We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jermaine Lanos. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jermaine below.

Jermaine, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

Looking back at the path of my career in business I am glad that I started when I did. There are some things that i would definitely do differently but for the most part I am happy with where I am in business. I started this business during the middle of the pandemic with two close friends. During that time all we had was cookouts and each other and we all liked to cook but we came to realize that all the sauces we brought had no real flavor or just to much heat. Me being a chef decided to make something that would give the most common sauce on the market a run for there money, after about 3 weeks of trial and error I came up with my first sauce Flamin Pineapple. At the time i was very unsure of myself as a business owner but very confident as a chef. I needed people around me that could see the things in me that I could not see. This is where i learned my first lesson as a business owner, make sure the people around you not only believe in you but also believe in the vision you have for your business. On this journey to build this business I lost two business partners but found my wife and she has been the voice that has pushed me forward when i wanted to stop and the sounding board that stopped me from making a crazy move at times. Career wise I will never say that I reached a point where I can say I’ve learned all I can learn. Im still learning to this day and God willing I continue to grow everyday. Looking back at all that i have experienced in the culinary world I do wish i would have been more open to more cultures and flavors. Being so focused on just the things i knew prevented me from learning what I didnt know. The great thing is God has allowed me to Taste and see the greatness of all that he has created and there is so much more to experience. As far as when i started I feel that I started right when I should Have, If i hd started any sooner my ego would have ruined the business and any later i would have been to settled in lifes routine that i never would have made the jump.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Well my Name is Jermaine Lanos and I am the Owner of Elliott’s Gourmet Sauce, I am a trained chef by trade but I like to believe that I am gifted by God to do what I do. I know this was the industry that i was going to get into early on because I was surrounded by talented people who loved to cook. I watched as my grandfather would stand over the grill during my summer breaks with such focus or when my grandmother would be up late getting Sunday dinner ready. Food has always been about more then just filling your stomach to me it was a way to fill your heart with love and your mind with memories. As I grew as a chef more importantly as a black chef I realized that alot of the foods that i was cooking was leading to people I loved having heart problems and a laundry list of other problems. I had to figure out how can I still cook great food that will not cause harm to you as well. I remember being in the kitchen and cooking a steak and thinking to myself, Im cooking this steak yet I am trying to make it taste like every vegetable or root that I can think of, then a friend of mine told me about mushrooms and the world was open to me. Once I made fried mushrooms that reminded me of fried chicken there was nothing you could tell me. I will admit it took awhile for the hold of red meat to let me go but now I dont even miss it. Once I made my mind up to change to a plant based diet it was only right that my business moved in the same direction. I have two people to thank for this My wife and My Father, both of them have really shown me the benefits of a plant based diet. I am most proud of the fact that I am now serving my clients and customers food that gives life.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn was that in this business you can have an idea and it can a great idea but if the market is not feeling it you are wasting your time, money and energy. I have sauces right now that will sell like crazy in New York or las Vegas but here in Texas are looked at like Nah Try again. I came into this business with the thought that my taste was all that mattered but the hard truth is finding that balance of what my followers like and what i can create is a fine line and i have learned to walk it.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I believe that what help me build up my reputation on social media was consistency in post and product. I made a point of keeping my social media post very professional. I realized that I would be the face of my brand and because of that i always made a point of presenting myself in a professional manner in public and on post. Secondly I always provided my customers with a product that I was proud of. I am a firm believer that customer service is always going to win out over anything else followed by quality products and I deliver both.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: elliotts_gourmet_sauce
• Other: Tik Tok – @elliottsgourmetsauce1