketplaces so we did some research and began to attend various farmers markets. that was a good start and during that time the food truck scene was beginning to take off so we ventured out and began making relationships with the various mobile kitchens attending the largest farmers market (at that time) in South Orange County. During this same time I was holding down a full time position with another company and juggled the two for the next few years. We had gotten the Hawt Sauce onto some of the local trucks, gotten placement on some of the smaller grocery stores and even met with a company that could help us get placement in Costco and even with all that going on, orders were not coming in as we expected. I still was maintaining a 9-5 and running the Uncle Icebergs in the evening and on weekends but just prior to the pandemic I took some time off from the 9-5 and began pushing the Hawt Products will all my effort and then the pandemic hit which caused some disruption but towards the end of 2019 business began to pick back up and 2020 we saw an increase and record numbers. Seeing this happen I knew we had something special and 2021 was a year to work on seed money to build the business the way “we” wanted to. 2022 saw tremendous growth and we’ve not looked back.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.uncleicebergs.com
- Instagram: @uncleicebergs
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncleicebergs
- Linkedin: Uncle Icebergs Hawt Products
- Youtube: coming soon