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Spicing Up Arkansas: Multicultural Entrepreneurial Journeys with Randy and Shauna Pulayya
Episode 333 • 27th October 2025 • I Am Northwest Arkansas® • Randy Wilburn
00:00:00 00:49:38

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About the Show:

"When life gives you peppers, we make pepper sauce."

       – Randy Pulayya

In this episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas®, host Randy Wilburn sits down with Randy and Shauna Pulayya, the husband-and-wife founders of West Indies Peppa Sauce. Their story begins with a chance encounter at JFK airport and unfolds into a thriving food brand that beautifully weaves together Guyanese and Vietnamese heritage. Through authentic family recipes and a deep commitment to preserving food culture, the Pulayyas have built something truly special.

From navigating unexpected job layoffs on milestone birthdays to launching their brand full-time, Randy and Shauna share the setbacks and breakthroughs that shaped their journey. Drawing inspiration from their travels across 60 countries, they've brought their passion for authenticity and grit to every bottle. Listeners will hear about their early production days at the Arkansas Food Innovation Center (AFIC), the challenges of scaling their business, and how they've landed on grocery shelves from Florida to Northwest Arkansas. Their story is a powerful reminder of what's possible when you lean on community resources, show up authentically, and share the flavors of home with the world.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone passionate about entrepreneurship, food culture, and the inspiring spirit of Northwest Arkansas.

Key Takeaways:

  • Authenticity Matters: Randy and Shauna credit their success to sharing their real selves and family stories with their customers, making their brand relatable and memorable.
  • Food Culture Preservation: WIPS was born from a mission to protect and share the vibrant food traditions of the Caribbean and West Indies, as well as Vietnamese flavors.
  • Community Resources: The Arkansas Food Innovation Center played a vital role in helping them scale production and connect with local food entrepreneurs.
  • Embracing Risk and Reinvention: Both Randy and Shauna were laid off from corporate jobs, but they embraced entrepreneurship with hope and perseverance.
  • Family and Faith: Their blended family and values keep them grounded, grateful, and focused on building a legacy for their kids.
  • Power of Connection: Attending events in Northwest Arkansas and joining new programs like the Madam C.J. Walker Boot Camp are just some ways they continue to grow through relationships.

All this and more on this episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas® podcast.

Important Links and Mentions on the Show*

This episode is sponsored by*

Signature Bank of Arkansas "Community Banking at its Best!"

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*Note: some of the resources mentioned may be affiliate links. This means we get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

Connect more with I am Northwest Arkansas:

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Consider donating to our production team to keep this podcast running smoothly. Donate to I Am Northwest Arkansas

Mentioned in this episode:

Signature Bank of Arkansas "Community Banking at its Best!"

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Looking to discover the best local businesses in Northwest Arkansas? 🌟 From cozy cafes to essential services, FindItNWA.com has got you covered. Connect with your local community with just one click and explore something great. Visit finditnwa.com today! #LocalBusiness #CommunitySupport"

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Transcripts

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Hey, folks, and welcome to another episode of I Am Northwest

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Arkansas. Today, I'm joined by a dynamic duo,

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Randy and Shauna Pulayya, partners in life and

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business, who are blending their multicultural roots into a

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bold, flavorful brand that's making waves nationwide.

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From a chance meeting at JFK airport to building a business

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rooted in Guyanese and Vietnamese heritage,

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their story is full of authenticity, grit and purpose.

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In this, we explore how their homemade pepper sauce

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evolved into a sought after product now found

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in a multitude of grocery stores both in Florida and now

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here in northwest Arkansas. Shout out to Ozark Natural Foods and

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they're going to continue to expand throughout the country. We also dive into their

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journey through global travel, family life, and how

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showing up fully as yourself might just be the secret

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sauce to business success. Let's get into it.

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It's time for another episode of I Am Northwest

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Arkansas, the podcast covering the intersection of

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business, culture, entrepreneurship and life in general

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here in the Ozarks. Whether you are considering a move to

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this area or trying to learn more about the place you call home,

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we've got something special for you. Here's our host,

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Randy Wilburn. Shauna and

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Randy, how are you guys doing today? We're doing great. Thank you so much for

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having us. Randy, we're excited to, to speak with you and your audience here.

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Absolutely fantastic. Thanks for having us, Randy. We're super excited.

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For sure, for sure. So listen, I, I certainly want to

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dive into the work that you're doing and as I do with

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all of my podcast guests, we always have a chance to have a little bit

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of a origin story conversation so I can learn more about what

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you're doing. But I would love for you to take our listeners back to the

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beginning. What inspired Randy, you and Shauna to

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start this business? So I guess I'll take this one.

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This is my great grandma's recipe. So I'm first generation

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American, born and raised in New York City, and

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I've been making my great grandma's pepper sauce for the last

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20 plus years. And

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you know, Shana and I have done a lot of really cool things in our

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life. We lived in Vietnam for four years, South Korea for a year. Like you

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mentioned, we met at the airport. That's true. I was with my grandma and grandpa

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and my cousin, JFK security line had a quick

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conversation and a conversation led to an

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amazing life together with two kids and West Indies pepper

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sauce. But I've been making this for about 20 years and I've. We've had other

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businesses in the past We've, you know, work corporate America

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jobs. But last year, we were on

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the brinks of just coming up with, hey, we need to start a business that

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we're really passionate about. And we actually launched our business back in

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February of last year. A month later, on my

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40th birthday, I got laid off. You know, listen, you're in

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corporate America. You're chasing the money. And that's when I

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really leaned all the way in on to do the doing this.

