April 18, 2024 • 36 mins
When you think hot sauce, you may think scorching heat, but James Louis of Holy Fire Foods marches to the beat of a different drum. His creations are a testament that the secret to a great hot sauce isn't just the heat; it's the harmony of flavors that dance on your palate while still giving that kick you crave. In our intriguing chat, James reveals the roots of his culinary adventure, from his own garden to the shelves of hopefully 100 stores by the end of the year.
There's a certain magic in building a business from the ground up, and our guest knows it all too well. Starting with neighborhood door-knocking and evolving to ambitious retail scaling, James spills the beans on the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of entrepreneurship. He credits programs like the USDA's Path to Prosperity and Communities Unlimited for giving Wholly Fire Foods the structure and strategy it needed to blaze forward. This episode is more than just hot sauce; it's about the entrepreneurial spirit, the seasoning of support systems, and the recipe for asking the right questions to keep the business flame burning bright.
Whether you're a hot sauce aficionado or a budding business thinker, this conversation will leave you with a taste of inspiration and perhaps a bit more courage to turn up the heat on your own endeavors.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
I had no idea of what I was doing here, you know,
didn't know whether I needed togo to the corner store or a
grocery store, none of that.
But if you're going to grow theway that we're growing and hope
to grow in the future, you'vegot to get the strategic growth
plan together.
We want to be in 100 stores bythe end of this year.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome back to another edition of Small Talk,
the Communities Unlimitedpodcast.
My name is Chris Baker andsometimes we get to talk to
communities here on the SmallTalk podcast, and sometimes we
get to talk to entrepreneurs,and today is one of those times.
I love to talk to entrepreneursbecause they always have
interesting stories.
Let me introduce you to JamesLewis.
James is the owner of Holy FireFoods.
(00:47):
Love the name, james, based outof Hattiesburg, mississippi.
How are you, man?
Hey, how are you doing, chris?
Thank you for having me on, ofcourse, so I have to ask you
about the name, first andforemost, holy Fire Foods.
It is a hot sauce company, sothe name is appropriate.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Tell me about it well , it's actually part of the
process, as I call it, of how webegan, when we got to the point
and we were going to start acompany and we still wasn't
fully invested in hot sauce.
But a friend of mine and I weretalking and he said that that
(01:24):
we should name it, that I shouldname it Hellfire something,
something he said, and I toldhim I can't do that because you
know my sin level already abovemy head.
I can't wake up every daylooking at hell as a company.
(01:45):
I'm just not with that.
But I'd come out better if Icould get some Holy Fire.
There you go.
Therein came the name Holy Fire.
Now this spells it a littledifferently though.
It's a combination of things.
That's what I was going to say.
It's a combination of things.
It's the wholesome ingredientsthat we use, because we use all
(02:08):
natural ingredients in most ofour products.
We use all natural ingredientsand they came out of our garden.
So most of the ingredientsinitially came out of our garden
and they were wholesomeingredients.
So it was a combination ofwholesome.
That's why we spell itW-H-O-L-L-Y and that
spirituality in there as well,to keep me from going to hell
(02:32):
because I already know what mysins are real.
So, yes, that was a combination, but mostly it's that wholesome
ingredient.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Now, have you been a hot sauce fan your whole life
there, James?
Is that why you got into thehot sauce fan your whole life
there, James.
Is that why you got into thehot sauce?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
business, or how did that happen for you?
I personally don't like hotsauce.
Is that right?
I don't like hot sauce.
I'm not that, I don't likeoverwhelming heat and I didn't
like that.
I'm not a fan of really any ofthe hot sauces.
Before starting a hot saucecompany.
But I am a food person.
(03:11):
I love to eat, I love goodsauces, you know, and I cook a
little bit.
So most times when I cook Icook and make my own stuff and
make my own stuff.
So rather than use a Louisianaor a Franks or something, I
would make my own sauces andthat's where it came from,
because theirs carried too muchsalt and I saw from high blood
(03:34):
pressure.
So I can't have all that sodium.
You know I tell the joke whenmy wife's not around that the
doctor took me off salt, sugarand wild women all at the same
time.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
So salt I am a hot sauce guy, james I'll tell you
that salt's a pretty keyingredient, or at least a pretty
prominent ingredient in a lotof hot sauces.
I mean, it's like second on thelist and stuff.
What kind of magic are youdoing to make that thing taste
good man?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Well, the thing about it is, we've been trained that
the first ingredient we look forfor whenever we eat is where
it's the sauce.
That's the first ingredient.
And hot sauces all of them takeadvantage of the fact that we
need that.
We want to taste sauce first,so they pack their sauces with
(04:27):
all of them.
The fact that we want to tastesalt first, so they pack their
sauces with all of them.
All of them, most of them, usethe same four ingredients, and
two of them bad for them, soyou're not getting true heat.
What you're getting is a lot ofsodium.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Okay, and you guys are doing a little different,
huh.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Yeah, true heat should make you want to stop
eating.
You've ever eaten something sohot that you say I don't want
nothing else to eat, even thoughyou haven't eaten much of it?
But true heat should build overtime and act as a diuretic for
the heat and ask you to stopeating.
Well, what they've done isadded salt, and what salt is?
(05:06):
Like a cow or a deer.
It makes you want more salt.
But what we should search foris flavor, and we've managed to
incorporate flavor into oursauces.
So the first thing you taste isnot salt but flavor.
And everyone says the samething man, it's good flavor, but
(05:27):
we take away.
Now flavor should be added toyour food.
Everything you eat already mostof you eat already has salt on
it.
So what you want to do is addunique flavors to what you do,
and we try to do that with allour products.
Flavor over sodium and not heatthat just overwhelms the heat.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
I got you.
You said something I have toask you about because I like to
garden as well, james.
You started this hot saucecompany in your own garden, with
your own peppers and everything, man.
I mean that's a trueentrepreneurial journey there,
man.
Well, you're absolutely correct, but it's a story, even journey
there, man.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Well, you're absolutely correct, but it's a
story.
Even getting to the garden thatgets me in trouble, because
getting to the growth of thevegetables, that we do, because
you know it started with COVID.
When COVID hit, I worked for acollege and I was traveling all
(06:26):
over the country, but when COVIDhit I was at home and my wife
she's a nurse she was at hometoo.
So she had just had surgerywhich put us in the house
together, right, which means shegets to tell me what to do
constantly At home, which meansshe gets to tell me what to do
constantly and on, and I was.
(06:47):
You know, she had just hadsurgery, she started whenever
she wanted.
She had just had surgery.
Whenever she wanted something.
We had these little bells.
She'd ring the bell and I'dhave to bring her whatever she
wanted back there.
And I looked out the back.
I looked out the back and Isaid you know what I've been
intending to put a garden backthere.
I looked out the back.
I looked out the back and Isaid you know what I've been
intending to put a garden backthere.
I didn't know nothing about agarden, not a thing.
