Texas Sassy was born in 1998. It started when I wanted to make something special for a friend who loves things that are sweet and hot. Many years ago, I had made an awesome tasting pickle that filled the bill. Searching high and low through recipe books and cards, magazine pages, notebook papers, and napkins, I finally found it. The card it was on was brown with age and stained from spills and drippings of many years of usage. It was scribbled on and marked up with adjustments I had made over time. Thank goodness I documented the changes; otherwise, we would not have the unique Texas Sassy flavor we have today.

I surprised my friend. He loved them, and so did his wife and kids. His wife was managing a Christmas craft show and suggested I sell the pickles there. I was reluctant, thinking: "Who would buy my pickles? I just make them for fun." Having never sold anything I had made or cooked, I wasn't very confident, but she talked me into it. At first, people would pick up a jar, look at it, put it back on the shelf, and walk on. I watched for a while before deciding something needed to change. I popped open a jar of pickles and let people taste them. They started selling like crazy! It was amazing how quickly they left the shelf. My first show was a great success! I was excited! What a great feeling to make something that so many people loved, wanted more of, and were willing to pay for to boot. After Christmas, my friend kept getting inquiries on how and where to get the pickles. I was both surprised and pleased when people started calling to inquire about my next batch.

Before I knew it, it was Christmas again. I decided to try my hand at selling the pickles once more. This time, the shoppers were saying things like: "Thank goodness, I found the Pickle Lady," "I'm so glad I found you," and "I was hoping you'd be back." My sales doubled from the year before. The following year, I put up a sign that said, "Yes, the Pickle Lady is here."

That same year, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and was going through chemo at the time of the craft show. Deciding to make the pickles anyway, I delivered them to the show, but was not well enough to stay around for long periods of time to help sell. However, I found that what little help I provided did help me forget my pain. Even though I wasn’t actively selling, my sales increased again. This is when I knew I might have my hands on something; I had a following, but was hesitant to step out and do anything more. My thinking was small. I was content doing the craft show once a year and filling special orders. A friend who owned a gift shop really liked the pickles and helped me see a bigger picture. Her encouragement and support were instrumental in getting me to the next level, especially when she asked to be the first to carry my product.

My husband retired in 2001 after 34 years with IBM. He helped out at the craft show that year. His analytical mind observed the crowd's response to the pickles and he got excited. A few days later, he told me what he had observed and said, "I'm retired now, and if you would like to make it a real business, not a hobby, I'll help you." We always worked well together, so I thought: "Why not give it a try?" We put the wheels in motion, incorporated and Texas Sassy Foods was formally born.

Today, Texas Sassy products are carried from coast to coast.  We haven’t hit all fifty states yet, but we are well on our way. We recently debuted our product line in all HEB Central Markets in Texas; and we are now international as well. You can find Texas Sassy in Latvia and Canada and we look forward to expanding in Europe. Our next, and on-going challenges are to grow our product line and obtain broader name recognition by continuing to produce quality products that people remember for their unique sweet, sour, and spicy flavor.