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Shauna and I have been to 60 countries, six across six continents.

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We know what the world looks like. We understand it's at a

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beautiful place. But one of the trends that we recognize is food culture is

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dying. And for me, I cook a lot. Shauna cooks a

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lot as well. We're very passionate about our flavors and our culture.

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And, you know, our mission's about preserving food culture for the 42

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million people who represent the Caribbean and West Indies. You know, our flavors

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are wide and deep and flavorful,

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and we make a lot of. We have a lot of influence across all

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communities across the world or so. And pepper sauce is one of those

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things that resonated with. With us, and we started

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never look back, and we're excited for the future. I love that.

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So, you know, and I wanted to. I wanted to ask you about

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that. You know, you kind of stole some of my thunder there about getting laid

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off on your 40th birthday. What did that specifically? And I want to get

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a little granular here, if you'll indulge me. What did that specifically teach you about

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reinvention and risk? Yeah, you know,

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I was in New York with birthday weekend, and I was. You know, I

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got a call from my director, hey, we're doing layoffs,

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and there's a lot of folks who are getting impacted. And

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for me, I just took it as is. Right, Randy? Like,

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things happen in life for a reason. You have to have your ears open

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and your eyes open. I know our backgrounds where we

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come from. I work for UPS and DHL Express. I've helped scale

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brands to, you know, 100,000 to $10 million. A lot of brands

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in northwest Arkansas. So I was comfortable. I really was very

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comfortable on this. There was no moment of,

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oh, man, I lost my job. It's like, all right, you know, the

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risks. Like, corporate America, we understand the risks. And

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my family is Hindu, so we believe in astrology. Right. Things happen

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in life for a reason. People tend to hear this, and they're like, oh, man,

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I feel sorry for them, man. I say, when life gives you Peppers. We make

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pepper sauce. You know, during the 17 months of being in business,

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we're going to be featured on the Hot Ones Caribbean edition. Martha Stewart's

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magazine just gave us a shout out about our brand being an emerging brand

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and whips being sunshine in a jar and deserving a place

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in every place in the kitchen. And we're getting ready to launch into

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Sprouts farmers market across the state of Florida, into 35 stores.

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And, you know, our customers are put in there, putting us

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there. So we are no strangers to hard work. You got to be

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grateful for every moment across the board. And I think one of

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the biggest things that makes us win, it's our authenticity. I'm

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done. There's no tie here. There's no tie. Backward hat. You know, it's

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just, this is who I am. People see us as the brand, and they love

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our flavors. Right. But, yeah, you know, we're all in. I

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love that. I love that. Shauna, you want to add anything to that? I mean,

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I think, you know, I'm going to tell the truth, Right. It was very kind

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of scary, right. Whenever Randy got laid off. Right. And then actually I was laid

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off, like, three months later. So we were both sort of out of work.

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Like, no, like, you know, income. Real income coming in

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initially. Right. But like Randy said, things happen

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for a reason. We had been building up to West Indies pepper sauce

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for a while, so, you know, it was great. We had our brand out there.

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We were making waves in Florida with, you know,

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local customers here. And then, of course, with our support, Northwest

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Arkansas, the community there. You know, we really started with

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Northwest Arkansas, working with the Arkansas Food Innovation

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Center. So I think, like Randy said, everything happens for a

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reason. And I think with our backgrounds and, like,

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Randy's background in sales, logistics, and then my background in marketing, it was

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just like a great combination to, you know, really kick

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off West Indies pepper sauce and do it full steam ahead. So

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I think everything just kind of led up to this.

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This moment. So we're really excited. And it's been like,

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17, 18 months now since we've actually launched, so we're really

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excited for the future and looking forward to it. So,

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you know, it's hard telling somebody when they're going through something like that that,

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you know, when one door closes, another opens, Right? I

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firmly believe that. I really do. And it's funny, as you guys are talking about

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this, I just recently had somebody that is a friend of mine that I know

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just came to me and said, yeah, out of the blue, they Got laid off

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after 11 years. And, you know, they were talking about it on a Monday,

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and then on a Tuesday, they got their notice. And, you know, that is the

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fragility of corporate life. Right. Of work life. And

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I think nowadays it means that as

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individuals, we have to constantly have a number of

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options available to us. Yeah, you can burn your boats if you want to and

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kind of go that route, but I always think it's good to have

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several irons in the fire. And even the simple fact

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we're doing the pepper sauce on the side while you

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were still working speaks volumes to the fact that you were just.

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That was an opportunity that you were able to meet because you

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had been preparing for it for a while. Absolutely,

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yeah. So listen, I want to ask specifically,

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how has your family story and your connection to Arkansas

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influenced your brand? Right. So you've got the West Indian piece. Right. And

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I always say, my wife's from Trinidad, all her family's from Trinidad.

