September 8, 2025 • 33 mins
Veterans and transitioning servicemembers often face challenges when seeking civilian careers. Air Force veteran Charlynda Scales found her business niche while honoring the legacy of her grandfather, a Korean War veteran. With no formal training in the food industry, she relied on her military experience to adapt, execute, and lead, bringing her vision to life. Her business, Mutt’s Sauce, is rooted in service, resilience and a sense of purpose. Learn more about how she developed her mission, her path to success and more in the first episode of Veteran Entrepreneurs, a special four-part podcast series from The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast.
Special Guest: Charlynda Scales.
Links:
- Watch video of this episode on YouTube
- Mutt's Sauce LLC®
- Free Small Business Mentorship and Resources | SCORE
- Union Kitchen – Food Business Accelerator & Shared Kitchen in DC
- 6888 Kitchen Incubator | Dayton Ohio
- Rock Bottom Has a Trampoline: How to Turn Every Loss into a Win with the Like-Hearted Mentor (TM): Scales, Charlynda: 9781956906691: Amazon.com: Books
- Amazon.com : Powershift
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Spotlight Veterans Entrepreneurship, a special
series from the American LegionsTal podcast.
I'm your host, Ashley Gorbulcha.In each episode, we sit down
with a veteran or military spouse entrepreneur who is
leading the charge across different industries.
We will explore the challenges, breakthroughs, and real stories
(00:21):
behind building a business during and after military
service. The food and beverage industry
is as much about tradition as itis storytelling.
It's about flavor and business. In this episode, we explore how
veterans bring their heritage tolife through culinary ventures.
Shirley Descales, Air Force veteran and founder of Mudsauce
(00:43):
in the 6888 Kitchen, shares her journey of carrying on family
legacy, launching products into products into major retail
stores and creating pathways forother food based entrepreneurs.
Sharlinda, welcome to the Tal Podcast.
Thank you for having me, Ashley.I'm glad to be here.
I'm. Super excited to have you on
because being able to watch the journey, right?
(01:05):
It's doesn't happen overnight. There's a lot of hard work and
hustle. There's things that happen we in
the wee hours, there's pivots and I know that you have
experienced that and I'm super excited to kind of jump into
questions here with you about inheritance and intention.
(01:27):
So. So taking your grandfather's mud
sauce recipe and turning it intoa business, how did you know
that this was more than just a family story, but a brand worth
building? You know, it was very humbling
beginnings, right? So my my grandfather was a very
influential person in my life. He was my father figure growing
(01:48):
up. And it really started with just
a reverence for him and his passion for taking care of the
family for service. That kind of echoed into what we
did as a family. I eventually went into the
military as well, into the Air Force, just like him.
(02:10):
And when he made Mutt Sauce in 1956, it wasn't meant to be a
company. It was a conduit.
It was something that we could use to bring people together.
You can see that in pictures when he was in Japan.
It was to bring people together who normally society would say
don't have anything in common and shouldn't get along.
(02:33):
And when I received the recipe, I was on active duty.
So it's eight years after my grandfather had passed.
And at that point it wasn't so much I wanted to carry on a
brand. When I got the piece of paper,
it was just a written recipe andhis handwriting on a sheet of
paper. It wasn't like I inherited a
(02:54):
company because I think sometimes we were like, wow,
you, you got this whole company.What you want to do with it?
It was a piece of paper. And at that moment, without
saying anything, he told me a lot.
He provided the direction of do something and if I was going to
do something, it was going to take care of the family and
(03:18):
bring people together. That is incredibly wholesome.
That's I feel like you just you gave me the secret sauce of life
right now because it's so valuable to know that sometimes
it like doesn't come with instructions.
(03:39):
But even though you had those specific ingredients, like
everything else was self-explanatory deep in your
heart because of the relationship you had with your
grandfather. And it's very important that I
think any entrepreneur out thereunderstand the why behind what
they're going to do. There's a lot of there's a lot
(04:00):
of noise sometimes about like you gotta get in the game.
You gotta yeah, here's your blueprint.
You gotta do this or got to makeX number of dollars and
sometimes we we forget about theY or the the values proposition
behind the thing we're. Doing yeah 'cause people are not
(04:21):
buying a product, right? They're they're buying into an
idea. Somehow your product or service
is going to improve their life, make things easier for them,
improve their morale. It's, it's very rarely do we see
people investing in a business or supporting it just because
the product tastes great, you know, So you're exactly right.
(04:45):
You need to know why you're doing it because the challenges
that you'll face as an entrepreneur, you better have a
a strong reason why because you're not always going to have
cash, that's for sure. Absolutely.
And I again, me feeling like I have like future powers or just
like all this all knowledge right now, but knowing a bit of
(05:06):
your story and I want to dive a bit deeper into some of the
curveballs, some of the ConsumerPackaged Goods.
I guess lingo terminology. It's a tough industry to break
into and especially trying to tosell mud sauce.
What early hurdles did you face in getting Mutt Sauce shelf
(05:29):
ready and distribution ready? I was very fortunate to have
great mentors. I just feel like I'm a product
of really smart people who came into my life or I sought them
out. I had a strong why, but I did
not have the what? What do you do?
(05:50):
I walked in. It was SCORE.
So score.org, I went on there. I googled free help.
That's who showed up. And I think SCORE is amazing.
I think what they provide is notonly people who have experience
in the industry that they want to be a volunteer in, but just
the fact that they want to be a volunteer to help mentor someone
(06:12):
else and make the path easier for them or provide advice and
lessons learned. And so that's what my score
mentor John Souter was for me. I said I want to make a product.
I want to maybe turn this into acouple bottles for friends and
family because everyone missed my grandfather and that was
something that was synonymous with his personality.
(06:34):
And mentors go one step above advisors.
Advisors will give you the checklist of what to do, but a
mentor is listening to your lifeand how this will affect your
life. And he said what I hear is your
grandfather loved his family andhe just ran out of time.
So this is not a small thing. This is not a couple bottles for
(06:59):
friends and family situation. This is multi generational
support and you can't play, you can't look at it as a small
thing if we're going to make big, big impacts.
Now that's where the advice camein where he understood my life.
(07:20):
But he said, here's the checklist for a tomato based
food product that people are going to buy in a grocery store.
