SeaFood&Spice A

"Alyee!" That is the name of the "hottest" hot sauce coming out of South Georgia, and Jessica Repress is the woman behind it. For Jessica, it all started with her mother, a

South Korean expatriate who started her own business, David's Crab House, with her husband, Jessica's father, back in Savannah in 1992.

Watching customers use the hot sauce on a variety of meals cooked in the family restaurant gave Jessica the idea to push the product further than her neck of the woods.

"Our customers would come in and put it on our chicken and even our collard greens. That's the only hot sauce I put on my collard greens because of the seasoning in it. I don't need anything else," says Jessica. "It's made for seafood, and it's not just a hot sauce. It has flavor to it. It's more than just spicy. It has flavor to it. It's thicker, not watery, so you can sauté with it."

Jessica 's Parents

The product is homemade and handwhipped, but the secrets Jessica will share end right there. Suffice it to say, one taste of this delicious sauce is enough to make you understand that the family knows what they are doing. "When you cook something with love, you feel it. You taste it. It's not just thrown out there."

Jessica has no limit to where she wants this hot sauce to go. "I want it to reach all the way to Korea, if possible. So not just the United States, maybe even Mexico. I want it everywhere because it deserves to be everywhere."

South Korea is a particularly desirable destination for her product because it honors Jessica's South Korean heritage through her mother. Jessica feels she throws in her mother's taste and culture in the hot sauce. "My mom is Korean, and my dad is Black. My mom came to the [United] States from South Korea when she met my dad, who was in the military," Jessica continues. "My mom came here knowing very little English, so for her to conquer and demolish the seafood industry, to where people are trying to duplicate her, it speaks volumes, and I see me in my mom. I see my mom in me. It's definitely in my genes to push it farther than what it is."

Jessica is just as proud of her father and his Aiken, South Carolina, roots. She also uses her product to express her Black pride and love of the Black community that so embraced her product and helped make it a success. The Black label on the hot sauce bottle is an expression of Jessica's pride in the Black community, who continue to support her product with such strong consistency. She wants the Black community to know this product represents them "so that when a Black person does see this bottle in Walmart or Publix, they already got a stamp on it."

We would be remiss, however, if we did not mention Jessica's husband, Darryl Repress Jr., who was a constant source of inspiration, ideas, and positivity during the process of branding and selling this product. The success has come faster than either of them imagined. "We had to stop taking orders," says Darryl, because of such high demand for the product. Darryl continues, "We've been together for 3 years and some months. Since I met her, she's been talking about this, just to get this done. I've seen the days she wanted to give up, sleeping with the laptop on her." Beaming with pride, he continues. "You're going to fail going this road, but now it's three years later. She finally got it done, and it's only the beginning."

With a team this positive, with a product this great, and with a woman this driven, its truly just a matter of time before Alyee is one everyone’s table.

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TIPS FOR SELLING A HOME…

1. Declutter

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4 Improve curb appeal

5. Don't overprice your home. That's one of the biggest mistakes that sellers make

You can find me on facebook @ Alyssa Sells Real Estate, Instagram @Alyssa therealtor and online at www.atlantaskeyrealtor.com. I look forward to hearing from you