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So I know about pepper sauce. I love pepper sauce. How

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did you know? Talk about that connection to

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Arkansas. Right. Shawnee, you're from the Van Buren

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area. Shout out to the pointers. But I definitely would love to

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know, when you kind of marry those two cultures together,

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how did that influence what you guys are creating right now? Yeah,

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so I'm born and raised in New York City, Queens,

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and I'm an honorary Arkansas. Right. So

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I'll take you. Yeah. I am no stranger to northwest

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Arkansas. My wife from the River Valley, Van

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Buren. You know, we have a lot of good friends out in Fort

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Smith, Northwest Arkansas. Lived there for two years. We're always coming back

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and forth. Right. We may reside in Orlando, Florida,

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but a part of our heart is in northwest Arkansas. So

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we're plugged into the business community. You know, across the board. We've seen

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the growth, the incredible growth happen in northwest Arkansas

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over the last 12 plus years. Our connection with

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northwest Arkansas is. When we first got started,

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Randy, we were working out of a commercial kitchen in Florida,

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and we got connected with. Afic, the

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Food Innovation Center. Yeah, they're. They're great folks.

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Damara Baker and so many great folks over there,

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essentially creating opportunities for people that want to do things,

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especially in the food service space, to kind of try their hand at it

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without maybe, you know, having to bet the farm Right.

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On the opportunity. Ghost kitchens, think of those kinds of things.

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AFIC is there for companies. They can be a co packer, they can be

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a number of things. We're going to have them on the podcast at some point.

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In time, in the near future. But we at the podcast. I am Northwest Arkansas

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is a friend of a fake. And we have tried to promote everything that

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they've been doing in our region because it really does

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matter, especially for entrepreneurs like yourselves. And how

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you guys. It just makes it a little easier for you guys to get off

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the ground and run and start running. Yeah. And you're absolutely. You hit

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it right on the head. Randy. We were doing this in a commercial

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kitchen in Florida. We wanted to make sure our I's are

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dotted and t's are crossed. So we partnered with afic

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and what an unbelievable

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resource. It is. Unbelievable. So they actually helped us with

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one of our first big production runs. And so we

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started off our journey from a co Packer perspective, working

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with the aficionados. And as we hit an

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opportunity to kind of just scale bigger, we move the production back to

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Orlando from a scalability perspective. So,

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you know, my message is, if you have any type of business that you're looking

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to get started and you live in Northwest Arkansas,

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you got to have a conversation with it. They're incredible across the board.

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So then, you know, for us, that's one of our business.

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You know, connections to Northwest Arkansas and Damaris is

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unbelievable across the board. I remember our first conversation working with

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John. Man, he was just a wealth of, like, information

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across the board. Always been supportive again, throughout our

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processes. So every time we get updates, we send them messages. And

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we know where we come from. Randy, right? Yeah, we know where we come from,

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and we know the players and people and the resources who help us to put

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us in a position from there. Yeah, yeah. No, I. I like

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hearing those kinds of stories. And I mean, AFIC has only

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been on the ground for a short period of time, and they're making this kind

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of impact. I want people to understand that, especially people that live here in Northwest

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Arkansas, is that you have people from other parts of the country, like where

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these guys are coming from, that are speaking

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highly about some of the resources that we have right in our own backyard.

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And that's why I want to encourage folks to really take advantage of the

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things that you see around here. Some of you have dreams to do what

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Randy and Shauna are doing, and I really want to encourage you to get out

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there because there are the means here in Northwest Arkansas

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to do that. I wanted to ask you a little bit about just this

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whole concept of authenticity. How has that played in

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building your customer base and product loyalty? Because it sounds like you

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guys have been like, guerrilla marketing. You've been kind of just

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one person at a time, getting out there, getting in front of

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folks and just letting them know about the pepper sauce. How has that

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authentic journey played a role in building your customer

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base and brand and product loyalty? Yeah,

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I could answer the first part of this, and I'll kick it off to Shauna,

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but I would say, you know, what's nice about doing this

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journey, Randy? We don't have to be somebody that we're not.

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Right. And I think people hearing about our

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backgrounds being proud first generation Americans. My

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family's from Guyana. My dad immigrated from Guyana to

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Brooklyn in the late 70s. And

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hearing that journey, it resonates with people.

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Shauna's mother being adopted from Vietnam at the

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age of three, then coming to northwest Arkansas being

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again, Vietnamese, proud first generation Vietnamese American.

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We've lived in Vietnam for four years, South Korea for a year. We taught English.

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You know, we had a business. We were manufacturing dresses. But it's

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so much more than that, Randy. The amount of stories that we had,

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the culinary stories that we have through our travels across the board,

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you know, it really helps, right? People can see

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through, you know, they can see through the bs, Right? They want to hear that

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story across the border. So the amount of experience that we have and

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stories that we. That we have been able to have across our life,

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it's been unbelievable. Because put us in a room. I don't

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care who's in a room, Randy. It doesn't matter what your

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socioeconomic background is or where you come from. We

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can connect with you through our life experience. That is a

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powerful thing. When we talk about, hey, you could put our red

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pepper sauce on some eggs, Mac and cheese, fried chicken, make a whipped spicy

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margarita, throw it on some, you know, soba noodles or so the yellow, put it

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on some chicharron ribs, brisket, tacos. You

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know, obviously, northwest Arkansas. Wow. Barbecue is

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unbelievable. Right? Shout out to Wright's barbecue for us.

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We put our yellow pepper sauce on any type of briskets

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or, you know, any type of barbecue. With some honey, we can

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navigate and adapt the conversation to our clientele or

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so. And we're not making this up. It's through our life experience, because we could

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do this. And I think it's a powerful thing. Right? Like, people

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value. People value that. Yeah, yeah.