(07:10):
So I went back there and saidmy wife, you know, when she
wanted something, she ring thatbell and after a while I started
saying I wonder if antifreezewould really work no, you didn't
.
I told that joke in Florida, inPanama City, florida, to a group
(07:31):
of people I was talking to andthe man beside me who was on the
podium with me.
He started saying you got toknow their height, weight and
you can't administer it all atone time.
And I had to shout it.
I shouted at him sir, sir, Ijust jumped.
You know I'm not trying to killmy wife, I just jumped.
(07:53):
He was serious but anyway.
So after I started the garden, acouple of weeks before I
started the garden, this littledog showed up.
Little garden, this little dogshowed up.
Little injured little mutt dogshowed up and I slid some water
(08:13):
and food out to the dog.
It was a little old puppy.
I was going to take it to thepound.
My wife before she had hersurgery.
All this happened at the sametime.
I was at the same time, aboutthe same time.
She come in the house, her andthe dog hooked up and I'm like
now I'm taking that dog to thepound.
(08:34):
It just ended up out there.
She said I thought you got me adog.
We're not getting rid of thisdog, didn't get rid of the dog.
So when I started the garden thelittle dog was out underneath
the tree sitting at the tree andI'm doing the garden and and my
(08:54):
neighbor who's a mastergardener, straightened me out,
got me all fixed up.
I was planting seeds, had myhat on and I was planting seeds,
but anyway I started the gardenand when I looked around the
dog had dug up the entire garden.
I tried to catch it and kill itbut my hip bad.
I couldn't run it down.
(09:14):
I was going to beat him.
I was going to beat him but Icouldn't catch it.
Dog's still alive.
It's been three going on four.
Her, but I couldn't catch her.
Dogs still live, dogs still.
It's been three going on fouryears.
The dogs very much a part ofthe family now.
So we got started.
Everything grew in the gardenthat we planted.
(09:36):
My wife said the dogs justadded protein to the garden.
Maybe, but everything grew.
The vegetables grew I mean grew, the vegetables grew.
I mean the tomatoes grew, theonions grew, the corn grew I
knew nothing about it.
The melons grew, everythinggrew had tremendous flavor to it
(09:59):
.
The ginger grew because all ourproducts have ginger.
The base ingredient for all ourproducts have ginger in them.
The basic ingredient for allour products is ginger.
And I took the stuff out of thegarden, the vegetables out of
the garden, and the peppers grewwild.
They just grew crazy.
And I took that and I made asauce and put it on some salmon
(10:22):
and put it on some salmon.
It's during COVID, so we're athome trying to figure things out
.
Luckily we had jobs that werestill paying us.
So I made a sauce, put it onsome salmon, did a dish and gave
it and the wife tried it andshe said if you don't put this
(10:44):
on the market, I'm gonna leaveyou.
At least that's what I heard.
She swear.
She didn't say that, but Iheard.
Oh.
So I went across the hall andflipped the corn and then I
guess I had to start figuringout how to put it on the market
so from being at home duringcovid to starting a garden, to
(11:08):
getting a dog, to having a hotsauce company, that's james
lewis's last four years that I'mtelling you and it's, it's,
it's the and and and this is theother part.
you know, like we're doing thepodcast now and it's video.
I see you, you see me andpeople can see us.
(11:28):
When COVID hit, I knew nothingabout Zoom or Microsoft Teams or
anything like that, but whenCOVID hit, that's what we all
were doing.
We're doing Zoom, we're doingMicrosoft Teams.
So as I'm sitting there at thecomputer trying to figure out
Zoom and Microsoft Teams, I gotanother tab up saying how do you
(11:53):
start a hot sauce company orhow do you make a hot sauce?
And so we're doing that kind ofat the same time, trying to
figure things out.
And I'm lucky I wasn't onnational TV like so many others
on national news, because Ithought that camera was off.
I didn't care.
Mr Lewis, what are you paying?
(12:20):
Oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
You might have had to pick a different name for this
company, James.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Hey look, I thought the camera was off.
I'll tell you.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
So, holy Fire Foods, you've got a low-sodium hot
sauce.
Why don't you tell everybody?
Well, let me tell you this.
I'll just give you a littleplug here on the podcast here
HolyFireFoodscom, like Jamesspelled it, w-h-o-l-l-y,
firefoodscom what's your productline look like now?
I mean you started with the onehot sauce, right, I would
(12:58):
imagine, or did you justexperiment?
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I mean what do you got?
I really appreciate thatquestion because every sauce has
its own story.
I mean, really, when I say ithas its own story, it literally
was not me going into thekitchen saying I'm coming up
with this sauce.
There was actually a reasonbehind each one of them.
The first sauce that we started, which is the one that 100%
(13:27):
came out of the garden, it was asauce that we made because of
me having a high blood pressure.
I don't cook with a lot ofsodium, I don't do it.
I like a little bit of heat,but I don't like too much heat.
I made that one and the wifewas really happy with it.
(13:54):
But so that one is called theHoly Fire Genesis.
It's the Genesis.
And the second we have rightnow we have five sauces that
have been USDA FDA certified.
We've gone through the entireprocess with those, but we have
(14:16):
one that's not on the websiteand on the nationwide market.
Yet we sell it in-state,nationwide until we get the FDA
USDA approval for that one, butit's a tremendous source.
Now, when I say each one ofthem has its own story, of
course there's the Genesee.
(14:37):
That was the first one.
The second one was because Iwanted a little bit more heat
and I was working with a pepper.
I was working with the ghostpepper.
We actually grew a ghost pepperin a pot and that ghost pepper
was kind of hot, but I didsomething with it and I have to
(14:59):
say God blessed us with this.
Thinking to do something withit actually roasted it with
another pepper, a Spanish peppercalled a guajillo pepper, and
roasting the two together kindof takes the heat out of the
ghost pepper and adds a veryunique flavor, very unique
(15:22):
flavor.
And we were able to develop oursecond sauce, called the Holy
Ghost, with a little bit moreheat, but nothing that
overwhelms.
It is really it's one of ourtop sellers.
So we and then there's thethird sauce, the Holy Smoke.
Now, none of our sauces havemore than like Louisiana has 200
(15:44):
milligrams of sodium, I think,Crystal has like 180 or
something like that, and Frankhas a gram.
None of ours have more than 5milligrams of sodium.
Wow, None of us.
And there's the next one thatwe worked with the Reaper pepper
(16:08):
, Mm-hmm, which is a really hotpepper.
But what we've done is made it,made the sauce edible with the
Reaper pepper in there.
It is so good.
It's my personal favorite.
It's called the Holy Smoke andif they go to the website, like
you said holyfivefoodscom,W-H-O-L-L-Y-F-I-R-E-F-O-O-D-Scom
(16:31):
they'll be able to see thedifferent sauces.
And then we have.
After that one, we came up with.
