Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Quintanilla.
Hi Melissa, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I started by making my famous salsa for potlucks and parties. It became really popular within my circle and highly requested. I would always get the suggestions to jar it up and sale, but the thought of selling salsa was always amusing to me. I think the pandemic was traumatic experience to see everyone losing their jobs, hours cut back, places were shutting down, it inspired me to pursue in my dreams of one day owning my own food truck and go into business for myself. Since that’s a long-term goal, I decided to make a small goal by selling my highly requested salsa!
I knew I would have to get over my insecurities and apply myself to push my product /brand out. I started to seek groups on Facebook to join, reaching out to people looking for vendors, and started networking. From then, I’ve been doing pop-up markets ever since. Thanks to God, every event we have popped up at we have sold out!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’m single mother of three boys, so when kick-starting my business, it required a lot of sacrifices. My sons have been my biggest fans and understood if wasn’t able to attend a school event or afford their wants. My sons are my backbone in my operation and is always supporting me in any way.
Now we are celebrating our upcoming 1 Year Anniversary. With any small business, there’s always ups and downs. But thank goodness we have been very successful.
As you know, we’re big fans of Houston Drip Sauce. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Houston Drip Sauce is family-owned recipe and made fresh every time. Our salsa is tangy, creamy, with the prefect kick of spice. My goal wasn’t to have the spiciest salsa but to have salsa to gather family and Friends to be able to sit around and enjoy.
I wanted to share what inspired my logo; growing up in North Side of Houston (Woodland Heights), My earliest memory is seeing Houston Skyline on my way home. I wanted to incorporate my vision of home with our salsa dripping!
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
To be successful in the pop-up market world, you must NETWORK! That means exchanging business cards, supporting other local businesses, following social media. I would like to think with me already being a social person it helped me gain new clientele, network with other vendors, and gain new opportunities.
Pricing:
- $10 Jar
Contact Info:
- Instagram: houston_drip.sauce
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/houstondripsauce/