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You want to add to it? Yeah. I would just say that, you know,

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everybody is a real person. Like Randy said, we have so many

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stories going back to when we lived overseas, and all of

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our customers have stories too, so we love hearing their stories. We love hearing,

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you know, how they use our sauce. Like Randy said, this is a sauce that

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he's been making for a long time. It's not just something

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like we created out of our garage. It was something that has

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been in the family for generations. And when we lived

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overseas, he would, you know, living in Vietnam and even in Florida

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too, you have like so much access to fresh peppers. So he would

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make the sauce like friends there and then family

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here. Right. People loved it. So we just have so many

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stories of using it there in Vietnam and South Korea, everywhere

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we go. So it's really something that is true to, you know, an

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everyday thing that we have a staple in our kitchen, really.

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And that's something we really want to share with everybody that just makes, you know,

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the simplest meal, like, really, really great. So

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I think, you know, just sharing our authentic selves

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and how we use our sauce and sharing that with people just, you

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know, helps to show that we're not just like selling some kind of

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random sauce. It is like a family recipe. Yeah. Well, you

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know, and it's so funny. We have an exchange student living with us and he's

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from Europe. And, you know, I never thought of it, and I actually lived over

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in Europe for a while in Germany, but I didn't realize that, you know, I

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know as Americans, we are into our sauces, right? Be it, you

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know, a variety of different sauces, but not every place around the world is

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into their sauces per se. Right. And to me, it's like everywhere

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I go, I carry some pepper sauce with me. As a matter of fact, I'm

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looking over to my left because I know I have some, some Scotch bonnet

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sauce that I carry with me just in case I'm on a FL or I'm

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somewhere and the food isn't. Doesn't quite have that flavor that I'm

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looking for. But, you know, it's like, it's almost like what

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you're doing is awakening the senses of people that

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haven't necessarily had that experience of a full

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flavor meal where you add in, you know, a really well

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done pepper sauce that can. That might bring some heat, but it also will

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bring some other flavor profiles to a meal

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and just kind of set it off and make it special. Yeah, I

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think, you know, a few things, right. Like, I'm a numbers

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guy, Randy. Right. I love stats. You know, 48% of

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Americans are looking for more authentic

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hot sauce, you know, add into their palates. Right.

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America's taste buds are getting spicier. Right.

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We're Spicy, but we're also flavorful, so you could kind of follow

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the trend on that. I think from a global perspective, we still

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do a lot of farmers markets. We do about 20 to 25

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farmers markets. So, you know, use that as a tip. If you're listening

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to this podcast and you're trying to start a business, test your market,

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be ingrained in your local community. Our

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success on where we are right now is from our community. And our

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community is quite wide. It's not only in Orlando, it's

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across the U.S. new York, Northern California, Northwest

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Arkansas. But I think from a global perspective, we have a lot

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of customers in Canada and the UK Right

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now. We're getting those daily messages. Hey, are you available as

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yet? When can we get you? So I think that appetite for

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sauce outside of the U.S. oh, it's there. Oh, it is.

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It is definitely there. We live in eight, you know, a planet

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that has eight billion people. Yeah. Eat man. Yeah, they do.

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You know, our mission is about preserving food culture so when grandma mom passes on,

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food flavors don't die. And I hear the stories, I hear the great stories. And

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I hear the stories on man. My aunt passed away, my mom passed away, my

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grandma passed away. I wish, I wish we'd have taken

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time to written this down or to preserve this. We love what you're doing.

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And you know, we say this, it's not a talking point. It really

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is what we do and how we live our life. We have a five and

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seven year old. We want them to be ingrained in our food culture.

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Sure. No, I love that. Now your social media journey is

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kind of interesting. You kind of went from behind the camera

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to being the face of the brand. Was that intentional or

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was that something that you kind of wrestled with before you.

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You made that move? No. That's an interesting question. I

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have a background in marketing. Right. So knowing how, you

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know, understanding anyway for social media, but my marketing

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background comes from B2B, so it's definitely more, you know,

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content focused, like thought leadership type things.

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And then coming to B2C company West Indies pepper sauce was a little bit different.

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And obviously being a consumer of these types of things, we

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had to change it. It's not the same. Right. It's not the same as B2B.

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And yeah, I think, you know, initially we started out with like, you

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know, just showing the sauce and everything and showing how to use it, which is

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what people like to see. But as we got into it,

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you know, Randy's great with people in person, so I wanted to get

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him in front of the camera, you know, getting comfortable

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talking to the camera, talking to our audience online. And he

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got there. So I think he's. He's pretty well

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versed in being a social media maven, or I don't know how you want

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to call it, but. No, that's fine. Yeah, but, Randy, listen,

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I remember when we first created a TikTok account, and,

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you know, we probably did, like, 25 takes, and I was

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reading from a script, and Shauna was like, well, Brandon, what the hell are you

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doing? Be yourself. Yeah, yeah, be yourself. And

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I slowly but surely got there, right? And I think

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it doesn't matter who your brand is or what you represent.

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You gotta get your face on camera, right? Like, people really, they're

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looking for that level of authenticity. They want to see

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the person. They want to see the good, the bad, ugly. They want to see

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your flaws. They want to hear your stories. And I

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was a little apprehensive on jumping onto social media, but, you

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know, in this business, if you're not sharing your story and telling your story,

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somebody else is telling your story for you and for us, we want to make

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sure our story's being told in its authentic manner.