A chef in New Orleans wantedsomething that would win a gumbo
contest and I was alreadyworking with another pepper and
I got into working with pepperscalled the scorpion pepper and
(16:57):
not many people are familiarwith the scorpion pepper but
it's called the Trinidadscorpion pepper and it has a
unique flavor and we were ableto develop a sauce and that chef
actually won the gumbo contestwith that sauce.
So we took that sauce andturned it into what's the
(17:18):
flambeau, the purple label.
It's called a flambeau, Allright, and it's probably it was
at the time the hottest out ofall our sauces, but nothing that
overwhelms you.
On a heat level from zero to 10, our hottest sauce is probably
a thick, maybe, but nothingthat's going to overwhelm you.
(17:42):
And our fifth sauce that's onthe website is actually a
barbecue sauce.
Okay, it's a version actually abarbecue sauce.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
It's a version of a barbecue sauce.
I have to say it again.
It's called Lee and Mary's HolyCue Sauce.
So it's a holy cue sauce and Isay our version because it's so
different.
It's so different that gingerand all those products does
something unique to each one ofthose flavors and that holy cue
sauce is very.
It's absolutely just a goodsauce and that Holy Cue Sauce is
absolutely just a good sauce,and Lee and Mary is actually my
(18:14):
aunt and uncle.
That sauce came about.
I had no intention of developinga barbecue sauce but one of my
cousins that I'm trying to getarrested because he's selling
moonshine changed me with a P.
He changed me with a P and heactually gave me his mother and
(18:39):
father's recipes.
I mean, you know how it is withfamily, all you, all family.
You know you brothers more thanyou are cousins.
So he actually gave me the baserecipe and I went in and made
some adjustments and addedginger and some other things so
that it has chef-like.
(19:00):
Most people who make sauces,they make them to use white
things.
They don't make them chef-like.
So we went in and added somethings and took out some stuff,
because I don't use processedwhite sugar okay, I use smoked
brown sugar, uh honey and maplesyrup, but I don't use processed
(19:21):
white sugar.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Too many calories in it and it's not good for you
james, I gotta tell you itsounds like your family is
getting you in a whole lot oftrouble, man.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I'm trying to get him arrested, though he's back
there selling moonshine.
I got to get him.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
So where are you guys selling at man on the website?
Do you do some wholesale kindof stuff?
Let's talk someentrepreneur-like business stuff
?
Are you in stores or anythingwe're in?
Speaker 1 (19:54):
some specialty stores .
Okay, in Hattiesburg, in NorthMississippi, in Alabama, we're
in some specialty stores.
We want to go and are goinginto more of the chain grocery
store as we develop.
I just got another unique storyto tell.
(20:17):
I went to Gonzales, louisiana.
I learned so much in Gonzales.
This was just last week.
We've been doing well withstuff.
We started out to show you wherewe started from.
We started out with 60 bottlesSeptember of 20.
Once we figured everything outand once we didn't go on
(20:41):
national news because I thoughtthat camera was off we actually
started knocking on doors in ourneighborhood in September of 20
.
We started knocking on doors inour neighborhood in September
of 2020.
We started knocking on doors inour neighborhood.
Our first order was from NewOrleans.
(21:02):
Three days after we had soldthose 60 bottles, we had been
out the neighborhood.
We were trying to figure outhow somebody in New Orleans
ordered it.
But when you start now, we wereunder the Mississippi Cottage
Food Law, which has the phonenumber on there and the address
on there, ingredients and thefact you're selling from the
(21:25):
Cottage Food Law, and theCottage Food Law doesn't let you
wholesale or or sell out ofstate.
So we didn't, we didn't do thatand we told the guy we can't do
it.
He said well, you just sellthem to my mother and father
down the street and we'll getthem from there.
That's how he found out.
Well, by that December, allword of mouth, no, no website,
(21:49):
no social media.
I don't even know how to dosocial media.
We lucky I'm on this podcast,you know so people telling
people and it grew very fast.
I mean very um to the point.
(22:10):
Well, that's how we got to thatpoint, to the point that we had
to start reaching out for help.
And I went to a usda program andat the usda program, it, which
was a really good, really goodprogram it's it's called Path to
(22:30):
Prosperity.
So two years ago I went to thatprogram and at that program it
was so many different companies,so many different people, but I
narrowed it down to threepeople I wanted to work with and
one of them was CommunitiesUnlimited.
There was a gentleman there bythe name of Marnell Love Yep, dr
(22:56):
Marnell, yeah.
And we talked and he said wecan help you because now I got
to get a business plan together.
So we talked after that program.
That program was 8 to 5.
We talked after that programand I sent him an email.
(23:19):
No, no, he emailed me after itand I emailed him back and we
started communicating and hesaid, well, I need to hook you
up with someone else.
And it was Beretta, beretta.
God, what's Beretta's last name?
Robinson, beretta Robinson,that's right, it was Beretta
(23:43):
Robinson.
And we started there gettingstuff together and looking at
the company, and so CommunitiesUnlimited kind of tightened up
my program.
What I was doing paperwork-wise, you know, the sales and stuff
was up to me and they looked atit.
(24:03):
And one of the things thatBeretta told me she said most
people that come to CommunitiesUnlimited, they don't come with
it all ready together as far asthe company goes, they come with
the idea.
And she was telling me well,you all passed the idea, you all
(24:24):
are actually functioning, so wejust need to tighten up on some
of the stuff that you're doingfunctioning-wise.
So what was CommunitiesUnlimited doing functioning wise
?
So what was communitiesunlimited able to help me do?
They were able to help meorganize the business a little
better, which was still workingon, because we grew out of the
business plan phase.
Until now we in this we kind ofgrew past the business plan
(24:46):
with the product.
And now we are into thestrategic growth plane mm-hmm
right, and which Beretta andcommunities unlimited red red
are looking at.
You know how we can type upareas as far as growth growth to
(25:09):
answer your question about thegrocery store.
So I had no idea of what I wasdoing here, you know, didn't
know whether I needed to go tothe corner store or a grocery
store, none of that.
But if you're going to grow theway that we're growing and hope
to grow in the future, you'vegot to get the strategic growth
(25:32):
plan together.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
So, to answer your question, we want to be in 100
stores by the end of this year.
That's awesome, and I have totell you, you know one of the
things I might be a little bitbiased because I work at
Communities Unlimited, james butone of the things that I always
will encourage entrepreneurssmall business owners from this
point forward is to seek outthat assistance, because it can
be hard to find, especiallysomeone who truly has your best
interests in mind, which I dothink we do, and I hope you
(26:02):
agree.
But it's kind of a uniquerelationship, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Yes, yeah, it's absolutely a unique relationship
.
The best gift that I havebecause I'm not that bright at
all the best gift I have is Idon't know.
And I utilize the I don't knowlike a champ, because not
knowing is going to make youreach out, especially if you're
(26:28):
not going to give up, if you'recommitted to it.