So then my the advice that I wasgiven was think of the think of
the biggest thing that you couldpossibly do with this and you
plan as if that was the goal. Because even if you don't get
(07:43):
there, you're prepared for everything else before that.
Yeah. So if you prepare for a farmers
market, you'll be ready for a farmers market, but you won't be
ready for Kroger or HEB. But if you prepare for Kroger
and HEB, of course, you'll be ready for a farmers market.
Yeah. So that's what he did.
I was thinking about being in tons of stores on day one and
(08:08):
all the things I put in place, the manufacturing, the sauce.
So he said you can't get into Kroger.
If you can it like cottage food in your house.
You have to either get a manufacturer or you have to join
a commercial kitchen. So we had a sauce manufacturer,
the money that I paid, I was going to buy BMW with it.
(08:30):
Ashley, not going to lie, I didn't have any financial
literacy. So I thought, you know, making
it in life was having a nice car.
So my military savings was to buy a BMWI.
Took that and the advice from from John and we invested it
into my first production with a reputable sauce manufacturer to
(08:52):
make sure that it came out right.
And I don't regret it at all. And that provides not only
consistency of logistics and distribution, but like quality
control, making sure that if I sell 1000 bottles, everyone
tastes the same, they all look the same and I don't have to
worry about that. And it's a great, it's a better
(09:14):
customer service experience whenyou can provide consistency.
That's what we did $25,000 day one.
That's. Been wow, that's that's a heck
of a pivot too. I Wow.
OK I. Really want to let me.
Unpack. That back to Jane.
(09:36):
Hold on. So impressive you you found a a
mentor through score who was like, you need to think long
term, right? So I want to be on the store
shelves. Here's where I need to be helped
you create like a, a back asmathor a back plan, right?
(09:59):
So it's like, here's how I need to here's who I need to reach
out to, right, the manufacturers, you're right,
quality control, you have to be at a commercial kitchen.
I know that there are folks thatare going to be listening who
are like, Oh, well, I make, you know, cupcakes or I do this, or
I use, you know, my home or, youknow, and so you got to think
(10:21):
big and you got to you got to plan for everything.
And I, I think your, your mentorreally did you a solid.
And I know you've had other mentors along the way too, which
is incredibly impressive, who have helped you through these
different stages, right? Because I'm sure starting the
business and I know that your business was within during COVID
(10:45):
as well. And I'm kind of curious, just
kind of dig a secondary questioninto the learning curve,
particularly when the world was in an odd place and you were
still trying to launch and get the product out.
I, I know it's a family affair, but I'm not sure all of the
details. I'm sure the listeners would
love to learn a little bit more about that.
Yeah. So we've been open since 2014
(11:07):
and our business model when we started, it's not where we're at
now. So the original business model
was in person events, regional grocery stores and then
festivals, so farmers markets, festivals and and that worked
because people want to try the product, they want to taste it.
(11:27):
And it gave me an opportunity tocut my teeth and pitching things
like that in the first six months we've been on Shark Tank.
So that was an experience that Ihad in that first six months.
And when I approached them, it was to be in grocery stores.
So all that was working up untilthe pandemic when you have all
(11:48):
these rules about interaction. So in that first month when they
announced the pandemic, all events that were in person that
you had paid for, maybe you paidregistration fees, and I've paid
for a lot of them because it's for the whole year.
All of them were cancelled with no refund, with no refunds of
your registration. So all that money's gone.
(12:10):
All the potential sales are gone.
So you're just sitting there with tons of thousands of
dollars of inventory. You can't do demos in grocery
stores. So to capture new customers in
grocery stores, you can't let them taste the product.
So acquiring a new customer was tougher.
But there was one way that we were hearing a success.
(12:32):
But I was like, frankly ignorantof the fact that you could do it
was selling online. And the most the craziest
thought I had, I said to my mentors, who buys food online?
Like, who does that? And he looked at me like,
everybody wake up. And and it is because I
(12:56):
personally hadn't done it that Ithought that my buying habits
were the same as everybody else's buying habits.
And that was just an experience that I had to look outside
myself and say, what is everybody else doing?
And if you didn't, it was almostlike pivot or die, you know,
you're either pivoted or you weren't in business.
(13:18):
And I remember I'd had my baby. So my first baby was born in
March 2020. So there I was with a newborn
and no money. And I had all this inventory and
we had mutsaus.com, but we weren't selling off of it.
So I'm up there rocking my baby,feeding my baby at midnight,
going through YouTube videos on how to start an e-commerce
(13:40):
company. It's just you just got, that's
what you got to do. And that's why I tell anybody,
do what you have to do. Don't think that anything is
beneath you and be OK with beinga student.
I went from being knowledgeable to being a rookie overnight.
And you got to be OK with being in business for eight years and
(14:01):
now you're the rookie again. So that's what we did.
And then by that summer, we had gotten an e-commerce contract
with QVC. So as an example of the
difference, I went from not having mudsauce.com to doing
4000 bottles in a 10 minute showonline that quick.
(14:26):
That's impressive. It's an impressive pivot.
I'm so happy you're able to share that because folks need to
know that at any point, sometimes you have to start
over. You have to learn something new.
That's the name of the game of entrepreneurship.
I know you've been to a lot of events.
I think that there is a very stark difference between
(14:50):
entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs and we've been over, we've like
I, I've been around folks like that.
I think they just exist in the world in these opposites but
like when you really have to getafter and find the sale and move
and pivot. And just.
Be up late making the choices and the calls like that is not
(15:10):
for the week. It's not for those who you got
to be very uncomfortable sometimes and that those big
moves, the continuous learning isn't this part of the game.
And I'm really happy you're ableto share a little bit about that
huge pivot, particularly becauseyou had the the Shark Tank
(15:33):
experience. You're doing it in person.
And it's OK to acknowledge that sometimes, like we have our own
personal biases, which is why wesometimes limit our own customer
base. That's.
That's something people got to sit with and, you know, maybe
make one of those Rd. maps, talkto your mentor.
And it sounds like you were ableto have that mentorship during
(15:54):
that time and lessons learned. And so I'm curious.
So from sauce to strategy, all the puns today.