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And we get it, man. We hear people, we hear our customers across the

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board. They're like, wow, are you guys paying a lot of money on advertising or

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everything? Because you guys are everywhere. And I'm like, we are bootstrapped.

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Everything that you see, it's just my wife, myself, right?

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We don't sit back with the, you know, from a huge private equity

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company or anything like that. We are bootstrapped. And to see

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us make that splash in this short amount of time, it's

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humbling. It truly is humbling. You know, and that's the thing. I mean, I tell

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people all the time, and for those of you that are obviously listening to this,

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I'm holding up my phone, but this is one of the most powerful devices.

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It is a blessing and a curse at the same time, right? Because

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sometimes it divides our attention, but at other times, if used

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properly, it can be an amazing tool that can take you

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to the four corners of the earth without you ever leaving your

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dining room table. And that's the beauty of the technology

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that we have at our disposal. And then when you layer on that AI

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right, then you have a force multiplier of things that now

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allow a quote, unquote, mom and pop, right? Which is technically what you

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guys are, a mom and pop organization that's going to continue to grow and

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advance and evolve. It allows you to be bigger than you are

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as you continue to get out there and get the word out there. But I

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think there's something to be said for authenticity and for just

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being your unique self because we, everything

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is fed to us in such a curated manner that we

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sometimes have a hard time differentiating what is real and

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what isn't. And so when you go out there and you put your authentic self

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out there, it's just refreshing. And that's why some of the most

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viral videos are the ones that are unedited and just,

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you know, just straightforward and kind of raw

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emotion and they make a huge difference. Yeah, no,

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well said. Yeah. So, well, listen, I want to ask you a couple of other

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questions because you were just here recently in Northwest Arkansas for an event.

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I would love for you to talk about your experience with that event. And then

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I want to talk about something else that you just also recently got involved

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in to kind of help up your game, if you will, with the

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West Indian pepper sauce. But talk about just

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your takeaways from participating in that event. As of

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the time of us recording this, you were here last week in

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Northwest Arkansas, specifically in Bentonville for an amazing

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event where there were some outstanding individuals including Jesse Itzler

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and several others. I think you ran into the young

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ladies from Black Owned, nwa, Jasmine and Jaron

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and so many other people that were here for a large

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event. Could you talk just a little bit about that and what your experience was

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like? Yeah, no, absolutely. So, you know, we're again, we live

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in Orlando, but we're very connected to Northwest Arkansas.

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So my brother in law, Justin Erso, he owns a company

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called Trive. So if you're starting off in the

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retail game as an emerging brands like they definitely work when to help

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get you to where you need to be. We got an invite from him,

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you know, because he was going to be on a speaking panel with Chaos.

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I forgot the name of the title. Keeping Calm and Chaos with Emerging

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Brands. And you know, while I was there, it

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was cool to see so many brands and founders

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and investors hearing their story. My

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takeaway is if you're in retail and

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you're not in Northwest Arkansas, you're not in

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retail. Yeah, yeah. That's a statement. It might ruffle

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some feathers, but there's a lot of truth in that Northwest

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Arkansas, home to Walmart, JB, Fortune 1

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and that's it. And the amount of talent that comes out there, that's

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unbelievable. But you know, some of the takeaways, hearing

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Jesse speak on on stage was

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authenticity. Right. Being a spiritual billionaire.

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And one of the things that I love from his conversation was he talked

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about his father, about spending time with family, being,

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you know, when somebody asks you how you're doing, your

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response should be, I'm doing outstanding. Right? Yeah, you got to be

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100% in it. I had an opportunity to actually get a photo. I got a

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selfie with him as he was like exiting. So it was fantastic

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to connect. And the conversation was like, hey, Jesse, I love your conversation.

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I see that you're from Brooklyn, I'm from Queens. I love your level of authenticity.

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Got a photo with him there. I think the takeaway was

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from being at this summit. Everybody was there.

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Yanni had a great speech. But, you know, doing $50

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million in five years and hearing about the good, the bad and the

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ugly along the way. And he's in Westchester, New York as well. Got a. Was

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able to connect with him as well. It doesn't matter who you are, where you're

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from. You know, we were on stage as an emerging brand

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and we got to see a lot of investors out there as well. And I

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think across the board is the takeaway is if you got a

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brand and you're in retail and you're not in northwest Arkansas,

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do yourself a favor, reevaluate what you're doing and make sure you have,

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you know, a presence in northwest Arkansas. Some of the best and

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brightest minds in this industry reside out here. And Randy,

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I love what you do because you help give a lot of those people a

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platform. You know, I've seen your work. I see who the brands that you've

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touched across the board, just the community, man, it's. It's

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incredible. Yeah. You know, as you were saying all that, I was thinking

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to myself, yeah, you know, proximity is power. Right. Sometimes

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you don't necessarily need a round of funding. You need

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a relationship, you need a phone number. You

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need a word of encouragement. Right. Because I think that's the thing that

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sometimes is missed. A lot of people, you know, this whole archetype

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of the entrepreneur that just shuts the door and just goes into

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their lab and goes to work. No entrepreneur that I

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know that has ever been hugely successful has done it by themselves.

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And when you have that kind of feedback and that kind of

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loop of contact and information, whether it's with your brother in

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law Justin and his beautiful wife Molina, people that have been on my,

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on this podcast and are doing amazing things at many levels

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in northwest Arkansas, or it's just bouncing into Jesse,

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itzler who started Marque jets, he is the. I

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always like to say he is the husband of Sarah Blakely of Spanx fame.

