While serving in the US Air Force, Charlie “Mutt” Ferrell, Jr. was known for his homemade, all-purpose sauce. Decades later, his granddaughter Charlynda founded Mutt’s Sauce to share it with the world.

• 1956 - Charlie “Mutt” Ferrell, Jr. creates his own sauce to jazz up his family meals. Over the next 50 years, he shares it across the world.
• 2005 - Mutt passes away. No one knows what happened to his famous recipe.
• 2013 - While serving on active duty, Charlynda Scales, Mutt’s granddaughter, learns that Mutt left her the only copy of his recipe.

"He had five children,  but he left it to me, his third grandchild. I was obsessed with that sauce.”

1. July, 2013 - Charlynda decides to bottle Mutt’s sauce to share with friends and family. She Googles “free business help” and finds SCORE, which connects her with mentor John Soutar.

"John was my grandfather’s age, which was cathartic. Since that day, he’s always been there. He’s so reliable, he even has a landline phone!”

2. Four months later, in November 2013, Mutt’s Sauce has its first day of production. How SCORE Helped: John finds Charlynda a SCORE peer mentor specializing in the food and beverage industry.

3. December, 2013 - Mutt’s Sauce launches and sells out that same week. How SCORE Helped: John coaches Charlynda to reinvest the money to increase production.

• 2014 - Charlynda attends the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit, where she auditions for Shark Tank. Three months later, she pitches Mutt’s Sauce in Hollywood — and gets rejected. How SCORE Helped: John encourages her to forge ahead, and they decide to try to get Mutt’s Sauce on shelves at Kroger.
• 2017 - Mutt’s Sauce wins the Bob Evans Heroes to CEOs contest for veteran-owned businesses.
• 2018 - Charlynda takes the prize money, scales up her manufacturing, and lands the Kroger contract. As a female minority veteran, Charlynda gets a contract to stock Mutt’s Sauce at the Military Deli at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. After 5 years, John steps down as Charlynda’s mentor — and joins the board of advisors for Mutt’s Sauce.

"I miss having him as my mentor every day. But he still gives me the best advice.”

• 2020 - In March, COVID-19 strikes, and Charlynda’s main revenue streams dry up overnight. That same month, she gives birth to her son and her parents move in. Charlynda refocuses on online sales. They make more money that June than they do all summer during a typical year.

"We’re bringing American families together one bottle of sauce at a time, and that’s never hit home more than this year.”