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

Nathanael , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Quitting my day job to focus on scaling my brand was a huge risk for me. I’m married with a mortgage and many other monthly bills. Giving up guaranteed pay and security without any certain outcome was easily the scariest thing I’ve ever done. It was a hard decision, but it felt right. I put my trust in the process, and it’s turning out alright. I know that I am not going to let myself lose.

December 31st will mark one full year of being my own boss. It has been tough, and there have been many times I’ve considered going back to a day job. However, I remind myself of all the wins Farmer Nate’s Sauce has had, which confirms to me that I am on the right path and that I just need to keep going.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I own a sauce and condiment company based in Covington, Kentucky, which was born out of the pandemic. When everything was shut down, I thought it would be fun to start growing my own food from seed. I planted corn, carrots, cucumbers, jalapeños, and habaneros. It turns out that my peppers were the only plants to thrive, and as a way to preserve them, I started jarring hot sauce for friends and family. Seeing an opportunity, I created a brand, formed an LLC, and took the time to get FDA registered and approved. I officially launched Farmer Nate’s Sauce in November 2021. As of today, our products are sold in nearly 1,000 retail locations. We are also available on Amazon, and a few local restaurants serve our sauce. The opportunities that have come my way from simply walking through that open door have been incredible. I never imagined I’d be running a successful sauce and condiment company that’s only continuing to grow.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I spent hours after my day job delivering for Uber Eats and would deposit all my earnings into one account until I had $1,000. That $1,000 helped cover the initial startup costs. Once we began scaling, I brought on a business partner who invested in his share, which also helped us scale. We reached a new level of demand and faced challenges keeping enough product in stock, so we decided to start using a manufacturer. We applied for a local grant to help with this. Although we didn’t receive it on our first attempt, we refined our pitch and applied again, ultimately receiving the grant, which helped with startup costs to get the manufacturer on board. We’re starting to see profit, and that profit is beginning to compound. Right now, we’re focused on continuing to grow our funding.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Every day brings a new story of resilience. To outsiders looking in, it may seem like everything is going our way and that we just keep winning, but that’s not the case. There have been many days, and even weeks, where we weren’t getting any sales. We’ve faced just as much rejection from retailers as we have acceptance. I’ve been told “no” in many different scenarios. The most recent one was with a huge restaurant chain that operates 63 locations in our region. They brought me in to create a new spicy sauce for a future product, and I bent over backwards for them. Every recipe inspiration they gave me, I nailed, but each time they’d ask for changes, and I would make them. They promised me inclusion in their marketing campaigns. Eventually, they went silent and stopped responding. After months of silence, they finally got back to me to say they decided to make the sauce in-house and wouldn’t be needing my services anymore. To me, it felt like they had used me for my recipe ideas and then cut me loose. I had two options: I could get upset and let it affect my day, week, or month, or I could move forward and focus on the present and future. I refuse to let rejection get to me, even though it’s difficult as a human. The key is to keep going, with or without them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://farmernatessauce.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/farmernatessauce
• Other: https://amazon.com/farmernates

Image Credits

Jeremy Kramer Photo