Gringo Abroad

Holy Shit three years since my last travel post this is not turning out to be much of a travel blog.

I have spent the last two years and change starting a business in Canada and for anyone who reads this  I will catch you up on what's happened.


After I got back from South America I was broke yet had my eyes wide open to new possibilities.
 I did not know what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to do something different. I took a trip to visit my father in Florida and became restless as fuck as I often am.

 Sitting and reading a book relaxing often just gets me frustrated and thinking about how much I can't stand the government or the morons at UPS, my cell phone company or my insurance company. 


I have learned that it is better to keep busy and on the go and exploring all the time in order to maintain some level of sanity and not sweat the small stuff.

This exploration led me to a really cool grocery store which became the inspiration for my company

This place had great food and a lot of dried peppers on the walls which I just started buying for no apparent reason.

I flew back to Canada 4 days later and the peppers stayed on the shelf in the kitchen for the next three weeks until I went on you-tube and figured out how to make a basic hot sauce recipe.
a few months later Mad Gringo Hot Sauce was born.
It started with a local farmers market in Orillia and two sauces Original and Chipotle Standoff. 

Now Mad Gringo hot sauces are in over forty retail locations and my fiancee and I did four  
 farmers markets  a week in the summer. 

I have grown the line to 7 different products secured a commercial kitchen space and am concentrating on big shows and larger stores. 

It's been a lot of fucking work and I have met a lot of cool people in the process and a and few jealous dickheads  but all in all a worth while experience.

If I can give any advise to people starting a hot sauce or condiment business don't waste your time with small farmers markets unless they turn huge crowds. You spend so much time trying to get into them and dealing with a board of directors that will do anything they can to keep new people out so fucking grandma Mcgillicutty can sell her shitty preserves that she has been selling for the last 10 years without any new innovative products coming in that she views as competition. 



  Don't focus on the assholes focus on the good people and ignore the wackos.
  When you start to succeed at least one dickhead  will  have a problem with it.
  if you are a threat to someone this just means you are on the right track. 


I have learned that the magic number is 30,000 people I don't care if is a car show a bike show a sex show a dog and pony show.

If you have a product that is good and and an event that has draws 30,000 people  relates to your product  or more write the $500 or $1000 cheque or whatever it is and you will make money.
 

If you don't make money at an event like that you can't sell and you should close your business and go get a headset and and work customer service at the phone company and annoy the hell out of anyone that calls because you have no idea what you are doing.

Better yet just shoot yourself because you are taking up valuable space on this earth for those of us that want to get something out of life and work hard.

Ok that was a little harsh but you get the Idea.

This is a fun sometimes frustrating  interesting journey and I hope it starts to make more cash so I can make a living off it one day. 

Making people sweat from peppers always brings me some sort of sadistic enjoyment and If it starts to pay all the bills and let's me travel more I have hit the jackpot.


In other news I got engaged to a cute Japanese girl that puts up with my shit on a regular  basis and is is great with saving money and just an all around good person.

We have a great time poking fun at each-others cultures and I have learned quite a bit of Japanese profanity. 

It's 12:27am  December 29th and I have officially hit 32 which is a kind of a who gives a flying fuck birthday not really a milestone by any stretch all I can really ask for is a nice steak and a glass of Makers Mark Bourbon and for all my stores to send cheques for invoices that are due. 

I will be selling my wears at the Motorcycle show after New Years  and boarding a plane for  Tokyo to get into some trouble with my other half in Japan.
I hope to post lots of pictures and videos in the next few weeks as this will be my first of many trips to  Japan. 

2013 was full of hard work and travel success and a few failures and I aim to keep fighting the good fight and bringing the heat in the new year.