You've you're not going to giveup, if you're committed to it.
You've got to be committed tonot knowing, but you've got to
be committed to asking questions.
That's going to Don't know, butknow the questions to ask.
And then the questions that youask will guide you to the
people that you need to get to.
And sometimes, when you get tothose people, they will answer
(26:50):
questions that you didn't evenknow to ask.
And Communities Unlimited Rhettand Beretta and Marniel,
they've kind of been like that.
You know there are certainthings I don't even know to ask.
That's a question that shouldbe answered.
So the benefit of working withCommunities Unlimited has been
and is getting to the next step.
(27:13):
I never use the word levelbecause I really don't know what
the first level was.
It's always step, it's alwaysnext step.
So getting to the next stepwill get you, will help you get.
All of that Will help yourcompany or small business to
grow, and we're growing.
I can't turn back on that.
(27:34):
I can't say anything bad aboutthat.
We're growing.
But you do need the help forthe next steps.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
You know, sometimes you've got to lean on somebody
who may have been there beforeto give you the right path to go
down.
Right, Right, right.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Because there are simple things that you do Like.
For instance, I have QuickBooksand I have QuickBooks Online.
Quickbooks Online gives mybookkeepers the access to what
we're doing financially so thatwe can look at it and that's one
of the things that CommunitiesUnlimited is able to look at and
(28:12):
ask questions about as far asour profit and loss statements
go and other stuff because wecan all look at it at QuickBooks
Online.
And I say that because I gotQuickBooks Online accidentally.
That's a monthly fee.
Had I known there was anotherversion that you could have just
put on the computer and itwould have been a one-time fee,
(28:33):
I would have done that, but itwould not have been the best
thing because I didn'tunderstand QuickBooks.
The best thing to do was getQuickBooks online.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
That makes sense.
It makes sense.
It's all those little decisionsalong the way, isn't it man?
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Yeah, yeah, and getting the right people, and
getting the right people.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
I know that you know a little bit more than you might
be letting on as well, becauseI also know you got a pretty big
award recently.
You have been named theMississippi SBA Minority Small
Business of the Year, James.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Yeah, and I'm confused, as everyone else.
How did that happen?
You know I tried to kill my dog.
How did this happen?
You know that's a big deal.
Well, I really appreciate it,but it's so much more to go, so
much more to do that I justdon't feel worthy of it.
(29:35):
You know it's a big deal andyou know we're going to
celebrate it, but I just don'tfeel worthy to come.
You know I always go back tothat.
I try to kill my dog.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
You know, when you go up there to accept your award
you might want to mention that,but keep it a small mention.
But seriously though, as anentrepreneur man I mean that's
got to be some validation, right.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Well, it's validation to this that I have had good
support.
I have had good support.
I have had good support.
It's validation to that that mywife is in is more faithful
than I, you know.
It's validation to that you putsome working, even though I
(30:29):
think we've done nothing so far.
But we put some working and itis some validation.
But it's so much more to do.
I just can't stop, you know, onthat point there is so much
more to do.
I just I'm telling you theproduct has grown, it's grown,
(30:52):
it's continuing to grow, butit's so much more than that.
One of the things I want to addis it's not about the money,
it's about the process.
You know, I really appreciatethis process.
This has been a really everystep of this process has been
(31:16):
something to learn.
I was just saying I leftGonzales.
When I left Gonzales,everything I was thinking I got
to throw out my head and becausethey were professional over
there, you know.
So that was a learning processfor me Big time.
But anyway, go ahead, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
No, sir, I was just going to let everybody know that
we're talking to James Lewis.
James is the owner of Holy FireFoods, based out of Hattiesburg
, mississippi.
James, I want to ask you alittle bit more about your
interaction.
One of the reasons we do thepodcast is so that other
entrepreneurs, other smallbusiness owners.
One of the reasons we do thepodcast is so that other
entrepreneurs, other smallbusiness owners, other people in
communities know what it's liketo work with Communities
(31:58):
Unlimited.
So I wanted to ask you youtalked a little bit about your
interaction with theentrepreneurship team as well.
You've worked with our lendingteam as well.
Those things marry really welltogether.
Is there anything that you cantell us about working with both
those teams that, if you were totalk to another small business
owner, you would want to sharewith them?
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Well, number one I would tell them you know, be
patient.
Patience is the business.
When you're going into yourfinance, when you're looking at
your finance, be patient, allowothers to take a look and help.
If you're going into business,you're going to need some help
(32:43):
and you're going to have totrust people and what I have
found is that the CommunitiesUnlimited team all of them have
been trustworthy that can offertheir help.
The lending part is because thebusiness has grown.
We went from walking in theneighborhood to now we have our
(33:03):
own vehicle for the business.
It takes money and if yourcompany is producing, you can
pay it outright yourself, or youcan go to Communities Unlimited
and say, hey, I want to useyour money to do it, and
Communities Unlimited is goingto say that's fine, but let's
take a look at the business andsee where it's going, see where
it is and see where it's going,and that's what you want.
(33:26):
You know.
First thing you have to do issay I don't know.
And once you I don't know, youcan start getting help from
other people, and people thatcome in with some limited are a
big help in that process.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
What's next, james for Holy Fire Foods man.
What are you doing tomorrow?
What are you doing next week?
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Well, I just left.
It's interesting.
You ask that because I justleft before getting on with you.
I just left a workshop forgovernment contracts and that
was so interesting.
I mean it was extremelyinteresting.
And, again, good people in theroom.
It's six or seven businessowners that's in the room and a
(34:07):
different business owner andthen the people that run in it
were fantastic.
But the next step is, you know,to work with Communities
Unlimited and others to saylet's just build the brain.
(34:30):
I have no doubt that the saucesare good.
It took me some time to getthere and believe that, but
they're good, they're even great.
But the next steps are to buildthat brain and start working
with getting more people to trya sauce that we actually think
is good for them Not just goodto, but good for.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
I like it.
James, I can't tell you thankyou enough for taking the time
out of your day to speak to us alittle bit about your business.
A lot of times I have found,with a lot of entrepreneurs that
we've worked with, people arereally willing to talk about
their business when they firststarted and they're also willing
to talk about it when they hitcertain milestones.
The in-between is where it'shard to talk about it.
When they hit certainmilestones.
The in-between is where it'shard to talk about your business
(35:14):
with people.
Right, Because I really doappreciate that and I also
appreciate you saying thosethings that I feel about
Communities Unlimited as well,so others can know them.
Sir, Thank you Right.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
Well, I appreciate you and thank Communities
Unlimited.
Thank you for allowing us to beon the podcast.
Community Unlimited, thank youfor allowing us to be on the
podcast, and I'm at the pointnow where there's some others
who want some help and I'm ableto offer any kind of guidance.
I would be more than happy todo it.
This process has been great,it's been learning, fantastic,
(35:50):
and we'll just see where we gofrom here, From the garden to
greater things.
huh, All right that's right, Ididn't kill my dog.