Well, let's see. So I'm aware that you have now
expanded into the 6888 kitchen and I'd like just an opportunity
for you to explain that. But how did you decide when was
(16:18):
the right time to evolve or diversify your brand?
I know you have Co founders as well and like what's been really
keeping your vision focused because you've got mutt sauce
and I've done a pivot to help the community.
So first tell us a little bit about the 6888 Kitchen and how
that kind of came to be. Absolutely.
(16:39):
Well, I'll, I'll confess one thing I've in looking at all the
things that I've done in my career, I don't think I've ever
I was not at the entrepreneur mindset of I want to start a
company. I'm going to start Mutt sauce
and it's named after my grandfather.
That's why it's called mutt sauce.
I don't know if I said that earlier, but I never wanted to
(17:03):
start a company. Same thing with the commercial
kitchen. I didn't set out saying I want
to start a commercial kitchen. There's three of us.
We have three Co founders myselfto make a white debris rice and
even they didn't start out saying we want to build a
commercial kitchen. We had plenty going on that we
(17:25):
did not need to do anything else.
And that's why I would say like there's never a convenient time
to do something impactful like acompany.
There will not be a time where like, you know, everything's
going great and and working 24/7on this is the right time to do
(17:45):
it. I had, I, I was pregnant, so
this is before I had my son. When I met them, it was
mentoring other food businesses.So I've gone from being a
founder to, hey, you know what? Other people might need some of
this advice. So say the other thing that John
(18:06):
did for me. He introduced me to a lady
locally who owned a salsa company, a bit of a bite salsa.
And he said it's more than just me telling you the checklist.
You need to hear from another food founder in this area of
what it's like to have a tomato based product and she can tell
you exactly what manufacturer togo to, exactly who to work for,
(18:27):
to source ingredients, exactly what bottling company to use.
I can't do that because I've never owned a tomato based
company, but Peggy knows. So I felt like now I'm kind of a
Peggy because I know what not todo and I can tell you just
enough for you to be dangerous. And I don't want other
(18:50):
entrepreneurs to have these pitfalls.
And when I tried to expand my business outside of Ohio, I
thought, let me go to Washington, DC and it was in my
personal life. I was moving to Washington, DC
anyway, but I wanted to expand Mutt Sauce to DCI, didn't have a
manufacturer yet. So I was like, I'm going to have
(19:11):
to maybe find a warehouse or something.
That's when I learned about commercial kitchens cause Union
Kitchen was a new place in Washington DC.
It was the concept of a Co working space for food founders.
You go in, it's a certified facility.
You rent time, you batch your food, you get in there in a few
(19:32):
hours, make all your bottles andthen you can save them there and
then you it's still a certified clean kitchen.
So it's like having the same certifications as if you were a
manufacturer in a manufacturing facility.
So I saw that. Of course, it was a little too
difficult for me to execute in DC, but I knew it existed.
(19:53):
So when I came back to Ohio and I was mentoring food founders,
they would talk to me. I'm like, you should be in a
commercial kitchen. Of course, they're like, what
the heck is that? And I went into downtown Dayton.
They have a organization that. Facilitates, I would say like
you to get a, a space to build out a space downtown commercial
(20:18):
property and I said do you guys have commercial kitchens?
I need to funnel these entrepreneurs somewhere other
than telling them there's nowhere to go.
They don't have $25,000 or they don't have $100,000 to have a
brick and mortar. That's the in between.
It doesn't exist, they said. But you know what?
Jamaican debris walked in here the other day and they said they
(20:39):
they're trying to expand the space that they use too.
People are renting extra time inthe kitchen that they own and
they wanted to expand their space.
And I said, who's Jamaican debris?
So they facilitated us meeting each other, not because we
wanted to build a kitchen, but because we cared about food
founders and wanted to find a solution.
(21:02):
What just ended up happening is that we built it.
It is a nonprofit 6888 Kitchen pays respect to the six 888
Central Postal Battalion from World War 2.
So our country sent eight 855 minority women to Europe.
We had 17,000,000 backlog of 17,000,000 parcels of mail in a
(21:24):
warehouse. Frankly, none of the soldiers
had heard from their family because all the letters have
been undelivered. And it was an impossible job.
So they gave him six months to do it.
Their commander, Charity Adams, early, she was a resident of
Dayton, OH. And so we're looking at what is
what can we name this kitchen that pays respect to military
(21:47):
history, to women's history, to just the crazy hard task of what
we're about to do, build one of the largest commercial kitchens
in Ohio. We had a great example sitting
right in front of us. So we named it after the 6888.
And the other thing is, if you don't know American history,
when you walk through the door, the natural question is, why'd
(22:10):
you name it 6888? And then you're going to learn
American history. Oh makes me so happy, gives me
chills. I also did not know that she was
from Dayton, OH. I just watched the Netflix
series. Gosh, as soon as it dropped I
watched it. It was amazing.
I know the six AAA were just awarded the, I believe it's the
(22:30):
gold Congressional Medals. Great.
Yeah, gold. Congressional yes, we were given
an invitation to Washington, DC.So that was there's been
byproducts of of really awesome experiences since we've opened.
And that was one in April of 2025, we were invited to
Washington DC to be present for the awarding of the
(22:54):
Congressional Gold Medal and interact with the community, not
just here in the US, but also inthe UK.
The 6888 are widely known for what they've done and a
contingent from the UK was thereas well.
So we all celebrated them. I think we just recently lost
one to at this point of this interview.
(23:15):
There's only one living member of the 6888 left of the 855.
She's like like 103 or something.
Wow, I love when we can talk about food and history.
Maybe the next venture is like bringing professors of different
topics in and we can just have good nom noms and talk about
(23:36):
American history and be nerds together and bond over mutt
sauce and all the things that make us happy, right?
I'm here for it. That sounds wonderful.
What an amazing story and such serendipity, particularly with
you and your with your Co founders, right all coming
together under this unified needand desire to help others.
(23:57):
And congratulations. I know that that has been quite
the undertaking. And again, things don't happen
overnight. But I'll tell you what, super
proud just watching from afar. It's impressive endeavor you've
taken on. Thank you.
It's an honor to see them thrive.
You know, we currently have 15 members of our kitchen.
(24:19):
So like I said, it's membership based.
They can either be in there hourly or they can be full
timers. And so right now it's a great
option for ghost kitchen concepts.
