To honor Women’s History Month, we’ve decided to feature a few of our favorite woman-owned brands throughout the month of March in the hopes of putting a well-deserved spotlight on some amazing products and amazing women.
Sauce and Destroy's story starts one day in 2016 in New York City. A bartender sketched a wolf onto a bar napkin while listening to “Search and Destroy” by Iggy and the Stooges. Today, that eye catching wolf is the logo of Sauce and Destroy, a one-person owned and operated company, now located in Southern Maine.
That bartender, now founder and owner of Sauce and Destroy, Alana R., had a vision. Growing up watching and cooking sauces with her mother, gave her the drive to produce a hearty, simple jarred pasta sauce that could stand on its own with no doctoring up required.
Below are five questions we asked Sauce and Destroy creator and owner, Alana R., and her thoughtful responses.
- Did you always want to create a product?
- I did, before Sauce and Destroy, I had my own clothing brand. I’m constantly creating.
- What inspired you to create your food products?
- I’ve always been a huge foodie and always had a lot of ideas surrounding branding, so I created a brand that expresses my roots and love for food.
- Did you have any women-owned business role models to help you on your brand’s journey?
- Barbara Kruger, Bjork, and Vivienne Westwood.
- What has owning a business taught you?
- As a solo business owner, so much. Not having a business partner to rely on for a second opinion, you learn a lot from going at it on your own. At the end of the day, it’s much more rewarding knowing you did it by yourself. I do everything from the merch, website, social media, and all of the branding. Basically, everything you see is me.
- What woman inspires you and why?
- Vivienne Westwood because she’s created from a place of self-expression not worried about how the world viewed her. She broke boundaries in fashion and that’s what I hope to do with Sauce and Destroy, in the food world. Most jarred sauces you see on the shelves have the same kind of theme going on and don't really stand out from the rest. I wanted to create a really cool brand along with an excellent sauce that’s perfect right out of the jar. Anyone that breaks free from the norm is so inspiring to me.
Women Owned, a non-profit dedicated to advancing the success of certified women-owned businesses in the United States and across the globe, posits that “when you support Women Owned businesses, you are investing in women’s economic empowerment, gender parity in commerce, vibrant communities, and the growth of the economy overall.”