He's still kicking, she's stillkicking.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
She's still kicking.
That's right.
Whollyfirefoodscom that'sW-H-O-L-L-Y.
Firefoodscom.
James, I just have one morequestion for you.
One of my dreams has alwaysbeen to get a product named
after me at some point in time.
What do I have to do?
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Chase me with a pig, I guess.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Hey, sir, I appreciate your time.
Man, have a great day, okay, Ireally appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
All right, thank you and thank you Mr, and thank you
Mr.
I had no idea of what I was doing here, you know,
didn't know whether I needed togo to the corner store or a
grocery store, none of that.
But if you're going to grow theway that we're growing and hope
to grow in the future, you'vegot to get the strategic growth
plan together.
We want to be in 100 stores bythe end of this year.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome back to another edition of Small Talk,
the Communities Unlimitedpodcast.
My name is Chris Baker andsometimes we get to talk to
communities here on the SmallTalk podcast, and sometimes we
get to talk to entrepreneurs,and today is one of those times.
I love to talk to entrepreneursbecause they always have
interesting stories.
Let me introduce you to JamesLewis.
James is the owner of Holy FireFoods.
(00:47):
Love the name, james, based outof Hattiesburg, mississippi.
How are you, man?
Hey, how are you doing, chris?
Thank you for having me on, ofcourse, so I have to ask you
about the name, first andforemost, holy Fire Foods.
It is a hot sauce company, sothe name is appropriate.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Tell me about it well , it's actually part of the
process, as I call it, of how webegan, when we got to the point
and we were going to start acompany and we still wasn't
fully invested in hot sauce.
But a friend of mine and I weretalking and he said that that
(01:24):
we should name it, that I shouldname it Hellfire something,
something he said, and I toldhim I can't do that because you
know my sin level already abovemy head.
I can't wake up every daylooking at hell as a company.
(01:45):
I'm just not with that.
But I'd come out better if Icould get some Holy Fire.
There you go.
Therein came the name Holy Fire.
Now this spells it a littledifferently though.
It's a combination of things.
That's what I was going to say.
It's a combination of things.
It's the wholesome ingredientsthat we use, because we use all
(02:08):
natural ingredients in most ofour products.
We use all natural ingredientsand they came out of our garden.
So most of the ingredientsinitially came out of our garden
and they were wholesomeingredients.
So it was a combination ofwholesome.
That's why we spell itW-H-O-L-L-Y and that
spirituality in there as well,to keep me from going to hell
(02:32):
because I already know what mysins are real.
So, yes, that was a combination, but mostly it's that wholesome
ingredient.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Now, have you been a hot sauce fan your whole life
there, James?
Is that why you got into thehot sauce fan your whole life
there, James.
Is that why you got into thehot sauce?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
business, or how did that happen for you?
I personally don't like hotsauce.
Is that right?
I don't like hot sauce.
I'm not that, I don't likeoverwhelming heat and I didn't
like that.
I'm not a fan of really any ofthe hot sauces.
Before starting a hot saucecompany.
But I am a food person.
(03:11):
I love to eat, I love goodsauces, you know, and I cook a
little bit.
So most times when I cook Icook and make my own stuff and
make my own stuff.
So rather than use a Louisianaor a Franks or something, I
would make my own sauces andthat's where it came from,
because theirs carried too muchsalt and I saw from high blood
(03:34):
pressure.
So I can't have all that sodium.
You know I tell the joke whenmy wife's not around that the
doctor took me off salt, sugarand wild women all at the same
time.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
So salt I am a hot sauce guy, james I'll tell you
that salt's a pretty keyingredient, or at least a pretty
prominent ingredient in a lotof hot sauces.
I mean, it's like second on thelist and stuff.
What kind of magic are youdoing to make that thing taste
good man?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Well, the thing about it is, we've been trained that
the first ingredient we look forfor whenever we eat is where
it's the sauce.
That's the first ingredient.
And hot sauces all of them takeadvantage of the fact that we
need that.
We want to taste sauce first,so they pack their sauces with
(04:27):
all of them.
The fact that we want to tastesalt first, so they pack their
sauces with all of them.
All of them, most of them, usethe same four ingredients, and
two of them bad for them, soyou're not getting true heat.
What you're getting is a lot ofsodium.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Okay, and you guys are doing a little different,
huh.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Yeah, true heat should make you want to stop
eating.
You've ever eaten something sohot that you say I don't want
nothing else to eat, even thoughyou haven't eaten much of it?
But true heat should build overtime and act as a diuretic for
the heat and ask you to stopeating.
Well, what they've done isadded salt, and what salt is?
(05:06):
Like a cow or a deer.
It makes you want more salt.
But what we should search foris flavor, and we've managed to
incorporate flavor into oursauces.
So the first thing you taste isnot salt but flavor.
And everyone says the samething man, it's good flavor, but
(05:27):
we take away.
Now flavor should be added toyour food.
Everything you eat already mostof you eat already has salt on
it.
So what you want to do is addunique flavors to what you do,
and we try to do that with allour products.
Flavor over sodium and not heatthat just overwhelms the heat.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
I got you.
You said something I have toask you about because I like to
garden as well, james.
You started this hot saucecompany in your own garden, with
your own peppers and everything, man.
I mean that's a trueentrepreneurial journey there,
man.
Well, you're absolutely correct, but it's a story, even journey
there, man.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Well, you're absolutely correct, but it's a
story.
Even getting to the garden thatgets me in trouble, because
getting to the growth of thevegetables, that we do, because
you know it started with COVID.
When COVID hit, I worked for acollege and I was traveling all
(06:26):
over the country, but when COVIDhit I was at home and my wife
she's a nurse she was at hometoo.
So she had just had surgerywhich put us in the house
together, right, which means shegets to tell me what to do
constantly At home, which meansshe gets to tell me what to do
constantly and on, and I was.
(06:47):
You know, she had just hadsurgery, she started whenever
she wanted.
She had just had surgery.
Whenever she wanted something.
We had these little bells.
She'd ring the bell and I'dhave to bring her whatever she
wanted back there.
And I looked out the back.
I looked out the back and Isaid you know what I've been
intending to put a garden backthere.
I looked out the back.
I looked out the back and Isaid you know what I've been
intending to put a garden backthere.
I didn't know nothing about agarden, not a thing.
(07:10):
So I went back there and saidmy wife, you know, when she
wanted something, she ring thatbell and after a while I started
saying I wonder if antifreezewould really work no, you didn't
.
I told that joke in Florida, inPanama City, florida, to a group
(07:31):
of people I was talking to andthe man beside me who was on the
podium with me.
He started saying you got toknow their height, weight and
you can't administer it all atone time.
And I had to shout it.
I shouted at him sir, sir, Ijust jumped.
You know I'm not trying to killmy wife, I just jumped.
(07:53):
He was serious but anyway.