So people who they don't have enough capital to have their own
restaurant yet, but they're testing out their menus and
they're growing their teams. So they're in there every day.
And I just I'd love to see them thrive.
(24:41):
That is this is all we really wanted to do is make a better
journey, you know, make a betteron ramp for other founders and.
That's exactly what you're doingwholeheartedly.
That is what you were doing. You know, especially when it
comes to values in business. You know, I lean into this final
(25:03):
question, but what advice do youhave for veteran entrepreneurs
trying to honor their personal story or legacy without getting
lost in the noise in today's hyper competitive market?
Well, I would say one thing. There's enough room at the table
for everyone to eat well. So even when I look in a grocery
(25:27):
store and look at there's hot sauce, BBQ, ketchup, and every
day there's new brands popping up.
You just have to know that your customer is your customer and
your customer's been waiting on what you have to deliver.
Just focus on that one person and deliver the best experience
that you can. Don't worry about everybody else
(25:48):
because when you go into a restaurant, it could be like The
Cheesecake Factory menu. And nine times out of 10, you're
going to order the same thing every time, right?
So like, don't don't worry aboutthere being so many options.
And you know, when I received the recipe from my grandfather
(26:12):
that the, the biggest lesson I learned from that phase was I
didn't feel qualified. I used to deal with a lot of
imposter syndrome. And I feel like in the last
couple years I've had an awakening it, it was something I
would, I would say it, but I wasn't living it.
You don't have to feel qualifiedto be qualified.
(26:35):
That's it. Feeling qualified is not the
prerequisite for you stepping upand getting the job done for
you, making an impact in your community.
You don't have to have all the answers.
You don't have to have all the tools.
You just have to have the visionand the heart for it to do the
work and, and the rest will takecare of itself.
(26:56):
The people will come, the the mentors that you need to have in
your life at that point in your life will show up.
I've had people that I'm, I'm just vocal about problems I'm
trying to solve. I don't know how to solve it.
But if I vocalize that I need help, then help appears.
And that's just the way, you know, so many people struggle
(27:18):
because you're like, I don't want to say that, you know, I'm
not ready or I don't want to saythat, you know, I'm a disabled
vet. I don't want to say these things
like you need to be transparent because people don't know how to
help you. If you're hiding, if you hide
all the parts of you, we don't know how to help you.
And I would just encourage them to be transparent, to keep that
(27:42):
heart of service because we really need it.
We really need it. We need servant leaders.
We need people who are willing to make a difference.
And I think veterans do that so well.
You've stepped up in roles and they only realize the strengths
that they have. They don't play the the
experience that they have. You go into a job, there's no
(28:05):
commander. That's just like, how old are
you? You 23, you 24.
OK, you're just 24. You can't do this.
I've never heard any of that. It is what is your position?
What is your job? What the mission did we give
you? Get her done.
It's not. How do you feel today?
Do you feel like you can do it like?
(28:29):
What is it? There's there's always a a
deadline, but there are no resources.
You have your team, I have. I have no more instructions to
give you, but I need it done. And I feel like that is the I I,
I'll just say this from my non or my not commissioned Sergeant
(28:53):
life, but that was very true. And all of my lived experiences
in the military is like you'll find a way.
And you'd be surprised when you kind of strip away the the title
of the age and some of these, you know, qualifiers we put on
ourselves or limitations, right.And I think as a society, we've
really gotten good at allowing others to impose their own
(29:16):
limitations on us. And I say that generally
speaking, but like, if you really think about it, there's a
lot of people out there who tellyou, no, you can't do it like
that. And I kind of just, you know,
it's challenge people like, and I will watch me.
And to the same effect, Charlene, like you've you've
crushed it. You you are a shining example of
(29:37):
what determination and you know,principled leadership looks like
right. I know you're is it like hearted
is that is that? The term you find light hearted
people. Light hearted, I know, like
minded. Light hearted, light hearted and
'cause you know, there's like minded and like minded people,
(30:01):
in my experience, can't really teach you something new.
You can't really grow with someone who doesn't challenge
you. They just always agree with you.
And there's two sides to that. A like hearted person will
lovingly disagree, but you also have to cultivate within
yourself the ability to be corrected because you're not
(30:25):
always right. And I think sometimes
entrepreneurs, we get the ego, like our ego tells us, yeah,
I've been in the game for so long.
I am always a student. I am on the daily.
I'm learning something from my entrepreneurs in the kitchen.
Even my mother could, God bless her.
He helped me and people were like, how are you doing the mom
(30:46):
stuff? And the you know, I said I'm not
excellent in all things. I have excellent people in my
life. That is the difference.
I don't claim to be able to do all the things because if I'm
present here, I'm absent there. That's so true.
That's so true, man. Yeah.
(31:10):
So I just, I rely on, I rely on on those people and they're like
hearted they we share the same core values.
We don't always agree on the wayforward, but we share the same
core values and I respect and receive different perspectives
and I I just want that to be howI interact with everyone is to
(31:35):
to stay open minded. There's always something to
learn. Absolutely.
I I you, you've said it beautifully.
I'm over here struggling for words right now because you
have, like I said, you have you've, you've done the things
you've made the path and now you're, you're mentoring those
(31:56):
on the path, but you continue tostrive for excellence.
And like I said, you're a principled founder.
You know what you're doing. You have an idea of where you
want to go. And you're right.
Serendipity, the right people will, will come to pass and be
in your space for seasons reasons all applied.
But I, I can't think of a betternote to to end on, but to
(32:18):
otherwise say thank you for yourfor your time, Sharlinda.
It's valuable and I appreciate all of your valuable insight.
And I know our listeners, our viewers will definitely be
figuring out their own secret sauce recipe from this because
you have such an inspiring story.
Thank you. Well, thank you Ashley, for your
(32:38):
service. And I've seen first hand your
leadership, especially at the American Legion where I thank
you for inviting me to the ball that night.
I learned a lot. I learned a lot about you too.
And so I would just encourage you to to keep doing what you're
doing because I see you, I thinkso many people see the
(32:59):
excellence in you. And however I can continue to
support you or the American Legion, you just let me know.
I appreciate you very, very much.
