Meet Chareonski Gray of Traces of Flavor

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chareonski Gray.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Chareonski. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I moved to Phoenix in October of 2019 with my three children and their father. I have never been this far away from “Home” and my family, I was born in Virginia Beach, VA, but because my dad was in the military, lived all over the place. When I was 6 years old my parents separated, and My mother and I settled in her home town of Wichita, KS. That is where I lived the majority of my life. I’ve had an Entrepreneurial mindset since I was very young, and always knew that I wanted to work for myself. Once in elementary school I got in trouble for selling my halloween candy lol. I also love to sing and act, and have always dreamed of being a Star, and I haven’t given up on that dream, just temporarily postponed it for now. I began my Entrepreneur journey in 2010 when I attended cosmetology school and completed my program becoming a licensed cosmetologist. I worked in hair salons for several years, but I really had a passion for cooking.

In 2016 I got the opportunity to join a weekly lineup of singers and poets that performed at a local club every Sunday. It came to my attention that the organizers were looking for someone to provide catering so that the patrons could enjoy food while listening to the acts. Of course, I volunteered because it was a way to make extra cash and introduce people to my cooking. Little did I know they’d love it. Several years later on the night before Cinco de Mayo 2019, I made street tacos for my family as a way to celebrate the culture, and holiday. After dinner, my six-year-old daughter said “mom these are so good; you should sell them. Now, selling food is very popular in my hometown and while I’d thought about it before, I never had the confidence to do it. Later that night, my sister Sheena came over and I threw the idea at her, and she said GO FOR IT! The next day I gathered everything I needed, made a post on FB and the rest was history. I sold out that day, tried it again another day, and sold out again. I began selling taco’s out of my home several days a week, making hundreds of tacos a day. I even catered company lunches. It felt so good to have so many people enjoy my food, the warm reaction that I received inspired me to launch my own catering company.

However, that was short lived because I got news that we had the opportunity to move to phoenix after a few short months. I didn’t turn it down, because I’d always had the desire to leave Kansas, I just didn’t know it would happen as soon as I started doing something I loved. After moving here in October and getting settled, I started thinking of plans to relaunch my catering company, but I knew it would be hard not having any friends or family, or knowing anyone at all. Well then, the unexpected happened, COVID and I just knew there was no way launching a business would even be remotely possible. One day I was writing in my journal after seeing all the Facebook memories of people sharing my food, when the idea of Traces of Flavor came to me. I said to myself “I can’t cook for them, but I can sell them what they need to cook my recipe for themselves”. That night, I came up with a name and within 3 weeks Traces of Flavor was born. I ordered all my materials, cooked some food, took some pictures and posted to Facebook. I didn’t even have a website yet, I did not expect the response that I received . I launched Traces of Flavor on June 18, 2020, and here I am 2 months later being featured in a magazine, and have shipped all over the U.S. I believed in myself, and that has been the best decision I’ve ever made. My goal is to see Traces of Flavor on store shelves all over the country, and to inspire the next entrepreneur to take that big leap of faith. You’ll never win, if you never try.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It most definitely has not been a smooth road, one of my most costly lessons that I’ve had to learn is how to properly package and ship glass bottles. At first I was so discouraged because people’s jars kept arriving broken, although I thought I was doing a good job. I started coming down really hard on myself, not only was I losing money, in my mind I was letting people down.At traces of Flavor Customer service is our number one priority. well number two, providing an excellent product is #1 but customer service and satisfaction is definitely a close second. When that is compromised I am not happy, however I kept trying and making changes until I got it right. Today all packages arrive safe and sound.

Traces of Flavor – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Traces of Flavor is a brand of Organic seasoning blends. Our blends contain no additives, no MSG, and no synthetic anti caking agents. They are gluten free, and vegan as well. We use all-natural herbs and spices, and our flavors are Bold and Fresh. Our blends are also available without sodium for those who may have medical conditions, or are just watching their salt intake. What really sets us apart from other brands is that our customers and their input are truly our driving force, we want to provide a product that everyone can use. When we originally launched there was not a no sodium option available. It was not until a week later when a customer said “I’d love to support, but I can’t have salt” in three days we offered no sodium.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
In the future Traces of Flavor plans to launch new flavors, a few that we have in the works, are a steak blend, an Italian blend and a veggie blend. We plan to continue to grow and expand and possibly even publish a cookbook, and other cookware.

Pricing:

• Our spices are $10.00 a piece or you can purchase all 3 for $24.00.

Contact Info:

• Website: tracesofflavor.com
• Email: tracesofflavor@gmail.com
• Instagram: tracesofflavor
• Facebook: tracesofflavor

Image Credit:
Asaya Shutters Justice Davis

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