So after I started the garden, acouple of weeks before I
started the garden, this littledog showed up.
Little garden, this little dogshowed up.
Little injured little mutt dogshowed up and I slid some water
(08:13):
and food out to the dog.
It was a little old puppy.
I was going to take it to thepound.
My wife before she had hersurgery.
All this happened at the sametime.
I was at the same time, aboutthe same time.
She come in the house, her andthe dog hooked up and I'm like
now I'm taking that dog to thepound.
(08:34):
It just ended up out there.
She said I thought you got me adog.
We're not getting rid of thisdog, didn't get rid of the dog.
So when I started the garden thelittle dog was out underneath
the tree sitting at the tree andI'm doing the garden and and my
(08:54):
neighbor who's a mastergardener, straightened me out,
got me all fixed up.
I was planting seeds, had myhat on and I was planting seeds,
but anyway I started the gardenand when I looked around the
dog had dug up the entire garden.
I tried to catch it and kill itbut my hip bad.
I couldn't run it down.
(09:14):
I was going to beat him.
I was going to beat him but Icouldn't catch it.
Dog's still alive.
It's been three going on four.
Her, but I couldn't catch her.
Dogs still live, dogs still.
It's been three going on fouryears.
The dogs very much a part ofthe family now.
So we got started.
Everything grew in the gardenthat we planted.
(09:36):
My wife said the dogs justadded protein to the garden.
Maybe, but everything grew.
The vegetables grew I mean grew, the vegetables grew.
I mean the tomatoes grew, theonions grew, the corn grew I
knew nothing about it.
The melons grew, everythinggrew had tremendous flavor to it
(09:59):
.
The ginger grew because all ourproducts have ginger.
The base ingredient for all ourproducts have ginger in them.
The basic ingredient for allour products is ginger.
And I took the stuff out of thegarden, the vegetables out of
the garden, and the peppers grewwild.
They just grew crazy.
And I took that and I made asauce and put it on some salmon
(10:22):
and put it on some salmon.
It's during COVID, so we're athome trying to figure things out
.
Luckily we had jobs that werestill paying us.
So I made a sauce, put it onsome salmon, did a dish and gave
it and the wife tried it andshe said if you don't put this
(10:44):
on the market, I'm gonna leaveyou.
At least that's what I heard.
She swear.
She didn't say that, but Iheard.
Oh.
So I went across the hall andflipped the corn and then I
guess I had to start figuringout how to put it on the market
so from being at home duringcovid to starting a garden, to
(11:08):
getting a dog, to having a hotsauce company, that's james
lewis's last four years that I'mtelling you and it's, it's,
it's the and and and this is theother part.
you know, like we're doing thepodcast now and it's video.
I see you, you see me andpeople can see us.
(11:28):
When COVID hit, I knew nothingabout Zoom or Microsoft Teams or
anything like that, but whenCOVID hit, that's what we all
were doing.
We're doing Zoom, we're doingMicrosoft Teams.
So as I'm sitting there at thecomputer trying to figure out
Zoom and Microsoft Teams, I gotanother tab up saying how do you
(11:53):
start a hot sauce company orhow do you make a hot sauce?
And so we're doing that kind ofat the same time, trying to
figure things out.
And I'm lucky I wasn't onnational TV like so many others
on national news, because Ithought that camera was off.
I didn't care.
Mr Lewis, what are you paying?
(12:20):
Oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
You might have had to pick a different name for this
company, James.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Hey look, I thought the camera was off.
I'll tell you.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
So, holy Fire Foods, you've got a low-sodium hot
sauce.
Why don't you tell everybody?
Well, let me tell you this.
I'll just give you a littleplug here on the podcast here
HolyFireFoodscom, like Jamesspelled it, w-h-o-l-l-y,
firefoodscom what's your productline look like now?
I mean you started with the onehot sauce, right, I would
(12:58):
imagine, or did you justexperiment?
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I mean what do you got?
I really appreciate thatquestion because every sauce has
its own story.
I mean, really, when I say ithas its own story, it literally
was not me going into thekitchen saying I'm coming up
with this sauce.
There was actually a reasonbehind each one of them.
The first sauce that we started, which is the one that 100%
(13:27):
came out of the garden, it was asauce that we made because of
me having a high blood pressure.
I don't cook with a lot ofsodium, I don't do it.
I like a little bit of heat,but I don't like too much heat.
I made that one and the wifewas really happy with it.
(13:54):
But so that one is called theHoly Fire Genesis.
It's the Genesis.
And the second we have rightnow we have five sauces that
have been USDA FDA certified.
We've gone through the entireprocess with those, but we have
(14:16):
one that's not on the websiteand on the nationwide market.
Yet we sell it in-state,nationwide until we get the FDA
USDA approval for that one, butit's a tremendous source.
Now, when I say each one ofthem has its own story, of
course there's the Genesee.
(14:37):
That was the first one.
The second one was because Iwanted a little bit more heat
and I was working with a pepper.
I was working with the ghostpepper.
We actually grew a ghost pepperin a pot and that ghost pepper
was kind of hot, but I didsomething with it and I have to
(14:59):
say God blessed us with this.
Thinking to do something withit actually roasted it with
another pepper, a Spanish peppercalled a guajillo pepper, and
roasting the two together kindof takes the heat out of the
ghost pepper and adds a veryunique flavor, very unique
(15:22):
flavor.
And we were able to develop oursecond sauce, called the Holy
Ghost, with a little bit moreheat, but nothing that
overwhelms.
It is really it's one of ourtop sellers.
So we and then there's thethird sauce, the Holy Smoke.
Now, none of our sauces havemore than like Louisiana has 200
(15:44):
milligrams of sodium, I think,Crystal has like 180 or
something like that, and Frankhas a gram.
None of ours have more than 5milligrams of sodium.
Wow, None of us.
And there's the next one thatwe worked with the Reaper pepper
(16:08):
, Mm-hmm, which is a really hotpepper.
But what we've done is made it,made the sauce edible with the
Reaper pepper in there.
It is so good.
It's my personal favorite.
It's called the Holy Smoke andif they go to the website, like
you said holyfivefoodscom,W-H-O-L-L-Y-F-I-R-E-F-O-O-D-Scom
(16:31):
they'll be able to see thedifferent sauces.
And then we have.
After that one, we came up with.
A chef in New Orleans wantedsomething that would win a gumbo
contest and I was alreadyworking with another pepper and
I got into working with pepperscalled the scorpion pepper and
(16:57):
not many people are familiarwith the scorpion pepper but
it's called the Trinidadscorpion pepper and it has a
unique flavor and we were ableto develop a sauce and that chef
actually won the gumbo contestwith that sauce.
So we took that sauce andturned it into what's the
(17:18):
flambeau, the purple label.
It's called a flambeau, Allright, and it's probably it was
at the time the hottest out ofall our sauces, but nothing that
overwhelms you.