I the door of the American Legion, I think we are headed in
the right direction and we're doing all the things possible to
make sure that we're taking careof our veterans and the next
generations to come. And with that all being said,
(33:22):
Alphas, thank you for joining usfor this episode of Spotlight
Veteran Entrepreneurship. If you found this valuable
today, our conversation, be sureto follow the American Legion's
Tankwell Fully podcast. Share this episode.
Check out any additional resources at the
americanlegion.legion.org. Excuse me?
As always, please like, subscribe and drop a rating on
(33:45):
this show on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you are
listening to your podcasts. Until then, next time, keep
building boldly.
Welcome to Spotlight Veterans Entrepreneurship, a special
series from the American LegionsTal podcast.
I'm your host, Ashley Gorbulcha.In each episode, we sit down
with a veteran or military spouse entrepreneur who is
leading the charge across different industries.
We will explore the challenges, breakthroughs, and real stories
(00:21):
behind building a business during and after military
service. The food and beverage industry
is as much about tradition as itis storytelling.
It's about flavor and business. In this episode, we explore how
veterans bring their heritage tolife through culinary ventures.
Shirley Descales, Air Force veteran and founder of Mudsauce
(00:43):
in the 6888 Kitchen, shares her journey of carrying on family
legacy, launching products into products into major retail
stores and creating pathways forother food based entrepreneurs.
Sharlinda, welcome to the Tal Podcast.
Thank you for having me, Ashley.I'm glad to be here.
I'm. Super excited to have you on
because being able to watch the journey, right?
(01:05):
It's doesn't happen overnight. There's a lot of hard work and
hustle. There's things that happen we in
the wee hours, there's pivots and I know that you have
experienced that and I'm super excited to kind of jump into
questions here with you about inheritance and intention.
(01:27):
So. So taking your grandfather's mud
sauce recipe and turning it intoa business, how did you know
that this was more than just a family story, but a brand worth
building? You know, it was very humbling
beginnings, right? So my my grandfather was a very
influential person in my life. He was my father figure growing
(01:48):
up. And it really started with just
a reverence for him and his passion for taking care of the
family for service. That kind of echoed into what we
did as a family. I eventually went into the
military as well, into the Air Force, just like him.
(02:10):
And when he made Mutt Sauce in 1956, it wasn't meant to be a
company. It was a conduit.
It was something that we could use to bring people together.
You can see that in pictures when he was in Japan.
It was to bring people together who normally society would say
don't have anything in common and shouldn't get along.
(02:33):
And when I received the recipe, I was on active duty.
So it's eight years after my grandfather had passed.
And at that point it wasn't so much I wanted to carry on a
brand. When I got the piece of paper,
it was just a written recipe andhis handwriting on a sheet of
paper. It wasn't like I inherited a
(02:54):
company because I think sometimes we were like, wow,
you, you got this whole company.What you want to do with it?
It was a piece of paper. And at that moment, without
saying anything, he told me a lot.
He provided the direction of do something and if I was going to
do something, it was going to take care of the family and
(03:18):
bring people together. That is incredibly wholesome.
That's I feel like you just you gave me the secret sauce of life
right now because it's so valuable to know that sometimes
it like doesn't come with instructions.
(03:39):
But even though you had those specific ingredients, like
everything else was self-explanatory deep in your
heart because of the relationship you had with your
grandfather. And it's very important that I
think any entrepreneur out thereunderstand the why behind what
they're going to do. There's a lot of there's a lot
(04:00):
of noise sometimes about like you gotta get in the game.
You gotta yeah, here's your blueprint.
You gotta do this or got to makeX number of dollars and
sometimes we we forget about theY or the the values proposition
behind the thing we're. Doing yeah 'cause people are not
(04:21):
buying a product, right? They're they're buying into an
idea. Somehow your product or service
is going to improve their life, make things easier for them,
improve their morale. It's, it's very rarely do we see
people investing in a business or supporting it just because
the product tastes great, you know, So you're exactly right.
(04:45):
You need to know why you're doing it because the challenges
that you'll face as an entrepreneur, you better have a
a strong reason why because you're not always going to have
cash, that's for sure. Absolutely.
And I again, me feeling like I have like future powers or just
like all this all knowledge right now, but knowing a bit of
(05:06):
your story and I want to dive a bit deeper into some of the
curveballs, some of the ConsumerPackaged Goods.
I guess lingo terminology. It's a tough industry to break
into and especially trying to tosell mud sauce.
What early hurdles did you face in getting Mutt Sauce shelf
(05:29):
ready and distribution ready? I was very fortunate to have
great mentors. I just feel like I'm a product
of really smart people who came into my life or I sought them
out. I had a strong why, but I did
not have the what? What do you do?
(05:50):
I walked in. It was SCORE.
So score.org, I went on there. I googled free help.
That's who showed up. And I think SCORE is amazing.
I think what they provide is notonly people who have experience
in the industry that they want to be a volunteer in, but just
the fact that they want to be a volunteer to help mentor someone
(06:12):
else and make the path easier for them or provide advice and
lessons learned. And so that's what my score
mentor John Souter was for me. I said I want to make a product.
I want to maybe turn this into acouple bottles for friends and
family because everyone missed my grandfather and that was
something that was synonymous with his personality.
(06:34):
And mentors go one step above advisors.
Advisors will give you the checklist of what to do, but a
mentor is listening to your lifeand how this will affect your
life. And he said what I hear is your
grandfather loved his family andhe just ran out of time.
So this is not a small thing. This is not a couple bottles for
(06:59):
friends and family situation. This is multi generational
support and you can't play, you can't look at it as a small
thing if we're going to make big, big impacts.
Now that's where the advice camein where he understood my life.
(07:20):
But he said, here's the checklist for a tomato based
food product that people are going to buy in a grocery store.
So then my the advice that I wasgiven was think of the think of
the biggest thing that you couldpossibly do with this and you
plan as if that was the goal. Because even if you don't get
(07:43):
there, you're prepared for everything else before that.
Yeah. So if you prepare for a farmers
market, you'll be ready for a farmers market, but you won't be
ready for Kroger or HEB. But if you prepare for Kroger
and HEB, of course, you'll be ready for a farmers market.
Yeah. So that's what he did.
I was thinking about being in tons of stores on day one and
(08:08):
all the things I put in place, the manufacturing, the sauce.
