Today we’d like to introduce you to Avie Rosacci.
Hi Avie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Happy Jack Spice started with the passion of great food and cooking by two people coming together through the dating app, e-harmony. Myself as “A Butchers Daughter” and my late husband Rob as an amazing “Home Chef & Grillmaster / Pitboss”. My dad worked his whole life in the meat industry and always wanted to own his own meat market. In 1978, that dream came true, and the first Tony’s Meats & Market was born in Centennial. I graduated from high school that year, and with no interest in going to college, I jumped into the family business and was the 4th employee. At this time, there are 3 markets in the south metro Denver region.
Over the years I ran many departments, from head baker to foodservice director. In the last years of my time there, I oversaw the nutrition program at The Denver Broncos for 11 years while at the same time producing (with my amazing team) 3-5 weddings and events each and every weekend during wedding season. A lot of food was loaded onto trucks and sent all over the Denver Metro Area and beyond. I was very proud of the quality of our events and the team of incredibly hard-working people. Many have become close friends over the years.
If anyone has been in foodservice, you know how demanding this business is. After 38 years, I was struggling with health issues exacerbated by stress. It was a hard decision, but I sold my shares in 2017.
I knew I needed to make a change for my health but I was not getting anywhere with conventional medicine and I knew I needed to understand WHAT was going on with my body and HOW to permanently fix it, so I signed up for Nutrition Therapy School and became a Nutrition Therapist Master. It was a lot of hard work but worth every book I read, test I took, and paper I prepared. I did reverse my health issues and now feel the best I have ever felt in my life. It can be done.
Now bored in 2020, I was visiting with my late husband Rob, and we had always thought about doing a cookbook together. In this chat, the cookbook morphed into a spice company. My Rob was quite the home grillmaster/pitboss. I would put him side by side with some of the greatest out there. Over the past 20 years, he had created his own spices for home use, grilling, smoking, and other cooking methods. Mostly “carnivore-centric” spice blends.
So, we launched Happy Jack Spice Co. in November 2020. It really was my career as Rob was still full-time at his real job. I started out by making and bottling all the spices myself. Got the website up, Started more social media. Started shipping…. having a great time. The blends are now made by a co-packer as the company has grown and I could not keep up!
We lost Rob unexpectedly early in 2021 and our kids pushed me to continue with Happy Jack Spice. It took me months for my brain to function again but by late summer I was able to drive forward and continue moving the spice company forward. I am so thankful to my kids for the encouragement. I am having so much fun in this business and proud to continue to share Rob’s creations — and some of mine — with so many amazing home chefs. Cooking can and should be fun — not a chore!
Happy Jack Spice is only made with real ingredients, quality sea salts, and no garbage. PURE GOODNESS ONLY!
People always ask, “Who is Jack?” Well, that is our happy fluffy smiling Samoyed husky, his name is Jack and he is always happy!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not smooth at all. Losing your spouse and business partner is the hardest thing I have ever experienced in my life. I had no idea what grief was as this was my first real loss. Without my grief counselor, I am not sure how it would have went down, but he was there to get me from one end of grief to the other. He was amazing.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
What sets us apart from other spice companies in the market is the quality of the raw ingredients that are used. We use real food, real peppers, sea salt — not iodized table salt. Smoked paprika to flavor, not to color the spice. Real black Tellicherry peppers, not the cheaper pepper that can have olive pits ground in it for bulk. For lemon flavor in our Lemon Pepper Magic, we use Lemon Juice Powder — not citric acid — you get the picture. Nothing man-made can beat what mother nature provides!
Happy Jack Spice is known for a little heat. About half the line has some, but only a couple are what I would consider moderate. Heat has to be measured by the individual, not the maker as our taste buds differ greatly from person to person. Turn the jar around and read the label. I do list any hot peppers individually or maybe a smoky one so you can imagine the flavor, but we never list all the spices as that would give away our secret blend. But trust me, anything listed as a spice is a pepper from around the world.
Our blends are designed for the grill or smoker, but that does not mean you can’t make a great potato salad, soup or cream cheese dip out of them. I work to create recipes so that Happy Jack Spice blends can be used often. Who needs dozens of jars of spice in the cabinet (except me since it’s my business)? I help you make many meals with the 7 blends currently in our lineup.
How do you define success?
Success is when you smile when you go to work. Success is family time and treating yourself to life’s pleasures. Here is a quote I keep on my desk:
“One life on this earth is all that we get. Whether it is enough or not enough, and the obvious conclusion would seem to be that at the very least we are fools if we do not live it as fully and bravely and beautifully as we can.” — Frederick Buechner
Pricing:
- $10 per jar
- Gifts ranging between $22 and $100 on average
Contact Info:
- Email: avie@happyjackspice.com
- Website: https://happyjackspice.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happyjacksizzles/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HappyJackSpice