On a heat level from zero to 10, our hottest sauce is probably
a thick, maybe, but nothingthat's going to overwhelm you.
(17:42):
And our fifth sauce that's onthe website is actually a
barbecue sauce.
Okay, it's a version actually abarbecue sauce.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
It's a version of a barbecue sauce.
I have to say it again.
It's called Lee and Mary's HolyCue Sauce.
So it's a holy cue sauce and Isay our version because it's so
different.
It's so different that gingerand all those products does
something unique to each one ofthose flavors and that holy cue
sauce is very.
It's absolutely just a goodsauce and that Holy Cue Sauce is
absolutely just a good sauce,and Lee and Mary is actually my
(18:14):
aunt and uncle.
That sauce came about.
I had no intention of developinga barbecue sauce but one of my
cousins that I'm trying to getarrested because he's selling
moonshine changed me with a P.
He changed me with a P and heactually gave me his mother and
(18:39):
father's recipes.
I mean, you know how it is withfamily, all you, all family.
You know you brothers more thanyou are cousins.
So he actually gave me the baserecipe and I went in and made
some adjustments and addedginger and some other things so
that it has chef-like.
(19:00):
Most people who make sauces,they make them to use white
things.
They don't make them chef-like.
So we went in and added somethings and took out some stuff,
because I don't use processedwhite sugar okay, I use smoked
brown sugar, uh honey and maplesyrup, but I don't use processed
(19:21):
white sugar.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Too many calories in it and it's not good for you
james, I gotta tell you itsounds like your family is
getting you in a whole lot oftrouble, man.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I'm trying to get him arrested, though he's back
there selling moonshine.
I got to get him.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
So where are you guys selling at man on the website?
Do you do some wholesale kindof stuff?
Let's talk someentrepreneur-like business stuff
?
Are you in stores or anythingwe're in?
Speaker 1 (19:54):
some specialty stores .
Okay, in Hattiesburg, in NorthMississippi, in Alabama, we're
in some specialty stores.
We want to go and are goinginto more of the chain grocery
store as we develop.
I just got another unique storyto tell.
(20:17):
I went to Gonzales, louisiana.
I learned so much in Gonzales.
This was just last week.
We've been doing well withstuff.
We started out to show you wherewe started from.
We started out with 60 bottlesSeptember of 20.
Once we figured everything outand once we didn't go on
(20:41):
national news because I thoughtthat camera was off we actually
started knocking on doors in ourneighborhood in September of 20
.
We started knocking on doors inour neighborhood in September
of 2020.
We started knocking on doors inour neighborhood.
Our first order was from NewOrleans.
(21:02):
Three days after we had soldthose 60 bottles, we had been
out the neighborhood.
We were trying to figure outhow somebody in New Orleans
ordered it.
But when you start now, we wereunder the Mississippi Cottage
Food Law, which has the phonenumber on there and the address
on there, ingredients and thefact you're selling from the
(21:25):
Cottage Food Law, and theCottage Food Law doesn't let you
wholesale or or sell out ofstate.
So we didn't, we didn't do thatand we told the guy we can't do
it.
He said well, you just sellthem to my mother and father
down the street and we'll getthem from there.
That's how he found out.
Well, by that December, allword of mouth, no, no website,
(21:49):
no social media.
I don't even know how to dosocial media.
We lucky I'm on this podcast,you know so people telling
people and it grew very fast.
I mean very um to the point.
(22:10):
Well, that's how we got to thatpoint, to the point that we had
to start reaching out for help.
And I went to a usda program andat the usda program, it, which
was a really good, really goodprogram it's it's called Path to
(22:30):
Prosperity.
So two years ago I went to thatprogram and at that program it
was so many different companies,so many different people, but I
narrowed it down to threepeople I wanted to work with and
one of them was CommunitiesUnlimited.
There was a gentleman there bythe name of Marnell Love Yep, dr
(22:56):
Marnell, yeah.
And we talked and he said wecan help you because now I got
to get a business plan together.
So we talked after that program.
That program was 8 to 5.
We talked after that programand I sent him an email.
(23:19):
No, no, he emailed me after itand I emailed him back and we
started communicating and hesaid, well, I need to hook you
up with someone else.
And it was Beretta, beretta.
God, what's Beretta's last name?
Robinson, beretta Robinson,that's right, it was Beretta
(23:43):
Robinson.
And we started there gettingstuff together and looking at
the company, and so CommunitiesUnlimited kind of tightened up
my program.
What I was doing paperwork-wise, you know, the sales and stuff
was up to me and they looked atit.
(24:03):
And one of the things thatBeretta told me she said most
people that come to CommunitiesUnlimited, they don't come with
it all ready together as far asthe company goes, they come with
the idea.
And she was telling me well,you all passed the idea, you all
(24:24):
are actually functioning, so wejust need to tighten up on some
of the stuff that you're doingfunctioning-wise.
So what was CommunitiesUnlimited doing functioning wise
?
So what was communitiesunlimited able to help me do?
They were able to help meorganize the business a little
better, which was still workingon, because we grew out of the
business plan phase.
Until now we in this we kind ofgrew past the business plan
(24:46):
with the product.
And now we are into thestrategic growth plane mm-hmm
right, and which Beretta andcommunities unlimited red red
are looking at.
You know how we can type upareas as far as growth growth to
(25:09):
answer your question about thegrocery store.
So I had no idea of what I wasdoing here, you know, didn't
know whether I needed to go tothe corner store or a grocery
store, none of that.
But if you're going to grow theway that we're growing and hope
to grow in the future, you'vegot to get the strategic growth
(25:32):
plan together.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
So, to answer your question, we want to be in 100
stores by the end of this year.
That's awesome, and I have totell you, you know one of the
things I might be a little bitbiased because I work at
Communities Unlimited, james butone of the things that I always
will encourage entrepreneurssmall business owners from this
point forward is to seek outthat assistance, because it can
be hard to find, especiallysomeone who truly has your best
interests in mind, which I dothink we do, and I hope you
(26:02):
agree.
But it's kind of a uniquerelationship, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Yes, yeah, it's absolutely a unique relationship
.
The best gift that I havebecause I'm not that bright at
all the best gift I have is Idon't know.
And I utilize the I don't knowlike a champ, because not
knowing is going to make youreach out, especially if you're
(26:28):
not going to give up, if you'recommitted to it.
You've you're not going to giveup, if you're committed to it.
You've got to be committed tonot knowing, but you've got to
be committed to asking questions.
That's going to Don't know, butknow the questions to ask.
And then the questions that youask will guide you to the
people that you need to get to.
And sometimes, when you get tothose people, they will answer
(26:50):
questions that you didn't evenknow to ask.
And Communities Unlimited Rhettand Beretta and Marniel,
they've kind of been like that.
You know there are certainthings I don't even know to ask.
That's a question that shouldbe answered.
So the benefit of working withCommunities Unlimited has been
and is getting to the next step.