So he said you can't get into Kroger.
If you can it like cottage food in your house.
You have to either get a manufacturer or you have to join
a commercial kitchen. So we had a sauce manufacturer,
the money that I paid, I was going to buy BMW with it.
(08:30):
Ashley, not going to lie, I didn't have any financial
literacy. So I thought, you know, making
it in life was having a nice car.
So my military savings was to buy a BMWI.
Took that and the advice from from John and we invested it
into my first production with a reputable sauce manufacturer to
(08:52):
make sure that it came out right.
And I don't regret it at all. And that provides not only
consistency of logistics and distribution, but like quality
control, making sure that if I sell 1000 bottles, everyone
tastes the same, they all look the same and I don't have to
worry about that. And it's a great, it's a better
(09:14):
customer service experience whenyou can provide consistency.
That's what we did $25,000 day one.
That's. Been wow, that's that's a heck
of a pivot too. I Wow.
OK I. Really want to let me.
Unpack. That back to Jane.
(09:36):
Hold on. So impressive you you found a a
mentor through score who was like, you need to think long
term, right? So I want to be on the store
shelves. Here's where I need to be helped
you create like a, a back asmathor a back plan, right?
(09:59):
So it's like, here's how I need to here's who I need to reach
out to, right, the manufacturers, you're right,
quality control, you have to be at a commercial kitchen.
I know that there are folks thatare going to be listening who
are like, Oh, well, I make, you know, cupcakes or I do this, or
I use, you know, my home or, youknow, and so you got to think
(10:21):
big and you got to you got to plan for everything.
And I, I think your, your mentorreally did you a solid.
And I know you've had other mentors along the way too, which
is incredibly impressive, who have helped you through these
different stages, right? Because I'm sure starting the
business and I know that your business was within during COVID
(10:45):
as well. And I'm kind of curious, just
kind of dig a secondary questioninto the learning curve,
particularly when the world was in an odd place and you were
still trying to launch and get the product out.
I, I know it's a family affair, but I'm not sure all of the
details. I'm sure the listeners would
love to learn a little bit more about that.
Yeah. So we've been open since 2014
(11:07):
and our business model when we started, it's not where we're at
now. So the original business model
was in person events, regional grocery stores and then
festivals, so farmers markets, festivals and and that worked
because people want to try the product, they want to taste it.
(11:27):
And it gave me an opportunity tocut my teeth and pitching things
like that in the first six months we've been on Shark Tank.
So that was an experience that Ihad in that first six months.
And when I approached them, it was to be in grocery stores.
So all that was working up untilthe pandemic when you have all
(11:48):
these rules about interaction. So in that first month when they
announced the pandemic, all events that were in person that
you had paid for, maybe you paidregistration fees, and I've paid
for a lot of them because it's for the whole year.
All of them were cancelled with no refund, with no refunds of
your registration. So all that money's gone.
(12:10):
All the potential sales are gone.
So you're just sitting there with tons of thousands of
dollars of inventory. You can't do demos in grocery
stores. So to capture new customers in
grocery stores, you can't let them taste the product.
So acquiring a new customer was tougher.
But there was one way that we were hearing a success.
(12:32):
But I was like, frankly ignorantof the fact that you could do it
was selling online. And the most the craziest
thought I had, I said to my mentors, who buys food online?
Like, who does that? And he looked at me like,
everybody wake up. And and it is because I
(12:56):
personally hadn't done it that Ithought that my buying habits
were the same as everybody else's buying habits.
And that was just an experience that I had to look outside
myself and say, what is everybody else doing?
And if you didn't, it was almostlike pivot or die, you know,
you're either pivoted or you weren't in business.
(13:18):
And I remember I'd had my baby. So my first baby was born in
March 2020. So there I was with a newborn
and no money. And I had all this inventory and
we had mutsaus.com, but we weren't selling off of it.
So I'm up there rocking my baby,feeding my baby at midnight,
going through YouTube videos on how to start an e-commerce
(13:40):
company. It's just you just got, that's
what you got to do. And that's why I tell anybody,
do what you have to do. Don't think that anything is
beneath you and be OK with beinga student.
I went from being knowledgeable to being a rookie overnight.
And you got to be OK with being in business for eight years and
(14:01):
now you're the rookie again. So that's what we did.
And then by that summer, we had gotten an e-commerce contract
with QVC. So as an example of the
difference, I went from not having mudsauce.com to doing
4000 bottles in a 10 minute showonline that quick.
(14:26):
That's impressive. It's an impressive pivot.
I'm so happy you're able to share that because folks need to
know that at any point, sometimes you have to start
over. You have to learn something new.
That's the name of the game of entrepreneurship.
I know you've been to a lot of events.
I think that there is a very stark difference between
(14:50):
entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs and we've been over, we've like
I, I've been around folks like that.
I think they just exist in the world in these opposites but
like when you really have to getafter and find the sale and move
and pivot. And just.
Be up late making the choices and the calls like that is not
(15:10):
for the week. It's not for those who you got
to be very uncomfortable sometimes and that those big
moves, the continuous learning isn't this part of the game.
And I'm really happy you're ableto share a little bit about that
huge pivot, particularly becauseyou had the the Shark Tank
(15:33):
experience. You're doing it in person.
And it's OK to acknowledge that sometimes, like we have our own
personal biases, which is why wesometimes limit our own customer
base. That's.
That's something people got to sit with and, you know, maybe
make one of those Rd. maps, talkto your mentor.
And it sounds like you were ableto have that mentorship during
(15:54):
that time and lessons learned. And so I'm curious.
So from sauce to strategy, all the puns today.
Well, let's see. So I'm aware that you have now
expanded into the 6888 kitchen and I'd like just an opportunity
for you to explain that. But how did you decide when was
(16:18):
the right time to evolve or diversify your brand?
I know you have Co founders as well and like what's been really
keeping your vision focused because you've got mutt sauce
and I've done a pivot to help the community.
So first tell us a little bit about the 6888 Kitchen and how
that kind of came to be. Absolutely.
(16:39):
Well, I'll, I'll confess one thing I've in looking at all the
things that I've done in my career, I don't think I've ever
I was not at the entrepreneur mindset of I want to start a
company. I'm going to start Mutt sauce
and it's named after my grandfather.