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But he in his own right, he's got a great, an amazing story of

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resilience relationship and again, that

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whole concept of proximity to power. If you ever want to hear

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a story about an entrepreneur that made it by

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just connecting with other people, he's one of the guys that I've listened to who's

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talked about just the importance of sending a thank you note or sending a gift

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to somebody unexpected. It's one of the reasons why I give away a T

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shirt with every, every podcast that I do is I love to just say

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thank you. Right. People are thinking, oh, they did me a favor by being on

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the podcast. But I mean, I'm thankful for them. And so it's

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just my way of giving back. But I mean, Jesse Itzler told a story

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one time of why he went. He got some tick, some

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box seats to the Yankees. It was a season thing, season ticket pass

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for the Yankees. They were not cheap, you can imagine. Right. And

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so he broke down and convinced, I want to say it was

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Jay Z to go in halves with him on these box seat

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tickets. But it was in that process of doing

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that and making the connections was what ultimately helped him to

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get Marquee jets off the ground. And so it was

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just him being in that space. Right. Proximity

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is power. Being in that type of space where he was just

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going to rub shoulders with a variety of different people. That's where all the

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difference in the world it can make for a brand, for a business. And

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so you coming to an event like you did in Bentonville,

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I'm trying to drive this home for people. You are in a space where there

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are some extremely successful people. There are some

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extremely successful brand builders in the

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CPG space specifically. But just in general that

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you're able to connect with on an informal basis that can

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lead to things that you don't even have a concept for.

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Yeah, yeah. I think just going to events like that is super

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important. I mean, I come from, like I said, the B2B world.

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So that in person connection is super

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important. You know, we can be online. We need to be online. Right. Like you

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said, the phone that we have, the device is so powerful. But being in person,

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I'm happy Randy was able to go to that event in northwest Arkansas,

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stay connected with the people we know there and make new connections

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is very powerful. Yeah. And I'll kind of like just to

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kind of end on that note is I love

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our family in northwest Arkansas. We are so

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connected out there. And the message that we get

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and the feelings that we get is it's incredible, man. We.

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Everybody wants us to succeed. Everybody wants to hear that

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story of, you know, of success. But we don't only get the,

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hey, you know, we want wish you success. Our customer, they buy

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our products, they get us featured into different, you know, different places. And

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so they're locking up, like, meetings with us. So it's

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incredible. Northwest Arkansas is a very small

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place on the map. Right. But it's very powerful.

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It's very, very powerful. If you're in retail,

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cpg, make sure you have a presence out here. But. But my

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advice is, I'll say this with one thing. If you're going to have any type

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of relationship, make sure you come as your authentic self. You

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know, take that wall building, bring it down, tell

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people about your story. There's a lot of good people out there. Yeah. As a

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matter of fact. Yeah. And I would say this is definitely a little

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aggrandizing, but I would say yeah. And listen to this podcast, because there

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are a lot of people, a lot of movers and shakers in northwest Arkansas that

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have actually been on this podcast that have kind of bared their soul and

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shared their authentic story. And again, I think it's just important to

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realize that we all put our pants on one leg at a time, and that

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there's just some tremendous people that are doing amazing things, and they're

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probably easier to connect with here than I've seen in just about any other part

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of the country. So. So I certainly would encourage people to. To

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take advantage of that. Well, listen, I want to land this plane. I do have

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a few other questions for you because you also are participating

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in another program that you and I talked fondly about. But what is it like

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preparing for and joining the Madam C.J. walker

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Boot Camp? And just as the historian in me, you

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got to let me just tell a little bit about Madam C.J. walker real quick,

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and then I'm going to let you share. But Madam C.J. walker is known

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as the first black millionaire in the United States.

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She is the inventor of the hot comb, among other things

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that she invented. But, you know, women's hair care, especially black women,

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when it comes to hair care, it's really important, and it was even important

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back then. And she tapped into something that was so

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needed and so lacking in the African American community.

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And in doing so, she created a

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huge juggernaut of a business and I would encourage some

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of you, and I'll put a link to the program, but Netflix had a

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Madam C.J. walker bio documentary with

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Octavia Spencer as Madam C.J. walker, and it was

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excellent. And I actually know Madam C.J. walker's granddaughter, A'

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Lelia Bundles, who actually hired me at ABC

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News way back in the day. And so just knowing

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and understanding Madam C.J. walker's story, and I remember A' Lelia

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talking about her grandmother back in the day. I mean, it just

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warms my heart to see that her history and

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her reputation and what she was all about is being

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represented in this boot camp that you're a part of. And so

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I hope I teed that up properly for you. No, you did a great job.

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I would love for you to talk a little bit about why you're excited

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about this boot camp and what it's meaning for you guys.

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Yeah, I'm very, very, very excited to be a part of this

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Madam C.J. walker. She was a pioneer in the industry, right?

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First female Black Millionaire in 1917. Her

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workforce, she grew up to 25,000 people. She was

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integral with regards to being a part of the civil rights

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movement. It's incredible to be a part of this. Her

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great granddaughter, Aaliyah Bundles, was actually a keynote speaker,

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and I had an opportunity to ask her a question. And I asked her a

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question specifically around the Netflix show. And it was

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cool to be in a Just a setting where you were

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able to have these conversations. Jesse Itzer talks about

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this, right? I'm a data guy, right? Eight billion people on this

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beautiful planet. Out of those eight billion, there was only black.