(27:13):
I never use the word levelbecause I really don't know what
the first level was.
It's always step, it's alwaysnext step.
So getting to the next stepwill get you, will help you get.
All of that Will help yourcompany or small business to
grow, and we're growing.
I can't turn back on that.
(27:34):
I can't say anything bad aboutthat.
We're growing.
But you do need the help forthe next steps.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
You know, sometimes you've got to lean on somebody
who may have been there beforeto give you the right path to go
down.
Right, Right, right.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Because there are simple things that you do Like.
For instance, I have QuickBooksand I have QuickBooks Online.
Quickbooks Online gives mybookkeepers the access to what
we're doing financially so thatwe can look at it and that's one
of the things that CommunitiesUnlimited is able to look at and
(28:12):
ask questions about as far asour profit and loss statements
go and other stuff because wecan all look at it at QuickBooks
Online.
And I say that because I gotQuickBooks Online accidentally.
That's a monthly fee.
Had I known there was anotherversion that you could have just
put on the computer and itwould have been a one-time fee,
(28:33):
I would have done that, but itwould not have been the best
thing because I didn'tunderstand QuickBooks.
The best thing to do was getQuickBooks online.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
That makes sense.
It makes sense.
It's all those little decisionsalong the way, isn't it man?
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Yeah, yeah, and getting the right people, and
getting the right people.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
I know that you know a little bit more than you might
be letting on as well, becauseI also know you got a pretty big
award recently.
You have been named theMississippi SBA Minority Small
Business of the Year, James.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Yeah, and I'm confused, as everyone else.
How did that happen?
You know I tried to kill my dog.
How did this happen?
You know that's a big deal.
Well, I really appreciate it,but it's so much more to go, so
much more to do that I justdon't feel worthy of it.
(29:35):
You know it's a big deal andyou know we're going to
celebrate it, but I just don'tfeel worthy to come.
You know I always go back tothat.
I try to kill my dog.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
You know, when you go up there to accept your award
you might want to mention that,but keep it a small mention.
But seriously though, as anentrepreneur man I mean that's
got to be some validation, right.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Well, it's validation to this that I have had good
support.
I have had good support.
I have had good support.
It's validation to that that mywife is in is more faithful
than I, you know.
It's validation to that you putsome working, even though I
(30:29):
think we've done nothing so far.
But we put some working and itis some validation.
But it's so much more to do.
I just can't stop, you know, onthat point there is so much
more to do.
I just I'm telling you theproduct has grown, it's grown,
(30:52):
it's continuing to grow, butit's so much more than that.
One of the things I want to addis it's not about the money,
it's about the process.
You know, I really appreciatethis process.
This has been a really everystep of this process has been
(31:16):
something to learn.
I was just saying I leftGonzales.
When I left Gonzales,everything I was thinking I got
to throw out my head and becausethey were professional over
there, you know.
So that was a learning processfor me Big time.
But anyway, go ahead, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
No, sir, I was just going to let everybody know that
we're talking to James Lewis.
James is the owner of Holy FireFoods, based out of Hattiesburg
, mississippi.
James, I want to ask you alittle bit more about your
interaction.
One of the reasons we do thepodcast is so that other
entrepreneurs, other smallbusiness owners.
One of the reasons we do thepodcast is so that other
entrepreneurs, other smallbusiness owners, other people in
communities know what it's liketo work with Communities
(31:58):
Unlimited.
So I wanted to ask you youtalked a little bit about your
interaction with theentrepreneurship team as well.
You've worked with our lendingteam as well.
Those things marry really welltogether.
Is there anything that you cantell us about working with both
those teams that, if you were totalk to another small business
owner, you would want to sharewith them?
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Well, number one I would tell them you know, be
patient.
Patience is the business.
When you're going into yourfinance, when you're looking at
your finance, be patient, allowothers to take a look and help.
If you're going into business,you're going to need some help
(32:43):
and you're going to have totrust people and what I have
found is that the CommunitiesUnlimited team all of them have
been trustworthy that can offertheir help.
The lending part is because thebusiness has grown.
We went from walking in theneighborhood to now we have our
(33:03):
own vehicle for the business.
It takes money and if yourcompany is producing, you can
pay it outright yourself, or youcan go to Communities Unlimited
and say, hey, I want to useyour money to do it, and
Communities Unlimited is goingto say that's fine, but let's
take a look at the business andsee where it's going, see where
it is and see where it's going,and that's what you want.
(33:26):
You know.
First thing you have to do issay I don't know.
And once you I don't know, youcan start getting help from
other people, and people thatcome in with some limited are a
big help in that process.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
What's next, james for Holy Fire Foods man.
What are you doing tomorrow?
What are you doing next week?
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Well, I just left.
It's interesting.
You ask that because I justleft before getting on with you.
I just left a workshop forgovernment contracts and that
was so interesting.
I mean it was extremelyinteresting.
And, again, good people in theroom.
It's six or seven businessowners that's in the room and a
(34:07):
different business owner andthen the people that run in it
were fantastic.
But the next step is, you know,to work with Communities
Unlimited and others to saylet's just build the brain.
(34:30):
I have no doubt that the saucesare good.
It took me some time to getthere and believe that, but
they're good, they're even great.
But the next steps are to buildthat brain and start working
with getting more people to trya sauce that we actually think
is good for them Not just goodto, but good for.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
I like it.
James, I can't tell you thankyou enough for taking the time
out of your day to speak to us alittle bit about your business.
A lot of times I have found,with a lot of entrepreneurs that
we've worked with, people arereally willing to talk about
their business when they firststarted and they're also willing
to talk about it when they hitcertain milestones.
The in-between is where it'shard to talk about it.
When they hit certainmilestones.
The in-between is where it'shard to talk about your business
(35:14):
with people.
Right, Because I really doappreciate that and I also
appreciate you saying thosethings that I feel about
Communities Unlimited as well,so others can know them.
Sir, Thank you Right.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
Well, I appreciate you and thank Communities
Unlimited.
Thank you for allowing us to beon the podcast.
Community Unlimited, thank youfor allowing us to be on the
podcast, and I'm at the pointnow where there's some others
who want some help and I'm ableto offer any kind of guidance.
I would be more than happy todo it.
This process has been great,it's been learning, fantastic,
(35:50):
and we'll just see where we gofrom here, From the garden to
greater things.
huh, All right that's right, Ididn't kill my dog.
He's still kicking, she's stillkicking.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
She's still kicking.
That's right.
Whollyfirefoodscom that'sW-H-O-L-L-Y.
Firefoodscom.
James, I just have one morequestion for you.
One of my dreams has alwaysbeen to get a product named
after me at some point in time.
What do I have to do?
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Chase me with a pig, I guess.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Hey, sir, I appreciate your time.
Man, have a great day, okay, Ireally appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
All right, thank you and thank you Mr, and thank you
Mr.
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