That's why it's called mutt sauce.
I don't know if I said that earlier, but I never wanted to
(17:03):
start a company. Same thing with the commercial
kitchen. I didn't set out saying I want
to start a commercial kitchen. There's three of us.
We have three Co founders myselfto make a white debris rice and
even they didn't start out saying we want to build a
commercial kitchen. We had plenty going on that we
(17:25):
did not need to do anything else.
And that's why I would say like there's never a convenient time
to do something impactful like acompany.
There will not be a time where like, you know, everything's
going great and and working 24/7on this is the right time to do
(17:45):
it. I had, I, I was pregnant, so
this is before I had my son. When I met them, it was
mentoring other food businesses.So I've gone from being a
founder to, hey, you know what? Other people might need some of
this advice. So say the other thing that John
(18:06):
did for me. He introduced me to a lady
locally who owned a salsa company, a bit of a bite salsa.
And he said it's more than just me telling you the checklist.
You need to hear from another food founder in this area of
what it's like to have a tomato based product and she can tell
you exactly what manufacturer togo to, exactly who to work for,
(18:27):
to source ingredients, exactly what bottling company to use.
I can't do that because I've never owned a tomato based
company, but Peggy knows. So I felt like now I'm kind of a
Peggy because I know what not todo and I can tell you just
enough for you to be dangerous. And I don't want other
(18:50):
entrepreneurs to have these pitfalls.
And when I tried to expand my business outside of Ohio, I
thought, let me go to Washington, DC and it was in my
personal life. I was moving to Washington, DC
anyway, but I wanted to expand Mutt Sauce to DCI, didn't have a
manufacturer yet. So I was like, I'm going to have
(19:11):
to maybe find a warehouse or something.
That's when I learned about commercial kitchens cause Union
Kitchen was a new place in Washington DC.
It was the concept of a Co working space for food founders.
You go in, it's a certified facility.
You rent time, you batch your food, you get in there in a few
(19:32):
hours, make all your bottles andthen you can save them there and
then you it's still a certified clean kitchen.
So it's like having the same certifications as if you were a
manufacturer in a manufacturing facility.
So I saw that. Of course, it was a little too
difficult for me to execute in DC, but I knew it existed.
(19:53):
So when I came back to Ohio and I was mentoring food founders,
they would talk to me. I'm like, you should be in a
commercial kitchen. Of course, they're like, what
the heck is that? And I went into downtown Dayton.
They have a organization that. Facilitates, I would say like
you to get a, a space to build out a space downtown commercial
(20:18):
property and I said do you guys have commercial kitchens?
I need to funnel these entrepreneurs somewhere other
than telling them there's nowhere to go.
They don't have $25,000 or they don't have $100,000 to have a
brick and mortar. That's the in between.
It doesn't exist, they said. But you know what?
Jamaican debris walked in here the other day and they said they
(20:39):
they're trying to expand the space that they use too.
People are renting extra time inthe kitchen that they own and
they wanted to expand their space.
And I said, who's Jamaican debris?
So they facilitated us meeting each other, not because we
wanted to build a kitchen, but because we cared about food
founders and wanted to find a solution.
(21:02):
What just ended up happening is that we built it.
It is a nonprofit 6888 Kitchen pays respect to the six 888
Central Postal Battalion from World War 2.
So our country sent eight 855 minority women to Europe.
We had 17,000,000 backlog of 17,000,000 parcels of mail in a
(21:24):
warehouse. Frankly, none of the soldiers
had heard from their family because all the letters have
been undelivered. And it was an impossible job.
So they gave him six months to do it.
Their commander, Charity Adams, early, she was a resident of
Dayton, OH. And so we're looking at what is
what can we name this kitchen that pays respect to military
(21:47):
history, to women's history, to just the crazy hard task of what
we're about to do, build one of the largest commercial kitchens
in Ohio. We had a great example sitting
right in front of us. So we named it after the 6888.
And the other thing is, if you don't know American history,
when you walk through the door, the natural question is, why'd
(22:10):
you name it 6888? And then you're going to learn
American history. Oh makes me so happy, gives me
chills. I also did not know that she was
from Dayton, OH. I just watched the Netflix
series. Gosh, as soon as it dropped I
watched it. It was amazing.
I know the six AAA were just awarded the, I believe it's the
(22:30):
gold Congressional Medals. Great.
Yeah, gold. Congressional yes, we were given
an invitation to Washington, DC.So that was there's been
byproducts of of really awesome experiences since we've opened.
And that was one in April of 2025, we were invited to
Washington DC to be present for the awarding of the
(22:54):
Congressional Gold Medal and interact with the community, not
just here in the US, but also inthe UK.
The 6888 are widely known for what they've done and a
contingent from the UK was thereas well.
So we all celebrated them. I think we just recently lost
one to at this point of this interview.
(23:15):
There's only one living member of the 6888 left of the 855.
She's like like 103 or something.
Wow, I love when we can talk about food and history.
Maybe the next venture is like bringing professors of different
topics in and we can just have good nom noms and talk about
(23:36):
American history and be nerds together and bond over mutt
sauce and all the things that make us happy, right?
I'm here for it. That sounds wonderful.
What an amazing story and such serendipity, particularly with
you and your with your Co founders, right all coming
together under this unified needand desire to help others.
(23:57):
And congratulations. I know that that has been quite
the undertaking. And again, things don't happen
overnight. But I'll tell you what, super
proud just watching from afar. It's impressive endeavor you've
taken on. Thank you.
It's an honor to see them thrive.
You know, we currently have 15 members of our kitchen.
(24:19):
So like I said, it's membership based.
They can either be in there hourly or they can be full
timers. And so right now it's a great
option for ghost kitchen concepts.
So people who they don't have enough capital to have their own
restaurant yet, but they're testing out their menus and
they're growing their teams. So they're in there every day.
And I just I'd love to see them thrive.
(24:41):
That is this is all we really wanted to do is make a better
journey, you know, make a betteron ramp for other founders and.
That's exactly what you're doingwholeheartedly.
That is what you were doing. You know, especially when it
comes to values in business. You know, I lean into this final
(25:03):
question, but what advice do youhave for veteran entrepreneurs
trying to honor their personal story or legacy without getting
lost in the noise in today's hyper competitive market?