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Eight black billionaires. You know, the numbers

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don't lie, right? The brands who are going through this

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boot camp, they're incredible. I remember meeting

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Latoya from Cosmetology in Miami at

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startup cpg and she. Her products were

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incredible. With her sisters, they're in Whole Foods, Wegmans, Sprouts,

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Walmart, Target. The brands who are going through this is

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incredible. So it is about building community. It's about

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having a voice for the brands who are, you

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know, sharing their story. I'm excited in every aspect of

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it. And I go in there, you know, I'm not the smartest kid in the

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room. I know I'm not. But I am the most

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ambitious. I am willing to put in the work, and I'm willing to

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learn. Because, you know, I tell my kids this, the moment you stop learning,

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you're dead. There's so much knowledge out there. Go and get it. And Be

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the best version of yourself. Yeah, I love that.

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Speaking of kids, I'm glad you brought that up for both. And this is for

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both of you. How do you guys balance family,

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faith, entrepreneurship, and how does that impact

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your life? Guess I can start with this one. Yeah, I mean, I

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think it's all about the balance balancing act, right?

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So as everybody knows, it's a huge balancing act. But

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I think for us, you know, we try to get our kids involved in the

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business. So whether it's like little things like cutting stickers for

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us or putting tape on a box or something like that, you know,

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we get them involved and it's really sweet to see that they want

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to help. And then, you know, even they say stuff like,

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oh, am I going to work for WIPS when I get older? Or can I

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be a WIPS executive? It's really cool to see that. And

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then like, seeing us like, work so hard for something that we really

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love. So I think that's part of it. And then obviously we do

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have to take some time away from the business, be with just the family on

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our own, Right. So I think we try to do that. We just

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had our daughters 8th birthday this weekend, so it's full on like birthday

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celebrations. So we definitely try to take time away and just be

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with the family, but try to build it up together too. And

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they notice that. And we notice it that they're looking up to

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us, which is what we want. What we want to see our kids grow up

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to be the best versions of themselves and be

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successful and ambitious as well. So. Yeah. And from a faith

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perspective, you know, my family's Hindu and families, we have a blended

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family. Hindu Christianity. The message is about being grateful,

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right? Like, you gotta really just be grateful

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for the moment, for what you have. There is good in, in

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everything. Even if you're not having a good day, right. Something bad happens.

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And I love seeing our kids

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recognize that they're very much optimist and I

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love that they are that. Right. Like, and you know,

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a lot of our, both of our kids, they actually help us with like, innovation

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of like future products or so just by having these

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conversations at the dinner table, right? Yes, it's work. We

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work 24 7, but we always have time for our, for our kiddos,

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right? So when we're having dinner, they're always intrigued about,

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hey, hey, who are you guys working with now? Or hey, we should be doing

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this, we should be doing that. Wouldn't it be a cool idea to do? They're

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five and seven. Randy. And it's incredible. It's incredible to see

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them. You know, there's these little beings so

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full of power and energy and just their mindset. I

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love seeing that. And it's great to have our kids

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recognize who we as mom and dad are, because I think they think

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we're cool right now. I got my hat on. Right, right,

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right. It's cool for them to see it. And, you know, our eyes.

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Our eyes are open and our ears open, and we're always grateful for all of

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the moments. Yeah. I love the fact. Well, kids are sponges

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anyway, right? So they're going to. They will either sponge up good stuff or bad

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stuff. And it sounds like you guys are allowing them to sponge up some really

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good things, some great memories, and, you know, kind of

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prepping them for what the future could be. Right. I mean, we all want our

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kids to go and do even greater things than we've done. Right. I

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always tell my boys that my ceiling is their

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floor. Right. And so it's just that idea that let's. I'm going

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to do some stuff, but you're going to do even more than I did. And

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I remember my grandfather telling me that. I'm just thinking, man, I was like, I

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don't know how I'm going to do. You've done. I mean, you. You broke the

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color barrier. And in broadcast journalism, I mean, you did. You were a

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civil rights pioneer. I mean, you did so many things. And I mean, he's not

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the greatest example because it's like, man, he set the bar so high.

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But it's still. It's like I'm constantly trying to reach, and I'm like, I'm

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going to get there. I'm going to get there. And even if I don't quite

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get there, I know my kids are going to get there. Right. And that's the

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key thing. And I. I've always encouraged people to. To really be hopeful

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about that. And I have a lot of hope for this next generation. And I

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think that especially young people, they need to be hopeful about

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what the future holds. And I think you guys are. It sounds like you guys

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are doing a really great job with your kids, although they're still young, keep holding

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onto that fire, because I think that there's some really great

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opportunities for them down the line that they will truly benefit from

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because of the examples that are being set right now with them.

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So. Yeah, listen. Shout out to you, Randy. Now, we've had a few

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conversations. I love what your kids are doing as well. Right.

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Like your kids are not my kids, but they are kids. Yeah, yeah.

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It takes a village. And I love hearing all of that. And

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I think the difference between animals and humans is

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humans. We want our future generations to

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be better than where we are. So like you said with your

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grandpa, I know he holds such a special place in your heart.

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You know, your ceiling is their floor. And you are absolutely right.

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I'm excited about the, you know, about all generations.

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You always hear, you know, the talks about different generations and all that is so.