Well, I would say one thing. There's enough room at the table
for everyone to eat well. So even when I look in a grocery
(25:27):
store and look at there's hot sauce, BBQ, ketchup, and every
day there's new brands popping up.
You just have to know that your customer is your customer and
your customer's been waiting on what you have to deliver.
Just focus on that one person and deliver the best experience
that you can. Don't worry about everybody else
(25:48):
because when you go into a restaurant, it could be like The
Cheesecake Factory menu. And nine times out of 10, you're
going to order the same thing every time, right?
So like, don't don't worry aboutthere being so many options.
And you know, when I received the recipe from my grandfather
(26:12):
that the, the biggest lesson I learned from that phase was I
didn't feel qualified. I used to deal with a lot of
imposter syndrome. And I feel like in the last
couple years I've had an awakening it, it was something I
would, I would say it, but I wasn't living it.
You don't have to feel qualifiedto be qualified.
(26:35):
That's it. Feeling qualified is not the
prerequisite for you stepping upand getting the job done for
you, making an impact in your community.
You don't have to have all the answers.
You don't have to have all the tools.
You just have to have the visionand the heart for it to do the
work and, and the rest will takecare of itself.
(26:56):
The people will come, the the mentors that you need to have in
your life at that point in your life will show up.
I've had people that I'm, I'm just vocal about problems I'm
trying to solve. I don't know how to solve it.
But if I vocalize that I need help, then help appears.
And that's just the way, you know, so many people struggle
(27:18):
because you're like, I don't want to say that, you know, I'm
not ready or I don't want to saythat, you know, I'm a disabled
vet. I don't want to say these things
like you need to be transparent because people don't know how to
help you. If you're hiding, if you hide
all the parts of you, we don't know how to help you.
And I would just encourage them to be transparent, to keep that
(27:42):
heart of service because we really need it.
We really need it. We need servant leaders.
We need people who are willing to make a difference.
And I think veterans do that so well.
You've stepped up in roles and they only realize the strengths
that they have. They don't play the the
experience that they have. You go into a job, there's no
(28:05):
commander. That's just like, how old are
you? You 23, you 24.
OK, you're just 24. You can't do this.
I've never heard any of that. It is what is your position?
What is your job? What the mission did we give
you? Get her done.
It's not. How do you feel today?
Do you feel like you can do it like?
(28:29):
What is it? There's there's always a a
deadline, but there are no resources.
You have your team, I have. I have no more instructions to
give you, but I need it done. And I feel like that is the I I,
I'll just say this from my non or my not commissioned Sergeant
(28:53):
life, but that was very true. And all of my lived experiences
in the military is like you'll find a way.
And you'd be surprised when you kind of strip away the the title
of the age and some of these, you know, qualifiers we put on
ourselves or limitations, right.And I think as a society, we've
really gotten good at allowing others to impose their own
(29:16):
limitations on us. And I say that generally
speaking, but like, if you really think about it, there's a
lot of people out there who tellyou, no, you can't do it like
that. And I kind of just, you know,
it's challenge people like, and I will watch me.
And to the same effect, Charlene, like you've you've
crushed it. You you are a shining example of
(29:37):
what determination and you know,principled leadership looks like
right. I know you're is it like hearted
is that is that? The term you find light hearted
people. Light hearted, I know, like
minded. Light hearted, light hearted and
'cause you know, there's like minded and like minded people,
(30:01):
in my experience, can't really teach you something new.
You can't really grow with someone who doesn't challenge
you. They just always agree with you.
And there's two sides to that. A like hearted person will
lovingly disagree, but you also have to cultivate within
yourself the ability to be corrected because you're not
(30:25):
always right. And I think sometimes
entrepreneurs, we get the ego, like our ego tells us, yeah,
I've been in the game for so long.
I am always a student. I am on the daily.
I'm learning something from my entrepreneurs in the kitchen.
Even my mother could, God bless her.
He helped me and people were like, how are you doing the mom
(30:46):
stuff? And the you know, I said I'm not
excellent in all things. I have excellent people in my
life. That is the difference.
I don't claim to be able to do all the things because if I'm
present here, I'm absent there. That's so true.
That's so true, man. Yeah.
(31:10):
So I just, I rely on, I rely on on those people and they're like
hearted they we share the same core values.
We don't always agree on the wayforward, but we share the same
core values and I respect and receive different perspectives
and I I just want that to be howI interact with everyone is to
(31:35):
to stay open minded. There's always something to
learn. Absolutely.
I I you, you've said it beautifully.
I'm over here struggling for words right now because you
have, like I said, you have you've, you've done the things
you've made the path and now you're, you're mentoring those
(31:56):
on the path, but you continue tostrive for excellence.
And like I said, you're a principled founder.
You know what you're doing. You have an idea of where you
want to go. And you're right.
Serendipity, the right people will, will come to pass and be
in your space for seasons reasons all applied.
But I, I can't think of a betternote to to end on, but to
(32:18):
otherwise say thank you for yourfor your time, Sharlinda.
It's valuable and I appreciate all of your valuable insight.
And I know our listeners, our viewers will definitely be
figuring out their own secret sauce recipe from this because
you have such an inspiring story.
Thank you. Well, thank you Ashley, for your
(32:38):
service. And I've seen first hand your
leadership, especially at the American Legion where I thank
you for inviting me to the ball that night.
I learned a lot. I learned a lot about you too.
And so I would just encourage you to to keep doing what you're
doing because I see you, I thinkso many people see the
(32:59):
excellence in you. And however I can continue to
support you or the American Legion, you just let me know.
I appreciate you very, very much.
I the door of the American Legion, I think we are headed in
the right direction and we're doing all the things possible to
make sure that we're taking careof our veterans and the next
generations to come. And with that all being said,
(33:22):
Alphas, thank you for joining usfor this episode of Spotlight
Veteran Entrepreneurship. If you found this valuable
today, our conversation, be sureto follow the American Legion's
Tankwell Fully podcast. Share this episode.
Check out any additional resources at the
americanlegion.legion.org. Excuse me?
As always, please like, subscribe and drop a rating on
(33:45):
this show on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you are
listening to your podcasts. Until then, next time, keep
building boldly.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.