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But you know what? We're out there. I see it. I talk to people.

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Man, I am so optimistic about the

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future and the people who are part of it. There's a lot of great people

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out there. There are. There are. Well, I mean, listen,

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I gotta ask you this last question. We jump off, but what's

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next for your brand? And what advice do you have

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for aspiring founders here in northwest Arkansas, specifically? But

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it could be advice for anybody that you come in contact with that are kind

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of a couple of steps behind where you are. Right. And so

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what's next for you guys? So we have a lot coming up, right. We

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have really bright plans for our future at Weston Eats Pepper

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Sauce coming up in the near future. You know, like Randy said, we're going to

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be in Sprouts in Florida, starting off in 35

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stores. And then if we it's a 90 day program,

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then we'll be nationwide across the United States, which is really

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exciting. And you know, for founders,

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entrepreneurs, I mean, this is not our first rodeo. We have

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had a couple other businesses, but this one has stuck. So I think it's

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about finding something that you not only

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enjoy, but you've built up the skill set to do

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well at something. Sometimes you might not know what that

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is. It takes a little bit of searching sometimes.

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It took us three sets of businesses, so it's really,

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I think, a gut feeling. And also the second thing

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I would say is just the support that you have. So our support system

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in northwest Arkansas, you know, my family and being from northwest

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Arkansas and the River Valley too, just that, you know, you

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have your base support of these places. So being from

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Arkansas, New York, our family here in Florida, and all of our friends

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we've made around the world, I think it's about keeping those connections,

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being that authentic self that, you know, we want to be and

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staying connected so that, you know, you never know where life's gonna lead you.

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So I think it's just keeping those connections strong for me.

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And I'll end on don't be afraid about having a

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conversation. You never know who's in your

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audience. And for me, Randy, if I was afraid, I would have

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never met my wife. Back in 2007, at 5 o' clock in the

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morning at the JFK security line with my grandma and grandpa and my

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cousin. That right there has

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filled me with so much confidence across the board. I'm not

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afraid about having any conversations. My pops passed away about

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20 years ago and he would always tell us this advice to my, you

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know, my brothers in his broken English, Randy Jr. Brian, go

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to school and take your education. Don't end up like me. I'm in construction. And

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he used to get up at 4:00 in the morning, you know, cold

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10 degrees, putting on his boots. And I

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remember we had red carpet in our home in New York and my

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mom would make tea for us, but we would get up, see enough

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dad. And man, you know, if he could see us

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today, he would be so proud. My older brother is a judge. He's the first

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guy and he's American judge in Osceola County. My younger brother's a PA

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in Jacksonville. I've traveled around the world, but one of the

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things, one of his superpowers that I got was

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the art of the gift of gaff. Yeah, right.

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Having a conversation. Any business owner out there that you're getting

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started, it doesn't matter how great your product or your service is,

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make sure people hear your story. Make sure they hear your feel your soul.

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If you are not willing to do that, don't start.

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You got to tell your story. But we're excited. Randy, thank you so much for

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all the love you've given us. Northwest Arkansas, we love

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you guys. And just keep rocking, keep rocking.

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I love that. I love that. Well, listen, you guys certainly are inspirational

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for me and I appreciate all of those reminders.

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Randy and Shauna and, you know, I mean, look at what can come from a

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chance encounter at JFK airport to now. It's like, wow,

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you know, and so I'm excited for you guys where you are currently,

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as well as what the future holds for West Indian pepper sauce.

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So we certainly encourage you if people want to check out your sauce online, what's

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the website to go to? Yeah, you can find us at shop

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whips.com s h o p w I p s. And

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then on social, it's the same Shop Whips. Okay. Yeah. And we'll put a link

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to all of that in our show notes so everybody can get connected with you

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guys and get some pepper sauce to put on your eggs the next time you

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make a breakfast. So, yeah, yeah, connect with us on LinkedIn

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as well. Right. You know, yeah. What I find is the community. So

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as big as we, you know, the community is, it's small. It is.

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It really is. Yeah. We'll make sure all of that information is on our

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show notes so you can connect with Randy and Shauna on LinkedIn.

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You can connect with them online, you can connect with them in social media channels

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and really support them any way that you can. Even if you just want to

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give them an encouraging word and say how much you appreciated them being

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transparent and sharing their story, just let them know. Because sometimes

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it's those little pieces of advice or

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feedback can be the fuel that we all need to keep going.

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So thank you both very much for joining us today on the podcast.

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Thank you, Randy. Thank you so much. Absolutely. Folks, that's a wrap on

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today's episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas. Thanks to Randy and

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Shauna Palaya for sharing their remarkable journey

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spanning continents, cultures and kitchens. Their

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story is a testament to what's possible when you lead with purpose,

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family and flavor. If you were inspired by today's

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episode, subscribe, share and show some love to

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their growing brand. Find links in the show notes to connect and support

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them. And remember great stories. Start at home,

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keep building, keep sharing, and keep spicing it up, y'. All.

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I'm Randy Wilburn, and this has been another episode of

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of I Am Northwest Arkansas. We'll see you next week.

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Peace.

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We hope you enjoyed this episode of I Am Northwest

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Arkansas. Check us out each and every week, available

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anywhere that great podcasts can be found. For show

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notes or more information on becoming a guest, visit

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IM northwest arkansas.com we'll

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see you next week on IM Northwest

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Arkansas.

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